Where each one leads
GEO Tracker
- Against cars of the same year, the GEO Tracker comes out better in New York safety inspections (fails 35% less often than average) than the Subaru Forester (fails 9% less often than average).
Subaru Forester
- On Canada's official test the most frugal 2026 Subaru Forester uses 8.3 l/100 km, the 1997 GEO Tracker 10.6.
Only measures that do not depend on how many cars were sold: pass and failure rates against cars of the same age, ratings, fuel use and CO₂. How we compare
At a glance
| GEO Tracker | Subaru Forester | |
|---|---|---|
| Model years in the US safety record | 1986–2002 | 1995–2026 |
| New cars registered in Europe | — | 123,016 (2010–2022) |
| Licensed in the United Kingdom | — | 16,285 |
| On the road in the Netherlands | — | 10,049 |
| In traffic in Finland | — | 7,179 |
EEA new-car registrations (CC BY 4.0) · DVLA licensed vehicles (OGL v3.0) · RDW (CC0) · Traficom (CC BY 4.0) · generations: Wikidata (CC0).
Reliability and problems
| GEO Tracker | Subaru Forester | |
|---|---|---|
| UK MOT first-time pass rate | — | 70% |
| … against cars of the same age | — | +3% |
| New York safety inspections failed | 0.9% | 1.4% |
| … against cars of the same year | −35% | −9% |
| Illogical odometer records (NL) | — | 2.4% |
| US owner complaints | 355 | 6,520 |
| Most complaints about | Structure | Visibility/wiper |
| Model year with most complaints | 1996 (71) | 2019 (834) |
| US recall campaigns | 9 | 44 |
| Manufacturer service bulletins | 251 | 5,607 |
| NHTSA defect investigations | 13 | 10 |
Complaint, recall and bulletin counts grow with the number of cars sold and are not adjusted for it. UK MOT: DVSA anonymised MOT results (OGL v3.0); New York: DMV inspections; complaints, recalls, bulletins and investigations: NHTSA (public domain); odometer: RDW (CC0).
Safety
| GEO Tracker | Subaru Forester | |
|---|---|---|
| NHTSA overall rating | — | 5★ (2027) |
NHTSA New Car Assessment Program, most recent rated model year (public domain).
Fuel, emissions and price
| GEO Tracker | Subaru Forester | |
|---|---|---|
| Official combined fuel use, Canada | 10.6 l/100 km (1997) | 8.3 l/100 km (2026) |
| Real-world use in Europe, petrol hybrid | — | 8.5 l/100 km |
| Official CO₂ of new cars in Europe | — | 185 g/km |
| Average power of new cars in Europe | — | 110 kW (148 hp) |
| Average mass in running order | — | 1,742 kg |
| Dutch list price when new (median) | — | €38,085 |
| Average odometer in Finland | — | 203,000 km |
Canada: NRCan Fuel Consumption Ratings, most frugal version of the latest year (OGL Canada). Europe: EEA monitoring of new-car CO₂ and on-board fuel meters (OBFCM), CC BY 4.0. Price: RDW catalogue price (CC0). Finland: Traficom (CC BY 4.0).