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.
Battery drains for seemingly no reason. The radio or lights are not left on that would make the car drain while the car off. I had to replace the battery on 5/14/2021.
Would go to start car and it wouldn't start. Multiple days thought I was doing something wrong G leaving something on, got battery checked they said it was ok just low. It kept doing it, went on for like 2-3 months. Finally I had enough and bought a new battery. Since it happened and replaced battery vehicle idles high like 1-2 in park.
Went to start my car and battery was dead. Got a jump from aaa but since none of the eyesight safety features worked, I had the car towed to Subaru and they replaced the battery. I was told I'd need to drive it every day to keep the battery charged. That's absurd. To make things worse, remote start will only work for 2 starts. On the 3rd start, it won't start unless you start the car manually. What's the point of having a remote start if you have to start the car manually every 3 days?
- Seaford, NY, USA
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While getting a 2 hr dental procedure, there was an unexplained battery drain, leaving the car dead. I paid aaa to give me a roadside emergency jump. I had had no previous issues.
The contact owns a 2018 Subaru Forester. The contact stated that after leaving the vehicle parked and undriven for several days, the vehicle failed to start-up. The vehicle had to be jump started. The contact took the vehicle to smith cairns Subaru - yonkers (900 central park ave, yonkers, NY 10704, (914) 377-8100) who replaced the battery twice however, the failure persisted. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 4,000.
Windows get locked and I'm not able to use the switch to unlock the windows and either side. Issue was reported. Subaru corrected the issue but it still happens. Once Subaru dealer helped via phone conversation to reset but this is a constant issue. I feel trapped in my car and I have to open my door to reach for a ticket while at a parking lot. Can't role down my window at the gas station. This can happen stationary or in motion. This is definitely a safety hazard. Also, while driving the music goes to a high to low volume and vise versa either on it's own or when I hit a bump. Very disturbing and scary at times especially when I'm on the highway.
Forester was parked in under ground parking garage for between one and two weeks. The battery was completely dead, no sound at all when I tried to start it. The only door that was locked was the rear hatch door. Neighbor brought a battery charger and got the Forester started. Following that, I drove it to the local Subaru dealer and ask them to check and see if anything was draining the battery. They check everything and did not find any problem. The fellow at the service desk said that starting a car is the biggest drain on a battery and if the car isn't driven enough between startups, it tends to bring the battery down. He recommended particular battery charger which he said I could purchase at walmart. Since I only have a little over eleven thousand miles on my Forester, and I have never had this situation occur with any of my other automobiles in the past. I do worry about what would happen should I leave my car parked at the airport for a couple weeks and there is no place to plug in a charger. I still love my Forester.
There have been several times that the car will not lock due to a type of trip or wiring with the locking system. While the car is turned off and stationary, right before locking the door, there is a clicking sound and the driver's side door light flashes. The driver's side door is closed, even if the electrical system acts like it is trying to close the door. This prevents the car from locking, due to some type of trip in the door sensor. It might be a trip between the karr alarm system and the door sensor installed in the car. I've attempted to repair or resolve this since I bought the car and it is has yet to be repaired.
The airbag system became disarmed and seatbelt warning light came on when smartphone weighing 3lbs was on front passenger seat. This occurred multiple times the passenger front seat sensor is supposed to become armed when a 40lb passenger sits in passenger front seat only. Reading through the owners manual states that both driver and passenger airbags may not deploy which puts driver and passengers at risk for injury.
Outside temperature readings are between 3-7 degrees off. Dealer says that is normal. An I to assume the tire pressure, engine coolant temperature and oil pressure gauges are also off ?
While in reverse, audio control is lost. Alteration to channel or volume or turning off audio is disabled - which can be highly distracting if the setting were left extremely loud since the audio will initialize several seconds after starting and reversing is already in progress at that time.
The eyesight had been manipulated to a warning even when there's no obstruction while driving forward, while backing up it gives a warning that someone or a vehicle is adjacent to my car. These are just a few of the problems I encounter. I have an idea who's behind this. But I cannot prove it. Someone very knowledgeable in computer security within my vicinity. It compromises the safety feature of the car while driving and even backing up in my garage.
It seems that my car has a poorly designed/not-current-limited usb jack, which fails to prevent a phone charging cable with shorted or shorting-intermittently interval power wires from burning up and possibly causing a fire. The details of my burnt-cable event: On Tuesday evening Oct. 9, 2018, I got into my car in my garage. I then started the car. The usb part of my iphone cable was already in the car's usb port, I believe. While the car was still idling in place, I then plugged the lightening end of the cable into my iphone's port to charge it. I was still idling in place when I heard a sound similar to a plastic bottle popping inward or outward and started to look around in my car for what's going on. I then, within seconds, I believe, started to smell a burning smell. I opened my center console, since that was the most recent thing I had handled, and had ports in it, and I smelled the burning smell more. I quickly pulled out the cable from the usb port and the iphone itself. I went onward with the night's activities, and then later that night, back at the car, inspected the cable and saw that the lightening end (iphone end) was distorted, with a wire protruding, and a brown burnt spot. I believe this could have turned into a fire if I hadn't quickly removed the cable from the usb port.
The contact owns a 2018 Subaru Forester. While driving approximately 80 mph, the vehicle suddenly lost engine power. The vehicle was coasted to an exit ramp. The contact stated that the engine was still idling extremely low and the vehicle was turned off and restarted. Rimrock Subaru (324 S 24th St w, billings, mt 59102, (406) 651-5200) replaced the fuel pump and fuel pump control module; however, the failure continued. The dealer referred the contact to the manufacturer and offered a trade-in for a 2018 Subaru outback. The manufacturer was not contacted. The vehicle was not repaired. The approximate failure mileage was 4,200. *
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- West Peoria, IL, USA