Are you looking to buy one? If so, check the underbody for rust. A car can be well washed and cared for on the outside but the underside can be a different story!

 

No, but that's good advice.

 

Here's what nearly 20 years of postal duty "Up North" will do. This is a late '90s RHD postal Legacy wagon that I saw near Minocqua, WI circa 2014-15....

 

Wow. Looks like some of the Chevy pickups I see around here. But a lot of them aren't nearly that old.

 

I have a sister in Kalamazoo who owned the LL Bean version Forester for about 18 years. It was garaged. The outside looked great but it got to the point where her mechanic said it's unsafe to drive. The underside was rusting through. Welcome to Michigan. Some cars are going to be more prone to rust than others but Subarus are not immune. Buy new and undercoat or buy from a state with less salt on the road. I just buy local, due my due diligence and enjoy it while it last.

 

I see Subaru Foresters as old as the first generation right up to brand new that appear to be completely free of rust spots.

Look underneath, especially the shock towers.

 

body paint? these days body paint doesn't tell the whole story

used car dealers can be deceptive

pull the spare tire & look at the sheet metal under the spare. crawl under it, yeah get on the ground, wear appropriate clothing or bring a little tarp. use your camera to photo areas you can't see, ask the dealer to put it on a lift so you can see it better

EDIT: I se the OP has a brand new 2025 Hybrid Touring. they might consider having it undercoated. there are several options these days. local vendors could probably make suggestions, or even the dealer that made delivery. also take it to self serve car washes & do the under carriage yourself with the soapy sprayer & rinse it. I doubt automatic car washes do what they claim when we select "supreme under carriage wash" & is it even worth the price? as a beach driver, I'm a big fan of self serve car washes!

 

Shock towers typically tell the story. We need a "Show us your rust" thread.

 

I believe that is the federally mandated ‘Tread Wear Inspection Port’.

 

shopping a cpl years ago for our Son, I came a cross a lot of rust on used Foresters. this is just the tip of the iceberg, I've got worse pics at home. we were looking in the area of 2015s ...

when we traded my Dad's '94 Camry, 2 years ago, I was pleased that it wasn't a rust bucket. knowing him, he probably paid for undercoating when he bought it

 

shopping a cpl years ago for our Son, I came a cross a lot of rust on used Foresters. this is just the tip of the iceberg, I've got worse pics at home. we were looking in the area of 2015s ...
View attachment 615305

View attachment 615306
when we traded my Dad's '94 Camry, 2 years ago, I was pleased that it wasn't a rust bucket. knowing him, he probably paid for undercoating when he bought it
View attachment 615307

We had a '95 Geo Prism and a '97 Tercel. Both went well over 100K for us, and the Tercel exceeded 270K under a son's friend's ownership. Both my sons own 2010 Carolas-- one has turned his over to his kids, the other drives his daily. Both look solid, but I may suggest they check beneath. Toyota are good products, no doubt.

 

I always wondered why they didn't have a car wash that would use high pressure nozzles to wash the underside of the car in the winter. I always would wash the underside with a wand at the car washes when I lived up north.

 

I see Subaru Foresters as old as the first generation right up to brand new that appear to be completely free of rust spots.

The first gen models were likely well cared for and have had preventative rust maintenance or they might not be on the road, or they could be "imports". As others have noted, a car can look okay on the outside but have terminal cancer underneath.

Subarus rust like any other car made of metal when exposed to snow melt salt water that isn't removed.

 

Still driving MY98 here in southern California ( the car was and is a soCal car). 240k+ miles and not a bit of rust anywhere, not even surface rust on the mechanical parts under the car. Salt & road deicers are the enemies of cars & trucks and just eats them up. However, 80's & 90's cars/trucks, the paint formulations sucked and the paint starts to peel, or just come off in patches, no matter where you live. Mine included.
I grew-up and learned to drive in a rural town in New England, that couldn't afford road deicers, they barely even plowed the roads. They did use gritty sand for icy spots, but never deicers. We all learned how to drive on snow packed roads with studded tires or chains/cable "chains". The locals, who never really left town, their cars/trucks didn't rust out nearly as bad as those who lived in neighboring towns that did use deicers. There ought to be a law! Not really, I get it. The roads need to be cleared ASAP, even if that means your car is toast after a few years.

 

I don't think Subarus today are particularly rust prone or are they the best for avoiding corrosion.

When I was a kid in the late '70s-early '80s they had a reputation as rust buckets, and whwn I saw them around upstate NY they were often full of holes. I remember the Subaru slogan back then was "Inexpensive, and Built to Stay That Way" 😁

 

LoL

 

Late 70's, it was nothing for me to take a stop sign and bolt it to the rusted floorboard of my truck, I even did a fiberglass repair on another truck with rusted floorboard, fastened metal screen down and laid fiberglass over that, never once thought about the safety side of things.
I sure don't see the newer vehicles rusting like those back then.

 

Subaru Historical Advertising - Subaru U.S. Media Center

Subaru Historical Advertising

media.subaru.com

Sube ads.

 

Is there such a thing as aftermarket undercarriage coating for rust proofing?

 

@2017SubeNewb Yes there sure is. The best in my opinion are the lanolin based ones such as Fluid Film and Woolwax. Woolwax is my favorite of the two as it is thicker and stays on longer.

 

I have a 2019 Forester. I live near Lake George in the Adirondacks. We have snow, sand and salt all winter.

I have no rust that I can see.

I think the most important thing is to take the car through a car wash regularly, with the bottom sprayers on. This is a premium feature where I go.

I pay a monthly fee for unlimited wages, so I'm alway willing to drive through as needed.

Ed

 

I can only tell you what happened to my Subaru Outback Sport in the state of Connecticut. It rusted all the way through, even with the undercoating to protect it. The salting of roads destroyed the car. I moved to Arizona and if the car wasn't rusted through, I would have kept it. It was unsafe to drive at that point. I could literally see through the floor of the car on the driver's side.

My friend in Burlington VT just bought a new car and is getting an after market spraying on her new car. I wonder if it is better than the 2002 choice of undercoating?

Things rust in climates where there is a need to salt roads.

I had my Subie for almost 13 years. Ended up buying a 2016 Subaru Forester XT. I still have it with only 40K miles on it. Here in Arizona, no rusting of the undercarriage. BUT we go through batteries every 2-3 years due to the heat in Phoenix area. But there are some pristine older vehicles here...so nice to see that.

 

I've had great luck with AGM type batteries here in southern Cali, you might consider one of those types. I got 14 years out of an Optima yellow top one in MY98. I don't know if the spiral wound type AGM's are better than the flat plate ones, but the Optima's are all spiral types. It might make a difference, maybe not. Replacing a battery every few years can add-up quick, if you keep cars for long term. Maybe the initial outlay for an expensive AGM, would be worth it in the long-run. Just my experience. I'll never go back to a standard flooded, lead/acid battery.

 

I have lived "up North" in upstate NY for 10 years, and a few precautions will help:
1) When at the car wash (if you have one there) take the undercarriage wash and/or anti-salt wash, if it has that option
2) Look for Krown Treatment dealers in your region. I have found it to be helpful in terms of undercarriage corrosion protection, I tried another similar treatment after my local service garage closed, and I was not as happy with the extent of treatment or the result ( my Subaru dealer told me I would have to replace the hydraulic brake lines, which had been serioiusly corroded on my former 2016 Forester Premium)
3) My former service center (since closed down to most customers) in Lake Placid recommended cleaning out the disk brakes after the winter season to get rid of road grit. I think this helped, as well.

 

I have to say after owning alot of GM's the Subarus hold up much better even with little extra care. Always worth checking but especially if you undercoat and wash them they will hold up better then alot of other cars I have seen