10.0

really awful
Crashes / Fires:
1 / 0
Injuries / Deaths:
0 / 0
Average Mileage:
960 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 2019 Subaru Forester:

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

Get free help with your lemon!
close ad
problem #5

Jun 042024

Forester

  • miles
I have had multiple issues with my car for the past month. First, my rear right wheel has been making a fan-like sound when going above 35mph and it gets louder until 70mph. It is most likely the wheel bearings going out but, I only have around 50,000 miles on the car. This seems to be a common issue with Foresters. Secondly, my rear Harman Kardon speakers have stopped working. This also appears to be a recurring issue with Forester's, with both their standard and premium sound systems. Lastly, my engine check light turned on and shut off my adaptive cruise control, forward collision warning, emergency braking, and rear automatic braking. I'm surprised that these issues are still happening to Subaru since they have been complained about by consumers for years.

- Detroit, MI, USA

problem #4

Mar 082023

Forester

  • miles
I was driving up hill making a curve, suddenly the car went out of control slide all the way to the left. the car ended it up hitting some rocks, I was lucky that nobody got hurt, just my car was damage. I towed my car to a collision center, and I learned that THE REAR STABILIZER BRACKET WAS DAMAGE which was a recall WRD-21. this issue was address and suppostly was fixed by Subaru dealers but OVER TIME MAY LOOSEN AND INCREASE RISK OF A CRASH. Probably I will never find out if THE REAR STABILIZER BRACKET WAS MALFUNTION AND COUSE THE ACCIDENT. But I wanted to report it. Hopefully NHTSA looks into this issue.

- Waterbury, CT, USA

problem #3

Mar 092023

Forester

  • miles
March 9, 2023 at 7 AM, I was driving in Philadelphia and traffic had slowed slightly and I was going 5 MPH, coming to a stop in traffic when my car completely "froze", and all the lights on the dashboard came on and it said "auto start disabled" and my car would not move. I tried to hit "start/stop" button but nothing worked and I tried to hit my blinkers so I could warn the cars behind me, but nothing worked in the car and it was stalled. This was the situation for 4 full minutes. I am lucky the cars behind me were paying attention and did not hit my car when it abruptly stopped like that with no warning at all. I am really concerned about this car's safety. This issue occurred to the same car in 2021 and I made an incident report then as well. The dealership said it was due to a faulty hood sensor which they replaced but the same exact thing happened a few times in 2021. I think there is some problem in the car's wiring or electrical system that is not being addressed. This is unsafe and a safety hazard for me and other cars on the road. Subaru needs to address this.

- Macungie, PA, USA

problem #2

Jul 202020

Forester

  • miles
I just received Subaru Safety Recall WRD-21 issued May 2021. It says there is a DEFECT that can cause a crash. It says -??overtime, due to initial variation in rear stabilizer bracket dimensions, the rear stabilizer bracket bolts may loosen and possibly detach-??. I purchased my Subaru Forester Touring model 2-2-2019. On 7-20-2020 with only 19;413 miles I experienced a very loud rattle in the rear. My local dealer in Albuquerque, NM found that both rear stabilizer bolts were very loose and about to fall out. They retorqued them to specification and checked for a recall. Of course they found none and said someone at the factory probably didn-??t torque to the correct value. Now I receive this WRD-21 notice. I called Subaru customer service to find out why this defect is fixed by a simple retorquing of the bolts. Based on their own statement the loosening is caused by a manufacturing error in the stabilizer bracket dimensions. Simple retorquing in my opinion will not fix the defect but only fix the symptoms and probably the bots will become loose again over time due to the imperfections in the stabilizer bracket dimensions as they admitted. Subaru told me all recalls are approved by the NHTSA before it is sent out. So some engineer at NHTSA must have analyzed the problem and their proposed solution and approved it. I disagree with the approval and believe the bolts will loosen again under normal use. Many Subaru owners buy the Forrester model for off road use on rough roads. I fear it will happen to me again. I request NHTSA re-examine this recall and require Subaru to issue another recall to perform a permanent fix to this admitted safety defect in their product. Please me know your decision at [XXX] [XXX] Bernalillo, NM. [XXX] Or at [XXX]

- Bernalillo , NM, USA

problem #1

May 052020

Forester 4-cyl

  • 4,800 miles
Extreme sway while driving. While driving on the interstate yesterday going from lindale, Texas to dallas, the winds were moderately high. However the vehicle had an extreme sway and was very extremely to safely maintain.

- Lindale, TX, USA