Faults:

Front & rear passenger side door is misaligned when I picked up the new vehicle.

Hood was not adjusted properly. During highway speeds, the hood would bounce up and down. I actually thought it was going to fly off.

Door and or window seal is on the driver's side is defective. I feel like I have a big sea shell on my ear when I'm in the driver's seat.

General Comments:

The handling is good on the Forester.

Fuel efficiency can use some improvements.

The bucket seats are OK. As for the rear, it would have great if the back seat could slide back and forth like the RAV 4.

When the rear seats fold down there is a downward slant to the rear door. It would have been better if the cargo was true flat.

I upgraded to the Limited model and got the HID lights. It's nice, but it over powers the fog lights. You end up with nice bright headlights and dull pale looking fog lights.

Faults:

Only thing wrong with the car was the tow cable plastic burnt through and shorted a fuse. So could not go into reverse. The first dealer just replaced the fuse, which did not solve the problem. Was fixed the second time around with some electrical tape.

General Comments:

This is a company lease car that I choose over a Nissan X Trail. Felt a lot more stuck to the road when driving.

I do heaps of driving to the snow (up mountain roads) and surfing in summer, so it's great to have the 4x4 - feel pretty safe when larger 4x4s are struggling with grip.

The car safety pretty much saved my life; I was cut off the road and had to brake in the wet; the car kept perfectly straight at 100km and went off the road, down a bank - drove the car back - although the alignment was out.

DEALER sucked - took 3 weeks to get a replacement door.

Passing speed is pretty weak - handles okay up to 7/10, then starts to wobble.

Faults:

Scratches easily.

General Comments:

First new car I've ever owned. Many good points and many bad ones. Still very new so hasn't broken down, no rattles etc.

Paint isn't durable.

The big issues are the gearbox and fly by wire throttle.

The gearbox is notchy and the gate vague.

The throttle is dangerous. Come off the pedal and the revs die when the computer is good and ready, so if you're on a slippery gravel road and using engine braking to slow into corners, you may find you're carrying too much speed. To its credit, the VDC traction system is very good and the car is more capable off road than I expected from a school run car.

It's roomy inside and the seats are better than most others in class. Suspension isn't as tooth loosening as the RAV and Tiguan, and roll isn't too bad for a high car.

I would be much happier if I'd paid the $2k extra for the auto.

Subaru dealers are hard to deal with in Aus, but I managed to get 9% off retail. You'll get 10% off the higher spec ones.