1998 Subaru Forester from North America - Comments

Catastrophic engine failure due to blown head gasket ($6,500.00) at 190,000 Km.

Multiple brake rotors replacements, this car is 95% highway driven.

Clock quit working.

Cruise control quit working.

Multiple indicator lights failures (Air conditioning, cruise control, fog lights).

Air conditioning system failure that could not be fixed by dealer, they wanted to change everything, eventually taken to a reliable garage, they found a bad sensor, works like a charm.

Rear window wiper motor burned out.

Starter is about ready to pack it in.

Alternator started to overheat.

New engine oil and coolant levels going down, no sign of any leakage on the engine itself, can only go out through the exhaust system.

I have invested over $11,000.00 in upkeep in the last 5 years.

This car of mine is a typical example of a lemon. I have had no (zero) support from Subaru Canada.

sounds to me like a lack of general maintenance and due care

to do the regular checks on your car !!! as far as the blown head gasket gos IE if its leaking water or getting hot , stop driving the car.

i have seen these cars with over 450000km and still going strong.

I loved my 98 Forester until the head gasket went at 115K miles. I really liked the car so I replaced the engine, clutch, radiator and other critical systems. The engine only had 80k miles so I thought I would have another 80-100K mikes. Well I did not! I started to overheat whenever I drove for over 20 minutes on the highway. It turns out I have a small leak in the head gasket! It appears that this is a very fragile engine. I am obesessed with regular maintenance and the car is cared for with kid gloves so this is not a maintenance issue.

This engine is a Lemon! My mechanic believes it is only a problem in the Subaru cars that have 4 cams the 2 cam engines are OK.

Internet reports from USA indicate that the 2.5-litre version is prone to head gasket failure, especially the 4-cam turbo version. Fortunately for us Brits, the 2.5 was for the North American market only. Threats of a class-action suit forced Subaru to get their act together with a better head gasket. The 2.5 is only just being introduced in the Japanese market, and recently the 3-litre, 6-cylinder engine is being fitted in the Forester. Perhaps that's the answer. At auction in Japan, it's by no means unusual to see a 10-year-old Subaru with 25,000 km on the clock, in fact I got a Legacy Estate GTB like this for some Stg.450. The UK punter will simply not believe a car like this has not been clocked. Course once the UK government took its pound of flesh it was Stg.2,000 plus on the road.