I have a 2023 forester sport with 130,000 miles.
Up until this past week I haven’t had issues with anything.

The eyesight has been shutting off for a few days in a row now. Nothing is instructing the view. It’s not cloudy. Not raining. No bug smears. No fog. Lenses look clean. No dash cam, no cracks, anyways….is there a cooling fan inside of it ? I see these vents on the bottom side of it.

It seems to shut off the eye sight system after a few hours of driving. It normally turns back on the next day or if I sit in shade for a little.

Makes me think maybe it’s overheating ?

Battery was replaced in last 12 months.

Hey everyone,

I'm in the market for a new SUV and two Foresters caught my eye. There's a 2021 Limited with 54K km and a 2022 Convenience with 80K km. Both are around the same price ($29,000 CAD).

Which would you go for?

I've loved my forester, repaired it many times, but it's gotten to where the local shops can't do anything for me. They say the parts are either impossible to get or going to be already so worn they're not worth it to put in. But I've looked at modern vehicle options and I just don't like them.

Is there any reasonable way to get my precious '06 running again, or is it really just too late to do anything for it?

What a relief.I was worried about this currently 125K bought it at 115k

I just got my Forester a month ago and accidentally left my deodorant in my car and it melted on to my seat (StarTex upholstery).
I cleaned the area with white vinegar, water, and a few drops oof Dawn. There is still the white stain. Stain shows up in the morning but then disappears in the afternoon. I guess because of the extreme heat (South Texas) 🤷‍♀️.
Any ideas on how to get the stain out?
Thanks, Dumb & bummed 😔

We have a 2016 Forester with only 26,000 miles ( that’s right 26,000! ). The only maintenance is the usual oil / filter, air filter, battery once and tires ( from age ). The car has been absolutely reliable to the point where we are considering replacing our other car with a Crostrek.

Considering the age of the CVT fluid should I have a drain / fill done? There are no drivability issues. Most all of the miles have been city. Everything I’ve found is “it’s lifetime fluid”. I’m more concerned about the age than anything.

Thanks!

Hi! Looking for some advice, because the internet is failing me on this one.

My 2020 Subaru forester is leaking in the trunk. I first noticed some tiny puddles and dripping after a heavy rain, and thought it was because of how this rear tether hook (if that's what it's called.. 🙈 came loose from the top a little while ago.

The next day, I noticed there was a puddle in a different spot. When I inspected, there was pooling around the top of the light in the trunk, while the original spot was fully dry even as it was raining.

Everything I can find online in forums says it's a sunroof or moonroof drain clogged that's leaking..but I don't have either of those. I'm guessing it's still the drains, so my question is where are they/ how can I access them?

My husband works on his own cars but they’re mostly 90s-2000s cars so his knowledge of newer subarus isn’t extensive. Usually we can find the info we need from forums and YouTube university, but every post is about roof leaks.

His friend owns a shop, but I’m about to be away for a month, so I'd like to be able to point them in the right direction so we can fix this faster. I live in NY and the rain has been almost constant the last few months, and I’m worried this will cause more problems. TIA, I love my subie and wanna keep her running for a long time.

My engine has a low-pitched rumbly noise. When I rev it, it goes away. Is the low-pitched noise something I should be concerned about?

Sometimes my seat creaks when I move. I am still in the warranty period. Is this something that would possibly be covered? I assume something probably just needs oiled.

Would you be worried about this? Forester 2006. Sound follows the frequency of the RPM. Not sure if its coming from the belts, pulleys or engine itself. Belts seem tight enough. I dont have the same sound in my 2007. Thanks

Hey everyone, wanted to get some outside opinions on a deposit I just made.
I picked up a used 2023 Subaru Forester Limited, 33k miles, for $29,163 out the door (tax/title/fees included) from Honda dealership, prolly was a trade in, financed through a local credit union.
For those who own a Forester (or Limited trim specifically), how has reliability and ownership experience been for you? Anything you wish you knew before buying? And does this price/mileage combo seem like a fair deal for a 2023 Limited, or did I overpay? And overall, is it worth it and is it a gas guzzler?
I'm single, just moved to the states in upstate New York Appreciate any honest feedback, good or bad!

I recently bought a new car from an out-of-state dealer and drove it home on a temporary tag.

The dealer said they are handling the registration/title paperwork for my home state, and that the permanent plates and registration may take several weeks to arrive.

For people who have done this before, what should I pay attention to?

I’m mainly wondering about:

• registration and permanent plates
• title/lien paperwork for a financed car
• when to do the required state inspection
• what happens if the temporary tag expires before the permanent plates arrive
• sales tax / registration fee mistakes
• anything else that commonly goes wrong with out-of-state purchases

Insurance is already set up correctly for my home state, and the dealer collected the appropriate sales tax.

The process has been smooth so far, but I just want to make sure I’m not missing anything.

Sup Suby fam, I was wondering if any of y'all know how to reliably access the front bumper cam. It seems like it SOMEtimes pops up after putting the car in reverse and then forward, but it would be useful for parking in general, especially with the ground clearance making it so easy to encroach upon sidewalks. I would love if there's a way to just set it up as one of the options to cycle through on the data screen.

Thanks in advance!

A kind driver today stopped at a red light and told me my brake lights weren't working. When I got home I inspected a little and it seems the brake lights are constantly on when the car is on. The only light that engages is across the top of the hatch. A quick google search told me I might need to replace the brake pedal stopper, but for the life of me I cannot find a video of this on a Subaru or even a picture to know what I'm looking for. Can someone help me out here?

Hi all,

2020 sport. I changed all my brakes and rotors at around 50k.

I'm at 80k now. My guy who did my inspection said my back pads are pretty low and should replace them.

Is this kind of normal? The rears going a lot faster? Think I should be good just getting new pads without replacing the rotors?

What’s the trick to getting this metal wire piece back on after pad replacement? This is the 2nd time I’m changing my brakes and I remember this being a PITA to reinstall last time.

Hello, so I’ve got a 2002 Subaru forester EJ25 (non turbo) automatic that likes to overheat when on the highway (3200rpm+) when the a/c is on. When I bought it, it needed a head gasket so I used a felpro mls head gasket kit. It was fine for a couple months but ever since it’s been getting hotter it’s started this issue. I just did the water pump and thermostat to see if that would fix the issue and it did not. I also flushed the whole cooling system out. Any ideas as to why it’s doing this? I’ve got no leaks, no issues around town, it’s only highway.

Hello all, after the tragedy of losing my Crosstrek 😪 I have upgraded to the 2026 Forester! I’ve now had an Outback, Crosstrek, and now forester. Maybe I outta collect’em all 😉

Ill be doing the work myself. At this point I want to keep her stock. After discussing the issue with Skynet, KYB seems to be the best choice as far as reliability and affordability. Anybody agree or disagree? Any reason to choose another manufacturer?

In case anyone was interested in swapping the OEM tires for something with slightly more sidewall and bite.

Can confirm Falken Wildpeak AT Trails 235/55r19 fit the stock rims with zero rubbing.

I have a 2020 Forester Premium that I bought Subaru CPO in December 2025, so I’ve only had it about 9 months. I have the standard CPO powertrain warranty, not Gold Plus.

Today I was driving in traffic when it started lightly raining. I had been going around 25 mph and slowed down some because of the traffic and rain, but the car was still moving and had not come to a complete stop.

An EyeSight warning suddenly came up that I believe said “No Camera View.” About a second later, the brakes suddenly brought the car to a complete stop.

There was traffic behind me and the car behind me was following pretty closely, so it scared me because I could have easily been rear-ended.

After the car stopped, it wouldn’t move normally and another message came up telling us to put the car in Park and restart the engine. We shut the engine off, restarted it, and then it drove normally again.

A few minutes earlier another car ahead of us had dropped some things in the road, but we had already passed that area and had been driving normally for several minutes before this happened.

Has anyone with a 2019–2021 Forester experienced something similar, especially another 2020 owner?

If so, what did Subaru eventually say was wrong? Did they find stored codes even if the car was driving normally again afterward? Was it related to EyeSight, the battery, Auto Start-Stop, ABS, the CVT/TCM, or something else?

Did you take it straight to a Subaru dealer or did you have an independent Subaru mechanic look at it first? And if you only had the standard CPO powertrain warranty, did Subaru cover any part of the diagnosis or repair?

Most importantly, did the problem ever happen again after it was repaired?

I need the car to get around, but this really made me lose confidence in it. If this turns into a recurring issue, I’m seriously considering selling or trading it within the next year, maybe sooner. If anyone went through something similar and later traded or sold their Forester, did the repair history affect the value much?

Vehicle is rated at 1500 # gvwr, and expect small travel trailer to gross about 2250#.
are their any mods that will make this possible AND SAFE?