So I just bought a 2014 Forester Premium 2.5i with 33k miles, all stock, dealer maintained, etc.  This is going to be my new winter/bad weather daily.  Will see about 5k/year in mileage, 95% local driving (within 15 mi. of home- Chicagoland), and I'd like to know if any owners of SH or SJ Foresters have done anything to improve their experience.

I plan on adding some ditch lamps on the hood, an Android stereo, a detachable roof rack for some light overlanding storage, and a hitch for light trailering.  Any advice would be appreciated, thanks.

Just covering seat covers for ours....don't buy the neosupreme ones. I'm not happy with them as they're too thick.

ETA

Husky floor liners are awesome as are the RockBlox oversized mud flaps. Those really help keep the crap off the sides

Replace the battery if it’s still the original one. That thing is weak in cold weather.

Also the power steering doesn’t like to work below -40 degrees.

Thanks guys!

Anyone tried a lift or larger tires?

I haven't.  I have thought about a lift because I hit my head on the interior trim of the rear hatch when it's open.  Annoys the hell out of me.  2" front and 1.5" rear kits are available but I'm not sure that will fix my problem

Keep an extra quart of oil in your car.  They're notorious for burning oil, mine burned a quart every 3k miles.

Will do, thank you!

Same here, I was looking at a solution for this. Maybe the $299 Anderson economy kit might be worth a shot...

I would check and see if it was ever checked for burning oil.  There's a test they do for it if you trust the dealership to be honest.  If it doesn't pass the test they replace the block under a recall they have.  Just food for thought.

Interesting.   Is this applicable if it's outside of warranty?