2001 Subaru Forester S review from North America

Rear wheel bearings have failed 2X's at an expense of $1000.00. Once at 39,000 miles again at 100,000 miles.

Catalytic converter went bad at 79,000 miles. Took 8 weeks to get the part at the dealership. This tells me that the factory must be having a hard time keeping up with demand.

The check engine light comes on monthly. Keep getting same code--misfire on cylinder 3. Dealer finds no problems after 4 service calls and charges $50 per reset. I bought by my own code reset tool at $100 in order to reset the check engine lite that literally comes on every 500-1500 miles. Always the same misfire code registers.

Cheap plastic interior parts that are not child proof. cup holders lasted a week with my children.

The transmission is jerky. If you ever drove the electric bumper cars at an amusement park you know what I mean. Mechanic states it is not normal, but can find nothing wrong.

$400 tune ups at the dealership to basically replace spark plugs and filters. Best to learn how to do this yourself or find a trustworthy honest mechanic. By the way I did not pay for the $400 tune up even when they had it on special for $250.

Small back seat area. This I believe was improved with the 2002 models.

We have been a 2 car Subaru family for the past 20 years. I also have a 96 legacy with less problems, but still a lemon. Starting in the mid 90's (Paul Hogan era) the quality of Subaru's have degraded to where I cannot justify the expense to buy any more of these vehicles. Subaru's have now become a status symbol in my area, but the quality of Subaru's are now horrible.

Subaru's do do great in the snow, but with global warming and less snow in my area--We are switching over to Toyota's. Never had issues with Toyota. I actually traded in a Corolla for the Forester. Worst decision I could have made in hindsight.

I wash my hands of Subaru and leave it to those with more money an less sense.