1998 Subaru Forester Reviews, Pricing & Specs
What owners say
"Overall, many owners love the 1998 Subaru Forester for its reliability, spaciousness, and fun driving experience, particularly in challenging weather conditions. They appreciate its all-wheel drive capabilities and good fuel economy, often achieving around 26-28 mpg. However, some drivers have reported issues with the all-wheel drive system and noted that maintenance costs can add up. Acceleration is another common downside, with several owners finding it lacking."
One of the best cars I ever owned. Has been and will go just about anywhere! Over 250,000 miles with the original engine and running gear. We take this Forester all over forest service roads and I am constantly amazed at where it will go. Interior is a bit busy for this year. Grey cloth with purple, blue, green etc... accents. The cloth does wear very well and is easy to clean. Rear seating is a bit small but the rear seats do recline slightly making it more comfortable on long trips. Both rear seats fold flat making great room for cargo of even car camping for someone under 6' tall. Radiator caps in this vintage are prone to leak after about a year or so. At around $8.00 for a new one, I recommend changing it once a year. The only real maintenance issue is head gasket leaks. Original ones will leak oil around 80-120K. Replacing them runs around $1500 t0 $2000. (this problem exists on the non-turbo Subaru's) Replacing the gasket with the metal one used on the turbo models is a better fix than original gasket. My car has a factory Barometer, Altimeter, Compass and Exterior Temperature cluster built into the top of the dash. Kind of cool when up in the Mt's All and all a fun, reliable safe car.
February 4, 2015This Car is very solid and great in the winter! It has enough room inside and enough power under the hood to serve its purpose. I love driving it, rides nice and smooth, brakes on command and is great on gas. This is a great family car.
August 9, 2010At 286,000 miles on the original engine, this car ran with all the power and handling of an engine under 100,000 miles! It got 26-28 mpg on average and was a ton of fun to drive. I also like the half-suv-half-car style, it's attractive and very useful- lots of space. Only downside: it had a few oil leaks that I had to have fixed.
December 16, 2009What owners say
One of the best cars I ever owned. Has been and will go just about anywhere! Over 250,000 miles with the original engine and running gear. We take this Forester all over forest service roads and I am constantly amazed at where it will go. Interior is a bit busy for this year. Grey cloth with purple, blue, green etc... accents. The cloth does wear very well and is easy to clean. Rear seating is a bit small but the rear seats do recline slightly making it more comfortable on long trips. Both rear seats fold flat making great room for cargo of even car camping for someone under 6' tall. Radiator caps in this vintage are prone to leak after about a year or so. At around $8.00 for a new one, I recommend changing it once a year. The only real maintenance issue is head gasket leaks. Original ones will leak oil around 80-120K. Replacing them runs around $1500 t0 $2000. (this problem exists on the non-turbo Subaru's) Replacing the gasket with the metal one used on the turbo models is a better fix than original gasket. My car has a factory Barometer, Altimeter, Compass and Exterior Temperature cluster built into the top of the dash. Kind of cool when up in the Mt's All and all a fun, reliable safe car.
February 4, 2015This Car is very solid and great in the winter! It has enough room inside and enough power under the hood to serve its purpose. I love driving it, rides nice and smooth, brakes on command and is great on gas. This is a great family car.
August 9, 2010At 286,000 miles on the original engine, this car ran with all the power and handling of an engine under 100,000 miles! It got 26-28 mpg on average and was a ton of fun to drive. I also like the half-suv-half-car style, it's attractive and very useful- lots of space. Only downside: it had a few oil leaks that I had to have fixed.
December 16, 2009First off everybody knows Subaru is world renound for their symetrical AWD system. Although the forester is mechanically identical to other Subaru models it has much more cargo room and ride height. I can go offroading and then drive it like a sports car on road. Always my passengers comment on how safe they feel in my forester. SO to sum it up: Good performance, Great handling, looks good, feels good, decent on gas, and fun to drive!
November 8, 2008I love my Forester. Mine is a "Generation 1" 1998, the first year they came out. I love the cargo room , smooth ride and exceptional handling. I don't know why it's classified as a "Wagon" it's really more of an suv. The interior is a little tacky with purple and blue streaks but still comfortable and set up nicely. Leg room in the front is ad quit and I'm 6ft tall the back seat is a tight fit though. I have the manual which splits the power front to rear 50/50 under normal circumstances and has a viscous slip switch that can very the power split as needed. The "Boxer" engine ( Horizontally opposed) is smooth, quiet and puts out allot of torque. It climbs hills with no problem even though it's a 4 cyl. The handling is suburb, I can't tell the difference between wet and dry pavement, it also corners like it's on rails. I love all the little storage compartments on each door and in the center of the dash. It's fairly good on gas I avg 22mpg combo hwy/ city driving however on my last road trip it got 27 mpg. My only complaint is that the clutch is very fussy and should have been better built. This car is very fun to drive a pure pleasure. The only reason I gave mine a 4 instead of a 5 was that it was mistreated before I got it and took about $3000 to get right, which is VERY A-TYPICAL of Foresters. I have about 146k and still running strong.
January 4, 2009Love my car, being older you have to take the good with the bad. But shes real solid and hauls all my dive gear with out slowing down. Not the fastest car out there, by any means. Bad acceleration too. But like I said, she gets me where i need to go with what i have to take with me for the job.,.... plus I think shes pretty :)
July 21, 2009WOnderful car to driv eon a daily basis. My wife and I have owned it for the last 9 years and have had only a few things go wrong with it. Most of which where small fixes. Would suggest it to any of my friends
July 8, 2009car will get you anywhere and you will have fun while you do it
January 10, 2008Great car for the money. Reliable, great fuel mileage, versatile, well engineered. Not the best looking car, but maintenance is extremely low. I have seen these cars with over 300k miles and still going strong. That should tell you something.
January 3, 2009This generation Forester is nicely styled, has potential to be a killer sleeper. It has the flat four 2.5 liter which is phenominal. The car is very fun to drive, loves tight corners, but until the ABS and AWD kick in to kill the fun a little bit.
March 6, 2012
