2001 Subaru Forester Reviews

I also own a 2001 Forester. My issue is the rear subframe rotted off during a trip, veering the car off road. Why is Subaru not recalling, Toyota did.

So in turn I have a huge family of 9 Subaru cars, which we will be trading in one by one into Toyota. Already we replaced our first car this week with a Toyota! Shame on you Subaru.

Head gaskets on SOHC Subarus are cake to fix... it's no big deal. The radiator "matrix" (no one ever uses that term)... is made of aluminum, it can't "rust".

Foresters are hyper reliable and fun to drive if you need an AWD and a station wagon all wrapped up into one...

So what if it needs a head gasket, once it's fixed it stays fixed... (ask me how I know... I've owned 7 of them so far)... and seriously; name a car that won't need a H-G repair once in its life... seriously, most every car will need it... BUT with the Subaru's, at least it's a simple job... regardless of what your "trusted" shop may say.

If you can change a tire/tyre and cook a meal or sew on a button, then you can do a Subaru SOHC head-gasket job... seriously it's simple and easy. Never more than 4-5 hours tops.

Good cars here in the wild where 10,000 ft mountains and only dirt roads exist... Also a nice ride that makes most everyone glance twice at it, and it's only three hours away in downtown San Francisco or Reno, fun cars! Spunky is an apt term... Easy to fix... They have the right feel.

How reliable is it if you have now owned seven of them?

If the head gaskets are so easy to fix, why are independent garages quoting $2000+ to fix them? And why are there so many negative reviews on this site? In the review it says HEATER matrix, which is located behind the dash and controls heat to the car. This does indeed rust, and allows the pleasant stench of coolant in along with hot air, not to mention dumping coolant on the ground.

Subaru reliability is a complete myth. I bought my father's Liberty that did 100k (country k's) perfectly over 5 years (full Subaru dealer maintained). Over the next 3 years it disposed of 4 drive shafts, 2 radiators, a water pump, thermostat, power steering pump, starter-motor, alternator, and before I could off load it, the heater core went, and then the ECU died, $1500 according to the dealer. It cost me $6000 dollars in 18 months.

People tell you Euro cars are expensive to maintain; friends I know with BMWs and VWs have had much cheaper overall maintenance costs and considerably less problems.

After selling his Liberty to us, my dad bought another Liberty, after his great first experience, and after the warranty expired, head-gaskets leaked (60,000k), no good-will from dealer ($2000), rear-wheel bearing went, and instrument panel malfunctions that Subaru cant seem to fix, let alone find. They are dead-set hopeless.

I really loved these cars, but they have burnt me bad. Research Subaru reliability closely before you buy, you might be very surprised, or better, shocked!!