The car drives well and is generally reliable. The electronics are excellent, including reverse camera and satnav, as well as aux input. Fuel economy sits around 9L / 100km for city driving. The only issue is consumption of engine oil, which requires a top-up of about 1L every 1500 kms, which is unfortunate.

Nice car to drive good points stop there. Expensive to repair - air conditioner repair cost $1000 and still never worked well. Alternator belt broke and car had to be towed. Airbag lights appeared on dash, just spent $220 repairing this fault (seat belt tensioner problem). Worst to come. Oil leak due to the common head gasket problem due to poor manufacturing - quoted between $2000-3000 to repair. Car has done 94000ks. Also received a recall a recall notice for a faulty passenger airbag. Service centre not great to deal with - would never buy another Subaru.

The Subaru Forester is my new favourite car. The driving experience has been fantastic - smooth acceleration, super quiet on the road (even on the gnarly north coast of NSW) and the handling is amazing. In particular, the Xmode has been a great aspect driving on very slippery, muddy roads.
The interior is great. The seats are really comfortable, and the space is quite surprising. The matt finish of the plastic finish is taking me a little while to get used to - can be difficult to clean.
The car is safe, reliable, VERY cost effective and FUN!

Have a 2009 manual Forrester. Revs out of co trol every time you have the clutch pedal in. Always have to leave it in nuetral or else! Spoke to subaru and they said its an environmental saving feature and the car is not designed for traffic. Well unfortunately there is not a lot of open roads in the suburbs!

Very Reliable, and a good size not too big like most SUV's also has lots of safety, more than most cars. Interior is practical and comfortable at the same time. Running costs can get expensive if needing repairs outside the normal wear and tare. Generally a good solid vehicle. Easy to drive and responds well.

Great to drive, just like car but can do beach and off-road with decent tyres . I upgraded rear springs as the set-up is not good when towing. It did Cape Leveque, Gibb river road across the top-end and many beach and bush trips. Pulling a trailer and having a roof box I was getting better then 14L per 100K that's good compared to a full on 4WD pulling a trailer.

Overall an OK car, nothing special in day to day use however offroad the 4wd system really is fantastic. If Subaru would develop a low range with tc option my word that would be very hard to beat. Good fuel figures for the 2.5l engine, some nice quirks included such as reclining rear seats but the dog does not like the hard fixed section on the rear cover. As always go drive one and see what you like/dont like, we bought this as a daily drive and its good for that. Comfortable enough on long journeys too. Our mistake was leather seats.!! had to buy covers to stop the 3rd degree burns in summertime.!

Had 3 Subaru Foresters now and they are the perfect car for people living in the CBD and wanting to get away for the weekend . They are great on fuel and parking in the CBD and still have enough space to fit every thing in for weekend trips away .

We purchased an ex government 2011 petrol x 5dr at the auctions with 55K on the clock. Our mechanic inspected and gave it the tick so we got it. Since then have driven from Adelaide to Darwin and across to Cairns and back to Adelaide via Melbourne. The car drives beautifully and behaves well in all road conditions.
Fuel averages about 7/100 on premium.
The good: handles well, looks good, brakes well, steers well
The bad:cold idles at 1500 on start up and takes to long to idle down, can be surgy in slow traffic, does use oil, about 1/2 litre every two tanks. Dealer says that normal, yeh right

We have had our Forester xs premium for a year. Fuel economy is less impressive than Subaru claimed. The car has met all our needs as family transport and as a smaller AWD replacement of our Falcon wagon. Power is adequate but not exciting. I found the rattle in the rear parcel roller shelf very annoying. We rarely use the sun roof but it is nice to have and impresses friends and family.
We are generally very pleased with the Forester. It ticks all the boxes we needed.
AWD for towing and soft road. General quality is good.
Fuel economy. Black carpets show every bit of dirt.

Have wanted a Forester since they first came out in late 90's. Bought my first 2012 petrol model in 2013. It had been a demonstrator but had only done 30k,s. Had a new set of 17" Subaru Alloy wheels. Gorgeous marine blue colour. Lovely interior (basic) but so comfortable. Feel so safe in the steel cage surrounding the cabin. Have done several trips from Sydney to Melbourne. No problems. Love my car and enjoy getting into it each day. Only negative is its fuel consumption. Does about 600K on the highway with full tank of petrol, but only about 200K around the city with same full tank. Its very thirsty! but its gorgeous.
Safety
Fuel consumption