Subaru Forester Woes - Keep or Sell? Advice from Subaru Owners

My wifes car is a 2015 Subaru forester 2.0 XT (turbo) that just rolled over 100k miles. We bought it new and its all paid for but this car makes me nervous, heres why:

The CVT transmission went out at 48,000 miles and had to be replaced under warranty. Had it happened out of warranty it would have been about a $9-10K bill.

The rear right wheel bearing is going out and I need to replace it - $500 dollar bill at the dealer. I'm going to attempt the job this weekend and see how it goes. Upon researching, it seems that wheel bearings are a really common issue on Subaru's and can go out any time with little rhyme or reason. In addition certain models seem to have problems with CV joints - another expensive repair.

If it were relatively minor things like CV joints and wheel bearings (not that I find it acceptable) this car wouldnt make me that nervous. However from what i've read the Subaru CVT's have issues and if mine goes out again it will total the value of the car. Apparently Subarus are still known for burning oil and i'm always worried about a head gasket failure.

I was hoping to get advice from some of you who might be familiar with Subarus. As i'm rolling over 100k miles on this turbocharged Subaru im wondering if I should sell it now while everything runs well and put the money towards something more reliable. Or should I cross my fingers and try to get another 100k out of it.

 

Personally in my experience if the head gasket hasn’t failed it will. I had an 01 that had 248k on it. Was starting to really add up new issue every month it seemed. Oh and it was about a quart of oil a week. I would expect turbo replacement in the next 20-30k as well. If your handy it’s always cheaper to fix just a headache. I’ve always tried to have my wife driving the nicest car of ours with the lowest miles for piece of mind. I just happened to get lucky on this rotation.

Typically you want to offload the vehicle at around 85-90k miles you take a bigger hit once that magical 100k mark hits. According to a used car dealer I know.

 

100k miles and you're upset about a wheel bearing? You know your Taco's wheel bearing will be lucky to make 60k right?

Head gasket leaks were an issue with Subaru engine prior to '08, and affected NA engines more than turbo engines. It's caused by negligence with coolant replacement (i.e. most buyers). The boxer design means the head gasket is bathed in coolant continuously even with the engine off. Replace the coolant every 5 years and you'll be OK.

What are you going to replace the Forester with? RAV4 is reliable, but you'll have to deal with its gutless engine and half-assed 4WD system.

 

The XT has the FA20DIT, right? I’m fairly certain, and if so, that year range had horrid ratings for reliability. The FA20DIT is a liability imo, and I remember reading a load about the variant in the XT having above average (lol) oil consumption issues.

You’re not even hitting the bad things yet. I’ll never own another Subaru.

 

Well crap, I hate reading stuff like this. I just special ordered my 17 year old daughter a 2019 Forester Touring. Hopefully, it’ll hold up ok.

 

It’s a different drivetrain than I mentioned, and all cars have issues.

My girl has a base 2.5 Outback. I don’t love it, but it’s reliable so far with the only issue being a wheel bearing going out, which happens. Gets decent economy, doesn’t consume oil yet, and isn’t knocking.

 

If anyone can get a bad one, it’s usually me....Hopefully it’ll be fine. My wife and I get our kids new cars when they turn 17. We’ve bought 6 and have 1 more to go now!

 

I'm not really upset about the wheel bearing as I stated above but I am annoyed. Especially after researching and talking to other Subaru owners it seems to be a very common issue and can happen as early as 20k or up above 100k. Should I expect the other bearings to start going out as well? @ $230 a bearing assembly its not gonna break the bank and from what I understand they are fairly straight forward to replace unless the hub gets rusted in the knuckle, then its a real PITA. My local dealer charges $140 just to diagnose, $230 for the part and another $300 in labor. For people that cant work on their own cars that really sucks.

I fully expect my Tacoma wheel bearings to last to 150k or more. I've owned 2 ford rangers with over 150k - no wheel bearing issues. My corolla with 250K - no wheel bearing issues. My wifes ford focus with $125k - no wheel bearing issues. My dads Nissan hardbody pickups with over $200k - original wheel bearings. The forester is the first vehicle ive owned to have a wheel bearing fail. Sure if I offroaded the hell out of my Tacoma or hit something hard i'd expect early failure.

I'm more concerned about the CVT failing because they cant be worked on and the cost to replace is about as much as the value of the car. Even a headgasket I could deal with.

Finding out what to replace it with is the hard part. I love the utility of the car and everything else about it really. If we went with another crossover it would probably be the RAV4 due to reliability. I love the look of the new ones but they are brand new and i'd like to save a little money on a used rig. Honestly we only use the AWD when it snows in the northwest a handful of times in the winter. I think we could get away with a FWD car and just invest in some snow tires in the winter now that we have the truck. I just need to find something that is reliable, has enough utility to haul a dog and maybe a car seat in the future. It would also be nice to get better gas mileage between 30-40. The forester averages about 26.

 

On paper I think its the best choice. Good Utility, efficiency, AWD, crash safety and affordability. This is why we bought our forester in the first place. I was led to believe that they were very reliable as well. After having owned one and hearing from others I'm beginning to have a different opinion.

Hopefully the new models have a more robust CVT.

 

subaru's in my opinon are over-rated
people like em because they're all wheel drive and 'sporty' and go perfect for their active sporty lifestyle.
the truth is they're just not all that great a 2015 turbo subaru scares me - any 2015 turbo I'd just stay clear away from.

my brother had a subaru I believe an 01 impreza, it just was never really a good car. Had to swap transmission and motor at least once. And they break if you don't change the timing belt so that's fun

i'd sell and get a used 4runner sr5 from private party or even carmax or whatever
those things are tanky and reliable af. no bells and whistles no bs

 

So far the engine has been rock solid, doesnt burn a drop of oil. Only issue is that with Safeway gas it does this weird sputter/rough idle on cold starts. I just blip the throttle and it idles normal. Switching to Shell or Chevron premium has fixed that though.

 

We have owned Subaru's for 21 years. Sure the head gasket was a known issue 10+ years ago. Our last Outback had a 142k with no issues outside normal maintenance. Oil, brakes, tires etc

I don't understand the urgency if you know the history of the car. We currently own a 17 Forester which I suspect will last well over 100k without any major mechanical problems. As far as wheel bearings... it's a wheel bearing, a very easy job you could do yourself.

 

I've come from the Subaru world and am still somewhat involved. I think if the car is paid for you should just keep it until it becomes enough of a PITA to replace stuff. TBH a wheel bearing and CVT is very minor for 100k worth of miles. Like others have stated just keep up normal maintenance and look through some Subaru forums to see what others with same Make/Model have experienced with common issues.

 

pretty sure everyone I know that's had a Subaru has had the motor out on more than one occasion, not a car ide want to keep past 100k if your already worried about shit going wrong.

 

I'm wondering if they are overrated too.
Engine rebuilds/ replacements seem to be a common theme when looking or used ones on craigslist, especially anything in the mid 2,000's. We love the 4 runner but we need better fuel mileage and they hold their value too well on the used market.

 

A CVT is a $9,000 issue. I would consider that major.

 

Yea I hear you

Tbh I'm not sure what the resell value of a subaru like yours would be
At this point may just keep it..

 

I meant CV joints lol sorry.

 

Blue book is like $12-14K private sale, 11K trade in. I'm definitely only buying used cars from now on, with the exception of a Tacoma because they hold their value so well its worth it to just go new.

 

Oh ya for sure. If it werent for the CVT already failing once and hearing of other subies having CVT issues I would keep the car. Its just kind of a gamble at this point.

http://www.subarucomplaints.com/cvt/