Used 2019 Subaru Forester Consumer Reviews
Used Forester for sale
Mechanical Issues under 5K for 2019 Forester Sport
Christopher H, 10/07/2019
2019 Subaru Forester Sport 4dr SUV AWD (2.5L 4cyl CVT)
46 of 48 people found this review helpful
Bought new 12/31/2018. The car developed an odd "chug" or "jerk" around 1,000 - 1,200 RPM's with the CVT transmission. Took the car to Subaru and I was told there was no fault code so everything was operating normally. Took the Forester Sport in for it's first oil change and found the CVT transmission was failing and most likely had been since day one. Had the CVT transmission replaced. Mere days later the same "chug/jerk" developed and we were told this was "normal" operation for this model. Became a pissing match between two different Subaru service departments regarding if the transmission even needed to be replaced. Subaru of America wouldn't do anything about it because they felt that the operation was normal. Funny really because the last Subaru technician that helped us said to NEVER buy the first year of a new platform for Subaru. Do yourself a favor and buy an Outback. Gave up on the fight and we had two-Outbacks as loaners with the amount of time we had our Forester in the shop. The Outback drove light years better and is more comfortable. We bought a 2019 Outback and took a bath on owning our lemon Forester for eight-months. Will never buy a new model year again and was really disappointed with how Subaru of America handled the situation. Didn't have time to wait for the 3rd CVT transmission to fail since this is my wife's car and I wasn't willing to leave her stranded on I5 with a infant. Don't lose money like I did. Two failed CVT transmissions under 8K miles.
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Excellent choice, but misses on a few things
AS_in_DC, 04/04/2019
2019 Subaru Forester Touring 4dr SUV AWD (2.5L 4cyl CVT)
57 of 60 people found this review helpful
I really like this SUV. I waited over a year to get the 2019, once I found out the range of improvements expected over 2018s. It was worth it, but after 6 months of driving I have a list of (minor) improvements to suggest. I know some of them will seem unnecessary, but as an owner of Audis, BMWs, and Lexus over the 35 years of my owning cars, it would be nice for the Forester Touring to have some relatively low cost convenience upgrades to match their SUVs. More on that later. PROS: feel very safe and secure in vehicle, great visibility, I like the driver monitoring, comfortable in front and back, accel and engine noise are adequate for 95% of situations, generally a good suite of safety electronics/systems. CONS: stop/start can be rough and annoying, gas mileage has been POOR (under 20 mpg) but for heavy city stop and go driving, infotainment system can be spotty and Apple Carplay can be fussy, noticing a few minor squeaks on low mileage. SUGGESTED IMPROVEMENTS: relative to Audis, a few easy improvements would make the driver experience better - have 4 doors with opening sensors, not 2. Have overhead 360 camera for parking in tight spaces. Have a front sensor/camera suite for low speed/parking - not just in back. I had these in 2013 Audi, should be easy adds for 2019 Forester Touring. Lower trims may not need, but Touring customers will compare to the Q5/X5 and they have these features. Minor picks, and I really am happy with my choice overall. Hence the 5 star, not lower. NOTE: the trunk issue is real, but super easy to fix - hold the open button on the trunk for ~10 seconds and it resets. Don't go to a dealer, waste of time and money. RTFM.
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2019 Subaru Forester for sale near you
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- Premium 4dr SUVMSRP: $20,375In-stock online
- Premium 4dr SUVMSRP: $16,990In-stock online
- Touring 4dr SUVMSRP: $26,998In-stock online
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Great Safety Features, A Few Poor Design Decisons
Andy B, 08/31/2019
updated 09/07/2023
2019 Subaru Forester Touring 4dr SUV AWD (2.5L 4cyl CVT)
30 of 31 people found this review helpful
This is our 3rd Forester. My wife drives a 2016 Forester. I chose this one for its size, its myriad of safety features, its upright seating position, its great window visibility, its cargo space, and its tried and true AWD. Our Foresters have always been sufficiently peppy for us (except for climbing mountain peaks) and so I have no complaints about the Forester being underpowered, and the gas mileage is quite good. I also have no complaints about its handling. I do not mind the Auto Stop feature and never bother turning it off, but my wife thinks it makes stopping and starting too herky-jerky. The safety features all work great, and I especially like the new backup warning system. The navigation system is also improved over the 2016 model, although it still has some quirkiness--and updating maps from the quirky Harman Kardon site is a royal pain. I do love the Subaru phone app with the Starlink remote services. And Subaru FINALLY offers a power passenger seat, which is great for me when my wife is doing the driving. My wife likes the dual temperature control. The heated steering wheel is GREAT for my arthritic hands in the winter and one of my favorite features. We never use the panoramic moonroof and wish it was an option for this model. I have now driven the car about 17,000 miles. Overall, I enjoy driving this car very much, but there are a few design flaws and defects to be aware of: a) The power tailgate is very erratic and often gives me the dreaded 3 beeps and refuses to open with either the dash button or the key fob, which apparently is a fairly common problem. Have to force it to open using the rear button--as described in the mind-boggling, poorly written owners manual. EDIT: THERE WAS A RECENT RECALL TO INSTALL A PART TO FIX THIS PROBLEM. SO FAR, SO GOOD. b) The front seats are a bit too firm and irritate my tailbone when driving long distances. c) As someone else mentioned, the low-beam headlights have a sharp cutoff and limit visibility looking through the top half of the windshield. d) The facial recognition system is hit-and-miss. About 25% of the time it does not recognize me. e) There are too many buttons and controls, and many of them are hard to see where they are placed, such as the grouping low on the dashboard to the left of the steering wheel. Trying to identify and find each of the buttons in the poorly written and confusing owners manual is unnecessarily frustrating. Ditto for all the various dashboard and warning symbols f) The Forester has ABSOLUTELY THE WORST COFFEE CUP HOLDERS in the front seat that I have ever experienced. They are placed too far back and too close to the console cover. It's very awkward trying to reach back for one's coffee or water and could result in an accident. So much for putting the Driver Focus technology in the car--only to then overload the car with hard to see and reach buttons and coffee cup holders that are awkward to use. The coffee cup holders in my wife's 2016 Forester are much better placed and easier to use. g) The storage console is very small. I really miss all the storage cubbies in my Toyota Venza. h) Splash guards are essential and ought to be standard equipment on the Touring and Sport models. i) The two-section cargo cover is a pain. The rubber bumpers that are supposed to hold the back end up frequently slide off their holders causing the back section to droop down. The cargo cover in my wife's 2016 Forester works much better. j) Did I mention that the thick stack of owners manuals are poorly written, poorly organized, poorly indexed, hard to understand in various sections, and exhausting to read through and comprehend? Does one really need hundreds of pages of instructions with several supplemental manuals? Some of this is due to government regulations, but there are too many places where one looks something up only to be referred to another section of the manual. EDIT: I've been driving my 2019 Subaru Forester Touring model for about four years now, and my impressions of it have not changed. I like its size and enjoy driving it. I would buy it again.
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Not ready for Prime Time
Greg Wayne, 01/31/2019
2019 Subaru Forester Touring 4dr SUV AWD (2.5L 4cyl CVT)
227 of 245 people found this review helpful
Previously owned an Outback. When time came for new car decided to stay with Subaru but wanted to try something different. I really like the 2019 Forester. Some reviews have criticized the car for poor and noisy acceleration. It isn't particularly quiet, but I have no complaints about the acceleration. What is a problem is the software on this car - it's extremely glitchy. Within the first few hundred miles I had to take back to dealer to open the trunk for me - it has the automatic gate lift and the system had to be rebooted manually by detaching the battery and draining the electrical system. Dealer blamed it on the computer. The infotainment system is a disaster - every other day something is not working - the CD player won't play, there'll be no sound on the radio, Pandora won't load. Even when working the system is poorly designed. My concern is that all the safety features are computer-controlled and I don't have a lot of confidence in their software. Looking for an Apple operating system experience and I ended up with Windows Vista! Hopefully they'll get their act together and put out some updates to their software.
I really like my first Subraru - not love.
MaryC, 04/18/2019
2019 Subaru Forester 4dr SUV AWD (2.5L 4cyl CVT)
56 of 60 people found this review helpful
POSITIVES Smoooooth drive with CVT and AWD handles great! BEST driving car I’ve owned. Seating is roomy and comfortable with good lumbar support. Excellent visability at all angles. Auto headlights if you like that. Excellent fuel economy – 2.5-6.0 higher than my RAV 4. The backup camera and display are large, well-lit, and very helpful in backing out or into tight spaces. I really like the automatic dimming mirror – never had one before. NEGATIVES Horsepower is weak, but manageable as this is not a sports car, but an SUV. Why does radio automatically come on? You have to hold down the button to turn it off, but then your screen stays dark. That’s ridiculous. ALL other cars on the market turn off with a quick push of the button. WHO thought of that. Out of lane alerts is annoying, but you can turn it off for all future trips with one push of a button. Eyesight assist is a safety option, but it is annoying. The horn is soooooo loud and unpleasant. Acceleration also noisy. It seems there is little sound protection between horn and cabin. Auto stop/start is bothersome – you have to turn it off each and every time you restart your car. You really don’t save much money. NOT worth it. Oh, and restarting CVT is clunky/ not smooth. Could just be me, but my phone doesn’t stay connected with Bluetooth well nor does it retain phonebook information to make calls.
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