Approximately one year ago, I’d finally had enough of my 2016 Subaru Forester, which was purchased new and never lived up to my expectations for it. I wrote a post titled “I Regret Buying a New Subaru.” That turned out to be one of our most popular stories of 2024. Why? It turns out many other Subaru owners felt the same way.
The peculiar thing about this post was that, overall, the car wasn’t a heap. It had never left me stranded on the side of the road. It wasn’t a lemon. I just went through a series of minor annoyances that, when added up, left me feeling like I didn’t get the value I expected. If the car was any type of citrus it was maybe a pomelo, which isn’t a bad fruit unless what you thought you were getting was a clementine.
Given how much I complained about the Forester is it possible I’m just too picky? Perhaps my expectations, as a car reviewer, are just too high. Maybe I am, as some people complained, just a big whiny baby.
It’s been a little more than seven months since I replaced the Forester with a new 2024 Honda CR-V Hybrid and, so far, I have not been disappointed. The original plan was to keep the Subaru until 2027, which means I’m now saddled with a car payment I hadn’t budgeted for and, yet, I think I made the correct call.
A (Brief) Reminder Of All My Subaru Forester Issues
Because my posts about the Subaru were some of the most popular items on the site last year, I’m going to assume most of you read about it so I’ll keep my rehash of this brief. Above is the first photo I ever took of the car, which was a 2016 Subaru Forester Premium with the Cold Weather Package and the base 2.5-liter flat-four.
Having driven a nicer press car version of this for a week I thought I had a good sense of what I was getting, which was a traditionally reliable Japanese economy car with a good AWD system. It would be safe enough for my family, which now included an infant, and whatever it lacked in style I knew would be compensated for with peace of mind.
That’s not what happened.
Quite quickly I realized that the droning continuously variable transmission (CVT) was worse than I remembered. CVT transmissions, in theory, offer better packaging, a lower cost, increased fuel economy, and increased reliability. Over time it became clear that cost aside, I was trading a nominal improvement in fuel economy for a driving experience I couldn’t stand.
Again, I’m a car journalist, I know all about CVTs, but this was the first time I’d had one for months and it seemed to get worse as the miles went on. It was so bad I asked a mechanic who works on Subarus at an independent dealer if I should be worried, and he explained that they’re all just like that.
The Forester was also not particularly economical. Over its lifespan, charitably, it averaged 24 MPG. I do a lot of city driving and this motor/transmission combination is ill-suited to being a school bus.
More importantly, the running costs were way too high for something I’d hoped would be more akin to the Honda Civic we’d previously had. Where to start? It munched tires, requiring a new pair roughly every 25,000 miles. I do live in an urban area with some potholes, but no other car I know of around here required the frequent alignments the Forester needed (I also drove my BMW on these roads for three years without issue).
The battery failed early, and when Subaru finally issued a recall for it (one of many recalls for the vehicle) they wouldn’t reimburse me for one that I bought myself. Headlight bulbs only lasted months before burning out, which is not normal for any car. Subarus love to snap wheel studs, as I discovered. Worst of all, I had to replace both lower control arms and rear wheel bearings within the first few years of ownership, which is thousands of dollars I didn’t plan on spending.
Overall, the Subaru was too much hassle and too much cost. It was good in the snow for the rare times I drove it in wintry conditions. The seats were comfortable. If I didn’t have to budget an extra $2k ever year for upkeep I’d have probably kept it. Honestly, the best thing I can say is that it held its value well, and, after paying $25k for it new, I got around $11k for it used.
How The New CR-V Hybrid Is Stacking Up
I was thinking of titling this post “It’s been six months and I still like my Honda CR-V Hybrid” but someone pointed out to me that no one seems as interested when I’m happy with a car. Unfortunately, from a website traffic perspective, I’ve been mostly impressed.
Right off the bat, the mileage of the CR-V Hybrid exceeded my expectations. Until it got cold, I was averaging about 39 mpg combined. That’s come down a lot since winter and, when we hit a year or 10,000 miles, I’ll update on the total. Right now I’m around 36 MPG combined, which is way better than the Subaru’s 24 MPG. I assume I’ll end up around the expected 37-38 MPG when it warms up outside.
It drives significantly better than my Subaru in most situations. The CR-V’s suspension is set up to be a little more forgiving of bumps, which is what I prefer, even if the steering is a little less direct than what I experienced on the Forester. With the EV motor doing most of the work around town, the Honda’s throttle response is much better. There’s basically no transmission, so any issues with the CVT are gone.
There have been two recalls for the Honda already, which isn’t ideal, but one was quickly and easily addressed by the dealer, who also changed the oil for free. One of the big perks of a new CR-V Hybrid was two years of paid routine maintenance. I don’t expect to have to pay for anything other than gasoline for two years.
There’s still a lot of time for things to go wrong, so don’t take any of this as definitive. I’ll check back in this summer for a full update on how everything has gone. As the honeymoon period wanes I continue to be impressed with the Honda and I’m beginning to suspect that my being a big whiny baby has little to do with my issues with the Forester.
I also drove a brand new Subaru last week without a CVT transmission and, surprise surprise, I liked it. More on that soon.
Top graphic images: Subaru, Matt Hardigee; inset, We’re The Millers/Warner Bros.
You were right to ditch that bi… Hitch. My brother’s 2010 Outback has been a wheezy droning turd since day 1, always with shit breaking. Bought new, largely garage kept, and still the thing would drop plastic bits, or somewhere along the way (this started years ago so it’s not like I need to cut a 15 year old car some slack) it got a hole in the exhaust and sounds like large cat (the feline kind) in palliative care in an echoreflective arena.
The first time I rode in it my heart sank, cause I knew he was gonna whip that turd up and down the mountains for years to come and it wasn’t going to get any better with age.
We just got a new 2025 CR-V Hybrid, so I am keeping my eye out for any updates you may have with it. We replaced a 2007 CR-V, so this is quite a leap forward in tech, so we are learning and getting used to feeling pampered. I have a few nits to pick, but overall we’re enjoying it. It’s bright blue with black wheels (standard on the hybrids), and my wife keeps saying how pretty it is.
Matt, your tale of woe reminds me of the early 90s Accord I had (back in the awful automatic seatbelt days). It wasn’t a bad car, just annoying enough for me to buy a Camry V6 and never look back.
If you provide that update in terms of that @#$%^& Subaru for the gazillionth @#$%^& time, I will send you a strongly-worded email.
Personally I LOVE these updates on his Subaru and want MOAR!!!
what a pithy comment
I offloaded my ’12 Forester about five months ago and I don’t miss mine either. I was a little sad when I left it at the dealer because it really was a great car for my wife and I for a number of years, boring ass driving experience aside. The new car is way better though. I think I will miss it on my first dump and/or hardware store run of the spring. It’s nice not to care about what is happening to the interior of a car when you toss some old pallet boards in the back with nails poking out or if you need to haul a couple small trees home from the nursery with accompanying bags of dirt.
I got fooled by the Subaru cult too. Lucky it’s not my car but have to drive it sometimes. Everyone tells you they are such good cars and keep buying them. I had assumed some bad drivers had Subarus but I’m now convinced that bad Subarus have some people. You see them circling in parking lots trying to park or running into things. And after driving one around I understand. I’ve driven dump trucks with more drivability and visibility. It truly makes no sense how they can make such a little car drive worse then a literal dump truck. It’s like that class action about them loosing control and everyone points at the old ladies driving them they had to say they have airline pilots in on it too. They really do surge and if you don’t know to be on guard can see how you could run into something. I think it has to do with how they tune the engine and cvt from cold to NOT.
Honestly, of all the faults of Subaru, outward visibility is NOT one of them on a Forester.
They’ve got some of the largest greenhouses out there, with enviable sightlines.
I know that is said a lot. And it really looks like that. But they have weird sight lines. I really don’t understand it. It’s been explained to me in non technical terms as “puffary”. I think the older Foresters didn’t have a big of issue. But the current and previous generation do. The cross trek may suffer from this too. If I drive it for a bit I get used to it but I don’t like it and I don’t trust it.
I was looking at a new Impreza RS recently. There’s value in them but I struggle to justify spending 30k+ on a pretty basic economy car.
The car looks decent but I knew that every time I’d sit in those cloth seats and hear that CVT drone, I’d think to myself: $485 a month for THIS?!?
Note: according to Consumer Reports, Subies are now about $2k higher to own over the course of 10 years than the competition. Yes, even Nissan.
The thing is, just because overall reliability on a car is above average, doesn’t mean an individual car may not be problematic. I don’t know about that specific model year of Forester, but overall they are very good quality cars. Lemons still happen.
A lot has changed in 8 years, and the CRV hybrid is a better car, IMO.
I enjoy reading about individual experiences with reliability. My favorite was the early 2000s E-class. Turned out to be a good car, as long as he poured money into it. That may be true of most cars. I feel the Mercedes experience is a good one, but you will pay for it.
My story? My old car is a 2013 PHEV. Gets flaky occasionally, but extremely low cost of ownership and above average reliability. But I know it could brick at any time, between the battery and the CVT trans. My new cars are 2019 and 2023 Acura. They have some personality, but are really delightful cars. And moderately low cost of ownership.
We have had our 2016 Outback for nearly 9 years now… and it has been fine nothing wrong with it, seriously no issues until recently. The transmission (surprise) is starting to buck at low RPMs. It has 110,000km on it, so not really high mileage. It has all been hard city, stop start, road trip family car stuff. We have effectively upgraded it and relegated it to ‘second-car’ status when we traded in our Ford Kuga on a 2018 BMW X5. However, the poor old subie just feels worn out, tired and we aren’t really sure if we want to sink in the money required to fix the transmission issue, it kinda says we don’t love it, its time to move it on. But I don’t really want another car payment and we would just be replacing it like for like if we traded it plus cash… so I’m a bit stuck with what to do now. Our kids or older and can climb into the back on their own, so we can get a fun car – but what that would be, I don’t know.
I expect you’ll be delighted with it for about eight years before it finally starts to show it’s age. That seems to be about the first life length for most Hondas before the multiple repair stage.
I’m trading in my mom’s Forester this week for a Corsair and am thrilled to excise that CVT and dead on center steering. I have really grown to dislike that car and I’m the one who talked her into it in the first place.
Honda Fit at 11 years old. Still nothing major but maintenance.
Salt free state? I’m biased by a lifetime of Chicago winters.
True dat…Florida, but within 2 miles of the Gulf of Mexico.
They also utilize a timing belt instead of a chain. With a boxer engine that means timing 4 cams on a 4 cylinder (as opposed to 2 on an inline DOHC 4 cylinder). The spark plugs are also a pain compared to a normal I4. Basically outside of the drive belt/accessory pulleys everything is needlessly more difficult than if they used an I4- especially if it came with a timing chain.
Plugs on the 2010 Outback were INFINITELY easier than the plugs on my Fiesta ST. Ample room in the engine bay so getting plugs out of the boxer was easy peasy. Meanwhile the Fiesta required some sort of thin walled spark plug socket that doesn’t exist so multiple failed trips to parts stores and then hours of trying to grind tool steel were so much fun. Fucking miserable.
Tackling the timing belt on the Outback in the next few months so we shall see.
I have owned many disappointing vehicles, but since for decades I bought only worn out junkers, it wasn’t a big deal. It wasn’t until I started buying nicer vehicles that the weight of driving something I hate became unbearable. Now I am meticulous about what I buy, weighing all the options, driving everything, and making sure I know what I am getting myself into in advance. Except that I’m also a multi-time Jeep owner for decades, so I suppose little of what I said is credible as my current TJ is an endless pit of pain and suffering (but I still love it).
Man, that Forester really hurt you, didn’t it.
Dr.:Show us on the doll where the Subie hurt you.
Matt: Points to wallet.
End of the day life is too short to drive something you don’t like.
Twenty-five thousand miles would be about normal for me and that’s only because I do a lot of highway miles for work. I get a lot of lateral wear.
Funny you mention both broken wheel studs and lower control arm replacement…
I helped a buddy replace his control arms on this generation Forester AND broke his wheel studs while doing it! Fun surprise.
I tend to own cars for very short lengths of time. I have come to the belief that most general-purpose cars aren’t very good these days. We have two people in our household and space for three cars. We have gone through a number of different collections trying to strike a balance of practicality, specialty use, and fun, and it is always the general utility vehicle that stinks.
I gave up really caring about the flaws and simply filled that slot with a low mileage (certified if possible) used model and then traded it for whatever else filled that same role when the warranty runs out. I just budget a couple hundred a month so that I have the money to do the swap. It ends up being like a lease without the down payment. Toyota or Honda CUV lump of some sort typically wins out. Hybrid if the price premium isn’t too bad.
That has freed up the other two slots for cars I like but don’t need to do everything. Those have ranged from GTIs & Fiesta STs to an old Ford high-boy. Some I loose more than others but I never feel bad about them having their issues because I enjoy them for other reasons.
Dealing with droning transmissions, maintenance issues, and high operating costs in a car that is supposed to be practical is hard to swallow. After all, you only buy it because you don’t want to think about it.
Your 2016 Subaru experience sounds an awful lot like my late ’90s/early 00s VWs, which is not what you want from a car doing daily shlepping duty…doubly so with a baby. We switched over to Honda once kid #2 arrived and it’s still rocking hard after a decade.
But 25k miles from tires (with mostly city driving) isn’t really bad at all. I think I’ve had one pair of tires in my entire life go past 35k, and those were rock-hard “50k mile tires”. I learned my lesson and went right back to the stickier ones that might last 30k max.
Late ’90s and early ’00s VWs were at least appealing to auto enthusiast. Sure, not renowned for reliability, but their interiors had high quality materials (maybe not the longest lasting) and they were generally known to be fun to drive. I also think VW hasn’t been able to beat the styling of their “normal” models since that era; something about a Mk4 Golf/Jetta, a B5(.5) Passat, and things like the Phaeton and first gen Touareg just look fantastic.
These Subarus are far closer to boring appliances, but they aren’t reliable enough to get away with being a boring appliance.
Had a MKIV GTI 24v VR6/6 speed and agree with all of this. I love the sound of a VR6 driven in anger.
My old man still DDs a 2004 R32 to this day (bone stock). He’s been thinking about selling it for about 10 years, but can’t find anything else he likes as much…
Yep, there’s a reason I’m still limping along with an ’01 Passat GLX wagon (B5.5). It’s not fast or sporty with V6 and slushbox, but it’s still so much more engaging than a lot of cars. I’m embracing the beater status, and I’m just a couple years short of a Vintage tag 🙂
New tires and fluid just added (after sitting in the driveway for 5-7 years with almost zero usage). There are about 30 things wrong with it, but none that keep it from working mechanically!
I had a similar’ish experience with our 2017 Honda Pilot. It’s not a MY that comes up in lists of vehicles to avoid, but I expected better.
The entire AC system needed replacing at 3 years and 2 months. Honda ‘good willed’ the repair and we paid ~$300 of a $4,500 repair. Then at just over 40k miles BCM/keyless-entry module died. The part was $800 + $350 labor + $300 battery, but took 6 months to replace. The dealer provided a loaner since we’ve been their customer for almost 20 years. About 4K miles later a transmission pressure solenoid(s) broke and almost took the transmission with it. That was ~$400 (with hefty discount for being such a good, repeat customer). Lastly 2K later the ignition key sensor quit and was covered by warranty. Though the 6-speed AWD transmission never failed. It cooked the fluid to a rich brown color and burnt smell at 23K miles. Every 10K drain and fills kept the fluid in decent shape, but it was obviously running HOT.
Though some costs were covered by warranty, it was averaging about $1,000 per year on repairs that should not be needed for a vehicle of its age and mileage. If it were a BMW that I was in love with, I’d be fine with that cost, but for a Pilot, it didn’t sit well. I figured the transmission was destined to fail in the next few years and those units are freaking expensive.
So, no Hard Digree Burn on the Honda, yet? We can wait . . .
Great name for a band “The Hard Degree’s”!
I had a Mercedes plug-in hybrid for about 16 months – in that time it spent about 7 months in the dealership due to parts shortages from failed air suspension, hybrid battery, control modules, and interior pieces. It literally left me stranded one time by dropping onto its ass and I had to drive it home on the bump stops. It was the most heartbreaking car I ever owned because when it worked, I loved it, but it rewarded my love with punishment – and I still think about it less than you seem to about this Forester.
Look forward to your next update about how it was a shit car in another 12 months!
some folks pay for a drop like this but play your cards right and Mercedes will give it to you for free
My stepdad got a Mercedes a few years ago since he was retiring and always wanted a one. The ownership experience was much the same as yours with the constant and significant failures. After getting it back from the dealer due to a cylinder head replacement under warranty, the turbo blew up sending shrapnel through the engine. It got traded for an Accord hybrid in under 2 years.
My father in-law had an early 2000s E-series Mercedes. His retirement reward. He had many issues early on, but later it became more reliable and he drove it till around 170,000 miles. Mercedes had a preventative maintenance program that replaced many parts before they failed. He paid more than $1000 every 6 months on regular maintenance.
Later he got a Buick LaCrosse and was floored that the annual maintenance cost was less than 25% of the Mercedes.
He is a highly educated doctor, but how cars work are a mystery. If the dealer said he needed something fixed, he agreed to it. He was shocked that I was able to figure out why one of the Mercedes DRLs was not functioning and fix it for around $40 (genuine MB bulb). Mercedes was asking +$300 for a diagnosis of a burned out DRL bulb and replacement.
I appreciate you fully detailing all the problems you had with your Subaru on this site.
I knew Subaru wasn’t great in the reliability department, but I didn’t know they were as bad as you described.
I was looking at new Subarus back when the Impreza and the Crosstrek were available with manual transmissions, even if they brought the manuals back I certainly wouldn’t be looking at any new Subarus.
Don’t take one experience to be typical. Sure, auto writers experience a lot of cars, but they don’t experience long-term ownership of more cars than a typical person.
I currently have two Subarus (’18 Outback and ’19 Forester) and they’ve been no more or less reliable than anything else. The Outback has gone through two wheel bearings, an axle, a ball joint (soon to be second ball joint), the console screen is delaminating, and some other minor stuff over the ~115k on it. The Forester has been through a wheel bearing and a coolant control valve over the ~100k on it.
I don’t think that’s horrible for 6 and 7 year old cars, but it certainly isn’t anything to brag about. I’d wager it’s worse than direct competitors from Toyota, but probably about the same as you’d get out of Honda, Nissan, and the domestic competitors.
I don’t love my Subaru (the Outback is mine, the Forester is the wife’s); I’ll be replacing it with a non-Subaru. I’d likely also try to direct the wife away from another Subaru, but I wouldn’t be that upset if she decided to get another. Most of my complaints are about dumb design decisions. Like, how can the Outback’s trunk hatch open so poorly, that a 5’10” can still hit his head on it; the vehicle is tall enough that it should easily allow a 6’+ person to not hit their head. My VW stationwagon gave me inches of clearance! Or the dumb gas door likes to freeze shut all the time in winter, requiring numerous hits to break loose and walks back to the driver seat to pull the release lever. Or an infotainment system that’s been laggy since day one, and AA/CP has always been flaky on. Fuel economy has also been far lower than EPA ratings.