Subaru Forester Problems

Try a Toyota RAV4, Mazda CX-5, Kia Sportage, or Subaru Forester. Any of them would be good choices.

To start you need to have the filter cleaned out by what it called a manual regeneration. It’s not a warranty issue. Take it to a Subaru dealer and get a quote from them. The reason the light has come on is that the car hasn’t been driven in a way that ensures the regeneration takes place automatically. It could be because of the way you drive it, or the way previous owners have driven it. When you talk to the Subaru dealer about regenerating the filter also ask about the way to drive it so the regeneration happens automatically.

It’s possibly worn out and in need of replacing.

Switching the transmission and ECU clearly hasn’t fixed the problem, so look at sensors in the system, the wiring harness, and connections. I would suggest you take it to a Subaru dealer or an auto transmission and have them check it for you.

There sounds like an issue with the cruise control rather than the engine. It could be a computer or sensor malfunction. Have a mechanic check it.

As the car is running normally, with no other signs of a problem it’s most likely to be condensation in the exhaust system. If so it’s nothing to worry about. Changing the fuel won’t make any difference.

You actually bought both in one go, John. In much the same way as the American car industry used to do, Subaru actually releases their cars by model year or MY code generally in the August or September of the previous year. So you have a 2017-spec Forester which was built in 2016.

This is a classic case of the dangers of researching through websites you don’t know and can’t trust. The 1500-pound limit is probably from a North American website and since different markets sometimes have very different vehicle specifications (even though they’re sold under the same badge) taking such info at face value is a risky business.

Many websites simply have no idea of the facts of a particular matter, so it’s important to stick with sites like this one with a proper policy on accuracy and one that employs proper motoring journalists rather than operating as a fan site.

Meantime, here are the facts on towing limits for a Subaru Forester: The 2017 Forester can tow a braked trailer up to 1500kg in weight for all models that use the petrol engine (either 2.0 or 2.5 litres) and require standard ULP. The diesel Forester and versions that use the higher-grade two-litre petrol (which required Premium ULP) can tow 1800kg. That didn’t change for the 2018 model-year, so no reduction in towing capacity exists between the two years.

It’s possible that something has thrown an error code curve-ball at the car, Luke. It’s quite possible that a re-set of the ECU (and you can try it at home by disconnecting the battery for half-an-hour or so and then reconnecting it) will switch the warning lights off and return things to normal.

The other alternative is to take the car to a Subaru dealership and have the car scanned to see what fault codes get thrown up. It doesn’t take a huge fault to bring on these symptoms and I’ve even heard of a car driven with a loose fuel cap causing an almost identical problem.

It’s not possible to say how many km is too many, as there are a number of things that can affect engine life. It can be the way it has been driven, if it has been thrashed, if it has towed, etc., but the most important thing is servicing. Any vehicle you consider buying should come with a record of regular servicing by an experienced mechanic who would use a good quality oil. Try to find a car with around 150,000 km, which should give you 150,000-200,000 km of reliable motoring.