Best Subaru Australia Midsize / Medium SUVs

I have the 2023 Forester so I've had almost 3 years with it and done about 60,000 k.m.of uninterrupted motoring. The tyres are still pretty good with… Read more

another potential 10,000km.. Having good clearance and all wheel drive handles well on dirt roads and a bit of mud. I do drive a few kilometres on dirt weekly and the car does well. I love the unobstructed vision all round making this car very easy to stay safe. Brakes are great. A full size spare is with this car and I wouldn't want to be without it. The spare has no tyre pressure sensor and it might be nice if it did. I like the size and space for luggage. Aircon is great, seat heating something I never thought about but it's great. Auto lights, wipers and keyless ignition are very nice. Keyless open and locking is great and so is the ability to remove the key from the electronic part so you can take the key for a swim. Space is fairly comfortable for 5 adults. The car runs well on. 91 unleaded and is quite economical returning around 7.8 l per 100km on highway driving. I have no complaints about CVT transmissions. It is smooth and always in the right gear. The insurance for it has been very reasonable. My record is very good.

I have it serviced at a dealer's workshop who is much more fair priced than the new car dealership. Happy to avoid big dealership prices. Service intervals are reasonable. I don't have deep concerns or complaints but there are annoying things. 1. Eyesight fails to work when it rains and if you're driving at highway speed and a downpour happens it shuts off cruise control and it isn't smooth to rapidly be decelerating. I'd rather not have it at all. The windscreen has cameras in it I believe so a smashed screen would need careful attention. I've never lost a screen in my lifetime of driving so I don't worry much about it. Heads up display would have been far more useful and keeps driver focus where it should be - on the road. I really think that is much smarter than all the other junk. The car has an excellent turning circle. 2. Stop start technology is awful and it is shuddering on restart. A rubbish idea. 3. Cabin noise is a bit high. 4. I dislike adaptive cruise control, hate beeping out of lane warnings, telling me to watch the road when I am looking at all aspects not just straight ahead. 5. Auto breaking is not anywhere near smooth as my human touch. If it thinks you are not braking soon enough or getting too close to an object it will auto brake with a horrible shudder. Modern tech is just not great and if there was a one button way to turn most of it off I would. 6. The sound system is pretty terrible. I had an XV prior to this car and it had a much better sound. 7. It is not a soft roader. I think they could have done better, maybe via seating. You'll get a much better ride out of a Mazda CX5 but it won't do what the Forester does .