Subaru Prices its 2026 Forester

by Matthew Guy

Published: August 29th, 2025

Fresh off a recent makeover, the Subaru Forester will soon roll into American dealers for the 2026 model year. Some trims will hold the line on price - but one jumps rather significantly.

That’ll be the Wilderness trim, a model which wasn’t initially offered when the Forester was revamped a year ago. It does show up for duty in 2026, however, complete with the now-familiar aggro trim and extra ground clearance. At an MSRP of $39,835 it is a solid two grand more than last year, though we must point out that last year’s car was still based on the old design. For reasons, it took engineers at Fuji Heavy Industries an extra 12 months to Wilderness-ize the new Forester. Or maybe marketing just wanted to drag out the news cycle. If so, it worked because here we are talking about the thing.

Elsewhere in the lineup, price changes are minimal. The entry-level trim is officially $29,995 but rises to $31,445 once its non-negotiable destination charges are included. Expect that sub-$30k figure to be the one you’ll see on every advertisement. Atop the heap is a $43,045 Touring trim. These prices aren’t much different than last year, when the new iteration debuted.

Subaru says it intends to announce at a later time how much the hybrid will cost. This gasser still utilizes a 2.5L boxer-type four-cylinder engine making 180 horsepower and roughly a like amount of torque. This is all funneled to the ground via a CVT and all-wheel drive. Knobby 17-inch all-terrain tires give and take - as in they give more capability off pavement but take a few miles per gallon off its fuel economy compared to other Forester trims (Wilderness rated 24 / 28 / 26 versus Sport and Touring rated 25/32/28).

Wilderness has quickly become something of an even more rugged sub-brand for Subaru, not unlike AT4 at GMC. This version of the Forester Wilderness will have 9.3 inches of ground clearance, over half an inch more than other trims, an impressive sum that outstrips many other crossovers and indeed several pickup trucks. Improved approach and departure compared to other Foresters is also part of the deal, at 23.5 and 25.5 degrees respectively. An uprated transmission cooler allows for an increased maximum towing capacity of 3,500 pounds.

Subaru says copies of the 2026 Forester will hit dealer lots sometime this autumn.

[Images: Subaru]

Become a TTAC insider. Get the latest news, features, TTAC takes, and everything else that gets to the truth about cars first by subscribing to our newsletter.

#Subaru #Forester #2026 #Pricing

Matthew Guy

Matthew buys, sells, fixes, & races cars. As a human index of auto & auction knowledge, he is fond of making money and offering loud opinions.

More by Matthew Guy

Comments

Join the conversation

2 of 8 comments

Tex138400801 on Sep 13, 2025

Remarkable, the new front end is nearly identical to my 2025 Equinox ActIV........

Like Reply
Normie on Sep 13, 2025

That thing looks like its car bra is too scanty.
Extreme decolletage?

Like Reply

Recent Comments

Jam169859557 More regulation is needed for ALL vehicle lighting systems. [list=1][*]The lighting that is most blinding are the rapidly flashing red, blue and amber lights on emergency vehicles. The lights themselves are blinding, flashing so rapidly that it's impossible for even the sharpest eyes to adjust. What's worse, is the nature of the emergency requires a careful view of the area surrounding the emergency vehicle. There is something going on that needs to be seen. More flashing lights is not the solution.[/*][*]Brighter headlights need to be regulated. The tall riding vehicles do not need headlights positioned so high that they blind drivers in lower riding vehicles. And those heasdlights need to be aimed properly. When I first started driving my 2020 Subaru Outback, many drivers would flash their lights, hoping I would dim my lights. This stopped after I performed am easy adjustment that tilted the beam lower. Late model Subaru headlamps are designed with a sharp cutoff that project less glare above the hood line. When the headlights are properly aimed, other drivers are not blinded by the beam.[/*][*]Customized light assemblies make it more difficult to see the marker lights (tail lamps, turn signals and side marker lamps) that have been tinted. There are many municiple codes that prohibit this tinting, but these laws are seldom enforced.[/*][/list=1]Solutions: Tight controls on emergency vehicle lighting. In trying to make these vehicles more visible, a dangerous side effect is reducing the ability of drivers to see the surrounding perils.Headlight design regulations that reduce the height of the headlight assemblies. Just because a pickup truck has a hood that sits 4 feet abouve the pavement, it does not mean the headlights need to be so high. Owneres should maintain proper adjustments to their vehicle headlights.Establish and enforce regulation requiring a illumination standard be followed.
Stl170698708 as someone who hates big government, and their interference;but you can add me to the list of people that are blinded by the lights.unfortunately "the poop is out of the horse and no way is it going back in"They have had 5 years to make lights bigger, badder and brighter because in the vehicle work it is go big or go home!Trucks are the worst because so many people use them to express their dominance and that is big, big, big $$ both at the Original Purchase and in the Aftermarket world.If, we are so lucky to get some good government regulation on this it will also take some very good Court enforcement to get the aftermarket people with fines and lawsuits.Much like the EPA did with the Diesel Tuner Industry that felt emission regulations didn't apply to them.This is from someone that owns said pickup truck with the same bright headlights,but i only use the truck when I have too and always turn off the Fog lights when driving in traffic.
Art65765977 I saw a porsche 911 with the most amazing headlights from behind approaching the Sunshine skyway in Florida. The pattern was 108 degrees across sweeping the road like a broom. My brother and I were amazed. I don't know what it looked like from the front but i am sure it was better than American cars
Master Baiter This is what happens when you take a chance on a startup auto company. Designing and building cars is hard.
Pwrwrench IIRC the most efficient version of the CRX was not sold in California, due to the "tune" of the 50+ mpg engine not meeting the emissions standards. The ones sold in California were rated in the upper 40s.Also, nearly all of these that I saw in SoCal were red, except for a few white ones.