In 2 months I've knocked out 6,000 miles and love this thing....except for the terrible head unit, but both of them had that issue though.

Gray Falcon’s flight in Georgia continues!

I had these trails completely to myself except for passing one local on Bear Gap. GMRS radio was completely quiet on scan.

🛞 COL Hough Road and Bear Gap Road [east to west]
COL Hough Road is a sequestered drive, and near the east entrance is a shallow creek crossing (Panther Creek I believe). The road merges into Bear Gap, but I turned south and drove to the end of the unpaved road so I could drive the entirety.
Bear Gap Road is an easy-going drive with nice views, as the west half follows right next to the Tallulah River (Picture 1). Both sides of the road have residences.

Start: 34.7128, -83.41362

End: 34.75586, -83.49649

Fun fact: When you exit Bear Gap Road on the west in a residential area, there’s zero T-Mobile/Mint cell service 😂

🛞 Flat Creek Road [west entrance]
I hiked the first 100+ feet of rocky one-vehicle-width ~15 degree uphill slope with an onX technical rating of 3/10 (Picture 8). I believe that the part of the trail is within the capabilities of my Forester. However since I didn’t know what the rest of the half-mile trail held (or if others were driving it east-bound), I decided to try entering Flat Creek from the east.

Flat Creek west entrance: 34.73573, -83.52093

🛞 Vandiver Mountain Road (FS 418) [west to east]
I drove up Vandiver Mountain Road just to access the east side of Flat Creek Road. About 300 feet into Flat Creek I hit a Georgia clay patch, I sunk down to the chassis and my forward momentum stopped. First time I’ve ever gotten stuck! I tried opening my driver door, but it wouldn’t open as it was hitting dirt/clay. I put her into reverse, spun the wheels some and got out. (Picture 11) I decided that since I was by myself and only have rear winch capabilities, I’d conquer Flat Creek next time.
I drove the rest of Vandiver where it ends at a private property with a gate, turned around and exited at the start coordinates.

Start: 34.73134, -83.51804

Flat Creek Road east entrance: 34.73166, -83.51176

End: 34.7334, -83.50261

✨🛞🤙

Wildfire smoke kept the sun at bay at least.

I'm about to put a down payment on a new 2026 Forester Premium

The dealer is pushing to close and is throwing in a number of addons, dashcam, trunk protect matt, tire pressure sensors (not standard in my region) ..

So anyone have recommendations on more addons?

2021 Forester- had a cracked windshield at my test drive. Drove it again 2 weeks later with a newly installed windshield from the dealership and bought it. A week later I noticed the windshield clips were missing and it was unsealed. Took it in for service- first they forgot my kayak racks were on it and they bashed it into the garage door. Cool- new roof racks for me. They said it was repaired. Now a month later I took it for a car wash and it leaks above the drivers side.
I bought this from a Subaru dealership- it’s been fixed by them twice- what’s my next step here? I heard so much about Subaru and how great they are and now I’m wondering if I made a mistake.

2016 Forester Touring. We have been noticing the passenger's side floor was getting soaked when it rained. We checked the moonroof drains, and they were clear, the seal was good.

Finally took it to the dealer who found that one of the bolts that penetrate the roof of the car from the roof rack rails, the nut had backed out, and we think that lack of being secured over time allowed water to penetrate over the last 11 years. Water would run in along the trim, and then down the A pillar. The bolt you see is part of the rail that attaches through the roof. Sadly, it's a $1500 fix to have both rails replaced. My thought is because the nut they found was clean that it likely has been off for years, and the adhesive seal around the rail has finally dried out.

I post this for any of you that have been chasing water leaks on your floors.

Hi everyone,

I’m considering a 2021 Forester Premier with about 111,700 km, listed for CAD $24,886 before tax and licensing.

The CARFAX shows that at 110,245 km, the rear brake pads and rotors were replaced, a four-wheel alignment was done, and a rear wheel bearing/hub was replaced.

Is a rear bearing failure at this mileage common? Could having the brakes, bearing, and alignment done together suggest pothole or suspension damage, or is it probably normal wear? Should I expect the other rear bearing to fail soon?

I’ll get an independent inspection, but I’d also appreciate your thoughts on the asking price.

Thanks!

Forester 2015 XT

When I scan the codes I get:

- P0500 (Vehicle Speed Sensor "A"-History Fault.)
- C1241 (Left Rear Wheel Speed Sensor Open Or High Input - Current Fault, History Fault.)
- C1431 (Automatic Transmission Control Module Fault - History Fault.)

hey guys I have a Subaru Forester 2021. Can someone let me know either through a diagram /picture where the CVT fluid drain plug and fill plug is located? Also, what temperature does the vehicle need to reach (in degrees celsius) before doing the second fill. Thank you.

How bad did i mess up haha. I found it on the floor after I quickly changed the oil. No leaks yet after running for about 30 min but will be getting a fresh pan to transfer oil and do it all over again. Hahhahahahahahahahahah

I just traded my 2017 Forester for a 2026 Forester. I found it helpful knowing my overall mileage in my 2017 (167,000 miles w/ overall 29.3 mpg). I cannot find how to see that in my 2026. The salesperson's super-short tutorial when I got the car said there is no way to see that. Is that true?

Here’s some shots from adventuring in Georgia!

This is Tray Mountain Trail (79), part of the legendary Georgia Traverse trail near Helen. The final picture is the Hiwassee River water crossing at the north end of Indian Grave Gap (FR 283).

On trail, I passed two other rigs towing overlanding trailers, and one dispersed tent camper. GMRS radio was pretty quiet, with some broadcasts on Channel 17.

At the “mid” coordinates below I was hoping to continue on 79 and crest Hickory Knob intersecting 356, but the road was permanently closed with a locked gate and overgrown trail.

Start: 34.72296, -83.74744

Mid: 34.7989, -83.69088

End: 34.82535, -83.73314

✨🛞🤙

Over the weekend we took our 2020 Forester to the service department for an oil change and some minor warranty work (Gold+ plan). Long story short, we now have an oil leak on a vehicle that never leaked a drop. Three dinner plate sized puddles.
The dealership has the vehicle now and is reassuring they will take care of everything. I’m told “something happened with the gasket” and they are replacing it. Is there anything else I should be aware of that can happen when a tech messes up an oil change? He also broke our center console and broke off my floor mounted phone holder, dealership is taking care of that as well. They have been great to work with so far, just don’t want to miss something engine related that will come back to bite us later. We are just 800 miles from being out of the extended warranty.
Thanks!

Thinking of matching the emblems/badging, and it's basically sti pink.

Alright so, I recently did an oil change with the recommended 0W-20 full synthetic but I’ve been reading switching to 5W-30 oil is a high recommendation what about 5w-20 full synthetic? Has anyone tried this? Does your car run any better or worse?

Hi chat,

I came across this beautiful forester sf5 1997 RHD. It has 209k kilometer (129k miles) a clean title and has little to no rust. Under the hood is the infamous ej20g and it’s pretty stock except a BOV.

My question is; what kind of price this bad boy would go for normally? I’m from canada and those car are kind of rare since the winter is pretty harsh and every car ends up being trashed out and rotten.

I’ve always dreamed about owning a right hand drive car and this fozzy check the boxes for me. I really dig the look of older car and I’m already on the subaru platform (I own a 2002 bugeye).

The guy told me that the car is running rich and needs an 02 sensor but it does not change much the driving experience.

Currently, he’s selling it for 12k $. It’s a lil expensive for this kind of car but at the same time I did not see any nice JDM car under this price range.

Any advice or answer are welcome! Thanks

Put some fresh Geolandars and the roof tent on it. Next up is heavy duty springs in the rear and a light bar (Hellas are merely decorative).

I’m a very new, first time Subaru Forester owner. I bought a 2021 Forester Sport and I love it. However, I’m having a little trouble understanding the auto stop feature.

What I was told: to turn off the auto stop feature, just press the auto stop button to the left under the steering wheel. Unless you get the car modified, you will need to do this every trip if you don’t want the feature on.

What I’ve experienced: the feature is often off when I start the car. The a with a circle around it has a line through it. However, on several occasions, the auto stop comes back on in the middle of a trip and I have to turn it off again. I had to do it twice this morning. Each time it showed the auto stop symbol with a sign through it.

Can anyone make sense of what I’m experiencing here? I really don’t like this feature, especially if I’m moving through neighborhoods and am stopping and starting a lot. I’m just curious if there is something wrong with my new car or I just don’t understand it.

Thank you,

M

hey guys … 2020 2.5i-S owner here. looking to replace tyres. what’s a good bet?

Anyone ever bought this cargo cover for forster sj, does it fit nicely? Will you able to keep it at the spare tyre compartment?

Mine forester has electric door will it fit?

https://a.aliexpress.com/_c3x1Hjjv

I have a 2011 Subaru Forster with 262,000 km . This summer when I turned on the AC , I noticed the drivers side was warmer than the passenger side. Passenger side is nice and cool but the drivers side only gets cooler if I rev it up or driving at highway speed. Had a mechanic top up the AC , was only down a little. Changed the cabin air filter . While I had the glove compartment door I was watching the blend door control move while turning hot too cold and everything seemed to be working . The cable wasn’t slipping or no broken plastic parts . For fun , I switched to heat and now the drivers side was noticeably a little warmer than the passenger. I’m wondering if there’s any other things to check , clean or anything ? Thanks for any help .