2001 Subaru Forester S from North America - Comments

The forester 2001 problems:

Computer sensor recall.

Mushy breaks.

Lots of noise.

Gas cap lid will not close,

dash board storage lib broken.

Clutch shudder.

Shifting grind.

Low power for passing.

Seats uncomfortable.

Front Windshield vulnerable to stones (replaced 2 time in 2 years)

back seats a joke for room.

Difficulty starting below -5c.

General quality problems and design problems - for example you need to look away from the road to activate cruise control.

This is our second subaru - we bought an outback in 2000. The quality of the car was so poor it spent 36 day in for servicing the first year. Subaru service and support was so poor we eventually took Subaru to arbitration.

We take good care of our cars and there has been no off pavement driving.

They replaced it with a forester. The

forester is unpleasant to drive and unreliable. Subaru service is criminal.

Subaru did not change anything about the listed problems. I bought a 2002 Forester, I am having to replace the front windshield only after 4 months (I live in Montana).

I love the way the car handles, but I agree, Subaru service is criminal. The extended warranty, as I have discovered, covers very little.

After having to deal with unpleasant Subaru representatives, I doubt I will buy another Subaru. After all, there are a lot of other cars out there that handle well and have better customer service! Subaru does not appear to understand that belittling customers is not a good way to make them come back.

Handles great in snow with snow tires. Best handling car in heavy rain -doesn't hydroplane. But the car lacks overall refinement and doesn't age well. Rear wheel bearings were replaced at 45,000 miles and now at 61,000 miles, the engine or tranny makes loud grinding noise at start up and during acceleration. Steering wheel vibrates above 65 mph. Would only recommend low mileage vehicles and don't expect good customer service at the repair dept.

I bought my 2001 Forester almost 2 years ago and have had to fix a rear wheel bearing at a cost of almost $400.00. That repair was done a year after I had the car. Now almost two years later I'm getting that same noise and suspect that it's another wheel bearing going out. The car now has around 87,000 miles. I've owned lots of cars and have never had any problems with my wheel bearings going out. The service manager said it's fairly common on the Foresters. Why don't they fix the problem if it's so "common"?

Other than mickey mouse problems to deal with, I really like the car. It wouldn't take much effort on the part of Subaru to upgrade a few things and make it an outstanding car.

My '01 Forester S has been an overall decent car to drive, but very expensive to maintain. I have seen several problems reported by other commenters on this & other sites:

--Clutch shudder: Although I've driven manual-transmission cars almost exclusively for over 20 years, our Forester S had this problem within the first year we owned it. I blamed myself & thought it must be touchy & that I just needed to learn how it master it better, when in fact (as I learned too late), it was a faulty clutch. It went out at 58K miles, which is WAY early. (Non-warranty item, Subaru insisted; apparently, clutch failure at 58K is something Subaru considers to be within parameters of "normal" performance for its cars.) Cost me $1000 to get clutch replaced at dealer.

--Check-engine light: Has been on almost constantly since we bought the car new. They did a recall-replacement within the first year, but that didn't solve the problem for more than a week or so. Now, at 81K, my Sub. dealer tells me it means I need a new catalytic converter. (So does this mean my converter has been bad from the start? Subaru sure hasn't done a recall on converters.) However, my emissions tests have been fine, and my mileage is same (22mpg on avg.) as when car was new, in mostly city driving, so it's not bad & not getting worse. From some comments I've seen on other boards, seems the problem might not be the converter (which the Sub. dealership wants to charge me $1200 to replace), but possibly an exhaust-gasket that needs replacing. Anyway, I'm not trusting this dealership to replace my cat. converter, but instead, I'm going to check with a non-affiliated mechanic re: the exhaust gasket.

--Wheel bearing failure: I'm getting bearings on one wheel replaced at 81K miles, at cost of about $400, but from what I've seen about other Subaru owners' experiences with wheel bearings on various boards, I almost feel fortunate that it did not fail earlier than this.

If this were the early 1980s, I'd have been happy for this kind of performance, and to have a car that lasted 6 years & didn't rust out & still ran well. But it's a quarter-century later, and I feel that Subaru must be coasting on its reputation a bit; and after having an excellent experience with a '91 Nissan Sentra that needed no major repairs except a clutch in 127K miles (before I had to sell it prior to an overseas deployment), I feel that I'd be foolish not to look at other manufacturers who may be more competitive on maintenance & upkeep costs & who may be more willing than Subaru has been to acknowledge defects & stand behind their products without passing the costs on to their customers. //

I have a 2001 Subaru Forester S and have had many problems which almost all relate to the emissions system. I've had to put $4,500 into repairs, all before 100,000 miles. The check engine light is on very often. We've had the knock sensor replaced, front oxygen sensor replaced, catalytic converter replaced, oil pressure switch replaced, the battery replaced, rear dif seal replaced, serpentine, alternator, and p/s belts replaced and well as the front and rear brake pads and rotors replaced. I am extremely frustrated and searching the Internet to find out if these problems, especially the emissions problems are common in Subaru Foresters. Also, we to have Clutch Shudder. I would like to know of other consumer comment websites. Thanks.

It's a love-hate relationship with our 2001 Forester S. It's always been good & fun to drive, but...

Wheel bearing, 50k (warranty)

failed transmission control master unit, 59k (warranty)

blown head gasket, 70k ($1500)

O2 sensors & catalytic converter, 82k ($1200)

Leaking front axle, 82k ($350)

There is a plague of check engine lights. Now it's come on for the knock sensor. My 92 Honda w/160k has never had a CEL come on in anger. Will never buy Subaru again.

I love my Subaru Forrester, but now its got 93000 miles and it needs a new catalytic converter, I just replaced the knock sensor last year. Based on other comments there does seem to be a design flaw in the emissions.

This is the first real complaint I have with this car. I drive it off-road, have been around the US, and spend time with it parked in LA traffic.

It has never failed me.

I would definitely say that dealership service, the one time I used it to replace a leaking radiator under warranty, is terrible. They fixed the car, but tortured me to do it.

I hope Subaru can fix these emission and service flaws, I'd like to get another one in the future.

I own a 2000 Subaru Forester and both rear wheel bearings failed before 50,000 miles. There is a service bulletin about Forester wheel bearings. Subaru service representatives are aware of it as well as the fact that they are to replace the Forester bearings with Legacy bearings, which are not prone to failure. To their credit, Subaru of America agreed to pay for the repair of both bearings even though my car was out of warranty when both failures occurred. Nonetheless, I am aware that many other owners not as persistent as myself paid for bearing replacements themselves and Subaru dealerships quietly took their money. It is obviously cheaper for Subaru to deal with this issue on a car by car basis than to issue a recall, which it is clear they should do.

My son bought a 2001 Impreza 2.5RS. Lost his job and I took up payments at 53K miles. He NEVER drove it like he was at an autocross and at that time 5th gear syncro was going bad. That was fixed by dealer at no cost (still covered). At 90K an O2 sensor went bad and the engine would run at an idle or at wide open throttle. Try coming through Atlanta at rush hour like that. Left rear wheel bearing is now bad. I'll fix that myself and fix the rest of my impending problems with a FOR SALE sign. But it has been a fun hunk of junk to drive... and expensive to fix. The guy at a junk yard saw it parked outside and asked if it was mine. When I said yes he looked at me and smiled, then said "Be kind to your transmission." I think he knew something that I didn't...at that time. Now I know what he meant.

I bought a 2006 Subaru Forrester in March and although it is a joy to drive it smells like fish. Apparently I am not alone with this situation. Does anyone have any suggestions to get rid of this penetrating smell?

In May of 2005 I traded an '01 VW Jetta (my third in my life) for a used 2001 Subaru Forester S. So far I adore it. It's been great on gas mileage, fun to drive and (knock on wood) has not given me any major problems. During the cold winter months, some of the electrical components did not work, such as the clock and some interior lights; but this problem resolved itself when the warm weather returned. I commute on two-lane, country highways, and during snowy winter days my Subi stopped on a dime, which is terrific. But I am concerned because my mechanic recently told me that there seems to be a common problem in '98 through '01 Foresters, when they hit about 90K miles, with the block of the fourth cylinder cracking. Apparently this is a $5000 repair. Has anyone had this problem with their Forester?

I have a 2001 Subaru Forester and have had much the same problems everyone else has reported and more.

Initial Sale. Salesmen come off as shysters and con artists. Pushing scotch guard, extended warranty and offering deals they later recant. I was offered a free remote lock for example if I accepted a blue Forester instead of the Green one I wanted. When we went to close the deal, I get told, “my manager says we cannot do that because it is already on a special”…..sigh….I tell myself color is not that important and live with a car color I with which I am not happy.

Wheel bearings have been replaced 3 times. Once under warranty and twice paid by me. As previously mentioned, I also have never had wheel bearings go out. I am 59 years old and have had numerous cars in my life.

CEL (Check Engine Light) goes on every other service call. It has been simple things like gas cannot secured properly (presumably by me) to more expensive things like O2 sensors—twice. Same one and of course past warranty.

And now the latest is that one dealer reports Code for catalytic converter; I decline to repair and code is reset. CEL comes on again and new dealer states it is O2 sensor again NOT Catalytic converter. To Subaru’s credit, after hearing my story, their HQ is going to reimburse me for the sensor. They say that anyway.

Clutch. Went out at 90,000 past warranty of course. $1000. When replaced, the dealer failed to implement a TSB (Tech Service Bulletin) for a slave cylinder and failed to lubricate the shaft. Clutch sticks and does not return. After talking to Subaru HQ, another dealer has repaired the problem (s) at cost of about $700 more. Subaru HQ says they will reimburse for TSB ($170) ; I have to absorb the major expense for the failure to lubricate. I am arguing my case now and debating taking legal action.

Distance of dealers. I have two homes and travel a lot. In Rhode Island, I have to drive 45 miles to get service. In Florida, 75 miles. In Alabama 75 miles. Very inconvenient.

There is much I like about the Forester and there is a small chance that if I get satisfaction from Subaru HQ, I will get another. If Subaru HQ does the right thing, I might be able to live with these problems. I really want to be one of those customers who drives his Forester 300,000 miles with few problems.

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We will see.

OK Folks.

I am in the UK and have a '98 Forester. Had 2 Sub's before with no real problems (both legacy's )

So far we have done 60,000 miles (remember our land is smaller than yours and gas costs 3 times as much!).

15,000 new discs.

30k new rear left wheel bearing.

35k failed annual test due to bad wheel bearing, same one.

Bearing and housing replaced ($700).

40k discs warped again.

50k trailing arms had to be replaced due to cracks.

55k discs again.

58k rear left bearing again.

59k right rear bearing going, plus diff'?

Thinking about a Honda!!

PS never buy a Land Rover!

We have a 2002 Forrester which I like except for having to replace the clutch for a second time! It only has about 33,000 miles on it. I guess the clutch goes out every 20,000 miles or less. There is not a recall as of yet. I now suspect that this is going to continually happen. I guess after it is repaired this time I'm going to sell it.

Kenny

Chicago, Il.