Call a few shops that customize interiors. You will probably be able to get a much better carpet than before. :icon_cool:

 

$446.94 from the dealer.

Ben

 

For some reason I thought the impreza carpet would fit in the Forester. I see them selling over on Nabisco all the time for pretty cheap. You could get the blue STi or the black wrx carpet.

Like I said, I THINK it fits, but I haven't tried it. Maybe someone has personal experience with fitting one in.

 

For some reason I thought the impreza carpet would fit in the Forester. I see them selling over on Nabisco all the time for pretty cheap. You could get the blue STi or the black wrx carpet.

Like I said, I THINK it fits, but I haven't tried it. Maybe someone has personal experience with fitting one in.

Going this route (if it fits) or the OE replacement route will get you the crappy carpet you started with. I'm going to agree with subifreak on this one. A local apolstry ( spelling>me ) could get you a much better carpet for about the same $ as the new OE replacement. Just my $0.02. If I ever need new carpeting I'm going to look into a nice black shag.

Ben

 

Get quotes from local upholstery shops. They'll have a ginormous selection and will help you pick out what you want for the way you use your car.

Or you could save a ton and just put in some AstroTurf. :biggrin:

 

Thanks for the replies. I was afraid the dealer would pull a huge number like that out of his crack pipe. I won't be going that route.

I was hoping that one of the aftermarket companies would offer a molded replacement like they do for nearly every other car made. I've seen these in cut pile for around $120. No one seems to cover the Forester.

I thought of going to a shop, but I doubt I'll be able to get it done for less than $150 (my celing foor this). Still, I guess it can't hurt to try.

 

Thanks for the replies. I was afraid the dealer would pull a huge number like that out of his crack pipe. I won't be going that route.

I was hoping that one of the aftermarket companies would offer a molded replacement like they do for nearly every other car made. I've seen these in cut pile for around $120. No one seems to cover the Forester.

I thought of going to a shop, but I doubt I'll be able to get it done for less than $150 (my celing foor this). Still, I guess it can't hurt to try.

When do you plan on doing this? I can measure my 1998 Impreza carpet and see how it would fit in our Forester.

 

When do you plan on doing this? I can measure my 1998 Impreza carpet and see how it would fit in our Forester.

Hey, thanks for the offer! I was planning to pull the seats, console, carpet and all the trim out sometime in early October. All my efforts to rid the car of dog smell have failed so I'm going to take drastic action. The only thing I'm not pulling out is the dash. This car is going to get a serious scrubbing and all the interior pieces will be cleaned and cleaned again.

Since the carpet is pretty crappy and has a big hole where the drivers mat retainer used to be I would rather just replace it. Plus, the carpet seems to be the worst offender, odor wise.

I will be in your debt if you can tell me the Impreza carpet is at least close.

 

My Impreza carpet has a huge hole under the drivers feet, so my carpet is coming out soon anyway. I was going to order the molded $120 Ebay carpet to replace it.
I have a buddy with a 2001 Forester so I can try out my old carpet on his car. It is more similar to yours than my 2005.

I believe the Forester is a bit wider, but the floor mats are similar size so I guess we can find out how close it is. I'll keep you posted.

 

My Impreza carpet has a huge hole under the drivers feet, so my carpet is coming out soon anyway. I was going to order the molded $120 Ebay carpet to replace it.
I have a buddy with a 2001 Forester so I can try out my old carpet on his car. It is more similar to yours than my 2005.

I believe the Forester is a bit wider, but the floor mats are similar size so I guess we can find out how close it is. I'll keep you posted.

Thanks. I greatly appreciate it.

 

Tonight I decided to measure the carpet on my Impreza and compare it to the Forester.

EVERY dimension was pretty much exactly the same. The width and length of the entire carpet, the size of the foot wells, the distance from the trim to the center console. Both Floor mats are similar size, and infact the SG Forester Floor mats fit my GF Impreza better than the Impreza mats do. The OEM rubber mats are exactly the same too, even though I ordered them seperately for each specific car.

This leads me to believe that the carpets are interchangable for the most part. The cutouts for the fuel lever and center console might be shaped different, but they look very similar in size.

I was told on RS25.com that the Impreza Coupe carpets, which are real easy to find, are the same size as the Impreza sedan and wagon carpets. These might be an option for the Forester too.

 

Game on! Thanks again for the help. Now I can get my girl all spiffed up.

 

I was reading that the WRX (black) and STi (blue) carpet are a also pretty good fit. I see them for sell around $100 and less all the time.

I'm going to checkout this place this weekend near my house.
ttp://www.autoupholsterykits.com/

I want to see th quaility of their carpet before I decide on what to go with. I might just go with some black WRX carpet, and add some black WRX seats. It would be a huge upgrade over my L stuff.

 

Well, it took me long enough but I finally changed the carpet today. Put in a dark gray carpet from an '04 WRX sedan. The price was right at $36 and the carpet is in very nice shape. It fits OK, but not perfectly.

The most unsightly thing is the big hole where the WRX has its fuel release lever but I think I can cover that up with a scrap glued underneath. Otherwise, it's not too bad. The original carpet secures under the sill plates differently so I'm not sure if I will have trouble with the WRX carpet coming loose. A little spay adhesive would probably improve the fit quite a bit, but I'll wait to see if it becomes a problem.

If your car is mint you would probably be better off getting a custom carpet made. In my case, the car is sort of a spare/errand/snow/dog hauler so I'm not too concerned if the fit is not 100%. The car looks many times better better and will hopefully smell a lot better too.

Just wanted to let everyone know how it worked out. Thanks for the input everyone.

 

.....
Just wanted to let everyone know how it worked out. Thanks for the input everyone.

Thanks for the update. This is something I need to do on our 98 too.