​​Subaru Forester Earns IIHS Top Safety Pick+ Award​

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety was founded in 1959 to help foster and create safer vehicles for American car buyers. In 2005, the IIHS issued its first-ever Top Safety Pick award. Every single year since 2007, the Subaru Forester has earned a Top Safety Pick and Top Safety Pick+ award. For its nineteenth consecutive year, the all-new 2025 Forester has received the Top Safety Pick+ designation.  

How The IIHS Came to Be 

The IIHS was initially founded by three insurance agencies to conduct research on highway safety, hence the full name. In 1969, after the IIHS was changed to an independent nonprofit organization to conduct and study crash tests, the group started crashing cars by way of low-speed bumper crashes. The first Subaru vehicles to be awarded as Top Safety Picks were the 2006 Legacy and Impreza sedans, and the Forester would follow in 2007.  

How Vehicles Are Ranked and Rated 

Four main rankings determine a vehicle’s rating: Poor, Marginal, Acceptable, and Good. There are currently eight tests that each vehicle has to go through, which include the Small Overlap Front, Moderate Overlap Front, Side, Headlights, Front Cash Prevention: Vehicle-to-Vehicle, Front Crash Prevention: Pedestrian, Seat Belt Reminders, and how easy the Latch system is to use, which are the points that child safety seats use in the rear seats. Each test has been tweaked, altered, and updated over the years to provide better safety standards and accuracy.  

How Do You Get a Top Safety Pick Award? 

In order to be considered a Top Safety Pick, a vehicle needs to score a Good in small and original moderate Overlap front tests as well as in the side impact test. For headlights and pedestrian front crash prevention, the vehicle must get either an Acceptable or Good rating. A Top Safety Pick+ vehicle must earn a Good in the small overlap and side tests, along with Acceptable or Good in the updated moderate overlap front test, headlights standard, and pedestrian front crash prevention. In the case of the 2025 Forester, the Subaru earned a Good in everything except for the updated moderate overlap front test, where it received an Acceptable, which is the second-highest score. 

On Sale Now at Subaru of Rochester 

The 2025 Subaru Forester is on sale now with a base MSRP of $31,230. All trim levels feature standard Subaru Symmetrical all-wheel drive and a 2.5-liter Subaru Boxer 4-cylinder that puts out 180 horsepower and 178 lb-ft of torque, combined with a continuously variable transmission (CVT). The new Forester is able to tow up to 3,000 lbs when properly equipped. 

Why Choose Subaru of Rochester 

At Subaru of Rochester, we are happy to offer our customers more than a hundred new and used vehicles. Our fantastic sales team and finance department will work hard to find the best car that fits your needs. And our dedicated service department will always ensure that your vehicle is taken care of in the best way possible.