Blanco_Diablo wrote: ↑Sat Nov 30, 2019 8:39 am
Hey Joatmon, I’ve also been looking to replace my vibe (in the next 6 mos or so), curious if you have had any noticeable windshield glass cracking/breaking issues on your Forester? From my research, it’s a great vehicle but windshield replacement paired with need to recalibrate the eye-sight system when it happens is preventing the new Forester from making my final test drive list. Also, how do you feel about the auto start/stop feature?
Appreciate any insight you can share!
I have seen reports online about susceptible windshields, but as I only have about 4500 miles on mine, I haven't had any chips/cracks. I think I only caught two chips on my Vibes, not counting the time a hurricane thrown branch impaled the windshield, so I guess stones and road debris aren't as common where I tend to drive as other folks might encounter. That and being its a new car, I tend to leave a good space between me and the car in front.
The auto start/stop was something that caught me off guard. For those that don't know, the car will automatically stop the engine when you stop while in drive, as long as it doesn't otherwise need the engine running, say for high AC on a hot day, or some other things. It Automatically restarts the engine when you move the brake pedal, either to push harder or let it up some. This is to save gas while stopped. I didn't pick up on the feature during my research or test drives, so after I bought one and had it happen, I wasn't sure what was going on.
On mine, you can feel it inside when the engine restarts, shakes the car slightly. It adds a trivial amount of time between when you let off the brake and step on the gas. You can let off the brake a little bit or jiggle the steering wheel to still hold position to get the engine to restart, if you anticipate moving soon.
There is a button you can push to disable the feature, and it will stay disabled until you push the button again. Every time you start the car, it will come up with the feature enabled, so if you don't like it, you have to push the button every time you drive.
The car keeps a running total of the amount of time and estimated gas saved due to auto stop/start since the trip meter was reset. There's two trip meters, one I reset each fill up, the other I haven't reset yet, so in my 4500 miles, so far the auto stop has had the engine off for 1 hour 50 minutes, it estimates that its saved 0.7 gallons of gas by doing so. It does not count the number of times it has auto started the engine. I wonder what the effect will be on started life, but have made a deliberate decision to not worry about that until the starter fails.
When I first got the car, I wasn't sure how I felt about it. Now I am used to it, and expect it to happen, and its not inconvenient. Now I seem to be bothered more when I stop and the car decides to not auto stop/start than when it does.
I'm very pleased with the car. So far I only have one gripe, and its really a token thing. On a Vibe, you've got a big mechanical know to turn to select where the HVAC air blows out, and it doesn't take long to be able to hit the desired setting without looking at it. On the Forester, you've got a "Mode" button, pressing it toggles between the various air flow selections, and you have to look at either the radio or the display on the top center of the dash to see what position you have selected. I figure if that's all I have to complain about, I'm pretty lucky.
I found Vibes very easy to get in and out of. A week ago I was in Denver, had a 2018 Outback rental, and banged my head every time I got in. I think the Forester is easier to get in and out of than the Vibe, something I appreciate more after renting the outback.
Reminds me of when Vibes were new, we found neat little things about the cars. So far the neat thing I found I didn't know about is that it has a rear view camera, and when you use the rear window washer, it sprays some on the rear view camera to clean it off too.