2000 Subaru Forester from North America - All Comments

My 2001 Forester had right rear wheel bearing replaced 1 year and 19,000 miles ago at local Subaru Dealer. The same one is bad again. I really don't want to pay the $ 362.29 to have the dealer replace. I am a pretty good back-yard mechanic, but don't have the so-called special tools to perform this job. I've read several posts about replacing these with Legacy bearings. Has anyone had any success?

Matt

Durham, Maine

2000 Forester. Based upon the other comments on this site, I am the lucky one. My right rear bearing let go at 120,000 miles. Seal went first allowing moisture in and rust to axel. Cost me a new half shaft. Other nagging issue is the check Engine light. This time it's the Knock Sensor. How may sensors on this car anyway?

I bought a 99 Subaru Forester brand new in 99. It now has 83,000 miles on it. Overall it has been a great car. Repairs are however extremely expensive. Speedometer quit working after I took it to my local dealership for work. $300.00 is quit a bit for a small round piece to go in dash. I however will replace it, an continue to love my car because it has been well worth the money and I have not spent any money on repairs to this car in 7 years. (you should buy and extended warranty it did come in handy.) Blown head gasket, timing belt and various electrical problems.

I too, have a 99 forester. In general, I love the car, but... I just replaced both rear wheel bearings for the second time. I had the last one done at the dealership on Friday, due to time issue; he had the part in stock and could perform the repair in a couple of hours. Problem is, the cost was $640.00! for one wheel bearing! The last one was done last month at Sears for $300.00.

I felt ripped off, but I needed the car that for the weekend, etc. I drove 30 miles from the dealer after the repair, and my alternator went out. I had to be towed and can't use the car anyway, as it happened on a Saturday and today it is Sunday and shops are closed...

All in all it has been a great car, but... I drove my old Volvo almost 300,000 miles without ever replacing a wheel bearing!

I have had the same problems with the wheel barrings and alignment as other posters with my 2000 Subaru Forester. I have need the right back barrings changed 3 times in 50,000 (50,000-100,000) miles and the left twice, along with front CV joint and axle and now the right rear axle needs replaced. I would advise staying away from the Forester.

I'm not going to try to defend Subaru here, because I too had a run in with a bad wheel bearing, which I replaced myself (and let me tell you, what a pain it is to replace!). However, I would like to make a couple points -

(1) Frequent bearing failure after the first failure is not a defective wheel bearing, it's a bad dealership. If you drive the car a lot with a bad wheel bearing, it will score the spindle on the hub, or damage the inside of the knuckle. In this case, you have to have the whole assembly replaced, or it will eat bearings like pancakes for breakfast. This is not Subaru's fault, it's the mechanics fault for not replacing the parts that needed replacement, as indicated in the factory repair manual, and possibly your fault for driving around with a bad wheel bearing.

(2) Subaru's are not expensive to fix. The parts are relatively cheap, and the labor is *normally* only 0.8 hours per side using the special tool. HOWEVER, it gets more complicated/expensive if the lateral link bolt is rusted into the knuckle, requiring a lot of hammering, twisting, burning... etc to get it out. Thank your local Department of Transportation for dumping tons of salt on the roads for this one.

No, I don't work for Subaru, and I hate doing stupid repairs as much as everyone else (especially being a poor college student and thus having to do all the labor myself), just wanted to say that it's not the fault of Subaru that repairs aren't done properly.

I have a 1998 Subaru Forester with 52000 miles on it. I have had the car into the dealer four times for a rear wheel scrapping noise. They remove and reinstall the backing plate on the rear wheels and call it an adjustment. The noise then goes away for a few weeks. I asked the mechanic to replace both rear wheel bearings, but he told me that wouldn't correct the problem. He said "they tried that before and it didn't work". He said they called Subaru in regard to the problem, but no one knows how to fix it. I now have a slight high pitched squeal and a sound that sounds like a bad differential. Hums at 50 mph or so. Having been a HVAC mechanic for 38 years I find it hard to believe that no one knows how to fix it! I am going to keep the car and use it for running around town only. I will buy a new Honda Pilot, no more Subaru's for me.

I now have a 2002 subaru forester with 145k miles on it. About a year ago I had the O2 sensors replaced. It cost around 600 dollars, which I guess is expensive, but to put this into perspective I had a Jaguar XJ8 for one year and put over 7000 dollars into it just to keep it on the road. Timing chain, new transmission, realignment, steering column leaking fluid, etc.

Subaru's really arn't that expensive to maintain.

Hi everyone.

My wife has a 1998 Subaru Forester with 95,000 miles. So far this year, I have spent close to $2,000.00 to repair issues with this car. To attempt to resolve an annoying burning oil smell due to oil leaking on the exhaust, I have replaced the valve cover gaskets, plug seals, cam seals, and crank seal. And I'm still getting the burning oil smell!! I suspect it may be the rear main seal now, which I hear is pretty expensive to fix.

Other issues: Rear brakes and rotor are going again, after having been replaced only 2 years ago. That's something I can do. But I've also had to install new front rotors and brake pads recently. Then, the inner right CV joint boot ripped, so I had to replace the whole axle. More issues? Yep, there's more... My "airbag" light has been on for over a year. The problem here is with the clock-spring in the steering column, because both the horn and the cruise control don't work either. Replacing the clock-spring is a VERY expensive job.

Check engine light was on about a year ago. It ended up being the knock sensor, which I easily replaced.

What kills me is that I actually like the Forester (I am not one for Japanese cars, having previously owned a Buick Regal and a Ford Probe, and currently drive a Mercedes-Benz C230), but as for reliability, it is severely lacking. I know some of the above issues are normal maintenance wear-and-tear items, but certain things should not have to be replaced at less than 100K.

A friend of mine has a 2000 Outback wagon with less mileage than me, and his issues include the car hesitating and then surging while stopped at a traffic light, check engine issues, overheating, losing anti-freeze, stalling, and dead CD player. And now, he's taking it in for a blown head gasket, which will run the tune of between $1,200 and $2,000 to replace.

With that said, just due to my constant oil burning problem, I will never consider buying another Subaru again. A baby's diaper can hold oil better than these cars. So much for customer retention. To those of you thinking about buying a Subaru, consider closely your decision, especially after reading all these comments!! All of this can happen to you. Consider this, and then ask yourself...is it worth it?

I have a 2000 Forester with 84K miles. Other than the wheel bearings, I haven't had any unexpected repairs. The first set of rear bearings went at 72K miles. ~ 12K later, though, the familiar "drone" started up again. I brought it back to the dealer and ran into a good technician who provided more info than just the Subaru party line.

Apparently, my year of Forester had ball bearing races for rear bearings. Subaru, and its customers, learned that these wouldn't hold up over the long run. The Legacy received tapered roller bearing races that happen to fit the Forester also. Now, savvy dealerships know to replace the ball bearing races with the Legacy roller bearing races.

But I still had a problem after 12K miles. It was diagnosed to be a bad seal that let water into the race and prematurely killed it (just one side). The dealer replaced it on warranty and the episode didn't cost me a dime more. So, we'll see what happens in a year or so...

My 99 Forester had just passed 100,000 miles when the left rear wheel bearings went bad. The mechanic suggested I have the right replaced soon since he could hear a slight noise. I cannot hear the noise yet, but have to make an 800 mile trip before I can get the car to a mechanic. That's scary - especially since before reading these comments today I had never been told by any mechanic that wheel bearings were a problem with the 99 Forester. Since this problem can lead to a dangerous driving situation, I'm surprised and angered that there are not warnings given by the Subaru Corporation, dealerships or mechanics. Other than this problem and the annoying "hot oil" smell mentioned by another poster, I have been very happy with the vehicle.

I have a 99 Legacy L that has 191,000 miles on it. I purchased it new in 99.

I haven't had much repair work done to the car. I had the O2 sensor replaced twice (which is very expensive) and I know need to have the wheel bearings replaced. This is the first time that I've had to have them replaced.

Subaru's are awesome cars and I would buy another in a minute. I'm very lucky to have purchased it and it has never let me sit.

Also, I have the original battery in the car yet (yes, the battery is over 8 years old) and I live in Pennsylvania and it can be very cold.

I own a 2004 Subaru Forester with only 16,800 miles on it. Until this past May it has been a trouble free car.

In May, while driving slowly my car made a loud banging sound as if I had just driven over a concrete curb, which I had not. The rear wheels appeared to lock and then release. The the car lost power.

I took it to the dealership, but they could find nothing wrong. This same thing happened again, still they could find nothing wrong. It happened again and the dealership replaced the battery. A week later, it happened again, and they replaced the alternator and put in another new battery.

A month or so later, it happened all over again. They kept the car 10 days and could find nothing wrong.

I contacted Subaru International for help and they asked me to resubmit my car for testing at the dealership. I did, and now I am told the power steering pump is locking up when I drive. The alternator and the new power steering pump costs were and are being covered by the dealership since I have brought the car into to them 6 times since May. I am hopeful this will solve the problem.

But I have a question: Is the power steering pump the cause of the problem - could it cause two batteries to drain and an alternator to malfunction, the wheels to squeal as I drive slowly around corners, loss of power and last and worst, the car rear wheels to lock and then jump again into action? I know little about cars and would appreciate anyone who knows or has had problems with a power steering pump to advise me.

I've had a Subaru ever since I've been able to drive. I feel I must try to defend, and if possible, clear up some of the negative things I have been hearing.

All cars need simple maintenance, some more than others. When dealing German- or American-made vehicles of the same year, you will pray that you had a Subaru.

These small problems, like wheel bearings and brakes and rotors, are nothing compared to real problems I've experienced with other cars.

For example, I used to own a 1996 BMW 328. At 120,000 miles it began to overheat. I replaced everything I was told to replace: thermostat, water pump, radiator (which all cost triple the cost of Subaru parts) and still did not solve the problem. It turned out to have a blown head gasket, which in turn cracked the head. (Subaru rarely has cracked heads). Anyone whom knows anything about cars, knows that trying to open a BMW engine and change a head gasket is physically almost impossible. I had to spend almost 2000 dollars on a new engine, then another 1500 to have the engine and tranny pulled out, swapped, then put back in.

Needless to say if this had been a Subaru, my mechanic could have had the engine out, fixed, and put back in about 4 hours for about $600.00, 1/4th the cost of a BMW of the same year. The BMW took about 3 months to complete.

One comment that I read above was about the burning oil smell. This is one legendary trait of Subaru since day one. But it can be caused by many different issues; mainly, the cam and crank seals, or the rear main seal. Have those 2 things checked out first before doing anything else. It could also result from a sloppy oil change.

The best way to avoid the smell (if it still exists) would be to hit the little C button near the A/C control to recirculate the air in the car, so that it will not suck the oil smell in from outside.

The losing antifreeze problem is due to the blown head gasket issue. I have a 1998 Outback Limited with 185,000 miles. I seem to have prevented the head gaskets from fully going. I've come to realize that if you check your fluids every few months (every few weeks during the winter) then you can avoid a blown head gasket, or at least prevent it from blowing for a while. Just make sure you are always topped up with antifreeze; do not leave any room for pressure to build and blow the gasket.

You will hear many reasons, such as new thermostat or fan switch, but 99% of the time it is a blown headgasket. Get it replaced ahead of time if possible, and while doing that have them change the timing belt. Then your Subaru will be indestructible.

From what I've heard, from 1997 to 2003 the Subaru head gaskets were made by GM. Subaru's were lasting so long, without any major repairs being done, that they almost went bankrupt in 1996. So GM got involved and produced a head gasket that will blow at 100k so they will need to be repaired. They also made sure that it was not an easy repair, or a do it yourself type of repair. You physically can't fit your hands in there so you have to take the engine out to replace them which is how the dealership makes their money.

The head gaskets were made to blow at or around 100K on purpose. But you can't blame Subaru for this, because GM made the gaskets.

So far I've heard from many different sources that if you replace your original head gasket with paper turbo gaskets, they will never blow again. Give it a try; can't hurt.

I can honestly say that most Subaru cars really do run forever.

Last, but not least I must state the obvious. You guys keep talking about how frequently your wheel bearings are going bad (and sometimes your shocks). Someone even actually compared it to a Volvo up there. This could all be due to the fact that Subaru cars are 4x4 vehicles and are known to be tough. We tend to take them through that extra snowbank or 2, tend to take on that ICY road that would normally be avoided in a top heavy tank of a Volvo. Being that we put the 4x4 to good use out here in the Northeast, bad wheel bearings should be a common thing due to all the salt on the roadways when 4x4 vehicles are needed. Think about it. Before badmouthing a Subaru, try to remember all the times when you were the only car able to be on the road, other than 4x4 trucks. Try to remember all the times you saw people stuck in ditches, while you were just cruising by. Also try to remember all the people out there spending thousands upon thousands of dollars on parts that would never have to be replaced for as long as you owned your Subaru.

I stand behind my Subaru...

P.S. For the guy who had the check engine problem because of a knock sensor: 60 bucks at your local dealership and a 10mm wrench. This is a 15 minute do-it-yourself job located on the passenger side of the engine, towards the front, right next to the front plug wire. Match it beforehand to be sure.

Good luck and happy driving to all Subaru owners...

I use to work at a Subaru dealer. It is very important to replace all 4 tires at the same time. If you blow a tire, unless you have a spare from the same set, made the same time as the rest of them, you must replace all four. Just matching brands and sizes won't do it. Even if they are a little off, it will be bad news down the road. Not doing so can cause some terrible problems that can be almost impossible to detect, so you keep throwing good money after bad.