Why Are Buyers Walking Away From the New 2025 Subaru Forester?

Just traded my wonderful 2023 CrossTrek Limited for a 2025 Forester Touring mostly to get the heated steering wheel. This is my 10th Subaru. I also own two Ascents, a 2019 and a 2024, both with a heated wheel. I will take a hard look at the 2026+ hybrid next year when they are expected for delivery. My heated seats get too hot on high. Used mostly on medium or low. That end of my body seems especially sensitive.

I am still a Forrester fan and part of the older group (75), but I am waiting for the Forrester Hybrid to come out next year.

Most of the same points raised already:
1 - $$$
2 - Bog ugly. When it first came out, people said, 'It's new, it'll grow on you.' It hasn't.
3 - No hybrid. Vague timeline for hybrid. No excuse.
4 - Same underpowered, single-engine choice.
5 - Boomers have hundreds of CDs. Shouldn't have dumped the CD player.

My husband and I are in search of new vehicle and considered the new Forester until we heard the heated seats only go up to 90 degrees. Not acceptable if you live in New England! No wonder they're sales are down for this vehicle!

I have a 2020 Forester. I love the car. It is pretty and fast (jack rabbit). I think the lower sales are from all of the previous buyers are happy with their cars and do not need a newer one.

I came very close to buying a Crosstrek Limited but changed my mind for two reasons. Forester is expected to be more somewhat more reliable and the new Forester is quieter than even the older model Foresters and definitely so than Crosstrek. For the same price as Crosstrek Limited, I bought a 2025 Forester Premium which has more than enough features. They are both not performance (0 to 60 mi mostly) but suites this old man fine.

We bought a 2025 Forester about 13 days ago. 9 days ago, it broke down on my wife's way home. Approximately around 8am, after climbing one of the many hills she drives on a daily basis. What happened was that every "idiot" light came on. All temp warning lights came on and the temp guages were almost maxed out. The oil temp and transmission temp were almost maxed too. She hadn't noticed the seats not being warm enough for her. That was the least of her worries. So she calls the dealer and the first thing they said after she explained what had happened was, Dont drive the car any further. They didn't provide a tow or pick-up. Thankfully we have a triple A membership. Unfortunately it took them 4hrs to pick up the car and bring her and the car to the dealership. Luckily she had the notion to stop at a friend's house so she could stay warm. Once at the dealership the employees were in shock to see her and the car. Once it was put on the lift and the diagnostics were done, the end result was a bad transmission. The car only had 300 miles on it. We only had it in our possession for 9 days. That sucks more than the not so warm seats. One of the problems from Subaru is that they know about the transmission issues. Our nephew has an Asent that he has had the transmission changed 3 times. We are not new to Subarus. We have never had issues with any of our past Subarus. Friends and associates are all telling us to get rid of this car. What's your opinion on the transmission issues? Would you give it back? To appease us, they supplied us with a curtesy car. Yes it's another Forester. It's a "base" model, not a Limited as she purchased
Dealer says they need to contact Subaru to get an official transmission technician to check and review the "issues" with the findings. They wouldn't even give us a time-line as to when we may get our car/SUV back. We have the courtesy car for at least 7 or 10 days. Then we have to contact the dealer to see what's going to happen next. My wife works overnight shifts so we needed a dependable car. The 2015 Forester we sold had 151,000 miles on it and it's still going strong. New isn't always better
To many electronics in the 2025 Forester. Hopefully, issues will be resolved. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

Coming from a Highlander, I've sitting up high. I know you call the crosstalk an suv, but its a wagon.

25 Forester premium with BSD and power lift gate added is comprable in cost to a Crosstrek limited. It is quieter, roomier and has the same fuel efficiency. CR says it’s more reliable than Crosstrek. I would give up on leather trimmed seats for a quieter car.

I have owned 6 Foresters and have liked them up until now. I currently own the 24 Forester Wilderness. Ten Reasons I don't like the 25 Forester:
1. The nub BSM is not as visible as the 24's BSM. For us old guys, the bright BSM was great! The new nub cannot be seen in bright sunlight. In other words it does not do the job. Go back to the 24 BSM style and fire the person who came up with nubs!!
2. The Auto on/off switch location is still hard to find ... they need to move it up somewhere it is more visible.
3. Get rid of the Donut Spare tire ... if they can put a full size spare in the Wilderness then put in the other trim levels. Old dudes love a full size spare... and it will sell.
4. The interior seat colors are mostly black. Lighten up to more grey...especially for hot climates like Texas. Black leather gets burning hot in the summer and can bake your private parts...ouch!
5. Get rid of the shift paddles. They are worthless for older buyers and are a nuisance for us. They can be accidentally hit with your fingers and cause a lot of engine and driver turmoil. It makes a high whining noise and scares the poop out of you!!
6. Styling sux pond water... in other words it is like every other Ford Escape or Bronco. Emphasize back seat space and cargo carrying more.
7. Make the all-weather mats more like the weather tech mats. Subaru all weather mats are too small and don't protect the carpet.
8. Change the shift pattern on the shift console. It is too easy to accidentally move from D to M. My dog will accidentally move it when trying to get over to my lap.
9. If Subaru is going to come out with a 25 Forester Wilderness in early Spring then dump the black wheels and black hood sticker ... they look awful. The first thing Wilderness owners do is replace the black alloy wheels and remove the worthless hood sticker.
10. Put the engine cover back in the engine compartment ... It actually looks better and keeps the engine clean.

I bought a Forester in 2014 and was glad to trade it in for the 2019 Forester. I had many rear end accidents with the 2014 because it did not have a backup camera. I have never had an accident in my 2019 Forester. It has made me a safer driver! I will buy another Forester when the hybrid becomes available. Fuel economy is a big concern for me. We live on a dirt road with a steep, gutted driveway so the high clearance of the Forester is a big plus.

How's the sales now? Haven't seen a new story about the increased sales.

We are a senior retired couple. We bought a 2021 Crosstrek Limited 4 years ago. It is my wife's car and she absolutely loves it. She likes smaller cars and it hits everything on her wish list. Today, we purchased our second Subaru. It is a 2025 Forester Touring. It will largely be my vehicle to drive. I love all the bells and whistles and it is loaded very nicely. I got a good price on the car which listed at $42,855. I purchased it for cash at $38,146. Perhaps due to sluggish sales, there are good deals to be had on the Forester.

I'm on my fourth Subaru bot NO MORE unless they start making something with a quiet cabin. At highway speeds, you can't have a normal conversation between two front seat passengers! Why does Subaru ignore how horribly noisy even the top level Forester is??? It's too much money for a car that Subaru is too lazy or arrogant to soundproof for comfortable conversation or radio/music listening. And god forbid you put the back seats down! Then, the noise doubles. Very poor quality.

We have recently purchased a 2022 Forester Premium. It is our 5th Subaru. Our previous was an Ascent, which if we still had children, would be our choice. Not the Forester which is not really big enough to hall children in my opinion. We enjoyed the Ascent but wanted to gain a bit of gas mileage so returned to the Forester (prior to the Ascent we had a 2017 Forester, 6 speed which we wished Subaru still offered).

I owned a 2023 Wilderness... great car, crappy transmission choice and underpowered.
The new model now looks terrible, pair that with the CVT and sloth performance and its no longer on the starting line for me. Shame as I love subarus, and had an impreza for 20 years before hand.
The Forester needs....
1) a turbo option like the outback has. Especially with the price hikes, its getting too expensive for current performance. Where is Forester XT ? or Wilderness-with Turbo?
2) ditch the CVT and just put in an auto with more gears, like most of the competition. They could really enhance the off-road to the next level with great offroad-ratio. and maybe add locking rear diff option, instead of goofy front end looks. Subaru people love the utility.

my wife and I have purchased 9 Subaru's. my son in law recently rolled on the highway on black ice, and he landed on the roof, and walked away uninjured. Just greatful he's alive. We recently purchased a 2025 gray touring edition, and we love the hands free "Alexia" to change seat warmers, radio station etc. but what we like most of all is the 360 degree camera. and the great visability. My wife and I have purchased 3 Impreza's, 2017, 2019, two Crosstrek 2019 totaled, and 2024, three Forester two 2022 premium, and a 2025 touring, two Outbacks 2020, & 2023. Subaru makes their cars passenger compartment able to withstand twice the weight of the car. which I'm greatful for my son in law. Subaru says, if there is any car to be in an accident in its a Subaru for just the safety reasons. There are pros an cons for every model. My wife and I were talking in our 2025 Forester while driving on the freeway. and wondered why it took us so long to find the make of Subaru's. My 5 grand children and daughter are greatful to still have their husband and dad around, and we will continue to buy Subaru's!

I purchased a 2025 Forester after my 2019 was totalled. I have to be honest, I don’t like this Forester. I hate the new styling which makes it look like many other SUVs on the road. The touch controls, vs knows and buttons, are unsafe and poorly designed.
The touch screen is poorly designed and is a bunch of wasted space. Also, the performance is erratic. The phone charger doesn’t work (even the dealer confirmed this). This is my 3rd Forester, Premium model. As soon as I can I will be selling it for an older model.

What a useless article!!! Please provide reasons for the downtrend of 2025 forrester intetest, other than cost. Are there mechanical, physical, fuel consumption problems? Stop being shallow! Provide evidence do that people can make eduated decisions for themseles

Two weeks ago I purchased a 2025 Forester, Premium. The trade in was my 2018 Mazda CX5, Touring. I am 61 years old, and wanted something roomier than the CX5. My husband and I are “empty nesters”, but do have two canine companions who travel with us at times. I love the visibility, handling is great, no complaints about the ride or horsepower (Mazda had 187, and if I need a little extra I just press sport mode), and larger cargo space and headroom are a plus for us and our fur babies. I do notice a little delay with the screen once in a while, but nothing earth shattering. Absolutely love my Forester!!

I have a friend who owns an 8-year-old Subaru Forester and has only praise for the vehicle. I was in the market for an SUV in 2025, so I sought his opinion on compact SUVs.
I test drove the Toyota RAV4, Hyundai Tucson Hybrid, the Subaru Forester Touring, and I owned a Honda CR-V EX for four years. I read the September-October 2025 Consumer Reports article on overall ratings for compact SUVs. The Subaru Forester 2.5L is rated the #1 CR-approved compact SUV with an overall rating of 93 pts. The second-best CR-approved compact SUV rated is the Honda CR-V Hybrid 2.0H at 83 pts. The third CR-approved compact SUV is the Hyundai Tucson Hybrid 1.8T*H at 82 pts. The fourth CR-approved compact SUV is the Toyota Rav4 2.5H at 81 Pts. (pg111 Sept-Oct CR)
My wife and I purchased a Subaru Forester Touring in the middle of July, and we are enjoying the comfort and driveability of the vehicle immensely. The openness of the driver's view, 360-degree aerial view camera system, interior seating, 11.5-inch display, and hands-free tailgate entry are definitely as advertised. The drive is very comfortable, and noise levels are low in town and on the highway. The Forester has options that fit all types of driving styles. For Comfort and a great driving experience, I highly recommend the 2025 Subaru Forester.