2015 Subaru Forester consumer reviews

Leased new in 2015. Trans blew 2016. Bought off lease in 2018. Motor dead at 68k. Total xxx. Love is xx. This car is an aluminum tin can. Block is a coke can. Good luck.

Bought certified used one owner from Subaru Dealer January 2020, 46,000 miles. First Subaru, bought Dealer Warrantee 4 years 48,000 miles. Two months after purchase: Turbo failed, replaced ($3,000). Rear Springs failed, replaced. One year later: Transmission failed, replaced. Engine loses power when hot (100+ degrees). Turbo cuts in and out. This is normal for the XT in hot conditions says the dealer service. Solution they say is to de carbon engine $500, and still has that problem, but at least it doesn't knock now. Premium fuel has always been used. Senior driver, so the car is driven gently. Spark plugs replaced 58,000 miles ($450). All bushings in suspension fail, car wanders and vibrates, all are replaced ($900). Transmission #2 fails, replaced with #3 July 2022. The exhaust manifold cracks at the same time, must be replaced, $2,000. All brakes replaced, $742. Driver interior door lock handle breaks off, $217. A/C fails, $162. Today, at 81,000 that transmission is leaking, so back to shop. Maybe #4 is forthcoming. These trannies cost $11,000 installed each. Thank god I bought the warranty. There is more repair $$$ than I paid for the car!

Too many issues, biggest of which were transmission and now engine. Transmission issue was repaired while in warranty. A year later issue shows again, car has just passed 100k, Subaru dealership refused to honor and told me to repair out of pocket. Car was stalling. Bye bye 4k. Excessive oil use, took to dealership 4 times for diagnostics and finally was told I have a crack in short block of engine. Latest big issue, ignition key plate has warm out and key keeps getting stuck in ignition and won’t come out, so vehicle is on contact. I am beyond disappointed with Subaru and how they didn’t stay behind their product!!!

Bought this car three years old with less than 50K miles on it. I’ve loved it since we got it. It has been very reliable, fun to drive, with pretty minor drawbacks. For example the maintenance has been very minimal. I haven’t noticed ANY oil burning or leaking (I have personally changed the oil every 3-4K miles). Sometimes on long trips it will burn some oil and need a top off, which the car alerts us to. Overall I’d buy this car over and over as long as it fit my needs at the time. Currently looking into an Ascent for future hockey trips and other trips.

I have been a longtime Subaru Legacy owner yet bought a 2015 forester recently for the extra room in the back. I have the basic model and am continually disappointed in the performance of this car. I have never had issues driving up my dirt road in my legacy’s yet the forester has proven to be lackluster especially in winter when my legacy’s would plow through anything this forester fails. The front end seems like it’s riding up while the back end pushes forward. It’s as if I don’t have AWD. Wish I could sell and get another Legacy!!

I bought this 2015 subaru forester brand new. Since the beginning the engine oil was running low after 3 months. I took the car for warranty and the dealership said is fix. 3 months later the same problem persists. Took it again to the dealership explaining the last service. They said "no problem we got it". 3 months after the service, the same problem keeps happening until today. UNTIL THIS DAY I deal with the same problem.

I bought this car new and kept it maintained. But by the time I got rid of it nearly eight years later, with 84k miles, it had faded paint (the cat was red), and needed the following significant( and expensive) repairs: two front wheel bearings, two air conditioners, a rear lift gate motor and an entire rack and pinion replacement. I liked the way the car drove and looked and it’s functionality, but this is not what I expected from a reliability standpoint. My first Subaru, and my last.

The 2015 Forester Limited was bought used with ~45,000 miles on it. As a former Subaru owner from the 1990s, I had enjoyed the reliability and relatively low ownership cost and was interested in trying the brand again. Since ownership, only local and highway driving, no offroad. The rough terrain experience is some downtown potholes. The car isn't very comfortable as far as seat quality. It is, however, fairly roomy, and with a short driver (5'2"), a person over 6 feet tall can sit in the seat behind fairly comfortably. The storage in the back hatch area is sizable and well proportioned. The lift gate is positioned and sized to act quite nicely as a rain shield - you can stand up almost full height at ~6ft 2" under the raised lift gate. You hear the road noise. It is not a quiet ride. The car has terrible acceleration. But then, it wasn't ever meant to be a performance ride. Just don't pull out in front of the semi when merging onto the interstate, ease off the gas and slip in behind him instead. Also, the CVT could fail at any time and without warning (trust me, i know), and you'll come to a complete stop quickly. Some costs of ownership having had the car for an additional 100,000 miles. Bearings on all four wheels replaced by 60,000 miles. Engine started to consume oil (1 Qt every 2,000-2,200 miles). Every time took in to dealer for oil change (3,000 miles) had to buy 1-2 quarts of oil to take home with us. Front bushings discovered split and replaced at 70,000 miles. CVT valve body/solenoids replaced at 115,000 miles. CVT drive chain broken at 140,000 miles (this is a $8,000 replacement cost). The upshot is if you like to keep your cars, plan on some very large bills coming due from the 80,000 to 150,000 mile mark. Is it worth it to keep a car to this many miles nowadays if you have the means to replace? Probably not. If you know you have to keep a car for this many miles - here's hoping you paid cash and didn't finance, or you may find yourself upside down with repair bills soon.

I bought this car in 2014...best car I ever owned. Have only replaced tires and am about to replace brakes. Now my husband wants one too.

It drive fine. Until I took a trip with it. The engine blew up. The warranty will not honor anything. They don't know what caused the problem. The mechanic took it all apart. It's stuck in florida at a shop. I can't afford to get it fixed. Now I have to try to get a company to tow it to tenn where I live. . Still paying on it. I lost so much money on it. And I bought the extended warranty on it.nothing