2017 SUBARU FORESTER Owners Manual

2017 Forester Owner’s Manual
A8220BE-A
Issued April 2016
Printed in USA 04/16 2017A
FUJI HEAVY INDUSTRIES LTD.TOKYO, JAPANSubaru of America, Inc., Subaru Plaza,
P.O. Box 6000, Cherry Hill, NJ 08034-6000
Vehicles shown on the cover of this booklet
may not be available in all markets. Please see
your Subaru dealer for a Product Brochure
detailing all currently available models.
MSA5M1702A
Love. It’s what makes a Subaru, a Subaru.
Forester
OWNER’S MANUAL
2306504_17a_Subaru_Forester_OM_032316.indd 15/17/16 5:22 PM
2017

Foreword
Congratulations on choosing a SUBARU vehicle. This Owner’s
Manual has all the information necessary to keep your SUBARU in
excellent condition and to properly maintain the emission control
system for minimizing emission pollutants. We urge you to read
this manual carefully so that you may understand your vehicle and
its operation. For information not found in this Owner ’s Manual,
such as details concerning repairs or adjustments, please contact
the SUBARU dealer from whom you purchased your SUBARU or
the nearest SUBARU dealer.
The information, specifications and illustrations found in this
manual are those in effect at the time of printing. FUJI HEAVY
INDUSTRIES LTD. reserves the right to change specifications and
designs at any time without prior notice and without incurring any
obligation to make the same or similar changes on vehicles
previously sold. This Owner ’s Manual applies to all models and
covers all equipment, including factory installed options. Some
explanations, therefore may be for equipment not installed in your
vehicle.
Please leave this manual in the vehicle at the time of resale. The
next owner will need the information found herein.
FUJI HEAVY INDUSTRIES LTD., TOKYO, JAPAN
is a registered trademark of FUJI HEAVY INDUSTRIES LTD.
*CCopyright 2016 FUJI HEAVY INDUSTRIES LTD.

This manual describes the following vehicle types.

Warranties
&Warranties for U.S.A.
All SUBARU vehicles distributed by
Subaru of America, Inc. and sold at retail
by an authorized SUBARU dealer in the
United States come with the following
warranties:
. SUBARU Limited Warranty
. Emission Control Systems Warranty
. Emissions Performance Warranty
All warranty information, including details
of coverage and exclusions, is in the
“ Warranty and Maintenance Booklet ”.
Read these warranties carefully.
& Warranties for Canada
All SUBARU vehicles distributed by
Subaru Canada, Inc. and sold at retail by
an authorized SUBARU dealer in Canada
come with the following warranties:
. SUBARU Limited Warranty
. Anti-Corrosion Warranty
. Emission Control Warranty
All warranty information, including details
of coverage and exclusions, is in the
“ Warranty and Service Booklet ”. Read
these warranties carefully.
& Warranties except for U.S.A.
and Canada
All warranty information, including details
of coverage and exclusions, is in the
“Warranty and Maintenance Booklet ”.
Read these warranties carefully.
How to use this Owner ’s
Manual
& Using your Owner ’s Manual
Before you operate your vehicle, carefully
read this manual. To protect yourself and
extend the service life of your vehicle,
follow the instructions in this manual.
Failure to observe these instructions may
result in serious injury and damage to your
vehicle.
This manual is composed of fourteen
chapters. Each chapter begins with a brief
table of contents, so you can usually tell at
a glance if that chapter contains the
information you want.
Chapter 1: Seat, seatbelt and SRS
airbags
This chapter informs you how to use the
seat and seatbelt and contains precau-
tions for the SRS airbags.
Chapter 2: Keys and doors
This chapter informs you how to operate
the keys, locks and windows.
Chapter 3: Instruments and controls
This chapter informs you about the opera-
tion of instrument panel indicators and
how to use the instruments and other
switches.
– CONTINUED –
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Chapter 4: Climate control
This chapter informs you how to operate
the climate control.
Chapter 5: Audio
This chapter informs you how to operate
your audio system.
Chapter 6: Interior equipment
This chapter informs you how to operate
interior equipment.
Chapter 7: Starting and operating
This chapter informs you how to start and
operate your SUBARU.
Chapter 8: Driving tips
This chapter informs you how to drive your
SUBARU in various conditions and ex-
plains some safety tips on driving.
Chapter 9: In case of emergency
This chapter informs you what to do if you
have a problem while driving, such as a
flat tire or engine overheating.
Chapter 10: Appearance care
This chapter informs you how to keep your
SUBARU looking good.
Chapter 11: Maintenance and service
This chapter informs you when you need
to take your SUBARU to the dealer for
scheduled maintenance and informs you
how to keep your SUBARU running
properly.Chapter 12: Specifications
This chapter informs you about dimen-
sions and capacities of your SUBARU.
Chapter 13: Consumer information and
Reporting safety defects
This chapter informs you about Uniform
tire quality grading standards and Report-
ing safety defects.
Chapter 14: Index
This is an alphabetical listing of all that’
sin
this manual. You can use it to quickly find
something you want to read.
& Safety warnings
You will find a number of WARNINGs,
CAUTIONs and NOTEs in this manual.
These safety warnings alert you to poten-
tial hazards that could result in injury to
you or others.
Please read these safety warnings as well
as all other portions of this manual care-
fully in order to gain a better understand-
ing of how to use your SUBARU vehicle
safely.
WARNING
A WARNING indicates a situation in
which serious injury or death could
result if the warning is ignored.
CAUTION
A CAUTION indicates a situation in
which injury or damage to your
vehicle, or both, could result if the
caution is ignored.
NOTE
A NOTE gives information or sugges-
tions how to make better use of your
vehicle.
&Safety symbol
You will find a circle with a slash through it
in this manual. This symbol means “Do
not ”,“Do not do this ”,or“Do not let this
happen ”, depending upon the context.
2

&Abbreviation list
You may find several abbreviations in this
manual. The meanings of the abbrevia-
tions are shown in the following list.
Abbreviation Meaning
A/C Air conditioner
ALR/ELR Automatic locking retractor/
Emergency locking retractor
ABS Anti-lock brake system
AKI Anti knock index
ALR Automatic locking retractor
AWD All-wheel drive
BSD/RCTA Blind Spot Detection/Rear
Cross Traffic Alert
CVT Continuously variable trans-
mission
DRL Daytime running light
EBD Electronic brake force distri-
bution
ELR Emergency locking retractor
GAW Gross axle weight
GAWR Gross axle weight rating
GPS Global positioning system
GVW Gross vehicle weight
GVWR Gross vehicle weight rating
INT Intermittent Abbreviation
Meaning
LATCH Lower anchors and tethers for
children
LED Light emitting diode
MIL Malfunction indicator light
MMT Methylcyclopentadienyl man-
ganese tricarbonyl
MT Manual transmission
OBD On-board diagnostics
RAB Reverse Automatic Braking
RON Research octane number
SI-DRIVE SUBARU Intelligent Drive
SRF Steering responsive fog lights
system
SRH Steering Responsive Head-
light
SRS Supplemental restraint sys-
tem
TIN Tire identification number
TPMS Tire pressure monitoring sys-
tem
Vehicle symbols
There are some of the symbols you may
see on your vehicle.
For warning and indicator lights, refer to
“
Warning and indicator lights ”F 23.
Mark Name
WARNING
CAUTION
3