I'm replacing my 2015 orange crosstrek soon, I want a tow package and the wilderness can haul 3,500 lbs. Leaning towards the sun blaze pearl one, they're only a $1,000 difference in price. The other option is an outback, but there aren't any fun colors, what's up with that?

obligatory 2021 outback outdoor xt: 105,000km (just did diff/cvt/spark plugs and holy $h1t was it expensive)

so as the title says: when i drain the cvt (5-6qt nominally, Subaru High Torque CVTF-LV \*\*ONLY\*\*) and the differentials (front 1.3-1.5qt, rear 0.8qt nominally, 75W-90 API GL-5 gear oil) can i just measure the volume of the extracted fluid and add that much more back to the system? afaik these are fully sealed systems (if it wasn’t that sounds catastrophic), but the proper procedure is to bring the fluid up to a specific temp, i know why, but so long as they’re both the same temp i think it should be perfectly fine?

side questions:

what type of pump would you use for this? some sort of siphon pump? a parastatal pump? something else?

Since the diffs drain entirely, am i free to use any 75W-90 API GL-5 gear oil? or am i forced to use the subaru branded stuff from the dealership?

the CVT fluid is only sold in 5 gallon jugs by the dealership, or you can bring your own container and have them fill it for you but that’s more expensive. If i buy the 5 gallon jug (20qt) will the remaining fluid go bad if left to sit or will it be fine?

\\\^related to above, my plan is to change the fluid ever 50-60,000km or so, the manual says every 100,000km (in canada… i know the US fluid is “lifetime”) but even that feels a bit too long. is that a reasonable interval or too often? 20qt should last me about 3-4 changes, and on the last one i can make up the difference with some more from the dealership.

I assume you need new washers for both diffs and the cvt?

I’m known as the Subaru Guy👌🏾 on my block.

Has anyone experienced rust by the edge of the door of their forester? If so, what did you do to fix it? Or how much did it cost to fix? Also, is the black stuff by the windows black vinyl wrap? We have a 2017 forester that gets parked in a garage but is still rusting.

My 2019 Subaru Ascent tailgate latch is stuck up, so that I can’t get the trunk to fully close.

Things I’ve tried so far:

1) Holdjng the trunk button until it beeps
2) Unlocking the doors a bunch of time
3) Disconnecting the car battery for 10 minutes
4) Slamming the trunk manually
5) Grabbing the latch with pliers
6) Opening the interior lock housing and poking around but not knowing what I was looking at

Any other advice before I try to make an appointment with the dealership?

Thank you!

Subaru of America, Inc., announced its Subaru Trailseeker was named to the 2026 Wards 10 Best Engines & Propulsion Systems list. The judges at WardsAuto praised the Trailseeker for its smooth operation, range, available power, and acceleration.

https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/subaru-trailseeker-wins-spot-in-wards-10-best-engines--propulsion-systems-list-302907215.html

The 2026 Wards 10 Best Engines & Propulsion Systems winners:

Battery-electric vehicles:

• Mercedes-Benz GLC 400 4Matic Electric – Dual-Motor BEV
• Rivian R2 Performance – Dual-Motor BEV
• Subaru Trailseeker – Dual-Motor BEV
• Volvo EX60 P10 AWD – Dual-Motor BEV

Hybrid electric vehicles:

• Chevrolet Corvette ZR1X – 5.5L Turbocharged V-8 HEV
• Hyundai Palisade Hybrid – 2.5L Turbocharged I-4 HEV
• Nissan Rogue Hybrid – 1.5L Turbocharged I-3 HEV
• Porsche 911 Carrera GTS T-Hybrid – 3.6L eTurbocharged Flat-6 HEV

Plug-in hybrid electric vehicles:

• BMW M5 Touring – 4.4L Turbocharged V-8 PHEV
• Toyota RAV4 PHEV GR Sport – 2.5L I-4 PHEV

https://www.wardsauto.com/news/historic-shift-2026-wards-10-best-engines-propulsion-systems-awards-go-e/832810/

My 06 legacy wagon has this rough noise on morning coldstarts. Also if burning more oil than normal, any ideas? 196,000 miles

My 2023 Forester has been having trouble starting for the past week. It will start after being jumped but the battery is testing as normal voltage, battery was also just replaced in June. The alternator and starter are testing normal as well. Should I go ahead and replace the battery? Nobody seems to know why it won’t start occasionally so any suggestions are greatly appreciated:)

New tires Michelin pilot sport 4s 1 year 7 months ago at 19,900 miles & now I need new tires at 16k miles in, 2 alignments since then, new brakes 1k miles ago, full 30k maintenance service done a few months ago. The car is covered until 85k miles or 2030 & most parts should be covered. Please help, thank you.

So I’ve already bought the part from from an online retailer. I’m basically just asking for next steps. I’m mechanically inclined and I’ve got a bunch of basic tools. I think I can get the pump that I’ll need to refill the cvt fluid from my moms friend he said he just bought one and wouldn’t mind letting me borrow it. About how much cvt fluid am I looking at? Claude said to buy 4 gallons which seems like a lot and is quite expensive. Also how much antifreeze do I need to flush that system as well? Also how do I go about flushing the cvt? Do I just take the hose off the cooler and turn the car on for a few seconds at a time? Or is there a better way? Thanks for your answers and consideration!

I got a 2010 outback i picked up a bit ago and the hg just failed internally causing a misfire.

It's at 205k I'm not opposed to having a shop fix it but I am worried about the cvt as well. Car was taken care of which I attribute to everything still being good overall.

Is this worth fixing and keeping? Or is the transmission life top worrisome?

hey all
I am looking to buy a wrx for daily driving as i like that they are manual and i need the all wheel drive as i live in a very snowy area (coast of lake ontario snowy). My budget sits around 6-8k. I know a decent bit about the wrx platform and i know they have reliability issues. i know that the bug and blob eyes get a bad name from oil issues but past that i have no idea.

any help or recommendations are appreciated.

I have a 2017 outback 2.5 with 51k miles. Recently I noticed it has a jerky hesitation/sputter when cruising at higher speeds. I don't feel it when I'm going 20-35mph but when I get up to 45+ I start to notice it and the interval increases as speed increases. Today on the interstate i was going 75 and it was sputtering every 2-3 seconds. Does not do it during acceleration, only when cruising at the higher speeds. No noticeable misfires when idling but there is a rougher idle when the AC is on, rough idle goes away with AC off...probably yet another issue to be addressed later.

I took it to Subaru last week and they replaced the spark plugs and cleaned the throttle body but it hasn't improved the sputter. Car hasn't thrown any codes. My diesel mechanic buddy said it could be anything from bad coil packs to a clogged fuel filter to a blown head gasket....I'm not too sure where to start now and would rather not go broke at the dealership so I'm hoping someone here has some experience and can point me in the right direction.

and forums in general? There was so much information and knowledge shared in such an organized way. You need how to on x? search subforum and keyword and guaranteed multiple threads documenting it. People posting their build journey on members gallery where you can follow every changes and upgrades made. Have a question on something specific and can't find the answer? Either post new thread or in an existing one and someone will always help.

We also had our local club forum where discussions were more organized, easier to coordinate meets, FS sub, and generally brought the community closer together.

Im not sure what happened why people suddenly stopped using forums, but reddit and FB groups are just not the same.

We have a 2021 Subaru Forester that we’re (relatively) happy with, but we’ve got a problem that nobody’s been able to help with.

When the engine shuts off at a stoplight, it is sometimes a little hesitant to restart when my foot comes off the brake. Hasn’t been a problem until recently, when occasionally it completely fails to restart and sits in the intersection beeping at me. So far, every time it’s happened, I could put it in park and restart it, although it takes a minute and it surprises and irritates the drivers behind me.

The dealer told me that it’s because the battery doesn’t get charged enough when I’m driving around town, claimed to run a diagnostic, recommended that I change the battery, and offered to do it for $400. I believed what he said, because so far he had not lied to me, but the price was out of sight so I bought a battery at Costco and put it in myself.

So now it’s happened twice after I had it on the highway for 30-45 minutes. Both times, pulled up to a stoplight within a mile of the highway, engine shuts down, and it fails to restart.

I’ve taken it to another garage and they looked at it for a day but could not get it to happen. Without that, they said they could not find anything wrong.

I know there’s a button on the dash to disable the feature, but I don’t always remember when I start out.

Two questions:

1. Any others with this experience, and can you shed light on a possible cause?

2. Does anyone know of a way to disable the feature so the engine just keeps running?

I have a 2005 Subaru Baja Turbo with a automatic transmission that when the battery is connected the fans for the radiator turn on and all the lights on the dash are lit like it's ready to start, but accessory power is not on.

This car used to have a Innovate motorsports Auto timer that I removed because this issue started happening where the car would turn on and drain the battery flat.

Before I removed the auto timer the car also would have accessory power along with ECM power. The power on that device would read 10v when the car was running with the issue instead of the normal 14v.

This would keep the car running until the fuel pump and battery were disconnected even with key off and removed.

The issue resolved itself before I removed this device and

This other related issue came back months after removal.

I checked the wires that this device spliced into(12 constant, ECM, and accessory) and they don't seem to be shorting together or to ground and if I move them around nothing happens.

I do read a short on the positive and negative battery connections. This is only isolated by the main fuse not any smaller ones. Could a stuck relay cause this?

Any help on what to test next would be greatly appreciated!

Theres a 2008 Outback for sale near me with the 2.0 Boxer diesel engine and 288000km. Im looking for a car to do very long distances in. Ive heard very mixed things about the reliability of this engine but the one for sale is very cheap and has great service history. Any advice on these cars is appreciated.

Only 234 made with the EJ255 + 5MT. My dad & I picked her up as a project car in 2016 and she’s been a blast.

I have a windshield and Gold Plus warranty that doesn’t cover a manufacturer defect in the windshield adhesive. Plus, it took 3 business days to fix a chip in the windshield. I’m not happy.

Too nice of a day to not want to drive this thing.