2001 Subaru Forester S from North America - Comments

We've got a 1999 Forester L. It's got 111K on it. Since 80K we have replaced:

Front axles

Head gasket

Left rear wheel bearing

Left rear drive axle

Passenger door handle

Front and rear wiper boxes

Knock sensor

O2 sensor

(and the CEL came on again today, so probably the catalytic converter now)

Clock stopped working 30K ago!

Clutch (we had the dreaded clutch shudder from the beginning but Subaru claimed this was normal.)

Im sure I'm missing something. Anyone want to buy it--almost completely new! Never will buy a Subaru again!

Subaru must be in a fantasy and to think that the 2001 Forester is not flawed. I have replaced two catalytic covertors, some leaky gaskets, and a clock. My sister has a Ford. When you replace a Ford part its gaurenteed a lifetime wakeup Subaru or everyone will be drivign a Ford and not a Forester.

Bought a 2001 Forester 6 months ago for my wife to drive. We live in Ontario and were attracted by the AWD and the apparent good reputation of Subaru products. The vehicle had 101,000 kms on it when purchased. Since then I have had to replace the head gasket ($1200), the rear wheel bearing ($400) and 2 days ago I had to replace the O2 sensor ($375). Not 24 hours off the lot the infamous check engine light came on again. I have a 1996 Toyota Camry with 310,000 kms that is running just fine. Before that I had a 2000 Camry that went to 395,000 kms and 14 years before we parted ways. I now plan to get the check engine light turned off and then dump this pile of junk for another Camry.

We bought a 2001 Subaru Forester brand new. It now has roughly 140,000 miles on it. We've had almost every problem mentioned in this list; CV joint passenger side, head gasket leakage (causing overheating), too many wheel bearings to keep track of (although when they were replaced with Legacy bearings the trouble seems to have ceased), and the check engine light has been on forever and ever.

We would trade it in for another vehicle except for the fact that:

1. It's paid for

2. It's very good in the snow

3. In the summer time we get around 30 mpg

Now, we're in a quandary because to pass safety inspection, the check engine light problem must be fixed. The last time we had the Subaru people reset it, the guide asked us how the car was behaving. When we said, "fine", he said then don't worry about the check engine light. Unfortunately, that won't help with the current state inspection. I would like to get 200,000 miles. Has anyone every successfully solved the "check-engine" problem (other than disconnecting the wire to the light)?

The catalytic converter and wheel bearing problems do not seem unique to Foresters. I owned a 1993 Subaru Impreza wagon that made it to 220,000 with no major problems and decided to stick with another Subaru. I replaced it with a 2002 Subaru Impreza Outback wagon and the catalytic converter went bad at 74,000 miles. Thank goodness it was still under warranty at the time so I did not incur any charges. Now at 152,000 (and in the same week) the infamous PO420 check engine code came on and the rear passenger wheel bearing went bad. I had the wheel bearing replaced at the Subaru dealer for a cost of $500, but they wanted $1700 for a new catalytic converter and oxygen sensors. They charged me $189 (a rip-off) to tell me it was the PO420 code… I already knew that from AutoZone’s free service. A car should not require a new catalytic converter every 70,000 to 80,000 miles. I’m going to try to replace the converter and sensors myself for a cost of about $500. I agree that Subaru may be relying on their name rather than their product. I will consider other brands for my next vehicle.

I own a 2003 Subaru Forester. I bought it 2 years ago with 40,000 miles on it.

Now 2 years later at 77,000 miles, it started with a coolant leak that looked like it was coming from the head gasket. My husband put some stop leak in, but it started to overheat. We replaced the head gaskets, and noticed that the water pump was leaking; replaced that, and also the thermostat and timing belt. Put everything back together, and my husband, who is a mechanic, started the car up, drove it a short distance, and it starting overheating again.

Now we are thinking it's the radiator. My husband is going to do a test on that first. I have read so many other posts from other people having the same problems, but no one says what they did to fix it. I just want it fixed, and to get rid of this car.I have had a lot of cars, and never had this much trouble or expense with them.

I own a 2000 Subaru Forester and have experienced MANY of the problems the previous writers have mentioned. I even put a new engine in it 3 years ago when the car sprung an oil leak for no apparent reason... and might I add that while the check engine light rarely goes off, the oil light never once came on after the car dumped all of the oil out!!

The service guys at Subaru, who I know very well now, claim that all of the "quirks" have been worked out of the Foresters now, but I am trading in the beast for a Honda, and will NEVER own a Subaru again! What a piece of crap.

2001 Subaru Forester purchased with 159,000 miles. It had been traded in at the Subaru dealer with blown head gaskets. Clock was not working. I purchased it after a local dealer purchased it and had the head gaskets replaced for $1,200. To pass state inspection he also had to replace a CV boot, the windshield, and left rear bearing. The two rear tires had to be replaced. Once he did all that I paid him $4,500. It's an S model with the panoramic sunroof. If I get a year out of it I will be happy. The car handles and drives pretty much like new. The car had a service history at the local Subaru dealer and all the maintenance was up to date. I put 3,000 miles on it this month and I'm happy. I had a Subaru Outback wagon previously and I drove it 24,000 miles in one year and sold it for what I paid. I had the clock re soldered for $26.50. Other than that I didn't expect much for what I paid, but it was clean and looked good inside and out. When I hit 200,000 I will sell it to a local college student.

Bought a 2002 Forester L Automatic with 110k 3 months ago. Have put 10k on the vehicle, now has 120k.

Drives and handles great.

CEL has been on for entire 3 months, but I have completely ignored it - car runs fine, plugs look good, and get about 27 mpg on the highway, so don't see any need to go on a replace-a-sensor hunt.

Wife drove 25 miles on the freeway with the emergency brake pulled up, so took it in for a brake job. Rear drum brakes replaced, at least in part due to the 25 miles at highway speed with the emergency brake on. The pads and rotors on the front needed replacement too. Mechanic said front pads were not original, but rotors looked original, and were bad, so pads had been replaced before by previous owner; mechanic thought rotors were not turned on first replacement and/or pads not installed correctly, so now rotors and pads needed replacement.

Have one front strut with a leak, will replace the front struts soon before winter freezes the strut oil. One rear strut has some rust...could go bad sooner rather than later.

So far, not too bad for a 6 yr old used car with 120k: a couple of oil changes, a brake job, and one leaking strut and another strut a suspect - not too abnormal for a car of this age.

Have had similar issues at 120k with Camrys and Accords (excluding the CEL). I will continue to ignore the CEL unless engine starts running rough, etc. And I now have my ear tuned for wheel bearing grinding that's to this forum (have not heard an issue so far). It looks like many more 2001 posts here than 2002, so am hoping at least some of the bugs went away in 2002. Good luck out there.

We are the original owners of a 2000 S Forester, with 80,000 miles on almost all original equipment.

Because of issues with the AWD system, by spec all tires must be within 0.25" in circumference, or all need to be replaced. We've replaced 5 sets of tires (we are on Tire Rack's preferred customer list).

Our clock went out at 30,000 miles.

The rubber door seals began to leak at about 30,000 miles, and the wind noise in the cabin is bad enough that on long trips we use strips of painters tape to seal between the window and the door to stop the howl.

We had an O2 sensor replaced twice, once under a recall, at 11,000 miles, and again at our cost at 43,000 miles.

Passenger side CV boots needed replacement at 40,000 miles and again at 62,000 miles. (It seems the problem is the location of the boot, next to the hot catalytic converter.)

The clutch was replaced at 63,000 with non-OEM parts, and the stutter that everyone experiences with the OEM disappeared.

Brakes made it to 69,000 miles.

Clutch master cylinder pooped out at 70,000 miles.

The CEL lit-up at 75,000 miles and indicated a bad catalytic converter. Our local mechanic thought it was a false reading and reset it. The CEL went on again at 80,250 miles and we took it to the dealer, and were informed that the CC was indeed bad, and had we brought it in when the light went on the first time, it would have been replaced under warranty, but now we were out of warranty by 250 miles. We decided it was cheaper to ignore the CRL (we put a post-it note over the warning light with the message "don't worry be happy") and amazingly the light went off when we moved from Texas to California (diff in gas?).

Now the A/C clutch is seizing up. Whenever the A/C comes on, it makes a bang loud enough to scare pedestrians.

What else... Maybe it's from reading these posts, but I'm now beginning to hear a buzz in the rear wheel bearings.

The A/C cuts out every now and again. The A/C light on the push button went out at about 40,000 miles.

The DC accessory plug in the rear compartment is dead.

The seat heaters went out at about 20,000 miles.

Now the CEL is back on and we suspect it's the CC, and of course, this happened two days before our scheduled smog check. Since the last oil change it's beginning to burn oil (about a quart every 5000 miles).

The car is fun to drive; it's underpowered, but responsive. It carries a surprising amount of camping gear. That said, I will NEVER EVER buy another Subaru.