Opinions of Subaru Forester 2.0 dsl , 2010.

dooroy

My brother is on the lookout for a vehicle that will tow a horsebox from time to time.
Today he went to see a 2010 Subaru Forester with a 2L dsl engine.
The salesman told him this would be well able to pull a horsebox and that it would be legal as its 4 wheel drive .
He rang me to see what I thought of them but I had to say I knew nothing about them - there are none around this area at all.
I told him I would ask about it here in the hopes that some people would have knowledge of them.
Have been reading online reviews but practically all were from the USA and the cars had petrol engines.
Any opinions , positive or negative , greatly appreciated .

Lellostag

Nice car, although I seem to recall there being talks about some serious issues cropping up at around 150k miles or so on the Subaru diesels, something with the crankshaft if I'm not completely mistaken.

A search on here might throw up a few threads on the potential issues.

homer90

Some well documented issues with the boxer diesel...

https://www.google.ie/search?q=subaru+boxer+diesel+engine+problems&oq=subaru+boixer+diesel+engine+p&aqs=chrome.1.69i57j0l2.20789j0j4&client=tablet-android-lenovo&sourceid=chrome-mobile&ie=UTF-8

97golf

Towing capacity around 2tons so OK with 1 horse. 4x4 is irrelevant to legal Towing it's down to capacity.

dooroy

Thanks for replies.
As regards towing I was under the impression that you could not tow a 4 wheel trailer with a car - and I thought the Forester would be classed as a car.
Will pass on the info and see how it goes:) .

punisher5112

Its all down to actual towing capacity and also the licence held has the be BE

Lex Luthor

Lellostag wrote: »

Nice car, although I seem to recall there being talks about some serious issues cropping up at around 150k miles or so on the Subaru diesels, something with the crankshaft if I'm not completely mistaken.

A search on here might throw up a few threads on the potential issues.

More like 150,000km

dooroy

This one has 116K mls on it

CJhaughey

The 2.0 is common through the whole subaru range and reliability is very questionable.
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2057524363
Personally I'd avoid one.

dooroy

Having read through that link I think he would be well advised to go for something else.

Lex Luthor

dooroy wrote: »

Having read through that link I think he would be well advised to go for something else.

agree, unless the work has already been done on it

If its got 116k miles, then its highly possible. No harm in asking

If its the one in the authorized Subaru dealership in Dublin, then they should be able to tell you if it has or not

If they tell you they never heard of this story about crankshaft problems, then they are pulling your leg

74merc

I know of someone on another forum whose replacement diesel engine has failed, same problem both times. You would have thought that the second engine would have the issue engineered out, but it appears not. The later engines seem to be ok, but I'm not sure of when they were introduced.

_Brian

I was looking at one and read lots of stuff on line.
This was a new engine developed from scratch. There have in relative terms few been sold and yet reports of the crankshaft failure seems alarmingly high. Cars seem to show no warnings that things that are going to go wrong, regular dealer servicing doesn't seem to prevent the issue. No indications that the problem has been engineered out in new engines.

It's such a shame as they are a fantastic car and when going well feedback on the engines is very positive.

Another issue that's reported is the fact that to remove an injector the engine has to be removed making a basic injector overhaul a major expense.

I wouldn't touch one even if the engine was replaced. Prices are reflecting this engine problem and 2010/11 diesels are keenly priced considering the car.

74merc

I noticed a 2011 Outback Diesel in a breakers yard yesterday. No apparent damage, so I assume the crankshaft has given way and taken the rest of the engine with it.

Special Circumstances

_Brian wrote: »

I was looking at one and read lots of stuff on line.
This was a new engine developed from scratch. There have in relative terms few been sold and yet reports of the crankshaft failure seems alarmingly high. Cars seem to show no warnings that things that are going to go wrong, regular dealer servicing doesn't seem to prevent the issue. No indications that the problem has been engineered out in new engines.

It's such a shame as they are a fantastic car and when going well feedback on the engines is very positive.

Another issue that's reported is the fact that to remove an injector the engine has to be removed making a basic injector overhaul a major expense.

I wouldn't touch one even if the engine was replaced. Prices are reflecting this engine problem and 2010/11 diesels are keenly priced considering the car.

You can get a 2.5L Forester in California which is clean enough to be rated PZEV. Partial Zero Emissions Vehicle. It's a reliable engine that doesn't smother people with Nox and particulates.

It's a petrol.