10.0

really awful
Crashes / Fires:
2 / 1
Injuries / Deaths:
0 / 0
Average Mileage:
73 miles

About These NHTSA Complaints:

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problem #24

Jul 012024

Forester

  • miles
I-??ve owned the vehicle under a year and am already on my second window replacement. I drive the same route everyday and ever experienced windows cracking in any other vehicle before this vehicle.

- Pleasant Mount, PA, USA

problem #23

Apr 302024

Forester

  • miles
To whom this may concern, My name is [XXX]. I was the owner of a 2021 Subaru Forester. I bought this car brand new and I loved this car. One of the biggest reasons I bought a Subaru is because of the multiple safety features the car has. I've had this car for three years and always felt safe until last week. During a road trip on [XXX] at [XXX] My car hit a deer on the front drivers side and within seconds caught on fire. The entire car was engulfed in flames within 3 minutes. All passengers were unharmed and we were able to get 95% of our stuff out of the car. This experience was pretty traumatic knowing that I was supposed to be driving the safest car in America and it caught on fire very easily from a baby deer hit. Not only did my car catch on fire but it left us stranded in the middle of Utah. Thank god it was in a big enough town that had a car rental. Insurance is still assessing my car and I'm currently in the market for a new car but with everything that happened it makes me feel very uneasy about getting another Subaru. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

- Denver, CO, USA

problem #22

Jan 172024

Forester

  • miles
My vehicle starlink infotainment system does not work. This is a safety hazard because it prevents drivers from using their back up cameras and this car has many blind spots. This also frustrates drivers and causes distraction as navigation is not available. The screen display abruptly stopped working. I brought my vehicle to the dealer and their solution was to spend $1700 on a new infotainment system. Owners should not have to be paying to utilize safety features marketed for the vehicle they bought. There were no warnings prior to the system breaking.

- Greenville, SC, USA

problem #21

Jan 152024

Forester

  • miles
My Forester was parked and when I started the car I heard a pop, pop, pop. Looked at my front windshield and watched it crack from the lower left - driver side - up to the center of window, with each pop. Googled - the community has posted similar problems with Subaru windshields. Temperature on [XXX] in Phoenix was 60 degrees at the time of windshield popping. No impact, parked car, started engine and crack just started and I watched it expand from 2 inches to 24". Very scary! INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

- Scottsdale, AZ, USA

problem #20

Aug 012023

Forester

  • miles
I have ~50,000 miles and have had an excessive amount of chips on my front windshield. Getting them filled doesn't matter, and the windshield will crack. I've replaced the windshield twice since owning this vehicle at $1200+ (high costs due to front camera recalibration). I've owned many vehicles over the years and have never had a windshield chip or crack this frequent. I've seen many other complaints online, did Subaru cheap out on glass or is the wind shield angle ineffective in shedding simple road debris from causing failures? I have concerns that the windshield would be unable to stop larger debris from entering the cabin and potentially injuring occupants.

- Saint Croix Falls, WI, USA

problem #19

Jul 012023

Forester

  • miles
I was driving my 2021 Subaru Forester on the highway and suddenly I saw with my own eyes a crack appear in the front window shield glass. A thin crack, about 2 feet long. curved shape. in the section in front of the steering wheel. It was out of nowhere; there was no warning lamps, messages or other symptoms of the problem prior to the failure. I was terrified and shocked, as my car was just 2 years old. No one was hurt, and other cars were not affected as I continued to drive stably. But I was a bit shaken, as I was worried the crack might burst wider and thus I would lose control of the car. Thankfully, it stayed that way and I exited the highway and pulled over at a mall and called the dealership. The dealership was not very responsive: I was asked to call the next Monday again and schedule a time to bring the car there for inspection. It was definitively the poor quality of the glass/defect. I purchased extended warrant/Added Security from the dealership when I bought the car. It should cover this defect. I was hugely disappointed with the quality of Subaru car. Will never buy this brand again.

- Gettysburg, PA, USA

problem #18

Dec 222022

Forester

  • miles
It was a very cold night on Dec. 21, 2022. I traveled out of town. I don't recall seeing or hearing anything hit my windshield. However, on Dec. 22, 2022 when I got back in my car, I noticed a very long scratch across the windshield. It is now Mar. 1, 2023 and it has gotten much worse. I am unsure how to go about getting it fixed because I cannot pay for the repairs.

- Sciotoville, OH, USA

problem #17

Dec 182022

Forester

  • miles
Windshield has cracked twice in last month, in separate areas. I replaced the windshield on 11/9/22 and identified a new crack on 12/18/22.

- Indianapolis, IN, USA

problem #16

Nov 302022

Forester 4-cyl

  • miles
Glass cracked for no reason. According to this article Subaru has been sued related to 2017-2020 Foresters for a similar reason https://www.torquenews.com/1084/new-ruling-subaru-cracked-windshield-lawsuit-now-adds-25m-cars

- Minneapolis, MN, USA

problem #15

Nov 022022

Forester

  • miles
I purchased a 2021 Subaru Forester with approximately 9000 miles on the odometer. Purchase was made on October 18, 2022, then on October 19, 2022 I experienced unintended acceleration on my way home that day with the car. The car just seemed to have a mind of its own and just "took off" at high speed and quickly it returned to normal. I simply thought I did something wrong and kept driving the car. Then on November 2, 2022 while in my driveway, the unintended acceleration happened again and this time the car hit a building on our property and both the building and the car suffered severe damage.

- Mount Holly, NJ, USA

problem #14

Aug 232022

Forester

  • miles
On 08/23/2022 while driving on a four lane city street, light rain, moderate traffic, at about 35 mph, the car suddenly lost forward speed, depresssing the accelerator move rpm to over 3000, with continued loss of forward speed, until suddenly the drive train engaged and forward speed resumed. This is the fourth time this type of event has occured. A check at a Subaru dealer the next day revealed no codes in memory. Fortunately there was no heavy traffic on this road at the time because in another half hour there would have been very heavy traffic. This is very disconcerting and potentially dangerous to vehicles directly behind. Is there a problem with the Eye Sight system that triggers a sudden loss of speed when there is no vehicle close ahead?

- Isle La Motte, VT, USA

problem #13

Jun 182022

Forester

  • miles
Windshield developed large L or J shaped crack from very top near roof line, down center of windshield and turns toward the Drivers side. This car was PARKED in our driveway at home when it cracked. No stone chips, nothing dropped on it as you can see in attached pictures. We will schedule a visit to Subaru dealer here in Knoxville, TN. for inspection. No warnings because vehicle was parked in our driveway.

- Knoxville , TN, USA

problem #12

Jun 142022

Forester

  • miles
Uknown. This vehicle was purchased in January of 2021. Approximately a month afterwards, the windshield had cracked and I paid out of pocket to get it replaced. Shortly after replacing the windshield, it had obtained 2 chips on the windshield and from the second chip, it cracked from the bottom left corner up towards the middle of the windshield. The frequency in which chips and cracks are occurring, especially after purchasing the vehicle brand new and shortly after replacing the windshield, is alarming. This puts my safety at risk because of its interference with visibility and Subaru Eyesight which is suppose to be a safety feature on the vehicle. This has been an ongoing problem with Subaru and their windshields. After owning the vehicle for just 18 months and having replaced the windshield already, this should not be happening in such frequency.

- Owasso , OK, USA

problem #11

Apr 232022

Forester

  • miles
Windshield chipped while driving 60mph on the freeway. A few minutes later while stopped at a light it developed an 18 inch crack as we watched it happen.

- Raleigh , NC, USA

problem #10

Dec 172021

Forester

  • miles
Design flaw-2022 Subaru Forester, Antenna placements inside body of car result in pacemaker interference and make it impossible to drive in and avoid. Antennas are built into frame of car and cannot be disabled to accommodate for disabled persons who have implantable medical devices. Inability to be able to permanently and completely disable technology that can interfere with implantable medical devices including "StarLink", GPS, Wireless and Radio wave technologies. Failure by Subaru to release testing results of above telematic devices to consumers. Failure by auto industry to properly test these systems before implementing into autos. Failure by auto industry to allow for accomodating people with disabilities to operate and purchase safely autos with these features. I want a black box warning on all vehicle stickers and complete disclosure in writing to dangers and exclusion to disable person to operate these vehicles! I disclosed to sells staff at Subaru at time of looking at vehicles to purchase that I have pacemaker, no warning was giving or safety concerns for persons with pacemakers. After purchase of vehicle and experiencing pacemaker function issues caused by these systems I was informed to stay 8" away from all antennas, which is impossible to do while driving or sitting in or near vehicle. I now have a vehicle I cannot drive and Subaru has refused to buy back to vehicle. I also want all any any testing info result findings do by NHTSA/Subaru to be mail to me asap! Thanks for your time.

- Huntington Beach, CA, USA

problem #9

Apr 012022

Forester

  • miles
Windshield is faulty because it cannot hold up to small impacts of small rocks. I was driving on the freeway and a nearby car picked up a small rock which impacted my windshield glass. There was about one centimeter circumference star crack that webbed out 1 inches. While driving, the crack grew to 1 foot long in the span of less than 30 minutes during the drive (this day the outdoor temperature was 49-50 degrees F.). This is the second time this has happened. I had recently replaced my windshield about 8 months ago when rock hit windshield and crack grew over 2 feet. I have purchased the car 14 months ago and needing two windshield replacements.

- Bellevue, WA, USA

problem #8

Dec 082021

Forester

  • miles
My windshield shattered when hit by a small rock that apparently came from across and bounced up and hit the windshield. Subaru does not replace windshields... so you have to get Insurance to cover. The wiring in a Subaru is attractive to rodents - what the wiring is made of depends on who you speak with - most common answer is Oat Based Covering. I have spent over $4000 to have the wring in the front and fuel area. This is a 2021 Subaru Forester with less than 12K miles. Subaru can not give a straight answer on material in the wiring and says I need to build a shed. There are 4 other vehicles at my location that are there 20 hours a day - I go to an office 5 days a week so my car is gone over 50 hours a week - still my fault!

- Forsyth, GA, USA

problem #7

Jan 052022

Forester

  • miles
I leased a 2021 Forester in April, and around September, I got a J shape crack in the bottom center of the windshield. Subaru dealership in Glendale, CA told me they would replace the windshield free for the first time. Had to wait until mid-December for the backordered replacement to come in. Today, 1/5/22, was driving on the highway and a small projectile on the road caused a starburst crack on my newly replaced windshield.

- Los Angeles, CA, USA

problem #6

Dec 112021

Forester

  • miles
Windshield cracked after it was hit by a rock. I have been told there is windshield issues with this vehicle.

- Lafayette, LA, USA

problem #5

Nov 122021

Forester

  • miles
Windshield cracked for no apparent reason.

- Belton , TX, USA

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