Subaru Forester Maintenance Cost [Routine & Otherwise]

Subaru Foresters have long been hailed as one of the most affordable cars to purchase as well as one of the easiest cars to maintain. This is often why people pick these cars for their first vehicle or get them for their children when they go away to college.

This is one of the most reliable cars that people buy for their family or commuter vehicles. Subaru Forester’s annual costs for maintenance average $1,200-$1,800 a year. This is actually higher than other cars in the same class which average $1,000-$1,200.

This might be related to the styling of the Forester as other Subaru vehicles are also cheaper to maintain over the course of a year. Subaru vehicles as a whole rank 11 out of 30 for maintenance costs each year.

How Much Do Maintenance Costs for Foresters Increase Over Time?

Everyone knows that maintenance costs for vehicles can increase over time. Not every make and model of vehicle will suffer increased costs over time, but on average, this is the normal experience for car owners.

This is why many people try to part with their vehicles before they are out of warranty. The cost of Subaru maintenance each year can go up over time. The chart below shows the amount that you will pay each year for your Subaru in maintenance as it ages.

This is important information that you can use to determine if you want to buy a Forester for your family.

If you are not sure what the likelihood of repairs might be for your Forester over time, there is an average occurrence of some average costs over the life of most Foresters.

You can see that the older your Forester gets, the more likely it will be that it will start to cost you lots of money each year in maintenance costs.  This is the pitfall of most older cars and Subarus is not exempt from this additional cost consideration over time.

How Much is Maintenance on a Subaru Per Year?

Subaru vehicles have some common issues that can require attention during the course of each year. While there might be recall items for any car that are covered by warranties or recall coverage, you will find that these common repair items are what you should plan to spend money on each year when you own a Subaru.

You will see that a lot of these average costs are diagnosis costs. You Might be wondering about the average costs for repairs and services that result from these diagnosis processes. The following chart shows common services that will be needed for a Subaru Forester.

While it is clear that each service does not cost that much, they can add up. Older vehicles can require more services each year, and you can see that if you have more than one of these services pending that your bill might get quite large quite quickly.

These are not all of the services that might be needed for your vehicle each year as it ages, but this is a list of the normal services that might be required.

What is the True Cost of Owning a Forester?

There is a calculation that can be done that shows you what the real cost to own your current vehicle will be. This calculation looks at the cash cost of your vehicle and then adds average maintenance to the calculations. This tells you what the actual cost to purchase a car truly is.

The calculation for the Subaru Forester shows that the average cash cost of the vehicle is 27,818. The true cost that considers all of the costs for maintenance is $34,909. This also considers average taxes and fees and insurance.

This is not an expensive car to insure, but this is another cost that affects your ownership costs.

What Do Mileage-Based Services Cost?

There are average services that Subaru suggests for each Subaru in correspondence to average mileage. You will find that these services are pretty standard and you will need to pay for them unless your vehicle has had issues that led to extended repairs that cover some of these items in advance of the mileage services.

Not every dealership will offer all of the mileage-based services in-house, but you will find that these recommendations are suggested for all Foresters that are sold anywhere in the US. You might get recommended service updates throughout the year for services that fall in between these milestones.

It is up to you if you want to bring your car in for all of these services, but you might find that this will save you money over time. Having your car analyzed for problems can help prevent issues with actual repairs. Maintenance is often less than repair costs for any make or model of vehicle.

How do Labor Costs Affect Maintenance Fees?

Labor costs can impact the cost of maintenance on your Forester. If you live in an area like a large city or your area does not have a Forester dealer, you might have to pay more for the labor that is needed to maintain your vehicle.

The average cost for labor in the US is $60. In cities and other areas that do not have access to services, you might find that you will pay as much as $70-$100 per hour for maintenance services.

Most of these services do not take very long to complete, but if you are paying for a more involved service, this labor cost could add up. The cost of owning a Subaru Forester might be more in cities than it is in rural areas due to this factor.

You can check on the average cost of labor in your area through a simple internet search or you can reach out to your local Subaru dealership and ask about the cost of labor. This can help you to plan for the cost of ownership of your Forester.

What Are Common Items that Break Down on Subaru Foresters?

The most common major repairs that impact the total cost of ownership of your Forester are related to a variety of issues. You will see that these issues might add significantly to your overall cost of annual maintenance for your Forester.

Certain years of Forester are more prone to these issues than others. The worst year for additional repair costs is often the 2015 Forester. There have been other years with significant issues including the 2011 and 2013 models.

The 2019 Forester marked a turning point in large maintenance items and the average number of large repairs that were needed went down significantly. This improvement gave Forester a foothold in the reliability categories that Foresters had not occupied before.

This is a big help when you are thinking about buying a used Forester. You should make sure to avoid the problem years of this make and model so that you can get the most optimal maintenance cost experience from your Forester.

This is a very helpful way to avoid lots of expensive annual repairs and services for your Forester.

Subaru Forester is Not the Most Expensive Car to Maintain

The Subaru Forester is not the most reliable, or cheapest car that you can select for your daily driver, but it is not as expensive as many other models of vehicle in its class. You should be aware of the years that have had a higher incidence of issues related to maintenance and repairs if you want to save money overall during the time that you drive a Forester.

Subaru Forester and other vehicles in this class are overall going to be fairly affordable to own and you should not worry that your Subaru will have every single maintenance issue that is possible during the time that you are driving this vehicle.

There are many Foresters that only require basic annual maintenance for most of the years that they are being driven. Always make sure to get an accurate list of repairs and issues for any Forester that you are going to buy used.

Making sure to provide correct annual maintenance for your vehicle can help to save money on repairs and other costs over the long term.

Related Guides 

• Subaru Outback Maintenance Cost 
• Subaru WRX Maintenance Cost
• Volvo S60 Maintenance Cost
• ubaru Engine Rebuild Cost