Bought a new 2013 Forester diesel, had it now for 19 months.

Good on the road and economical but this is definitely my last Subaru. It can't pull the steep hill behind our property, no guts at low speed and too high geared. My wife's Ford Focus Trend auto goes up easily. The Forester clutch also gives every sign that it can't handle that sort of work - just a few revs and slipping the clutch briefly to make up for the lack of guts causes a burning smell.

My old 2005 Forester went up so easily in low range. So did my old Brumby. Old ...Read more

We bought a new Forester 2013. Nice car to drive, We bought the 2.5L petrol with the eyesight and adaptive cruise control. The cruise control is a bit freaky when you are not used to it. I don't like the way it keeps braking when a car in front turns off to the left and there is a clear gap to the right to take off into but the cruise keeps reducing speed and braking to match the slowing turning car. Drivers behind wonder why you are braking.
Plenty of room inside. Cargo area is a bit small, as to is the size of the reversing camera screen. T...Read more

I've owned my Forester since new for 15 months. We have been everywhere in it fro city to highway to bush tracks and through soft sand.
Unfortunately the CVT gets bad press from dinosaur motoring writers but I can attest that it is fantastic. We recently drove the Snowy Mountains Highway through driving rain and a long winding steep descent. I set cruise control and used eyesight to follow a vehicle whose driver seemed to know the roads. It followed perfectly without any input from me.
On the steep descent I set cruise at 50 Kms / hr and the...Read more

This is my second Forester. The first was the S3 2009, I bought it 2nd hand with only 9000 on the clock. I stepped out of a Commodore and into the S3 because I needed more usability.

Two things in the S3 2.5l Auto was the fuel consumption 10+ around town and the 4 speed auto. The auto had trouble deciding between 1st 2nd and 3rd at slow speeds. Other than that it was a pleasure to drive.

This year we got an S4 2.5l CVT. This is car seems only distantly related to the S3. Larger, higher and less thirsty. To date it's life average is 8.6 (...Read more

We were deciding between Forester S or XT, decided for a 4k extra we opted for the more powerful engine. Love the acceleration for an SUV, the looks, as powerful as a v6, fuel mileage expected around 9-9.5 on 95ron, can do between 8-8.5 on freeway. haven't revved hard on the suv yet but 7.5 secs to 100km is definitely achievable, probably more if use S mode. Back seat can alter angle - great for long trips. heaps of leg room for rear, slightly smaller boot compare to others but enough for use

Disappointments include poor screen resolutio...Read more

So far my only problem is the low beam headlights. The halogen units are designed to throw light out to the sides, so visibility directly in front is poor. Also once dark the Eyesight constantly disables (as it can't even see), which also disengages the cruise control, which can be very annoying.

For example, I travel a 100km round trip to work everyday, 20km is unsealed roads. Whilst on the unsealed road (before I had sidesteps fitted I was only doing a max of 40km/h) I had a very large kangaroo sitting in the middle of the road in front of...Read more

The 2013 Subaru Forester XT Premium is the most sure footed powerful SUV in its class and price range. It might be lacking the boy racer bonnet air intake but you soon release the XT can get you down the road very quickly with its 177kw turbo 2 litre engine with CVT transmission. The eye sight safety technology is a great feature but my only issue is it will turn its self off if the sun is directly effecting the cameras and like wise if raining very heavily but will turn on again automatically once the eye sight can read the road.
There is hea...Read more