- Subaru’s Forester has won our Best Car To Buy twice in the past
- This year’s new Forester focuses on rugged looks and a refined interior
- It’s now more than $31,000 for a base Forester—and more than $41,000 for a top-end model
It’s that time of year at The Car Connection, when we select one new car, SUV, pickup, or minivan that hits the sweet spot for performance, technology, safety, value, and style. Our Best Car To Buy competitors get whittled down to a set of finalists—and this year, we’ve cut down the more than 300 new vehicles on the market to a set of five finalists, including the 2025 Subaru Forester.
The Forester has a huge advantage or two on its rivals: It’s won twice before, both in 2014 and in 2019.
It’s also deeply revamped, without losing the pragmatic virtues that mean everything to Subaru buyers. It’s plain and boxlike—a huge virtue, according to us—and its tall windows and low belt line give it an excellent view of the world outside.
But the shape doesn’t just grant a view of the world, it telegraphs the essence of the mechanicals that encourage drivers to explore that world. It starts with standard all-wheel drive, a system that portions torque to the wheels and pairs with 8.7 inches of ground clearance (or more in the Wilderness model) to give the Forester terrific all-terrain grip. It can clamber up the kinds of cabin trails and needle through pine forest trails you’re likely to encounter on a long weekend trip outside of suburbia, leaving the 1% of highly technical off-roading to the 1% of highly outfitted off-road specialists.
The powertrain lives up to its side of this decided bargain. It’s a 180-hp 2.5-liter flat-4 made newly docile with lots of sound deadening, and tuned for more useful power lower in the rev range. A remapped and rethought CVT adds a simulated 8th “gear” to help with downhill runs and descents; Subaru’s CVT continues to be one of the more responsive of this kind of automatic transmission. Steering remains light but communicative thanks to a dual-pinion system shared with the WRX.
2025 Subaru Forester
2025 Subaru Forester: Pros and Cons
Those pros have, in the past, been met by a merely average cabin. No more. The 2025 Forester has reset its comfort and technology package, with a large 11.6-inch touchscreen now stock on all but the base model. The new model’s improved interior has adopted more sophisticated finishes, too, that also carry some of the sound-deadening duties.
Front-seat comfort’s improved with more bolstering, and heating and power adjustment for the driver and front passenger now are standard on all but the base model. Rear-seat space remains exceptional—especially headroom—and cargo space a boon for adventurers and shoppers alike.
Subaru wants more money for all of this, of course. The 2025 Forester costs about $3,000 more than the 2024 model. But even at $31,090, with $1,395 in destination charges, the 2025 Subaru Forester costs less than bestselling rivals like the AWD Toyota RAV4, and less than the excellent Honda CR-V Hybrid, too. Opt into the Forester Premium and, for $33,390, it offers the big touchscreen, heated front seats, a sunroof, a power driver seat, and a special off-road drive mode. Either of those, we think, make for an excellent new-car value for just about any buyer.
The 2025 Forester defends its past titles this year against some excellent competition—vehicles from the Chevy Equinox EV and Blazer EV (and related Honda Prologue) to the Hyundai Santa Fe Hybrid. Will it three-peat as Best Car To Buy 2025? We’ll let you know on Jan. 6, 2025, when we also name the performance and green winners on our other websites, Motor Authority and Green Car Reports.
