2003 Subaru Forester 2.5 XS Review

© 2010 Peter Free

 

24 August 2010

 

2003 Subaru Forester 2.5 XS is an excellent and reliable car

 

Ours had 186,000 miles on it, when my wife replaced it this year with the larger 2010 Subaru Outback. 

 

Throughout its seven years, the Forester outperformed, overall, the other thirty-five vehicles that I have owned and the five that she has had.  It is an exceptional piece of practical engineering.

 

Strengths

 

Outstanding performance under any conditions

 

Subaru made its reputation by producing vehicles for people who live in vehicle-challenging climatic environments.  The 2003 Forester’s all-time all-wheel drive handles any kind of normally encountered driving conditions with confidence.

 

It was driven in snow, extreme winds, white-outs, and black ice (sometimes all together) and torrential rains without a glitch.

 

If ever there were a car designed for safe performance in hazardous conditions, it was this one.  Its only potential vulnerability would be to becoming high-centered in deep snow.  But even 4WD pickups occasionally get high-centered.

 

Handling was predictable and precise, even at speed.

 

The car’s low center of gravity, flat-four (boxer) engine was a delight.  And the vehicle’s all-wheel drive never experienced a problem.

 

Hauling capacity

 

The car’s hauling capacity was phenomenal for such a small vehicle.  It is rated to tow 2500 pounds, and one can stuff a full size recliner chair in the back (provided the back of the recliner is detachable).

 

Exceptional durability

 

As an example of the car’s durability, the hydraulic arms that controlled the rear hatch’s speed of opening and closing never wore out, even though the hatch was opened and closed many times each day for the car’s seven years with us.

 

The car’s paint never faded.  Nor was it vulnerable to chipping.  The Forester was garaged for most of its nights, but it spent its days outside.  Four summers were spent in Oklahoma’s exceptionally high ultraviolet conditions.

 

The engine never developed leaks.

 

Fuel economy ─ 26 to 27 mpg

 

Fuel economy over the seven years averaged 26 to 27 miles per gallon.

 

Given that much of the car’s life was spent at 7,000 feet (2134 meters) altitude and was driven through long Rocky Mountain winters, that result (for an all-wheel drive car) is impressive.

 

Weaknesses

 

Two chief American-buyer weaknesses ─ harsh ride and smallness

 

The 2003 Forester was smaller than most Americans would wish, and it (arguably) rode like a skateboard.

 

I liked the skateboard ride because of the sense of control it communicated.  (All my pickups have ridden harshly ─ so I may not be very picky.)

 

But I agree that the vehicle’s width was just cramped enough to make one notice on long trips.  The back seat was useable, even for trips, but it was not comfortable and leg room was cramped.

 

Front brake rotors required turning more often than normal

 

The front brake rotors needed turning more often than they should have.  However, we never had to replace them.

 

Electrical design not the best in two places

 

Subaru’s electronic design of the ambient temperature sensor and headlight assemblies was not ideal.

 

The temperature sensor failed at five years and would have cost hundreds of dollars to fix.  We left it unrepaired.

 

Worse, the headlight bulb receptacles tended to fry, when headlight bulbs began to wear out (drawing more current).  Subaru’s answer to replacing these would have been to replace each receptacle as part of a $450 wiring harness.  That is obviously absurd.  I bought two generic bulb receptacles for $17 (a pair) at an auto parts store and spliced them in myself.

 

Window moldings eventually succumbed enough to create wind noise

 

The weather stripping around the front windows lost enough integrity at the five year mark to produce relatively loud wind noise.  We did not replace it because the stripping never leaked water.

Silly plastic body panel clips (that everyone else also uses)

 

Subaru (in harmony with every other manufacturer I know) uses plastic clips to hold pieces of the car’s body and front-end panels together.

 

This is an issue because one has to remove much of the car’s front panel assembly in order to replace its side marker bulbs and other components.

 

Most of the plastic clips break on disassembly.  They come in unnecessarily different flavors, and most auto parts stores do not stock even one variety of them.  In my view, the savings in weight and manufacturing costs do not outweigh the loss in easily repaired utility that ordinary bolts and nuts would have provided.

 

Overall ─ arguably the best performing and safest practical person’s car on the planet

 

Even as a pickup truck person, I loved this car.

 

In my estimation, it beats my wife’s 2010 Subaru Outback, which has been Americanized to the point of losing Subaru’s rally-like heritage.