Cerberith

I now have a set of new tyres fitted - sales director apologised for for the problem and agreed they should have given me the option to pay extra for some decent tyres. They arranged for me to go in to the tyre place they use yesterday and get the Autoguards taken off - the sales guy then collected them to take back to the dealer for them to use in the future I guess for someone less fussy. Its now got four Bridgestone Dueller H/T 684 tyres which are the ones made for the Forester and replace the H/T 687 that is on the spare. I'm waiting to hear if I need to make a contribution towards the cost and need to collect the Subaru roof bars which I had ordered as part of the deal. Getting sorted - need to clean it and take some photos now lol.

With Defenders there is a known etiquette of 'Defender Parking' - i.e. if you go into a car park you avoid all empty spaces to park next to, or as close as possible to another Defender. I didn't know other makes did this - and was only remarking yesterday that since picking mine up earlier in the week I'd not seen another Forester on the road - the 2008 to 2013 model seems pretty rare round here. So imagine my surprise to come out of Morrisons to a fairly empty car park yesterday afternoon to find this ... Not only another Forester, but same model and colour. What are the odds of that?

Got a call back this morning with the expected "we only fit tyres with the correct rating and we think they are ok" comment to cover their backs - but they have offered to give me the full price of the four Autoguards towards whatever tyres I want to fit so that seems like a good result. They have also given me a free boot load liner in addition to the fitted floor mats I negotiated so I'm pleased with that result. B)

Via a Google search for Subaru Forester forums.

Waiting for a call back from the sales guy - the service manager spoke to him and said he didn't think much of the tyres and wouldn't fit them to his car so the sales guy was going to talk to his boss and see what he can do.

Thanks for the comments - I'm prob going to change them. From what I can make out they are about £40 each fitted and although correctly sized and rated for the vehicle I like decent quality tyres as only the four small patches of rubber hold you to the road. I'm taking it in to the dealer this afternoon to collect the mats and boot liner that were free (lol) with the deal but on back order and whilst I'm there get the service guys to stick it on a ramp as there is a 'hot brake lining smell' after driving which I'll get them to check out - it may even be overspray from their enthusiastic valeting ... I mentioned the tyres to the service manager on the phone and he agreed they are false economy - I'd rather they gave me the £30 a corner or whatever they paid to put towards a set of Yokohamas or Bridgestones.

Hi All, Just collected my 2010 Forester DX and the dealer has fitted four new tyres as part of the service / MOT agreed with the sale. I'm guessing the original tyres were Bridgestone Duellers (the full size steel spare has one fitted) and had lasted 43k miles. I hadn't expected them to replace the tyres as I'd negotiated based on the low tread of the originals so at first I was quite pleased... However, they have fitted four Autoguard SA602 tyres which I'd never heard of - a bit of digging via Google indicates they are a budget brand with not the best feedback. Has anyone any experience of these tyres? I'm thinking of changing them for a better brand as I've never believed in cheap tyres but I'd welcome any feedback. Cheers, John

Thanks ;)

Any chance you could post a photo of the tread pattern? I'm moving to Subaru from a Defender and I'm used to proper AT tyres, the Forester I'm due to pick up doesn't have a lot of life left on it's original tyres so I'll be looking around. Cheers, John

Congratulations, hope to get mine in the next few days.

Hoping to pick it up this weekend if everything gets done. It will obviously lose out to the defender on ground clearance and low ratio control - but for what I need, i.e. getting out of the village when it snows, muddy lanes, tracks and wet fields I think the Forester will be more than a match.

Thanks for that - I've found a Forester just before Christmas - I had toyed with a 2.5 XT I'd seen but the fuel consumption figures were worse than the Defender ... so I've gone for a 2010 DX which suits my current needs for lugging the family, dog and camping gear about. It is just 3 years old so is getting an early service, new tyres and a MOT before I pick it up - hopefully this weekend.

Hi, my local dealer says they are available as dealer aftermarket fit.

Hi all, Long term Landrover owner (mainly Defender 110s) looking for more economy and comfort so I'm in the process of changing to a Forester diesel. Cheers, John