Subaru Forester hybrid running costs, insurance, warranty & tax
The Subaru Forester hybrid's five-year warranty and reputation for reliability are big plus points, but company-car and other tax costs are high
| Insurance group | Warranty | Service interval | 2021/22 company-car tax cost (20%/40%) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 19-20 | 5yrs / 100,000 miles | 1yr / 12,000 miles | From £2,618 / £5,237 |
The Subaru Forester hybrid’s long warranty brings additional peace of mind when taken together with the brand's fabled reliability, but high CO2 emissions make this extremely expensive as a company car. Private owners might feel stung by high road tax, too.
Subaru Forester hybrid insurance group
The Forester e-Boxer falls into insurance groups 19 and 20 (the higher for the more expensive trim level). This is comparable to rivals like the Toyota RAV4, which fall into the same bands.
Warranty
The Forester gets a five-year/100,000-mile warranty covering the entire car, while the hybrid system's battery is covered for eight years/100,000 miles.
Servicing
The Forester has a variable service schedule that’ll differ depending on how you use the car; it’ll warn you when it needs to be taken to the dealer, but expect an alert roughly every 12 months and 12,000 miles.
Road tax
The Forester comes in at £145 a year for road tax (VED), which is £10 less than the annual fee for a non-hybrid car. But be careful not to go over £40,000 with the list price (as there are few options to add to the Premium spec, that’s easy to avoid) as that pushes the Subaru into the ‘premium’ tax band, which means annual VED tax jumps to £480 for years two to six of ownership.
