All-wheel drive and a spacious, functional cabin make the Subaru Forester a family-hauling favorite. But which is the better deal, buying new or used?
AWD Family Haulers
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The Subaru Forester is not a glamorous vehicle. But then, it had never set out to be so. Instead, the Forester has been proudly positioned as somewhere between a large kitchen appliance and a Swiss army knife, emphasizing practicality, utility, functionality, and usability. And while other two-row crossovers can credibly claim similar traits, what sets the Forester apart is its ruggedness and standard all-wheel drive beefing up an already capable vehicle. And spacious and airy cabin rounds out a uniquely equipped compact SUV.
If you’ve narrowed your focus to shopping for a Subaru Forester, good on you. But the one critical car-buying question looms large, whether to buy one new or look to save some dough and buy a used example. For a decent comparison, we chose the current 2023 Forester to go up against the most recent version of the prior generation, the 2018 model year Forester.
The 2023 Forester offers advantages like Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, the new Wilderness Edition trim, and more standard safety equipment. The 2018 Forester, for its part, offers something the 2023 does not, a turbocharged engine option that solves for the Forester’s more notorious deficiency, its sluggish acceleration. So, which ends up the better deal, dollar-for-dollar? Read on to find out.
Driving & Performance
The major headline for the Foresters performance is its symmetrical all-wheel drive system, a standard feature on both the 2018 and 2023 models. A second major headline was teased above, the Forester, like many compact crossovers, is not the quickest SUV around. Its base flat-four puts out less than 200 horsepower, and though quick to get going, the Forester’s CVT (continuous variable transmission) holds it to a leisurely stroll from zero to sixty of more than 8 seconds.
That’s where the salient difference comes in between the 2018 and 2023 models. The 2018 Forester’s base engine is a 2.5L flat-four making 170 horsepower and 174 lb.-ft. of torque and comes with either a six-speed manual or a CVT. The former nets the Forester 22 city and 28 highway mpg while the latter gets a bit better 26/32 mpg. Significantly, the 2.5L isn’t the 2018 Forester’s only powertrain option. It also offers a 2.0L turbocharged flat-four making 250 horsepower and 258 lb.-ft. of torque and comes exclusively with the CVT for 23/27 mpg.
The current 2023 Forster settles for just one engine, another 2.5L flat-four with 182 horsepower and 176 lb.-ft. of torque. This too comes with a CVT. Gas mileage varies with Wilderness trim (which we’ll get to in a bit) getting slightly poorer ratings at 25/28 mpg while all other trims achieve 26/33 mpg.
Comfort & Interior
Aside from the Forester’s AWD system, its most unique feature is its spacious and airy cabin. Excellent outward visibility and ample cargo and passenger space can be found in both the 2018 and 2023 models. Not that there are notable differences between the two.
The 2018 Forester’s cabin is comfortable and functional, though not as refined as some rival crossovers. It offers a standard 6.2-inch infotainment touchscreen, upgradeable to a 7-inch screen. A USB port and Bluetooth are available, but Apple CarPlay and Android Auto are both glaringly absent. Cargo space is excellent at a maximum of 34.4 cu.-ft. behind the rear seats and 74.7 cu.-ft. with them folded down. Those examples equipped with a moonroof give up a little cargo room, measuring 31.5 cu.-ft. in back and 68.5 cu.-ft. in total.
The 2023 Forester’s cabin looks a bit chicer than before, but much of what makes the Forester great to live with remains unchanged, ample room and a tall greenhouse. Material quality is good, and things feel solidly put together. The 6.5-inch touchscreen can now be upgraded to an 8-inch one and both Apple CarPlay and Android Auto are now standard equipment. The current Forester trades a bit of cargo space for passenger room, reduced to 28.9 cu.-ft. behind the rear seats and 74.2 cu.-ft. in total.
Trims & Features
The 2018 Forester offered four trims, base, Premium, Limited, and Touring. The base model is spartan indeed, with basics like Bluetooth, cloth upholstery, and a 6.2-inch touchscreen. Its only standard advanced safety feature is a rearview camera. At the other end is Touring, which offers amenities like Subaru’s full suite of safety tech, a.k.a. EyeSight, that includes blind spot monitoring, lane keep assist among other features. It also offers a Harmon Kardon premium stereo, dual-zone climate control, navigation, and a moonroof. The XT versions are those carrying the 2.0L turbocharged engine option.
The 2023 Forester adds the new Wilderness trim package as well as a lot of additional standard features. Those start off with both Android Auto and Apple CarPlay as well as the EyeSight package of driver assist features (lane departure warning, auto high beams, and the rest). The base Forester starts at $26,495.
The new Wilderness Edition adds off-road items for the most rugged version of the Forester you can buy. These include a .5-inch ride height lift (from 8.7 inches to 9.2 inches), double the towing capacity from 1,500 lbs. to 3,000 lbs., a skip plate, roof rails that hold up to 800 lbs., and Yokohama all-terrain tires. The Wilderness starts at $34,320. The Touring, with all its many creature comforts, tops out at $36,795.
Prices & Conclusions
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That all makes a brand-new Forester a much more enticing proposition. You can get the EyeSight package, Apple CarPlay and/or Android Auto, and many other nice accoutrements in the base and Premium trims while keeping the price under $30,000. If you’re serious about making the Forester your next adventure/overlanding vehicle, the Wilderness Edition really is a quick and economical entry-point into an otherwise expensive hobby.
Beyond the new tech features and the new looks, the most significant thing to keep in mind when comparing a new versus a used Forester is that, like other Subarus, this one has a shallow depreciation curve. That means they hold their value well. That’s good for those who own one if they ever plan to sell or trade theirs in, but it also has its flip side when you’re looking at used models, hoping for a discount from new. Used examples of the 2018 Forester tend to run between $18-19,000 for the base model, in the low to mid $20,000 range for the Premium and Limited trims, and up to $28,000 for the Touring XT with its 2.0L turbo.
If a good all-wheel drive system and a roomy, comfortable cabin are why you’re looking at the Forester in the first place, the prior generation can serve that up along with some cost savings.
