Internet commentators pop out of the woodwork to bash whatever they can, but some targets are easier to hit than others. In the case of the new 2025 Subaru Forester, it appears that the target is about the size of barn. After posting on Instagram about their shiny new SUV, Subaru might be wishing it had left the comments turned off.
The Forester used to be a spunky little crossover that shared a platform with the Impreza and WRX. To that end, it sometimes housed a turbocharged flat four cylinder engine and even a manual transmission for a time. Enthusiasts loved it, but over the years, the Forester evolved shedding much of its original DNA and becoming more compliant and mainstream. Now, this latest generation has gone full SUV and early indications are that its design is a major miss.
After posting about the car on social media, fans ripped into the new offering with almost palpable vitrol. Here are just a few of those comments. “Who at Subaru is trying to kill the company.” “What is happening with your design team lately it’s like your trying hard to make it unattractive.” “Remember when y’all used to make cool stuff?” “Subaru, has everyone at the company been drug tested lately…”
More: 2025 Subaru Forester Looks Like A RAV4 Disguised As An Explorer, Gets Hybrid Power
Another subset of commenters made it clear to Subaru that this new model looks quite a bit like a Ford product. “Are you SURE that isn’t an Explorer cosplaying as a Subaru?” said one. “I’m confused… The explorer debuted in 1991,” said another. “Introducing, the Honda RAV-explorer,” said one more and those are just some of the ones that don’t contain more fruity language.
Multiple commenters pointed out that Subaru needs to completely revamp the design team and others mentioned how older Subarus look better than this latest batch. As a long-time bugeye WRX owner, I too think that this isn’t the way Subaru should be going.
At the same time, it’s worth noting that many Subaru designs get a bad wrap at release only for folks to really like them after time passes. Of course, most examples of that happening are with the WRX / STI models and Subaru is all but completely devoid of that kind of brand-wide character these days.