1.7

hardly worth mentioning
Crashes / Fires:
0 / 0
Injuries / Deaths:
0 / 0
Average Mileage:
94,500 miles

About These NHTSA Complaints:

The NHTSA is the US gov't agency tasked with vehicle safety. Complaints can be spread across multiple & redundant categories, & are not organized by problem. See the Back button — blue bar at the very top of the page — to explore more.

Get notified about new defects, investigations, recalls & lawsuits for the 2001 Subaru Forester:

Unsubscribe any time. We don't sell/share your email.

problem #2

Feb 252013

Forester

  • 189,000 miles
I was driving down the freeway at night when I heard a loud bang noise and looked behind me and saw black smoke and had lost all power, no power steering, no brakes and no lights I had to try to cross 2 lanes of traffic to get my car to the shoulder while it was decelerating. I got the car to the shoulder and noticed smoke coming from the engine compartment, and was worried of a possible fire. I got out and called a tow truck and had it towed. The result was a blown head gasket that had blown the rod through the back pillar and sprayed oil over everything causing the battery to short out which led to the power loss. The whole engine on the car needed to be replaced for the second time. Bought car with a rebuilt engine from same problem at 141,000 miles.

- Sylvania, OH, USA

problem #1

Oct 042001

(reported on)

Forester

  • Manual transmission
  • miles
Unusual heat in the instrument control panel when the rheostat controlled lights were on high, impossible to use tape deck because of the heat generated, overheating rheostat control for the dashboard light, either the instrument panel gauge in the rheostat or the incorrect wattage in the instrument panel degrees.

- Spokane, WA, USA