2007 Subaru Forester CX 2.0 from UK and Ireland

Summary:

Good-looking and great to drive

Faults:

I bought this car to replace my previous Forester, which throughout my five years of ownership was totally perfect in all respects.

The new car was registered by Subaru and converted to run on LPG by them, it then stood for about 12 months in their compound.

The car looks beautiful, and with only 300 miles is as new.

I was advised to run it on petrol for the first 1000 miles to run it in, which I did. On switching to gas I discovered a serious misfire and engine shuddering, this is so bad that it's embarrassing as the car bucks and jumps.

The dealer test-drove it and agreed it was far from satisfactory and called in Subaru engineers.

The outcome of this is that it needs two new cylinder heads, valves and camshafts - some modification to the combustion chambers is required for it to run properly on LPG.

The work will be done within the next few weeks, I have every reason to suppose that this will cure the problem, both the marque and the dealer are top-notch in my experience.

When running on petrol the misfire is noticeable but nowhere near as bad.

General Comments:

The car looks fantastic in Newport blue and has all the boys toys.

The engine has been uprated from my previous one, and the gain in performance is very noticeable.

Love the car and I'm confident Subaru and the dealer will sort it out.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 8th April, 2009

8th Apr 2009, 10:08

You should reject the vehicle. As described it's unfit for purpose.

11th May 2009, 06:59

The dealer in Leeds has now carried out the work on replacing the cylinder heads etc. I now have the car back and can honestly say it is a delight to drive. I did 200 miles in two days running on LPG, cruising at 70 MPH for most of that time. The car never missed a beat and returned unexpectedly good gas consumption results. I am now very happy with this car and expect it to be trouble-free for the rest of the time I own it, just like the last one.

2007 Subaru Forester X 4 cylinder from North America

Summary:

Great in snow, good MPG, very firm seats

Faults:

Car was a rental. Purchased it with 7000K miles.

The head gasket was leaking oil. Also one wheel bearing was chirping. The dealership repaired all under warranty.

Since then no problems.

General Comments:

For a 4 cyl this thing is peppy. It gets about 24 around town and 29 on highway trips on regular fuel.

My only complaint is that the seats are too firm for a long trip. After a couple of hours they are downright uncomfortable.

I would definitely recommend for an around town daily driver, especially in areas with snow. AWD works great.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 5th September, 2008

2007 Subaru Forester 2.5 X premium 4 cyc from North America

Summary:

Wonderful, except for the drivers seat

Faults:

The drivers seat is horrible and hurts me. The dealer has not been helpful at all. Otherwise, it is a wonderful car.

General Comments:

Takes the local dirt roads like a champ!

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 28th March, 2007

29th Mar 2007, 14:57

I know what you mean about the driver's seat. However, I recently discovered that it appears that seat has an air bag inside so one has to inflate the seat a bit to make it more comfortable. Also, there is a lumbar support handle just about the center console that can be adjusted. I turned mine completely off and added more air to front of the seat. It is now much more comfortable for me.

9th Jul 2007, 21:14

I love my '07 Forester Sport, but hate the hill holder... I just can't get used to it.

20th Nov 2007, 14:08

RE: to previous post.

I've read that the wheel bearing fail because the dealers install them without properly repacking grease. The part comes packed with what may seem to be the proper lubricant. However, the material is not meant for driving. It is meant for part preservation only. Your repetitive problem with the bearing leads me to believe that the dealership improperly installed the part. Incompetence in service can destroy any product. Good luck.

About the author: I had a rear pass.-side bearing failure on my 01 Forester. At that time the car had 135,000 miles.

20th May 2008, 09:03

We have a 2007 with manual trans - overall great car for Colorado. We all must remember this is on the cheap side of cars now!!!

We're getting 28MPG average in all types of driving.

"Hill Holder" works well, but is a bit difficult to get use too in other level driving, I think it holds back car in 1 st gear?

Cruise control is not as good as it should be and does not control down hill speeds at all.

Front floor mats fell apart and replaced by warranty.

Oil change cover is WORTHLESS and cheap.

Transmission shop tells me to dump the car before 75,000 miles and issues and costs on a Subaru Transmission?