My new 2025 Subaru Forester Limited

Both new '25 KIA Souls oil level were / are low from the factory. Never had this occur in 30+ years of new cars . Rather have it under than over . Hope you have many years of enjoyment with the new FORESTER .

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My comments at 1,000 miles.

1. Suspension and road isolation are awesome. We have a ton of construction in town with pot holes, patched road sections that need to be fully repaved, etc and it soaks these up much better than the Tundra, RX 350 or Soul.

2. Super easy to drive. Not quite as go-cart-like as the Soul but not far off.

3. Lower front seat cushion is very short, especially for a 6'5" guy. Not a deal breaker and hasn't been a problem (I was in the car of for 4 hours yesterday picking my oldest up from college) but something I notice. Interior is very roomy otherwise.

4. I like the big screen infotainment unit and the Harmon Kardon stereo is not exception but certainly acceptable. Not the most modern graphics but it does what it's supposed to do.

5. CVT was initially a little funny acting and it seemed to have some weird torque converted behavior around 40 mph that made its CVT seem less directly connected than the Soul's CVT. That is now gone, or at least I don't notice it anymore, and engine/CVT combination while underpowered is very smooth and refined.

6. Averaging 29mpg in mixed highway/town driving.
 
I've never had a vehicle that showed me the exact oil temp. I did a lot of highway driving and the average oil temp was 219F. I had to merge onto the highway a few times and oil temp spiked as high as 243F at full throttle. It immediately started coming back down to 219F within a few mins but I was surprised it got that high in a NA engine just merging onto the highway. Then again, I don't know it that's all that high.
 
PWMDMD said:
I've never had a vehicle that showed me the exact oil temp. I did a lot of highway driving and the average oil temp was 219F. I had to merge onto the highway a few times and oil temp spiked as high as 243F at full throttle. It immediately started coming back down to 219F within a few mins but I was surprised it got that high in a NA engine just merging onto the highway. Then again, I don't know it that's all that high.
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My Outback runs in the same oil temp range. One of the reasons I run 30 grade. Also tends to shear oil and in your case dilute.
 
The now-discontinued H6’s (3.0R and 3.6R) have 6.5 quart oil capacity and my 08 has an oil cooler stock. Killer B makes higher capacity oil sumps. They used to be billet machined but are now cast. 6 quarts.

https://www.killerbmotorsport.net/s...nce-cast-oil-pan-subaru-ej-series-engines-691

PWMDMD said:
We have CC2s on the Kia and RX 350 and they will likely be my go to once these OEMs wear out. ///
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Michelin’s advertising for those tires appears to have been very effective. Their snow and ice performance doesn’t seem to be any better than most other All Seasons.

Nokian invented the “All Weather” tire (treadwear warranty with 3PMS rating) and we tried them but went back to summer/winter.
 
PWMDMD said:
The Tundra, RX 350, and Soul are all paid off and during the summer we are going to have 4 drivers and 3 cars, so I added to the fleet. For now this will be my new daily during the week and I'll drive the Tundra around on weekends.

Looks like it's overfilled from the factory.

Ended up getting this well under MSRP and ended up getting the Subaru 10/100k Gold Plus warranty for $2K. I'll be putting less than 10k miles per year on this and between the head unit and CVT if I didn't use a dime of it, I will have still slept well for 10 years.


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(y) Very nice indeed. Did you guys consider any other brands / models ? Or did you know the Sube was what you wanted already?
We are looking into several SUVs due to our back issues and that one you got is on our list to test drive soon. Have you ever owned a Subaru before? Looks like very nice , inside and out. Enjoy.
 
PWMDMD said:
I've never had a vehicle that showed me the exact oil temp. I did a lot of highway driving and the average oil temp was 219F. I had to merge onto the highway a few times and oil temp spiked as high as 243F at full throttle. It immediately started coming back down to 219F within a few mins but I was surprised it got that high in a NA engine just merging onto the highway. Then again, I don't know it that's all that high.
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I think the hottest I got my 2018 6 speed was almost 260. I was on a seasonal highway in the winter on a Jeep run. It was probably 5+ minutes of my foot to the floor with the engine over 4000 RPM the entire time, hitting the rev limiter multiple times while blasting through the snow.
 
PWMDMD said:
The Tundra, RX 350, and Soul are all paid off and during the summer we are going to have 4 drivers and 3 cars, so I added to the fleet. For now this will be my new daily during the week and I'll drive the Tundra around on weekends.

Looks like it's overfilled from the factory.

Ended up getting this well under MSRP and ended up getting the Subaru 10/100k Gold Plus warranty for $2K. I'll be putting less than 10k miles per year on this and between the head unit and CVT if I didn't use a dime of it, I will have still slept well for 10 years.


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I know it can be frustrating. Just about every time I have oil changed some place other that at home, they seem to do the same thing. It is as if they are simply too lazy to STOP and want to pour every drop out of the bottles. Not really bad high but if they wanted it that level they would have made the high low different on the stick. Had she been sitting long before you checked it?
Still , very nice. Like the colors inside and out. Rims are fine looking as well. Been admiring that model , the Forester for years.
 
JavierH19 said:
For only 2k the extra 5y/40k warranty is worth it. Looks really good in silver.

So I looked up gold plus and it covers more than powertrain but not as much as b2b?. Does the gold plus cover all electrical things like LED tail/headlights. If it does then that's great, those led assemblies are expensive.
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I was surprised a damaged led tail light assembly was only $200ish on our 2018 Tiguan from VW dealer selling online. Maybe headlights are more ?
 
PWMDMD said:
6. Averaging 29mpg in mixed highway/town driving.
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You must live in an area where traffic is not very congested and traffic lights are sparse. My sister's gets about 20-21 mpg in town and on the highway, 28-30. Her numbers are extremely similar to other FB25 Foresters I've seen in this area.
 
The Critic said:
You must live in an area where traffic is not very congested and traffic lights are sparse. My sister's gets about 20-21 mpg in town and on the highway, 28-30. Her numbers are extremely similar to other FB25 Foresters I've seen in this area.
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Lots of open roads between 40-50mph.
 
Have been shopping for a 2025 Subaru Forester Hybrid Touring

Seems Invoice is little under 40,000 and OTD (7% sales tax, tag, dealer fee, registration, kitchen sink, all in) is 45,500

How is DYI maintenance on these things ?
 
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