To all who are considering buying a 2006 Subaru Forester: there is a known engine / throttle malfunction in this model of car that Subaru of America refuses to acknowledge. See my previous thread "Hesitation & Surging in 2006 Forrester".
I'll post updates of my continuing battle with Subaru of America and John Elway Subaru West of Golden, Colorado.
In all fairness, I think we should say it has been reported by a few. You said you drove one that does not exhibit the problem. It would be a good idea to recap. what folks should look for and how to reproduce the problem during a test drive. maybe if some present Forester owners begin complaining after discovering the issue, there will more likely be further investigation by Subaru.
also, try searching/posting over at;
Carl, thanks for the link.
Right, I'm not saying that all individual cars have this issue. Just that:
See the thread I posted previously for details on recreating the issue. It happens in all gears higher than first, but is most easily re-creatable in third. Just find a slight hill and go down it in third. When the rpms are between 2500 and 3500, the engine stutters and the car visibly shakes.
In my car it is easily re-creatable by any driver, and even passengers can tell when its occurring.
This has been widely reported in Legacy GT's 2005 as well. SOA turned to removing and reflashing the ECU's with limited success.
It has been described as a lean condition at part throttle.
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