2007 Subaru Forester Sport XT 2.5L turbo

Summary:

The poor man's answer to an Audi Allroad

Faults:

Just some minor "rattling" if I can even call it that when it is in the upper 80's or warmer. Nothing that I feel is absurd for a sub $30,000 Japanese car.

Subaru dealerships are hard to find, and with that a good dealership seems even harder to find, although a good service shop that is cheaper than the dealer, and will keep your car under warranty, is just a yelp.com search away.

General Comments:

Amazingly well handling car. I have made some minor improvements to the suspension (swift springs and swaybar/endlinks), very well mannered in the city as well as in the mountains.

The car is quick enough for me to remain happy with its performance, and not feel the need to do the whole engine management side of things.

Interior is efficient in its presentation and appearance, visibility is excellent from the cabin of the car.

I have made several long distance trips in this vehicle (Seattle to Montana, and Seattle to its new home in the SF Bay Area, as well as trips to Tahoe and Washington Mountains) and was plenty comfortable for the trip, even with driving 13 hours straight from Seattle to SF.

The seats are different in the Sports model than in the Premium and Standard models, so keep that in mind.

I have had no significant problems with the car to date.

I receive compliments on the car all the time; it is definitely a unique automobile, and people do notice. Just something to note, in the 50,000 miles that I owned my Impreza, I never needed any work done, other than the regularly scheduled stuff.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 9th June, 2009

2007 Subaru Forester X 4 cylinder

Summary:

Great in snow, good MPG, very firm seats

Faults:

Car was a rental. Purchased it with 7000K miles.

The head gasket was leaking oil. Also one wheel bearing was chirping. The dealership repaired all under warranty.

Since then no problems.

General Comments:

For a 4 cyl this thing is peppy. It gets about 24 around town and 29 on highway trips on regular fuel.

My only complaint is that the seats are too firm for a long trip. After a couple of hours they are downright uncomfortable.

I would definitely recommend for an around town daily driver, especially in areas with snow. AWD works great.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 5th September, 2008

2007 Subaru Forester 2.5 X premium 4 cyc

Summary:

Wonderful, except for the drivers seat

Faults:

The drivers seat is horrible and hurts me. The dealer has not been helpful at all. Otherwise, it is a wonderful car.

General Comments:

Takes the local dirt roads like a champ!

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 28th March, 2007

29th Mar 2007, 14:57

I know what you mean about the driver's seat. However, I recently discovered that it appears that seat has an air bag inside so one has to inflate the seat a bit to make it more comfortable. Also, there is a lumbar support handle just about the center console that can be adjusted. I turned mine completely off and added more air to front of the seat. It is now much more comfortable for me.

9th Jul 2007, 21:14

I love my '07 Forester Sport, but hate the hill holder... I just can't get used to it.

20th Nov 2007, 14:08

RE: to previous post.

I've read that the wheel bearing fail because the dealers install them without properly repacking grease. The part comes packed with what may seem to be the proper lubricant. However, the material is not meant for driving. It is meant for part preservation only. Your repetitive problem with the bearing leads me to believe that the dealership improperly installed the part. Incompetence in service can destroy any product. Good luck.

About the author: I had a rear pass.-side bearing failure on my 01 Forester. At that time the car had 135,000 miles.

20th May 2008, 09:03

We have a 2007 with manual trans - overall great car for Colorado. We all must remember this is on the cheap side of cars now!!!

We're getting 28MPG average in all types of driving.

"Hill Holder" works well, but is a bit difficult to get use too in other level driving, I think it holds back car in 1 st gear?

Cruise control is not as good as it should be and does not control down hill speeds at all.

Front floor mats fell apart and replaced by warranty.

Oil change cover is WORTHLESS and cheap.

Transmission shop tells me to dump the car before 75,000 miles and issues and costs on a Subaru Transmission?