Peroni

Just a caution to others; I bought four Nokian Weatherproof, 215/65 R16 H XL, fitted them and then contacted my insurer to notify them of the change. Insurer ( AXA) are refusing to cover the change to H-rated from OEM V-rated. Be warned and check with insurer before spending cash on new tyres. (wish I'd done that)

I have, of course, disputed the wisdom of this response with AXA Insurance. pointing out that I have fitted tyres which will reduce my risk and increase my safety and which are rated well within the operating range of my car. I also pointed out to them that the Association of British Insurers lists AXA as one of the companies signed up to their "Insurers' Winter Tyre Commitment", which means that they do not need to be informed about winter tyre fitment and will not charge more to provide cover. The Forester's owners handbook is vague on the issue of speed ratings and states that tyres must comply with the label on the driver's door ( pics of both attached) They have allowed me 72hrs grace to further investigate my "issue". The car is booked in for Tuesday next to get the old tyres fitted back on. ( at £15 per wheel + VAT)

I recently bought and fitted four Nokian "Weatherproof" 215/65 R16 H tyres after seeing them recommended on these pages. I am very pleased with their performance. My car is a 2010, 2.0 litre petrol, manual Forester However, deciding to "do the right thing", I dropped a note to my car insurer AXA Insurance to let them know I was running all weather, "Winter" rated tyres. I informed them that the new tyres were "H" rated, for speeds up to 130mph, and that my car's maximum possible speed is 114mph. I assumed this would be OK with them. They came back with this response: "I am afraid we would not be able to cover the change of tyres because these must be suitable for your vehicle and meet the vehicle requirements. I am sorry, if you would like to fit these tyres we would need to cancel the policy as this is not a modification we can cover. Have a great day...." So, that's me wasted £392 inc. fitting, plus £72 to get my original V-rated tyres (lucky I kept them) put back on. Unless I can find another insurer who is happy with "H" rated tyres on my Forester. So, here's my question: Can anyone please tell me of a motor insurer who will definitely be happy to cover my Forester with H-rated tyres on it?

The Nokian Weatherproofs are a few weeks old now and a great. So much more grip than the Pirelli's that were on it before and which understeered/slid so easily on sharp bends. I've not been able to get the Nokians to break traction in the wet yet but I've not gone totally mental. I do like to get a feel for where the limit is on each set of tyres I use. tread pattern looks like a typical winter tyre, lots of "sipes" ( crinkly slits in treads) to allow standing water to get out of the way. I went for the "H" rated tyres which are rated at up to 130mph. Since the car's top speed is given as just 114mph, I can't see this being an issue for insurers. The tyres are also rated XL for heavy load, with lots of plies, so I'm guessing pretty robust. Very happy with them and price from Giga tyres as per above links. Thanks Mr B.

Is there a trick to getting front bushes out? Mechanic said he has tried in past and found it time consuming.

Thanks Mr B. I shall look into these for any future repairs. Below (hopefully) pics of what came off the car. Replacement arms, from Subaru main dealer, were £270 + VAT each! So £330 odd. Painful. My mechanic is good and trustworthy, even gave me a discount off some other parts to soften the blow and only charged what he paid for the arms. But maybe I can help him source cheaper Subaru "hard to get" parts in future.

I kept the old arms, know someone who wants them. I'll PM pics to you, Mr B. to see if you can ID what bushes go with them The car handles beautifully now and is much quieter over ripples & bumps in the road. I hand't realised it before buying a Forester just how lovely they are to drive. The steering is sweet and very rewarding to drive. Much, much better that my previous Honda CRV which had a rather dead feel in corners. Nice torquey engine too. The 2.0 T & 2.5 T must be a joy to drive.

Cheers Mr B. Sounds like I am paying for mechanic's ( and my own) ignorance of where to source parts. I should have heard the alarm bells when dropping off the car when he told me they often had to source parts via the main dealer as "you just can't get some parts". He must have meant from his usual suppliers. An expensive part of my education into Forester ownership. I think it will be DIY for me from now on. With the help of this forum and the University of YouTube I feel I could tackle most repairs. I wonder if I should ask for the old arms to keep them for future repairs?

Thanks Tidgy. Where would I find the recall list? Subaru's web site?

2010, 2.0l Petrol, Manual SH model. Been quoted £270 each for suspension control arms and I need two of them, as well as rear link rods & some other bushes, so looking at a hefty bill. Is that £270 valid? Car mechanic ( whom I trust) saying that they can not source front control arms from any where other than Ian Grieve Subaru in Falkirk. Mechanic says he can get aftermarket parts for all the other bits but no one does control arms. Does that sound right? He said the front bushes can be replaced but rear bushes are built-in to the arm and whole arm must come out. Again, is that correct? I'm new to Forester ownership and was expecting to have to put a couple of things right but a near £1k bill for suspension work is scaring me. I will need to source second hand and do the mechanical work myself from now on, to try to make savings. Feeling I should have listened to those who told me Subarus cost a fortune to maintain. Only had suspension checked out because I want to have underside treated with anti-rust ( Dinitrol) process and wanted any suspension work done first. Looks like Xmas will be "subject to efficiency measures" chez Wulbert this year.

Bought the Nokian Weatherproofs on the strength of this thread & on-line reviews. getting them fitted next week.

It is well known that the newer, diesel forester is a bit of a dog. Best to do thorough research before buying an unfamiliar model of car. I find Honest John web site pretty good as a starting point. A shame you have both had bad experiences. An exhaust and suspension bushes I would regard as "wear" or "consumable" items; i.e. check the condition before you buy and knock the cost of replacement off your offer if they are on the way out. Mind you, The air con & exhausts failing on a 3 year old car is very poor though and shouldn't happen. The build quality on my 2010 Forester nowhere near as good as the CRV I had before but it is a much better drivers car and so far has been great in a woodland setting pulling trailer loads of logs out of the woods on no track. If your going Skoda, I would avoid any diesel engine. Diesels are heading for very expensive depreciation soon. ( Some dealers I spoke to saying they will not be buying any after 2020) Doing 7k/yr you are spending more than you would running a petrol, clogging up your DPF and spraying particulates around your home streets. Best buy the excellent 1.2 Turbo petrol. Dealers are a dodgy bunch in the main. Passing on cars they have purchased & polished and hoping not to fix any faults. Private buy you can grill previous owner, check the state of their home & garden to see their attitude to maintenance and get a couple of grand off.

I'm looking for 4 new all weather tyres for my 2010, 2.0 litre petrol model. I like the sound of the Nokians linked above but I notice they are "H" rated. I never drive over 90mph and I'm not wanting to waste money on an over-rated tyre. Can I legally drive my Forester on "H" rated tyres? Every tyre-sales web site comes up recommending "V" rated tyres when I input my car's registration no. Also: Would the Nokian "Weatherproof" tyre get a decent grip on mud? Hoping to take my car into a woodland to collect fire wood.

Finally tracked down what I hope will be a long lasting Forester X. 2010 model, 60k miles, petrol, manual. Drove it up the M6 from Manchester yesterday. (Bringing it home actually, since it originated in Ayrshire, Scotland). All seems well apart from a small metallic rattle/squeak over bumps, coming from the front-right, lower engine bay, or possibly wheel area. Haven't had time to track it down properly ( heavy rain here) , but tightening a loose front exhaust heat shield sadly hasn't fixed it. Some observations from the drive home: Steering vague in central, straight ahead position. Normal, or in need of tracking being set? Corners well. better than my current CRV. Nice on the twists. Wet grip from front Pirelli Scorpion tyres disappointing. Big understeer/slide on a well-known "test bend". Quite torquey engine given it's only a 2 litre N/A in a 1.5T car. Flimsy, thin metal panels. Felt like aftermarket repair items until I realised they are all like that. I'm used to much older cars and my 2006 model felt more solid. My 1997 Saab 9000 was like a tank compared to current cars. Feels like leaning on the car the wrong way could cause a dent. Still; lighter I suppose. Great CD player ( way better than CRV EX stereo) Makes a difference on a long trip. Decent radio too. Cheap feeling switchgear. Engaging to drive and quite fun in an old-school kind of way. Looking forward to getting it into the woodland where we gather firewood. Will put some grippier; winter/4 season/all terrain tyres on it after a bot of research. Brakes just OK but still better than the CRV. Worth putting better callipers or braided hoses on? Hopefully this one is a keeper. I'm still at the nervous "what have I bought?" stage of ownership. Thanks for all the advice & help on here to date. I hope to be able to contribute one day.

How do you wear a clutch out in 50,000 miles? Seems a bit premature. Owned by someone who was "riding" the clutch while driving? Or would a lot of low-speed city driving do that? Beginning to appreciate Mr B's advice about "low mileage" not necessarily being a good thing. 50k miles of short, cold engine, stop-start winter driving on salty roads, over 10 years, by a duff driver probably mechanically more wearing than fast, high mileage, dry motorway work.

I've was once told to use the air con regularly because the gas also has a lubricating effect on the various A/C seals which "dry out" if the refrigerant isn't circulated often enough. So that would make sense, if there was a leak and an owner decided to just leave it be, or a car was sitting for a long of time not being used. I do like my air con. I use it to cool off after making deliveries or to de-mist quickly in when jumping into car with wet waterproofs. I'm inspecting a 2009 model tomorrow. Another dealership. I wish there were more private sales up here (Glasgow) but there's almost nothing. I feel much more at home talking to an actual owner, asking questions and haggling over known faults.

Travelled 320 miles yesterday to view a "stunning condition", "FSH", "Well looked after" 2011, 2.0l petrol, manual Forester with 50k miles up. £9.5k asked. Clutch slipping in 3rd & 4th gear, front tyres at legal limit, cam-belt due, headlamp levelling actuator missing and Air Con completely inoperative. (To be balanced, the dealer offered to fix these faults if asking price was paid. No haggling.) I've looked at a few now where the air con is dead. Vendor (dealers) always say; "just needs a re-gas" we'll fix that. ( the obvious come back is; "Why TF didn't you fix it before offering it for sale then, if it's that easy & simple to fix". The other classic from private vendors is; "Air con? don't know mate, I never use it". Hmmmm. I'm beginning to think that there's an issue with Forester Air Con. Do they leak? Is the compressor a known fail point? What is it that goes wrong and how expensive is it to fix? I'm guessing that if a £40 re-gas was all it takes, then it would be done before sale. And that dealers are waiting to give it a quick re-gas before sale in the hope that it works OK as I'm driving away but will probably fail after a few days as the gas leaks out. Annoys me no end. If you describe a car as having "Air Con/Auto Climate Control" and you are charging full book price, then the function should work as intended. Any one know if this is a known issue? I'm now thinking I'll just assume air-con is broken and factor in a proper repair/replacement whatever that may cost.

Great job Silver XT. Loads of great info in this thread. Makes me more confident about buying an older Forester, knowing there are parts and expertise available.

Yes, Mr B. That's the switch I was talking about. Thanks. I've still no idea what it does though... "POWER A/T, HOLD " ? "All Terrain" ? "Auto Transmission"? Is it just a sporty setting where it holds the revs for longer before the up-change? I was hoping it might be a kind of low-ratio, slow speed thingy. I suppose the Autos must still have good off road and low speed capability. Subaru know what they are doing. Plenty of people seem to buy them. I prefer an auto to drive, being a lazy sod. Great in slow moving traffic. Only downside for me is extra fuel costs and maybe life span of the auto box. The ZF units fitted to Saabs ( and many other cars) seemed to get tired at about 150k miles. I've no idea what type of auto box Subaru use.

I understand that older 2002-06, 2 litre turbo autos have no "low ratio" as such. Is that correct? I'm wondering what the small rocker switch is that I see in pictures of cars for sale. Just to the right of the gear lever. Intriguingly, the pictures are never good enough quality for me to see the symbol on the switch. Would any older, XT auto drivers care to enlighten me? Thanks.

By the way JD. I see you are in Scotland. Me too. Where did you buy yours? Hoping to have a Forester of my own soon. WAs looking at a 2009-'13 petrol, manual for the 2 tonne towing capacity but now considering an older, 2002 - '06, 2.0 XT Auto as I've discovered they will legally tow 1900kg. I used to have a Saab 9000, 2.3 Turbo and I reckon that Subaru are up there with them, with eons of turbo experience in smallish petrol engines. Maybe even superior to the Saab?

Might not work, but a similar, recurring problem on my Honda Jazz was cured by slightly inserting the edge another CD into the mouth of the load slot ( about 15-25mm) and then pressing "eject". It does sound like some kind of jam. Trying the eject button whilst repeatedly pounding the cd player/dashtop rapidly might just loosen something up.

Ahhh. didn't know that. The low box is good for reversing trailers and general low speed manoeuvring with a trailer. I'd look at an Auto if I thought that table I posted earlier was accurate; i.e. 1900kg towing limit. I'll need to dig around. It can be hard to get accurate info on towing capacity for older cars. I'm being a bit of a perfectionist here really, hoping I can find one car that will do for my work and also family car. I don't want to own/pay for two cars. Wife usually uses trains and now kids are grown, a lot less mileage being done, so an auto with higher fuel costs is bearable. Also considering a Jap import 2.0 XT if I can fine one ( they all seem to be STi, JDM hot rods) but again, not sure of legal issues of towing with a grey import if Japan has a ludicrously low weight limit like USA for towing. I am becoming a Subaru Forester obsessive!

Have to say, I much prefer the look of the older '02-'08 models, or even the one before that. More estate and less generic SUV, jelly mould shape.

Thanks for sharing your experience Mr B. ( Couldn't find me a car could you?) Delving further, it looks like the older 2002-'08, FG, 2 litre XT turbos can tow 1800kg which is very interesting! That would probably meet my needs and would mean a wider range of cars opening up. Plus the old XT's have high spec, leather, Sat nav, reversing camera ( which is great for getting hooked up to a trailer fist go, on your own) Weirdly, the data base I found shows the 2.0 XT Auto as having a higher towing limit than the manual? Which makes me doubt the accuracy of the data base, unless the auto has a special trick that lets it tow more? maybe it's just a heavier car?