This data is from the NHTSA — the US gov't agency tasked with vehicle safety. Complaints are spread across multiple & redundant categories, & are not organized by problem.
So how do you find out what problems are occurring? For this NHTSA complaint data, the only way is to read through the comments below. Any duplicates or errors? It's not us.
vehicle feels like it is always stuck in first gear. the Subaru dealership says its a rear hub bearing, drivers side. Cost to repair over $500. The vehicle has less than 60k miles on it.
Lug nut studs snap very easily. I had to replace a wheel hub as the studs could not handle basic pressure. Extremely dangerous when you-??re changing your spare and in the midst of traffic.
At just under 54,000 miles, noticed a loud hum, thought it was a bad transmission, took it into the dealer (Walser Subaru of South St. Paul, MN) that concluded it was faulty rear wheel bearings on both sides, and told me it was a serious safety issue that should be fixed immediately. Had it fixed for $1,000 plus and problem seems to have been solved, but dealer reported that Subaru would take no responsibility for such a serious safety issue at such low mileage. My feelng is that Subaru should pay to fix such a defect for me and other victims.
First Issue: Wheel lug studs and nuts have failed on two separate occasions. Second Issue: The C/S brake, hill assist and traction control emergency lights went on and off and usually stayed on after the lights went on. The O2 Oxygen sensor was replaced. Then after this didn't fix the problem with the emergency lights coming on, the hydraulic unit module was replaced. This fixed the problem.
Noticed an ongoing "humming" noise coming from the rear of our 2015 Subaru Forester which got considerably louder at highway speeds. This sounded like a bad wheel bearing BUT THE CAR HAD ONLY 46, 800 mi. Took the car to a mechanic to inspect. As suspected it was a bad left rear wheel bearing. I had it replaced. Less than 2 months later same problem on the opposite side of the car (right rear wheel bearing). Before taking the car for repair I stopped by the dealership to see if they routinely stocked the rear hub assemblies for 2015 et al Subaru's... I found that this was a 'very popular' item. While most drivers and practically any "car buff" will detect a bad bearing audibly because the failure occurs at such low mileage I am sure that a significant number of people are driving with this defect unsuspectingly... some to near failure.
- Cortlandt Manor, NY, USA
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While rotating tires two wheel studs sheared off. The lug nuts are always started by hand, tightened (and removed) without an impact tool, and torqued to spec. Took it to a shop for repair. While removing the wheels two more studs sheared off in the shop. Mechanic stated this is a very common problem with Subarus. Google searches verify this. A popular Subaru community website has a thread with 168 posts discussing this issue among 2014-2018 model year Foresters - https://www.subaruforester.org/threads/2014-problem-with-wheel-studs-merged-thread.769466/ - Judging from online content it seems that, at a minimum, hundreds of Subaru owners are experiencing this problem, perhaps thousands. NHTSA and Subaru should investigate this issue and make it right for the many, many owners experiencing the potentially very dangerous problem. Here are some other existing NHTSA complaints about the same issue: =============================== NHTSA ID Number: 11172455 WHILE COMPLETING A TIRE ROTATION, I PLACED THE SPARE TIRE ON THE HUB AS A PLACEHOLDER WHILE I MOVED ON TO OTHER WHEELS. I HAND TIGHTENED THE LUGNUTS HOLDING THE SPARE ON (NO WRENCH, NO OVER TORQUEING)... ================================= December 28, 2015 NHTSA ID NUMBER: 10816534 Components: WHEELS, SERVICE BRAKES NHTSA ID Number: 10816534 Vehicle Identification Number 1F2SJABC1FH**** I HAVE HAD SEVERAL OCCASIONS WHERE THE WHEEL LUGS HAVE SNAPPED WHILE THE WHEELS WERE REMOVED FOR TIRE REPLACEMENT, ROTATION AND REPLACEMENT OF BRAKE PADS AND ROTORS... =================================== March 9, 2019 NHTSA ID NUMBER: 11185494 Components: WHEELS NHTSA ID Number: 11185494 Vehicle Identification Number JF2SJAAC8HG**** THREE PASSENGER FRONT TIRE STUDS SHEARED, PROPERLY HAND TORQUED PRIOR, TWO LUG NUTS WITH STUDS RETRIEVED IN DRIVEWAY, 20 DEG F. PULLING OUT OF GARAGE LH TURN, 3 MPH. FAILED AND REMAINING TWO STUDS RETAINED WHEN REPLACED. POSSIBLE NIL DUCTILITY TEMP. GOOGLE REVEALED...
Several issues: 1) replace rear strut assemblies. 04/22/19. (the car seemed fine but when they put it on a lift to work on brakes mechanics saw this. 2) the the engine shimmies and feels like it is going to stall. This has gone on since 2016. This happen when going about 30 mph. I had a mechanic look at it they found nothing. It still feels like it is going to stall. 3) bearings in rear passenger side in 2017. Rear wheels were making noise when driving around 40 mph. (different mechanic looked at this. 4) right front axle shaft replaced 06/26/19 this car has never been in an accident and is used for highway driving.
At 38K excessive vibration and noise at highway speeds was noticed. Dealer replaced both of the front lower control arm bushings. At 42K the front right wheel bearing went bad and was replaced. Probably caused by the bad control arm bushings. At 44K the control arm bushings were bad again. This caused a severe loss of control of the car in slick conditions. This time the dealer replaced both of the control arm assemblies. This is a real problem with this vehicle. Time for a recall.
Both rear wheel bearing had to be replaced at 74,000 miles.while in the dealership to have them replaced three other customers were having the same problem.
The car was wobbly and went in for service and they found one rear strut the technician took it for a drive and the other one broke on him. It costs me $1390 to fix it and I drove it on the highway and it still wobbly. Subaru does not want to acknowledge the fact there is a major issue with this vehicle. This should have been recalled by Subaru when they knew about this. This car also had rotors that needed to be replaced, the arm control, wheel bearings all under 60,000. This is a serious issue, I could get killed or have a major accident and Subaru does not want to hear about it. I am scared to drive this car. The consumer stated the manufacturer was made aware of the failure and offered to assist with the repairs.
While completing a tire rotation, I placed the spare tire on the hub as a placeholder while I moved on to other wheels. I hand tightened the lugnuts holding the spare on (no wrench, no over torqueing). I left the driver front jacked up supported by a jack stand while I completed the rest of the tire rotation; the spare was never lowered to the ground and weighted, it was simply installed as a backup to my jack stand. When I came back to the driver front to remove the spare and install the normal wheel, 2 of the 5 lugnuts that I had hand tightened seized. When I attempted to remove them after application of penetrating oil, two of the studs snapped rendering the car entirely unsafe to drive. When I went around the car with a torque wrench set to the manual specified torque of 89 ft/lbs a third stud stripped. I do not know what caused the studs to snap or strip. I did not over torque the lugnuts, they were hand tightened less than 30 minutes prior. There is no reason for hand tightened lugnuts to seize on a wheel stud and cause the lugnuts to snap other than deficiency or weakness of the wheel stud. I have never over torqued the wheels; I always use a torque wrench set to 89ft/lbs as specified in the owner's manual to tighten the lugnuts. I did not cross thread the lugnuts; I ran them down by hand to ensure that they were correctly installed. My research on various Subaru online forums suggested that the wheel studs commonly fail and many users suggested replacing all wheel studs with aftermarket hardened racing studs rather than installing new oem parts. When I contacted Subaru I received the response "Subaru appreciates your time in communicating with us, however we do not investigate every concern that is reported to us."
Bullet-end of parking brake cable came off, allowing brake drums to fall loose and tumble inside the right rear wheel at highway speed, just as I was slowing for a rest stop. Repair cost $545; I have documents but can't scan them at the moment -- if they matter, I can copy and mail them.
On high speed or low speed turning steering wheel left the right front tire shakes. Only stops shaking when your below speed limit on freeways, always shakes below 40mph
I have had several occasions where the wheel lugs have snapped while the wheels were removed for tire replacement, rotation and replacement of brake pads and rotors. I have also had the brake caliper retainer bolts snap while the vehicle was in motion so that the rear brakes on the vehicle were next to inoperable as only a portion of the brake pad came in contact with the rotor. The dealer did not make any attempt to resolve or repair the brake rotors or pads under warranty when this happened. What made it more of an issue was the the local dealer didnt have these parts on hand and gave me the specs for the bolt to purchase from the local hardware store. These new bolts have held.
Tire pressure monitor indicated low pressure. Right rear tire needed air. Tire continued to slowly leak and the pressure monitor tripped again days later. Mentioned problem to dealership during service. Dealership found no problem with the tire and properly inflated all wheels. A few days later the tire pressure was low (tire pressure monitor tripped again). Bringing vehicle back to the dealer for possible replacement of tire. Probably a problem isolated to my specific car, but logging the incident in case there are more tires out there with similar problems.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Lititz, PA, USA