The Subaru Forester is consistently rated in the top five of most reliable and recommended SUV's in the North American market. The Forester sits on top of a sedan chassis, which makes for much better handling. It also incorporates Subaru's award-winning all-wheel-drive system. The Forester comes with an automatic transmission, and like every car, overuse of the shifter leads to normal wear and tear. Removing the shifter on the Forester might be a necessity when it comes to cleaning up its interior.
Turn the Subaru Forester off completely. Pull the emergency brake all the way up so the car does not move during this process.
Turn the ignition to "A/C" to allow you to move the shifter. Push the shifter button in and move the shifter to "Neutral" or "Reverse."
Remove the small black screw from the front of the Forester shifter using a small Phillips head screwdriver.
Pull the shifter up until you see the overdrive wires exposed. Use the wire cutters to cut the top-most part of the two wires to leave plenty of wire length available for re-installation of the Forester's shifter.
Pull the entire shifter off the shifter plate.
