2006 Subaru Forester XS 2.5 boxer from Australia and New Zealand

Summary:

A fantastic SUV

Faults:

Nothing has gone wrong besides the dog deciding it is a good idea to chew the door panel; the problem is that the car is a tan interior.

General Comments:

The Forester XS is fantastic, stunning to look at, powerful, has that gorgeous boxer rumble, and overall is a reliable car to have as a first car or a family car.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 21st November, 2016

2006 Subaru Forester X 2.5L EJ253 SOHC H-4 from North America

Summary:

Excellent car

Faults:

Not much has gone wrong, other than the power steering rack sprang a leak a month ago. The dealership I purchased it used at replaced it under the extended warranty.

Other than that, no complaints.

General Comments:

Excellent car. 21 MPG average, and 24 if I never rev past 3000 RPM. It's quite comfortable, and seems to have decent power.

I do have a few minor complaints about it.

1. Electronic throttle. There's a slight delay (less than a second) from when you press the accelerator pedal to when the engine starts to rev.

2. Rattles. There is a heat shield that rattles all the time, as well as some of the rear cargo area trim, and the front passenger side door trim.

Other than that, I love the car.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 27th August, 2012

2006 Subaru Forester 2.5 from Australia and New Zealand

Summary:

Any modern car with head gaskets leaks before 200000 km KM is seriously poorly engineered

Faults:

Head gasket leaks at 95000 km service. Treated by the service agent as though this is a normal occurrence. Apparently this is a common failing of the 2.5 litre boxer. This is a seriously deficient design for a modern motor, and a brand of vehicle that is touted as reliable and well engineered. Head leaks have been a problem since the 2.5 litre was introduced around 2000. This is a poor response by the manufacturer. Obviously the market has not taken them to task over it and moved away in droves.

This is my last Subaru, despite the fact that they are designing a new engine.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? No

Review Date: 4th October, 2010

8th Apr 2016, 03:13

Lighten up a bit. The H-G issue just isn't all that serious.

I've had Six... 6... Subarus and all except the SVX have needed a head gasket job. Once done... none have ever had the problem reappear. 4 of them are now have over 275,000 miles... each(!).

After one learns how to do a HG job... after the first head gasket job... it soon turns into only a five hour job total time(!). And a grand total of about $325... including machining each head.

My point... The fact that Subarus actually stay fixed... To me anyway... this is the real issue.

Once fixed, they do in fact stay fixed.

Heck: $325 and five hours of time doesn't seem to me all that big a problem to get 100% subsequent reliability. To me it's a fair deal.

So all in all... Subarus do indeed earn their reputation of high reliability. Notwithstanding the head gasket issue. All things considered, it just isn't all that serious.

In reply to 8th Apr 2016, 03:13

28th Feb 2017, 15:01

Congrats on the fact that you can replace a head gasket on 5 of your Subaru's. Shame not every one can - and if someone can't, they're up for approx $1,400+ from Subaru in labour alone. Subaru in Australia then charge over $300 for the head gasket replacement. But they don't replace the head gaskets with 'good ones', they still use the same inferior gaskets that sprung the leak in the first place!

The design since 2000 has left much to be desired for these cars. They are poorly manufactured and have multiple issues which have NEVER been addressed. Honestly, the cars are a piece of junk.

4th Mar 2017, 12:45

The Subaru company had recent quality issues with the 2010+ Impreza for example. CVT failing at higher mileage, manual clutch failing repeatedly at low miles, engines consuming oil. Read the Subaru forums. Despite a solid following, Subaru seems to have quality issues these days.