1999 Subaru Forester S from North America - Comments

Continuous problem on the engine. Got 2 major services done to repair leaks, including oil and coolant leaks. Same leak at the same spot keep happening after 2 replacements of gaskets.

Good car with nice features and performance, but lousy reliability. May be just bad luck. But on NHTSA site there are a few similar compliants from other Forester owners as well.

I have had my 1998 Forester since it had 55,000 miles and had to replace my crank seal at 68,000 miles.

At least I was able to change the timing belt while in they were in there. Will save me a visit in the near future when it would have broke unexpectedly. I highly recommend having it changed if you have the opportunity after you hit 60,000 miles.

While these cars have many satisfied owners, they seem to have a serious lemon problem. Subaru of America (SOA) will also do anything it wants and let the owner play David and Goliath to get them to honor their responsibilities. This is a good brand of cars to avoid, regardless of their ratings.

Our 1999 subaru forester has had numerous problems. Wheel bearings had to be replaced at 20,000 and then twice more in a short period of time--many trips to dealer as they kept replacing with the same faulty bearings! Now, at 68,000 mile and 4 years we need head gaskets to the tune of $1,200.00!

1999 Subaru Forester. At 40,000 miles needed new transmission (under warranty thank god). At 45,000 miles needs new speedometer (still does). And now at 96,000 miles it blew a head gasket. Problem car not worth the money. Consumer reports should read this page as there reports differ greatly.

My Subaru Forester (Automatic) had a catastrophic transmission failure at 75,000 miles and a cracked coil at 70,000 miles. $5500 of repairs in all and I am a very gentle driver. Dealer could not tell me why this would happen.

My 1999 Subaru Forester S had a cracked head and a damaged piston at 53,000 miles. The dealer repaired and replaced the engine and now at 66,000 miles. the car was towed back to the dealer because of engine problems. They think it might be a blown head gasket, but won't know until they open it up to take a look. I'm definitely disappointed in the reliability of this vehicle. I know two other people who have had head gaskets replaced twice so far on their vehicles. If the 1999 year was so problematic, why wasn't a recall issued? A defect in manufacture should be their responsibility.

I consider myself lucky I guess, my 1999 forester has been a very dependable car except for the wheel bearings.

Been replaced 4 times now since new.I'll hang on to the car as long as I can, but I'm through with subaru because lack of satisfaction when contacted about wheel bearings.