Good review and spot on. I’m into my second Forester, both brought new and they just ‘fit’ me like my favourite jacket. Solid, down to earth vehicles with tons of space and as practical as sliced bread. Not pretty or a fireball on the road but gets the job done. Even better if the turbo was available, hint hint, hope you are reading this Subie.
My partner and my daughter both have Subaru Foresters. Really great cars. I would choose one to travel around Australia. And the Subaru petrol comes with a full spare wheel and tyre. 👍👍👍
I agree this seems to be the ideal car for traveling around Oz. It would be good to have the same infotainment system as the Outback and wireless charging, make it more capable and assist in communicating/charging when out in the open.
Great video - these are great cars - during the covid interstate lockouts we hired one and took it through the Queensland outback on gravel roads and rest dust around Birdsville, Boulia, Quilpie, Winton, Longreach etc from where we live on the Sunshine Coast. It performed very well - a great car that I would highly recommend to anyone considering it.
Mate I really like your reviews. I am a big fan of Tom Baker's reviews and I am glad you follow in the same vein. You review cars from the point of view of a potential buyer not how it meets your expectations and that's excellent.
I was surprised that my 22 Forester had a CD player ...That's why I bought it ...Cheap thrills. A CD player is very hard to find these days ...They are still very popular..
@@M8YM8 sad how comments are automatically taken as facetious aye?! I personally haven't towed a trailer with mine, but a mate uses his 2014 foz on his farm and tows stuff across paddocks. Depending on the model, they can do a few tonnes
The Forester has much going for it. Great visibility, good all wheel drive system, airy roomy cabin. Great family vehicle but externally it's behind the pack design wise and looking dated. Shame we don't get an option of the 2.4lt Turbo in a Sports model.
My MY21 Premium (lower spec than the one tested) does come with Reverse AEB. Also first time owner and first time CVT car and it is no problem, it takes off smartly and has no problems keeping up with the traffic.
I test drove Tuscon, Sportagr, CrV n Forester. After spending just few mins in forester we were sold that this is what we need. Excellent visibility, wellbuilt, commanding driving position, easy to park n assurance of legendary AwD system. We Booked 2.5i-s on Monday, can't wait for late April delivery. Fir $52k on road it offers exceptional value. 😍
Rav4 hybrid is more expensive and offers much weaker AWD. I am not sure these two should be compared directly or at least the price difference should be mentioned.
Got our new Forester August 22 and I find that any negative comments by reviewers are unwarrented - it is by far the finest vehicle I have ever driven. I don't think it's ugly: I think it's one of the best looking vehicles in this class, but hey, I didn't buy it as a show pony anyway. It has PLENTY of power and the handling is absolutely superb. One of my few criticisms is that the accelerator is very sensitive - it's hard to accelerate slowly and maximise fuel efficiency - this car just wants to get up and go 😎 The high tech features don't work very well - lane guidance can't see sometimes obvious lane markings and adaptive cruise leaves it way too late to brake when traffic brakes ahead of it. Speed limiter and emergency braking work very well.
Good review but as usual I take issue with reviews that insist on referring to the "sporty" credentials of an SUV shaped like a brick and mark a car down because they can't throw it round corners. This could explain why some reviewers say they get just over 8 litres/100 and others say they get over 10 litres. If you're going to review cars like this then drive them the way normal people do and leave the sporty reviews to the BRZ.
Hi John what’s your daily driver? I am 6’4 and struggling to find a car which has decent drivers seat to fit me as I have long legs. Due to back issues I am unable to driver my golf (current drive) comfortably. Please suggest which car preferably suv you recommend? Thanks. R
Has a Forester. CVT never again. Liked the vehicle well enough. However, driving at 110km/h on freeway CVT self destructed. Car ground to a halt. Just managed to steer the vehicle of the freeway. Damn near run over by bloody big truck. The vehicle had around 24,000 kilometres on clock. Subaru opted to repair the CVT transmission. Offloaded the vehicle upon being returned. Buyer beware.
@@mig5law I Miguel. I think it was a 2017 model. Not sure. Bought it new. Liked the vehicle. However the total failure of the transmission changed that. As I noted. Nearly cost my wife and I our lives. Further. Customer service left a lot to be desired. Maintenance personnel claimed this had never happened before. However, they would have it repaired. I stated, given the low distance travelled 24,000 kilometres they should replace the entire transmission with a new unit. No way. They would not even offer an extended warranty on the repaired unit. When I finally got the car back, I immediately traded it for a Tuscon with an eight speed automatic. When I had the cheek to ask for an explanation as to the cause of failure they totally disregarded my request. I like the Outback. Unfortunately it has a CVT. Hope this info is useful Regards John
Bought ours when downsizing from Prado and generally happy with it. But doesn't soak up the bumps like the prado, and its lacklustre performance, doesn't make it comfortable for journeys.
You guys down under get a full sized spare. Here up over in Canada the full sized spare only comes in the wilderness edition. We also get the rear heated outboard seats in the rear. Our forester still has less than a 1000 km on it and at 65 mph I’m getting 7.0 to 7.2L/100km. I expect that to improve when the engine is broken in. Good review.
English is my second language. And I suffer from Dyslexia. So some times I make mistakes. Very clever joke though. But what do you think, Was that a dusk player in the dash?
For the price, I think I'd rather the Haval H6 ultra 4wd, more luxury appointments, better camera set ups for reversing a much more up market interior and exterior look and feel. I've always loved Subaru's, but I just don't think they're keeping up, just looking outdated
If you buy it on looks, then I can kind of see your point, but higher up my list of priorities is longevity and how well it will drive in 5,10, who knows, 15 years? Good luck with a Haval, the only history we have on them is the Great Wall of 5-10 years ago, and most of them are either in, or headed for, the junk heap.
I own F 2020 e-boxer. Good visibility, square usable trunk, heated ALL seats and heated steering wheel, leather and excellent AWD for the class. EyeSite works well and cruise assist is decent as well. Not a uber high quality, but the value for money is good. I like it and will likely be buying another one when time comes.
@@odaialzrigat It is a two years old with just above 10k km. So fat no problems. The dealership in Japan helped out when we had bumper "issues" - after my wife hit a lamp in front of the house :) e-boxer is cheap in Japan (same price with taxes as 2.5NA). it is not smooth in the city but good on the motorway. I am happy with it. You can ask more detailed questions if you want to.
I've got a '22 base model. The wife and I absolutely love it and comment as such on a regular basis. We go on holidays in regional areas, and it's smooth, comfortable and on loose surfaces an absolute blast. Because of the shape of the boot, the practicality is far, far greater than its competitors, which I have all lived with. Yes, it's a bit anaemic, but honestly if you're thrashing a family SUV on country roads you're a bloody knob anyway. The safety systems and cruise control you get on the base model is second to none, and as you pointed out fitting the baby seat is an absolute breeze (max 5 mins). The materials of the base model are the same (other than the cloth seats), and as an audio consultant I can confirm that the base speaker system is absolutely fine.
No. Slow. Overly complicated dash. Horrible sounding CVT. And not the plush ride you'd expect. Real real shame. We test drove twice just in case we missed something. But it is priced right..
My Subaru experience; practical design, good size, good ground clearance, the dreaded cvt is not that bad and the AWD is an asset. Unfortunately the suspension components are rubbish; control arm bushings, brake rotors and wheel bearings fail regularly. I am not loving the service and repair costs on this thing with 50000km on it. Not sure I’d buy it again, I’d need to think about it, but over all it’s a good car, I still own it.
Here’s a link to watch our Midsize SUV Megatest, where the Forester placed 3rd: ruclips.net/video/C5252Bu9cGU/видео.html
Good review and spot on. I’m into my second Forester, both brought new and they just ‘fit’ me like my favourite jacket.
Solid, down to earth vehicles with tons of space and as practical as sliced bread. Not pretty or a fireball on the road but gets the job done.
Even better if the turbo was available, hint hint, hope you are reading this Subie.
How would you rate it's long term reliability?
Have had our new Forester for 4 weeks. Your review sums it up nicely. A very pleasant car.
Practical review for a practical vehicle, I got my 2.5i-S yesterday, great feel when driving. feels solid ! Upgraded from a Impreza sedan to Forester
My partner and my daughter both have Subaru Foresters. Really great cars. I would choose one to travel around Australia. And the Subaru petrol comes with a full spare wheel and tyre. 👍👍👍
I agree this seems to be the ideal car for traveling around Oz. It would be good to have the same infotainment system as the Outback and wireless charging, make it more capable and assist in communicating/charging when out in the open.
Great video - these are great cars - during the covid interstate lockouts we hired one and took it through the Queensland outback on gravel roads and rest dust around Birdsville, Boulia, Quilpie, Winton, Longreach etc from where we live on the Sunshine Coast. It performed very well - a great car that I would highly recommend to anyone considering it.
I think Subaru do their testing in the Aussie outback ☺️ and have done so for decades
Mate I really like your reviews. I am a big fan of Tom Baker's reviews and I am glad you follow in the same vein. You review cars from the point of view of a potential buyer not how it meets your expectations and that's excellent.
I was surprised that my 22 Forester had a CD player ...That's why I bought it ...Cheap thrills. A CD player is very hard to find these days ...They are still very popular..
yep was the first thing my wife ask before we ordered one, it must have a cd player.
How old are you?
@@TheDigitalGuerrilla 80 🦣
Very rare, but great!
Love my foz. It beats all other SUVs available in terms of off road capability, I take mine almost anywhere.
Hilarious mate…
@@M8YM8 sad how comments are automatically taken as facetious aye?! I personally haven't towed a trailer with mine, but a mate uses his 2014 foz on his farm and tows stuff across paddocks. Depending on the model, they can do a few tonnes
The Forester has much going for it. Great visibility, good all wheel drive system, airy roomy cabin. Great family vehicle but externally it's behind the pack design wise and looking dated. Shame we don't get an option of the 2.4lt Turbo in a Sports model.
My MY21 Premium (lower spec than the one tested) does come with Reverse AEB. Also first time owner and first time CVT car and it is no problem, it takes off smartly and has no problems keeping up with the traffic.
Perfectly adequate. Hope my Sport arrives soon!
And now for some wishful thinking: Wilderness when? 1.8T/2.4T when?? STI when???
I test drove Tuscon, Sportagr, CrV n Forester. After spending just few mins in forester we were sold that this is what we need. Excellent visibility, wellbuilt, commanding driving position, easy to park n assurance of legendary AwD system. We Booked 2.5i-s on Monday, can't wait for late April delivery. Fir $52k on road it offers exceptional value. 😍
52k 🤨
Rav4 hybrid is more expensive and offers much weaker AWD.
I am not sure these two should be compared directly or at least the price difference should be mentioned.
Enjoyed the video.. Never thought I'd hear someone say it's really important to be able to lie in the car boot with the backseats down lol.
Forester is a great car, but next time if i go Subaru again i would go outback for that Turbo!
love the forester, feels like sitting in my living
Got our new Forester August 22 and I find that any negative comments by reviewers are unwarrented - it is by far the finest vehicle I have ever driven. I don't think it's ugly: I think it's one of the best looking vehicles in this class, but hey, I didn't buy it as a show pony anyway. It has PLENTY of power and the handling is absolutely superb. One of my few criticisms is that the accelerator is very sensitive - it's hard to accelerate slowly and maximise fuel efficiency - this car just wants to get up and go 😎 The high tech features don't work very well - lane guidance can't see sometimes obvious lane markings and adaptive cruise leaves it way too late to brake when traffic brakes ahead of it. Speed limiter and emergency braking work very well.
I like the colour matching shoes with the Chasing Cars logo.
Just a bit disappointed compare to JDM version, Forester 2022/2023 get 1.8L with turbo. Why cannot get in Aussie ?
Great car. Look forward to the next update
Love watching your content keep up the good work!
Purchased ours in April and cannot wait for it to arrive. They originally said August ETA but not so sure...
Me too! I ordered early April and it went from July build to September build. At this rate I’ll be lucky to see it for Christmas!
@@Lawrencegratton we just got ours! Hope yours isn’t too far off
Can’t wait for the turbo
Good review but as usual I take issue with reviews that insist on referring to the "sporty" credentials of an SUV shaped like a brick and mark a car down because they can't throw it round corners.
This could explain why some reviewers say they get just over 8 litres/100 and others say they get over 10 litres.
If you're going to review cars like this then drive them the way normal people do and leave the sporty reviews to the BRZ.
Got one on order ,due in Feb 23
Can you do a full review on every function of this car
Hi John what’s your daily driver? I am 6’4 and struggling to find a car which has decent drivers seat to fit me as I have long legs. Due to back issues I am unable to driver my golf (current drive) comfortably. Please suggest which car preferably suv you recommend? Thanks. R
Is the Tiguan any better for head room?
Needs a turbo.
Needs a manual gearbox.
The BEST family SUV!
Sunroof has no tint, which really limits is use
A prospective purchaser is not going to buy the Forester for its looks, CVT, performance or service agreement costs.
Has a Forester. CVT never again. Liked the vehicle well enough. However, driving at 110km/h on freeway CVT self destructed. Car ground to a halt. Just managed to steer the vehicle of the freeway. Damn near run over by bloody big truck. The vehicle had around 24,000 kilometres on clock. Subaru opted to repair the CVT transmission. Offloaded the vehicle upon being returned.
Buyer beware.
@@theGovanboy what year is your Forester?
@@mig5law I
Miguel. I think it was a 2017 model. Not sure. Bought it new. Liked the vehicle.
However the total failure of the transmission changed that. As I noted. Nearly cost my wife and I our lives.
Further. Customer service left a lot to be desired. Maintenance personnel claimed this had never happened before. However, they would have it repaired.
I stated, given the low distance travelled 24,000 kilometres they should replace the entire transmission with a new unit. No way. They would not even offer an extended warranty on the repaired unit.
When I finally got the car back, I immediately traded it for a Tuscon with an eight speed automatic.
When I had the cheek to ask for an explanation as to the cause of failure they totally disregarded my request.
I like the Outback. Unfortunately it has a CVT.
Hope this info is useful
Regards
John
I love camping in my Forester👍
Being a bike rider, I appreciate the vision through all that glass✌️
Love this car
Bought ours when downsizing from Prado and generally happy with it. But doesn't soak up the bumps like the prado, and its lacklustre performance, doesn't make it comfortable for journeys.
Super easy vehicle to step into and exit...they just need a better exterior design, will wait for the next model
Probably won't be to much different to this one.
You guys down under get a full sized spare. Here up over in Canada the full sized spare only comes in the wilderness edition. We also get the rear heated outboard seats in the rear. Our forester still has less than a 1000 km on it and at 65 mph I’m getting 7.0 to 7.2L/100km. I expect that to improve when the engine is broken in. Good review.
Well here in the states we dont get as many trim levels as ya'll canucks. I like the crosstrek outdoor, but no such trim exists in the states
Big country needs a full sized spare, i live in rural Oz and wouldn't have a car out here with out one.
Don't have one of these but love it all the same
Is that a Dusk player in the dash?
Are you a Kiwi? A dusk player in the dush
English is my second language. And I suffer from Dyslexia. So some times I make mistakes. Very clever joke though. But what do you think, Was that a dusk player in the dash?
@@aussielegend8576 Yes that is indeed a disc payer
For the price, I think I'd rather the Haval H6 ultra 4wd, more luxury appointments, better camera set ups for reversing a much more up market interior and exterior look and feel. I've always loved Subaru's, but I just don't think they're keeping up, just looking outdated
Subaru is stuck in 2013 at best
If you buy it on looks, then I can kind of see your point, but higher up my list of priorities is longevity and how well it will drive in 5,10, who knows, 15 years? Good luck with a Haval, the only history we have on them is the Great Wall of 5-10 years ago, and most of them are either in, or headed for, the junk heap.
@@joebloggs830 not many people keep cars for 10 to 15 years
@@daweigo6851
Oh well, in that case, buy Japanese or Korean or Chinese... personally I have European car and keep it many decades
@@daweigo6851 Then resale becomes even more important.
I own F 2020 e-boxer.
Good visibility, square usable trunk, heated ALL seats and heated steering wheel, leather and excellent AWD for the class.
EyeSite works well and cruise assist is decent as well.
Not a uber high quality, but the value for money is good.
I like it and will likely be buying another one when time comes.
How would you rate it's reliability?
@@odaialzrigat
It is a two years old with just above 10k km.
So fat no problems. The dealership in Japan helped out when we had bumper "issues" - after my wife hit a lamp in front of the house :)
e-boxer is cheap in Japan (same price with taxes as 2.5NA). it is not smooth in the city but good on the motorway.
I am happy with it.
You can ask more detailed questions if you want to.
Love my 2020! Except your steering wheel is on the wrong side! :)
Who wants third best?
Someone who can’t afford the first and second best.
Third best based on his opinion. Well i trash the car he recommends
I've got a '22 base model. The wife and I absolutely love it and comment as such on a regular basis.
We go on holidays in regional areas, and it's smooth, comfortable and on loose surfaces an absolute blast. Because of the shape of the boot, the practicality is far, far greater than its competitors, which I have all lived with.
Yes, it's a bit anaemic, but honestly if you're thrashing a family SUV on country roads you're a bloody knob anyway.
The safety systems and cruise control you get on the base model is second to none, and as you pointed out fitting the baby seat is an absolute breeze (max 5 mins).
The materials of the base model are the same (other than the cloth seats), and as an audio consultant I can confirm that the base speaker system is absolutely fine.
Subaru have fantastic AWD. Love driving our 2021 Outback touring on dirt roads and on the highway.
Are you british?
The one and only letdown in Subaru cars are NA engines + CVT gearbox.......🤮🤮🤮
Yeh but it's expensive for wat it is.
This updated design looks ugly compared to the pre-refreshed design.
Subarus have just plainly become less aesthetically attractive over the last 10 years. Practicality or not I could never drive one sorry.
Yawn. Used to be an interesting car - now super boring
No. Slow. Overly complicated dash. Horrible sounding CVT. And not the plush ride you'd expect. Real real shame. We test drove twice just in case we missed something. But it is priced right..
Oil consumption, inferior interior qualities, wheel bearing problems, head gasket issues. This is what Subaru is to me.
My prior BRZ and our 2021 Outback have none of those issues whatsoever.
They haven’t had any of those issues for at least 15 years
None of that in my 2014 Foz
Living under a rock?
My Subaru experience; practical design, good size, good ground clearance, the dreaded cvt is not that bad and the AWD is an asset.
Unfortunately the suspension components are rubbish; control arm bushings, brake rotors and wheel bearings fail regularly. I am not loving the service and repair costs on this thing with 50000km on it.
Not sure I’d buy it again, I’d need to think about it, but over all it’s a good car, I still own it.
Never heard of such issues anywhere on internet. Maybe you got a bad unit
Is. this the world's most average, overdesigned, and overrated car?
BORING AND OUTDATED. BAD TRANSMISSIONS
They do make ugly cars
Just as ugly as the RAV4...
At least the Toyota's fuel economy is extremely good...however, that is if you can get your hands on one..