Nissan's plush two-row crossover rides like a luxury SUV but carries a ticking time bomb under the hood: the CVT transmission grenades itself between 60k-120k miles with alarming regularity, even when religiously maintained. The 2015-2024 models charm owners with their V6 power and living-room comfort until that $4k-8k replacement bill arrives. The all-new 2025 ditched the V6 for a turbo-4 nobody wanted, added buggy tech, and promptly sat unsold on dealer lots with massive incentives. If you're buying used, budget for a CVT replacement as a when-not-if expense. If you're considering the redesign, you're beta-testing Nissan's desperation play. Skip this unless you're leasing short-term or love gambling on transmissions.
You want a crossover that hauls your family through snowstorms, swallows cargo like a minivan, and lets you see the road like you're sitting in a fishbowl, the Forester does all that without complaint. Owners walk away from brutal crashes praising the safety cage, and the all-wheel drive is legitimately capable when pavement ends. The problem: EyeSight emergency braking slams the anchors for phantom threats, grocery bags, road dips, nothing at all, creating real rear-end collision risk that's now the subject of a lawsuit. The 180hp engine also wheezes under load, and that auto start-stop feature will drain your battery while shaking your fillings loose. If you can disable the worst tech quirks and accept that acceleration is a suggestion rather than a command, it's a smart buy that'll run past 150k miles. If you need power or can't tolerate a safety system that occasionally attacks you, walk away.