Subaru Forester Problems

The whistling sound could be coming from some weird combination of acoustics within the muffler as it rots from within and begins to change shape internally. But more likely, what you’re hearing is the sound of a dying turbocharger bearing. Generally, these should be almost silent, but as they wear, they get louder and louder. The turbocharger sits inside the exhaust system, which is why you can hear it through the tailpipe.

Left to its own devices the bearing will eventually collapse, taking the turbocharger impeller/turbine with it. The bigger danger is that some of the small fragments of metal from the bearing will be free to enter the intake side of the turbocharger where they will be travel through the engine causing all kinds of destruction. That’s possibly what will happen if you ignore it.

Thanks for getting in touch with us. Our first thought was for you to consider a Mazda 6 wagon from Japan, since it is one of the few new wagons left on offer within your price range, is economical and reliable, a pleasure to drive and low enough (at 1480mm) for your garage situation. But it doesn't quite meet all your requirements in that it hasn't much ground clearance (at just 125mm) and back-seat legroom isn't great. It's worth remembering that the 6 wagon is 80mm shorter in wheelbase - the distance between the front and rear wheels - than the corresponding sedan version. It's a bit tight in there.

Alternatively, you might want to consider the just-discontinued Holden ZB Commodore wagon or Ford Mondeo wagon, as both offer substantially more rear-seat legroom than the Mazda 6 wagon, as well as the choice of a turbo-petrol or turbo-diesel engines. These are European-sourced models (Germany and Spain respectively), with big boots and towing-friendly torquey engines. However, again, low ground clearances might be an issue here as well.

So, our advice is to measure your garage roof and see if either of the medium SUVs listed below can fit, because if they do, then these would be the absolutely ideal vehicles for your need.

The better of the two, for its overall quiet refinement, all-weather all-wheel-drive grip and excellent all-round vision is the Subaru Forester from Japan. It ticks all your boxes in terms of needs and suitability, while providing heaps of ground clearance at 220mm. Plus it offers excellent standard safety kit, economy, reliability and resale, as well as decent performance. Just know that it stands 1730mm tall. If that fits, then find yourself a demo at $35,000 and enjoy one of the best family-car buys at any price available today.

Then there our second favourite, the wildly-popular Toyota RAV4, also from Japan. Much of what we said about the Forester applies here too, except it is front-wheel drive rather than AWD at your price point. There is a RAV AWD but it is a hybrid AWD system that takes the price into the mid-$40,000 region, so that's out of contention. The base RAV4 2WD also has a smaller engine (at 2.0-litres) than the Subaru, but it is equally response and agile. Where the RAV4 eclipses the Forester from your perspective is height – it is shorter at 1685mm high, while still allowing 195mm ground clearance.

Both Japanese SUVs are huge inside, with loads of space to boot. If their height doesn't end up being a problem, then know that either will provide many years of faultless, reliable, economical and enjoyable service. Good luck, we hope this helps. 

We'd recommend the Nissan T32 X-Trail Series II from mid-2017-onwards and Subaru S4 Forester (2013-2018), since they both make strong secondhand buys due to their reliability, economy, ease of operation, spacious interiors, practicality and strong resale values.

The reason why we'd buy the 2017-onwards X-Trail Series II is because it standardises Autonomous Emergency Braking (AEB). With the Forester, you'll need to skip the lower grades 2.0i-L (manual-only) and 2.5i-L (auto only) for the S and XT for that important safety technology Subaru calls 'EyeSight'. 

The X-Trail comes in front-wheel drive (2WD) or all-wheel drive (AWD) configurations, but the Forester is AWD-only. All automatics are of the continuous variable transmission (CVT) variety, which priorities fuel economy but can make the engine drone under hard acceleration. Subaru calls its CVT Lineartronic while Nissan dubs its version X-Tronic.

Our recommendation is to check the service and maintenance history of any car you buy, to ensure every interval has been met and carried out by a proper dealer or brand specialist. This is especially important with the Forester, as it is a slightly more complicated vehicle mechanically. Note that all Subarus of this generation require six-monthly service intervals, not 12-monthly ones like the Nissan, which might be an inconvenience. 

We'd steer clear of ex-rentals as they tend to have a very hard life (both models were popular with such agencies), though they're almost always the base X-Trail ST and Forester 2.5i-L grades that end up as rental fodder.

If you're thinking about diesel engined versions, the X-Trail in middle-range TL and up-spec TS guises switched from the earlier (2014-2017) Series 1's 1.6-litre turbo-diesel to a much more powerful and effective 2.0-litre unit, so that's worth remembering. In the Forester the 2.0D equates to the mid-level petrol models in terms of equipment levels.

Finally, we recommend a mechanical check-up to see that your potential used-buy has not been subjected to punishing off-road treatment. While both the Forester and X-Trail offer good ground clearances, they're not for off-road use, only light gravel, snow or trail driving.

We hope this helps. Good luck. 

Without being able to scan the car from here, this sounds like a classic case of a body computer that is suffering a slow death. This computer is the one that links all the car’s major functions, including those ones you’ve listed as being on the blink. Random failures of these systems all at once point to the computer itself rather than the systems themselves.

Hooking the car up to a scanner at a workshop will tell you a lot more about what’s going on as the mechanic should be able to read the fault codes and make a diagnosis from there. The alternative cause is a poor earth somewhere in the car or a dodgy battery that is playing hell with the computer’s power source. Modern cars will not tolerate a poor power supply or earthing problems.

While the Mitsubishi Outlander is spacious, reliable and easy to drive, our experience testing it against rival medium SUVs have found it to be noisy and a little too firm riding to be truly comfortable and relaxing. At your price point, there are better alternatives out there. 

Have you considered a Mazda CX-5? In petrol or diesel, we have found it to be a superior and more economical proposition, and is definitely quieter and more refined. Plus, the Mazda's all-wheel-drive system is more sophisticated and better at dealing with loose surfaces like sand.

A late-model (post 2014) S5-series Subaru Forester 2.5i petrol is far more economical than the earlier iterations, since it switched to a more efficient CVT continuously variable transmission. And there's also the 2.0D turbo-diesel which is economical. This, too, is a fine SUV on-road or for light off-road driving.

Finally, the Nissan X-Trail diesel is a roomy and capable choice, especially from 2017, when it received a 2.0-litre turbo-diesel to replace the older 1.6L unit.

A Subaru Forester engine oil change is a great way to start to learn about DIY maintenance and save yourself some money by performing an oil change service at home. Precisely how to change oil on a Subaru Forester is far from a trade secret and essentially involves removing the old oil, fitting a replacement oil filter of the right type and size and then replenishing the engine oil. Okay, it’s not quite that simple, and you need to take into account disposing of the old oil as well as learning the correct tightening specifications for the sump plug and filter. But this is a job that the typical mechanic at a service centre would tackle every day and earn their bread and butter income from. And that’s money you can save at home. Bear in mind, though, that this is not the only maintenance job a Forester requires, but it’s the most common one.

The other issue is knowing when to tackle your Subaru Forester oil change as well as how often to change oil as time and kilometres go by. Waiting for the maintenance light to appear on the dashboard can leave things too long, and you’re much better off learning the correct service interval. This information will be listed in the owner’s manual.

The best Subaru Forester oil type is the one recommended by the manufacturer, and in that case, the petrol and diesel versions of the Forester need a 5W40 and a diesel-specific 5W30 respectively. That applies for cars made from 2008 to 2012 and includes the new 2.5-litre petrol engine introduced with a facelift in very late 2010. The same grade of oil is also specified for the engines fitted to 2013 and 2014 models, while a 5W30 is also the correct oil for the revised diesel engine introduced in 2015 which continued through 2016 and beyond to the end of that model in 2018. Foresters with petrol engines have a 4.8 litre oil capacity, while the diesel engines require almost six litres of oil, so make sure you buy enough as well as a little for top ups in the future.

You should also fit the correct Subaru oil filter when ever you change the engine oil and, for the majority of petrol engined Foresters from this era, the proper filter is a Ryco (or equivalent) Z436, while the turbo-diesel engine requires a Ryco Z148A. Any spare parts store should be able to provide these filters and confirm the correct fitment.

It sounds like you don't really need a big, heavy and expensive 4WD for the type of vehicle you require. Maybe ample ground clearance would be an advantage, but otherwise, as all the driving is on sealed or some dirt roads, a good front-drive (2WD) medium-sized SUV should suffice. This type of vehicle is typically more stable at speed as there isn't a high centre of gravity to contend with - a big safety plus. And while all-wheel-drive might be useful driving out of ruts, on sand or in snow, if none of the these apply, the 2WD's stability and traction control system ought to be enough. 

As a result, we recommend the latest-model (from May 2019-onwards) Toyota RAV4 GX or GXL. It is an exceptionally practical, roomy and robust SUV, with a high level of standard safety features, and big comfy seating. Its 2.0-litre engine is strong, smooth and economical. And you won't have a problem finding somewhere for it to be serviced.

If AWD is deemed essential, then the base Subaru Forester 2.5i is another great choice. Lots of ground clearance, a gutsy 2.5L engine and a soft, relaxing ride. Nowadays Subaru has increased its service intervals from six to 12 months, taking away one of the hassles of running these well-engineered Japanese SUVs.

Finally, the Mazda CX-5 AWD is recommended as well, for it too has a well-sorted AWD system. This is quite a sporty number, with plenty of higher-speed power for effortless overtaking, as well as responsive handling. 

All three SUVs mentioned retail at well under $40,000, and all are enjoyable, capable and reliable choices.

A: If the reason the battery is going flat has anything to do with a fault within the rest of the car, then yes, I would imagine the problem – and the subsequent battery replacement if the battery is damaged – would be a warranty issue. The body computer in modern cars can do curious things with the electrical systems and accessories fitted, and that can sometimes result in a flat battery.

Subaru is not the only brand with this problem, but flat batteries caused by it are definitely not the sort of statutory wear and tear issues that normally exclude a battery from any warranty claims. It would be the same with tyres, brakes and clutches. Normally, when these components wear out its deemed normal wear and tear and is not covered by the car’s warranty. But if a tyre, clutch or braking system fails because of a manufacturing or materials fault, then the new-car warranty should cover it.

The experience over the decades has been that the more you do to make a car secure, the more damage the bad guys will do to it in the name of gaining access. Making the door locks harder to remove will lead to the crooks using a bigger screwdriver to pop the locks out, or simply lead them to smash a window if they really want to get inside. When cars were easy to steal without the key, many did, in fact, disappear overnight. But now the coded ignition key is required, many car thefts now begin with an aggravated burglary so the thieves can get hold of that key, terrorising the owners in the process. It's a sad truth, but a truth nonetheless.

The best advice is to park the car somewhere secure or at least under a light source (a street light can make all the difference). And, of course, never leave anything you value inside the car. That's not always easy, but, again, it's a fact of life.

Disassemble the engine of the popular SUV, and you might find either a Subaru Forester timing belt or chain driving the valve-gear of the four-cylinder boxer. That’s because the Forester has been with us long enough to have spanned two distinct generations of Subaru engines, the first with a timing belt, the second with a timing chain set-up.

Going back all the way to 1997 when the Forester was launched here, the vehicle used Subaru’s EJ series of engines. That meant they were fitted with a rubber timing belt. That continued right through to the new model in 2008, but for the facelift of that third-gen Forester in 2011, Subaru introduced the FB series of engines, and those were fitted with a timing chain. Simply, then, a 1997 to 2011 Forester will have a timing belt, while any of the fourth-gen Foresters (from 2013 or later) will have a timing chain. And for a brief period from 2011 to 2012, the Forester was fitted with either a timing belt or a timing chain depending on which engine was fitted. The other exception is the turbo-diesel Forester which launched in 2008 and used a timing chain rather than a rubber belt.

Subaru’s factory recommendation for timing belt replacement is every 100,000km for Foresters built from 1997 to 2006, and 125,000km for post-06 models. You also need to change the tensioners at this point as these are the most common culprits for timing-belt failures. Budget on spending the thick end of $1000 for this work. The good news is that, unlike the majority of cars out there, the trade reckons you only need to replace the water pump every second timing-belt change. That’s a remarkable vote of confidence in the basic engine’s durability.

Meantime, the task of the timing chain or timing belt is exactly the same: They take drive from the engine’s crankshaft to the camshaft and, in the process, keep all the moving parts in harmony. Many car makers moved away from a timing chain to the rubber, toothed drive belt as a way of simplifying engine design and driving down the cost of each engine. The rubber timing belt is also quieter in its operation and is also less prone to stretching (as a timing chain can) so the camshaft (commonly referred to as the cam) stays in perfect synch with the rest of the engine’s rotating parts. The rubber belt is a simpler design because it doesn’t need to be tensioned via oil pressure from the engine as many timing chain systems are.

The timing chain, meanwhile, is preferred by some manufacturers because it should last the lifetime of the engine and never need replacement. This isn’t always the case, however, and some engines designs from a variety of manufacturers suffer problems in this regard. But, in a properly maintained engine of sound design, the timing chain should never need attention, while the rubber timing belt generally requires periodic replacement.