2020 Subaru Forester

Small SUV · gas

★ Open to everyone — one of the ten most-registered models this year.

Fuel economy
29mpg1
26 city · 33 highway
CO₂ 309 g/mi · 192 g/km2
Fuel cost
$2,0553
per year · estimate
Power
182hp4
rated
Crash rating
5of 5 ★5
frontal 5 · side 5 · rollover 4
0 recall campaigns6
Kerb weight
8
Warranty
3yr10
36,000 mi
How much to run it29 mpg · $2,055 / yr
Combined
29 mpg1EPA
EPA test cycle, combined · configuration Forester AWD
City · highway
26 · 33EPA
EPA test cycle, mpg
Tailpipe CO₂
309 g/mi2EPA192 g/km
tailpipe rating, driven as rated on the test cycle · 192 g/km
Fuel, per year
$2,0553EPA · EIAestimate · $10,276 over five years
estimate — 13,800 mi at $4.319 per gallon, EIA US regular, 2026-09-14
How it performs182 hp
Power
182 hp4NHTSArated
the rated figure — NHTSA's CAFE market data
Engine
2.5 L, 4 cylindersEPA
as listed in the EPA fuel-economy file
Transmission
Automatic (AV-S7)EPA
as listed in the EPA fuel-economy file
Drive
All-wheel driveEPA
as listed in the EPA fuel-economy file
How safe5 of 5 ★ · 0 recalls
Crash rating
★★★★★5NHTSA
NHTSA 5-Star Safety Ratings, 2020 Forester · as of 2026-09-10
Frontal · side · rollover
5 · 5 · 4NHTSAof 5 stars each
the three tests behind the overall rating
Recall campaigns
NHTSA recall register, campaigns naming FORESTER (2020) · as of 2026-09-10
Complaints per 10,000 built
31.517NHTSA600 complaints, 30 severe · 190,399 built
computed here: 600 complaints ÷ 190,399 built (NHTSA early-warning production, 2026 Q1); no publisher states the rate
What owners complain about
Visibility/wiper252Unspecified107Electrical system99Engine79Visibility · windshield46

See these complaints at NHTSA ↗

How bigSmall SUV
Kerb weight
8
EPA test weight
9EPA
Class
Small SUVEPA
the publisher's own vehicle class
Body
as NHTSA lists it
Ownership3 yr / 36,000 mi
Price
Warranty
3 years10Subaru36,000 mi
Subaru's published 2020 warranty statement, compiled into carstandings.com's warranty table
On the road in New York
14,67311NY DMV
NY DMV registration file, 2026-09-02

Notes and sources

  1. Fuel economy: EPA combined test-cycle figure for the configuration Forester AWD (26 city, 33 highway). EPA data dated 2026-09-09, the latest modifiedOn date EPA records in vehicles.csv.
  2. CO₂: EPA's tailpipe rating for the car driven as rated on the test cycle — 309 g/mi, or 192 g/km.
  3. Fuel cost: an estimate — 13,800 mi a year at the EPA combined figure, priced at $4.319 per gallon (EIA US regular, 2026-09-14). Five years: $10,276. No publisher states this figure.
  4. Power: 182 hp is the rated figure, from NHTSA's CAFE market data.
  5. Crash rating: NHTSA's overall rating for the 2020 Forester — frontal 5, side 5, rollover 4 stars. NHTSA data as of 2026-09-10.
  6. Recall campaigns: NHTSA lists none for the 2020 Forester as of 2026-09-10.
  7. Complaints per 10,000 built: computed here from NHTSA's complaint count for the Forester nameplate (600, of which 30 describe a crash, fire, injury or death) and the 190,399 vehicles NHTSA's own early-warning production reports place on it (2026 Q1). No publisher states the rate itself.
  8. Kerb weight: not published. This car's kerb weight is published on its record (1,566 kg, from the NHTSA crash-test file), but not used to order cars by weight, because the NHTSA crash-test file is the only source that states this car's weight; no second source confirms it, and nothing else we hold contradicts it. The pipeline recorded this in curb_weight_uncorroborated_reason.
  9. EPA test weight: not published. EPA values disagree.
  10. Warranty: 3 years or 36,000 miles, from Subaru's published 2020 warranty statement, compiled into carstandings.com's warranty table.
  11. Registrations: 14,673 Foresters of this model year on New York's roads, from the NY DMV registration file as of 2026-09-02.
  12. This car is measured on the petrol scale: miles per gallon, the tailpipe CO₂ rating and whole-car horsepower. MPGe and charge-weighted CO₂ are electric-scale quantities and do not apply to it.
  13. Price: no price is published for this car. NHTSA's CAFE market data prices this market's cars by compliance configuration, and it lists none matching this one.

Sources: EPA · NHTSA — about these sources →