Used 2013 Subaru Forester Consumer Reviews
Used Forester for sale
Oil Guzzling piece of junk! BUYER BEWARE!!!
Disgruntled Subaru owner, 08/26/2019
2013 Subaru Forester 2.5X Premium PZEV 4dr SUV AWD (2.5L 4cyl 5M)
10 of 10 people found this review helpful
I bought this vehicle with 72,000 miles on it from a Subaru dealership and this thing went through oil from day one! At first I thought it was because Wal-Mart didn't put enough oil in it on my 1st oil change. Half way through my 2nd oil change I noticed that I was over a quart low! The further into the oil change you get the more oil it consumes!! Beware if you get around 3,000 miles on the oil change. My wife drives 120 miles round trip to work. I topped the oil off before she left and had to add a quart the next day. I had to get the oil changed the next day at only 3,000 miles when you should be able to go 5,000 with full synthetic. Unfortunately we had 105,000 miles on it when we found out that this was a fairly common issue on this year Forester, but Subaru would only do something about the problem up to 100,000 miles. I jumped through hoops with the Subaru dealership and Subaru customer service and they won't help me at all even though they know that this is one of the oil consuming vehicles and I had nothing to do with the issue. I actually always changed my full synthetic oil on my other vehicles between 3,500 and 4,000 miles because I don't like going the whole 5,000 miles. I need to do it every 2,000 miles on this Forester because I may run out of oil otherwise. I have owned a 2003 & 2004 for my wife and I and they never went through any oil. This was actually the most I have ever spent on a vehicle and it is the worst vehicle that I have ever owned. If Subaru would have stepped up and done anything to try and help out my situation I would have given Subaru another chance. Since they left me out in the cold I am done with Subaru and will never own another one. They actually lost 2 customers because my wife and I both used to drive Subarus. BUYER BEWARE!!!
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Seized at 140,000
VERY UNHAPPY OWNER, 02/10/2021
2013 Subaru Forester 2.5X Touring PZEV 4dr SUV AWD (2.5L 4cyl 4A)
6 of 6 people found this review helpful
BEWARE... we've owned this car since new for 8 years. On the 1st day after the extended warranty for oil consumption all the oil leaked out on the highway and the engine seized. NO warning lights came on, just a loud knocking noise. The repair bill estimate is for plus $13,000. SUBARU dealers recorded the excess oil consumption but did nothing to follow up. The car is now worth $0 Exceedingly disappointed...
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2013 Subaru Forester for sale near you
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- 2.5X Premium PZEV 4dr SUVMSRP: $7,179108 mi away
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- 2.5X Limited PZEV 4dr SUVMSRP: $9,995406 mi away
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Avoid This Year and Model
CEHULL, 09/23/2020
2013 Subaru Forester 2.5X Touring PZEV 4dr SUV AWD (2.5L 4cyl 4A)
6 of 6 people found this review helpful
I had a Honda CRV for 12 years with 230k miles and it was a great car until about 160k. Saw this great condition, very low mileage 2013 Forester with at book price and thought I had found a great find. I was wrong. The transmission is clumsy at best and it makes a horrible around town car for that reason. The lack of armrest and the interior is poorly designed with the biggest thing having the rearview mirror right in my line of sight so I have to duct down to see things. Subaru paid for a new engine after it failed the Oil Consumption Test which made me happy but so far I've replaced two struts, two ball joints, a wheel bearing, two calipers, a ball joint, a muffler, straight pipe, heating control cable, PCV valve, and all four brake disk oh and a headlamp. It still needs two struts, two calipers, and three bearings. And it's not CHEAP fixing a 2013 Forester. This is my first Subaru and I regret every mile I've driven in it. I had such high hopes.
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Foresters belong in the forest!
K Redding, 07/04/2016
updated 07/26/2021
2013 Subaru Forester 2.5X PZEV 4dr SUV AWD (2.5L 4cyl 4A)
10 of 12 people found this review helpful
I needed to access unimproved property and have mostly logging roads. I own a two wheel drive truck but it uses a lot of gas and some of the roads are impassable if it is wet. I bought the Subaru Forester mainly on the reputation of their all-wheel-drive. I have not been disappointed. It is very sure-footed and has a great turning radius, important off road. It is not fancy inside, I put in seat covers to protect the cloth seats. It does have more scheduled maintenance than a normal car, mainly the two differentials that have the oil changed every 30k. Not expensive to do so, but the tires have to be the same diameter due to the AWD. That means if you blow a tire after 20-30k miles, you will more than likely have to replace the whole set. The engine pulls strongly, I pull my small boat easily. I replaced the radio head unit, the stock one is weak and a new one is not very expensive, plus I have a backup camera now. If I lived in snow country, owning a Subaru would be a no-brainer. : Now with 76k miles I still really like my Forester. Spark plugs required replacing at the recommended 60k miles. Not a DIY job, I paid $500 to have it done. Still really like the AWD system. It is for real and not pretend. UPDATE: At 75k miles the rear drivetrain started roaring. After further investigating, the drivers side wheel bearing was bad. Difficult to change, but it stopped the noise and no noise coming from the other side. This was a $450 repair.
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2013 Subaru XT Touring Review
Tom, 09/02/2017
updated 02/18/2025
2013 Subaru Forester 2.5XT Touring 4dr SUV AWD (2.5L 4cyl Turbo 4A)
4 of 4 people found this review helpful
Written 2-15-2025 - Still love it. In 2024 I had my 60K service done at Subaru (at 65K). I replaced the original tires with the same tires that came with it which I thought was amazing. Still getting free oil changes. Just turned 70K. I wish I could add a picture of it with my new roof tent; everyone thinks it's pretty cool. 7 years without a car payment and it runs and looks brand new. Very happy with it but I won't let anyone but Subaru touch it with the exception of stuff like a trailer hitch (U-Haul), batteries and wiper blades Written 7-13-2018 - It's paid off and I still love my 2013 Forester XT. At 60K and 80+ MPH the MPG is almost 25. It is my favorite car in terms of speed, handling, capacity and reliability. It's functionable and fun. I highly recommend but please note it is not for sale so please don't ask. Written 9-1-2017 - At almost 48K in mileage, the only faults observed is gas mileage and two recalls. The recalls were taken care of quickly while getting my free synthetic oil changes for life from the dealer. Subaru owns up to their mistakes (recalls) which is why this is my third Subaru. Gas mileage is about 21 MPG on average which is only twice the mileage I get from my 24' Class C Winnebago. On a good note, the 2.5L XT Turbo Touring model can go from 0 - 60 MPH in about 6 seconds and can carry a 42" inch TV, half king size bed pieces, lazy-boy recliner, etc. The XT is very Subaru like in that it handles extremely well in snow. You can full throttle the XT in snow / ice and it behaves well and will accelerate faster than anything I've ever seen on the road including Jeeps, Hummers and other 4 wheel / all wheel vehicles. The XT has the same engine as the WRX but less HP which is computer controlled. I was told by a Subaru STI owner I could get another 60 HP with a computer chip replacement but it seems like the engineers at Subaru know what they are doing and I really don't need to go quicker or faster. All three of my Subaru's have been rock solid. I heard my dealer no longer offers new car buyers free oil changes for life probably because of people like me keeping their cars too long but I want to give them an "attaboy" because their service department always gets me in and out quickly for free oil changes - I highly recommend Subaru of Kings Auto mall in Cincinnati and I'm writing this on my own accord.
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