Subaru Release Cadence and Availability

peteru on 08/11/2024 - 02:59
Last edited 08/11/2024 - 09:29 by 1 other user

I'm contemplating buying a new car and at the moment the short list has Subaru Impreza, Crosstrek and Forester. I'm trying to understand Subaru line up release cadence here in Australia. From what I can see, the current Australian Forester models are still based on the old Subaru global platform. North America seems to have Foresters based on the new platform. Any info/speculation on roughly when the new model Forester may become available in Australia?

It looks like the current Australian models of Impreza and Crosstrek are based on the latest Subaru global platform. Which one is the "latest"? As in, which of these cars had the benefit of being released after the platform has seen some real world use and is therefore likely to benefit from lessons learned?

How are Subaru going with stock levels these days? If I'm not fussy about the colour, can I get an Impreza 2.0R or a Crosstrek 2.0R in a week or two? I don't want paint protection or any other dealer work $$$. Maybe a towbar, but that shouldn't add more than a day and can always be installed later, right?

If I was going to go with a novated lease, would that introduce much of a delay?

To give context, I'm trying to figure out when I need to make a move so that I can have a car when school starts in 2025.

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Comments

  • Gunnar on 08/11/2024 - 06:50
    +1

    From my time dabbling in Subarus, Sales for Subaru’s model launch for the following year tends to be around September each year.

    It’s been a little while since I paid attention to this but the September launch is something they did for quite a few years (but I’m not sure if it’s changed). Based on this if you’re after a new model Forrester it would be around September 2025 before it’s launched and it would be the MY26 model.

    It can get confusing because you can have a MY26 model car but one that’s been built in November 2025 or March 2026 (so you would have a 2025 build MY26 or a 2026 built MY26)

    • peteru on 08/11/2024 - 17:12

      Thanks for the insights. Since nothing happened on the Forester end this September, it looks like there won't be any new ones in the next quarter of a year.

  • BigBirdy on 08/11/2024 - 10:11

    As you said, USA already has the new platform Forester, Australia is due to get it in 2025. I suspect it’ll be when stock of the old model run out. I doubt that’ll be in time for school starting, assuming you’re talking around Jan/Feb. The good news is, the Americans get to experience any new model niggles.

  • payless69 on 08/11/2024 - 10:46

    Nothing wrong with 4 cyl petrol Subarus. Just a bit dated if that means anything to you.

    • JimB on 08/11/2024 - 12:03
      +3

      Nothing wrong with 4 cylinder non-turbo petrol Subarus.

      However nothing wrong doesn't mean it's good today. It's not powerful or fuel efficient compared to new engines available today.

    • BigBirdy on 08/11/2024 - 12:52

      Is there anything better than a Forester for day to day use (on-road comfort, efficiency, cost etc) yet a bit of off-road capability, without spending double the price?

      • big kev on 11/11/2024 - 09:34

        on the similar price range you have rav4, forester and Tiguan, of course there are other model available but from my personal experience i will stick to this 3. Performance and fuel cost, my preference will be rav4, tiguan then forester. Space and comfort it will be Tiguan, rav4 then forester. Off-road it will be forester, tiguan then rav4. My kinda off road is very basic, a bit of gravel and dirt road and occasionally river crossing.

  • Darayus on 08/11/2024 - 11:06
    -1

    Subaru is best drive car for the value and performance.

    • JimB on 08/11/2024 - 12:05
      +2

      performance of their non-turbo engines? performance compared to a turtle?

      • peteru on 08/11/2024 - 17:02

        For me performance is good traction on a steep wet driveway, not leaving another car behind me at the traffic lights.

        So, kWh or Nm numbers are not that important for me. It'll go just fine in 40 km/h school zones.

        • dkwon10 on 10/11/2024 - 22:29

          had a 2018 impreza for a while… It's almost like they intentionally make it so slow so more people will buy the wrx, 0-100 literally took 11seconds

        • big kev on 11/11/2024 - 09:08

          boxer engine is not great for doing slow to normal driving style otherwise the carbon build up for the valve is excessive

  • FoxJump on 08/11/2024 - 12:14

    Impresza/ xtrek > forester > outback > wrx

    • peteru on 08/11/2024 - 16:35

      By what metric?

      • FoxJump on 08/11/2024 - 16:59
        +1

        i bought my 2018 xv in 2017 off the first boat load
        then, later the forester got upgraded to a newer model
        then the outback
        then the wrx

        and now we have the new XV is doing the rounds.

        (note: i only have the xv from 2017 but thats my observation that i made at the time)

        • peteru on 08/11/2024 - 17:09

          Got it, thanks.

          I tried to make some forecasts based on the Wikipedia info, but that doesn't even cover Australian releases.

          There has been some talk back in March 2024 of a new Forester not coming to Australia until 2025.

          I suppose looking at the clues, current Forester models are not being discounted, therefore the new models are unlikely to be in manufacture yet.

  • peteru on 08/11/2024 - 16:59

    The engine power or a +/- 1~2 L per 100 km fuel consumption variance doesn't factor into my personal decision making nearly as much as full time AWD, decent size infotainment screen, wireless Android Auto, good all-round visibility or physical controls in all the right places. The new Impreza and Crosstrek appear to tick those boxes for me. Old Forester models have smaller screens and only wired Android Auto, so I'm not keen on those. Also, no run out pricing yet.

    I used to drive a bug eye Impreza RX and a MY2017 Impreza. I didn't like the transition to CVT initially, but got used to it.

    The two other improvements (over a MY2017 Impreza) that I want are a bit more ground clearance and a tow bar. That pretty much narrows it down to the Crosstrek if I need a car in the next 3 months, or thereabouts.

    Any ideas on Crosstrek stock levels? Are there extended wait times, or is that not a thing these days?

    I'll probably go and kick some tyres in a few weeks. But, before I go, I wanted to be informed, at least a little, so that I can spot the bullshit from car dealers a bit better.

  • apsilon on 08/11/2024 - 18:53
    +1

    There is no new platform, the new gen Forester released in the US is still the same global platform. It may have some minor tweaks but it's the same car underneath a refreshed body. US is a huge market for Subaru, we get the left overs and pay a premium for lower spec models.

    Do you want to go offroad at all? If so that rules out the Impreza. Do you need a lot of storage? If so the answer is Forester. If you want to do some offroading and don't need a huge amount of space then the Crosstrek is a good choice.

    • peteru on 08/11/2024 - 20:04

      My current MY17 Impreza has enough boot space for most things and I assume that the new one will be about the same. However, when the Impreza is not big enough, there's nothing you can do. No towbar option, so I can't hire a trailer. The Impreza also doesn't cut it in terms of ground clearance. I need to get everyone out of the car to drive into the garage without scraping the belly on the hump where the ramp levels out. Those extra 3 passengers are just enough to make a difference. It also tends to rub it's nose on the road at the bottom of the hill, where our lane joins the main street, unless you take an odd angle through the intersection to avoid that. There's been several instances where I was interested in taking the car on a bush track, but changed my mind pretty quickly before either getting stuck or having to reverse out a few hundred meters later.

      I think the Crosstrek 2.0R is probably the most appropriate choice for me. It has the ground clearance I need, there is a towbar option rated to up to 140kg down force, wireless Android Auto and the large infotainment screen should be big enough to see the reversing camera view without having to put on reading glasses. The Crosstrek 2.0R model seems to strike a good balance of options. Useful things like 360° camera and steering responsive, auto levelling headlights, but no annoying things like sunroof, or pointless things like branded speaker system.

  • peteru on 16/11/2024 - 18:21

    Well, to round this off…

    I went around to a Subaru dealer and checked out the Crosstrek 2.0R. It took two staff members nearly an hour of stuffing about trying to get Wireless Android Auto working with a Motorola G84. They couldn't. Even with a wired connection wired it was laggy and intermittent. Total fail! Subaru no longer on the list.

    Next I checked out a few Toyotas and while I eventually got wireless Android Auto working in those cars, it wasn't exactly smooth sailing. The Toyota user interface looks like it belongs in the early 2000's. It also exhibited a low frame rate & failed to respond to touches for several seconds at a time. Pretty poor experience. However, the Toyotas I was looking at all failed on the rear passenger leg room test. It was a tight squeeze for a small kid, unusable for teenager. Shame, since the boot was so large. If they traded off 10-15cm from the boot to the rear passengers it would have been fine.

    Eventually I ended up trying the same thing in a Hyundai Kona. Quick & painless wireless Android Auto setup that worked straight away. The user interface is modern and sleek with a great frame rate and responsive touch screen. An excellent example of how it should work.

    I'm yet to try a Kia to see how their Android Auto implementation compares.

  • Francis82 on 16/11/2024 - 18:35

    Honda crv mate

    • peteru on 19/11/2024 - 13:29

      Maybe 10 years ago, but as of 2024, buying a new Honda seems a lot like boarding a sinking ship.

  • Francis82 on 19/11/2024 - 16:12

    The civic best in class , crv probably best in class too, accord brilliant ,Abit dear ,but guaranteed 10years plus happy motoring

    • peteru on 19/11/2024 - 18:08

      Well, if we are going to be reminiscing of cars of yesteryear, I reckon the good old Nissan Skyline I used to drive was a great car.

      • Francis82 on 19/11/2024 - 20:26
        +1

        I was talking about their modern cars,just a option, but best of luck ,will be probably be wagon, SUV hunting in the near future myself .

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