10.0

really awful
Crashes / Fires:
1 / 0
Injuries / Deaths:
0 / 0
Average Mileage:
7,218 miles

About These NHTSA Complaints:

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.

2019 Subaru Forester brakes problems

brakes problem

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2019 Subaru Forester Owner Comments

problem #10

Apr 042020

Forester

  • 18,000 miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

Purchased the vehicle brand new in DC of 2018. Since then it has had a series of electrical issues dating back to as early June of 2019. The air conditioner stopped working and I had to take the vehicle in to get serviced. My first red flag. Then the battery randomly died while waiting parked in December (temperature that day was above freezing). After that instance, I had several more dead battery issues with the vehicle. Fast forward to 2 weeks ago where again my battery died, I got the car jumped and the battery kept dying the next day. Recently had a new battery installed by the dealer (Tuesday) and again the battery died the next time I went to start the vehicle! the car also has other electrical issues regarding the start/stop feature. I've had instances where the vehicle has completely shut off and I had to manually restart it. The cruise control speed constantly varies. The car doesn't always recognize when I plug in my phone. It seems that any electrical components of the car simply don't work and are not reliable. Subaru should be ashamed of themselves for allowing this death trap of a vehicle on the road. I would never recommend a 2019 Subaru forrester to anyone looking to purchase a new vehicle. The car has been nothing but an expensive headache since the moment I purchased it. The irony of it all is that I traded in my old 2014 Subaru forrstor into the dealership because it had "electrical issues" according to the dealer and I was better off getting a new car. Me, being naive trusted their advice and drove off with this 2019 hunk of problems. I hope this message serves to any prospective buyer of any Subaru vehicle to do their own homework in regards to what they are purchasing.

- Chicago, IL, USA

problem #9

Feb 202020

Forester

  • 10,000 miles
We have a 2019 Subaru Forester, problems have been with the eyesight slamming on the brakes for no reason, and turning on and off at random times. The major issue has been the slammed on brakes when the road ahead was clear, jarring me and passengers, my wife literally had whiplash and a headache from the extreme, unexpected braking. This has happened when a vehicle in from of us made a right turn, road ahead is clear, traveling the speed limit of 35 mph, sensors must be picking up the corner of the other vehicle as we approach, locking up the brakes, thinking it is still in front of us. Another incident, eyesight sensing an empty paper bag being blown across the highway, slamming on the brakes, this could have caused a rear end collision from a driver behind us if they were following to close, like is the norm in rush hour traffic. Another event, a dog ran across the freeway, eyesight never activated, I thought I had braked and cleared the dog, he kept running, no impact, found damage to front end upon inspection. Another issue unrelated to eyesight, the defroster blower motor does not respond to high setting when first turned to high to clear window fog, it takes 3 to 5 minutes before it ramps up to high speed. I have brought this to the attention of our salesperson and service department our Subaru dealership, maybe be a calibration issue, program issue with the eyesight sensors, they refused to document anything I shared and told me their is absolutely nothing wrong with the system without even looking at it. There is no more love in our Subaru, and no concern for safety at the dealership. I have spoken with other 2019 Subaru Forester owners experiencing the same eyesight issues. This has been happening since we leased the vehicle October 2018 to recently on 2/20/2020. I was informed to file this by the Ohio attorney general while filing a complaint with them.

- Willoughby Hills, OH, USA

problem #8

Feb 072020

Forester

  • 30,000 miles
Traveling from ri to western NY. Departed ri in am with moderate rainfall when "eyesight disabled" indicator flashed several times over the course of half hour. When rain subsided, indicator disappeared. Several hours later, was driving 65-70mph on straight section of major interstate with good visibility, approaching a highway overpass when "obstacle detected" warning appeared despite no obstacle in road, and shortly thereafter car went into a slow spin (felt as if floating) towards left, striking a guardrail underneath the overpass head-on and continuing to spin 360 degrees at which point I was able to recover control of the car. It felt as if brakes had engaged (? crash imminent braking system) although I did not have foot on brake pedal and I did not attempt to brake while in the spin as I feared rolling the vehicle. Despite extensive front end damage, airbags did not deploy. Had to leave the vehicle in albany, NY and currently awaiting evaluation by insurance adjuster. Of note, 5 months earlier the windshield had cracked when hit with small rock and was replaced at Subaru dealership where the vehicle was purchased.

- Barrington, RI, USA

problem #7

Jan 182020

Forester

  • 3,917 miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

While driving and vehicle in motion, intermittently the following indicator/warning lights come on, stay on, go off, and come back on again without any pattern: The bsd/rcta warning, the auto start stop, hill descent control, accident avoidance/braking, lane assist, and eyesight. One or more warning/indicator light comes on and then sometimes goes off every time I drive. Started on January 18th-still happening Feb 1, 2020.. happens regardless of road condition (dry, wet), temperature (very cold, warm (40 degrees), or speed (25 mph to 60 mph). This has happened on highway, city, rural roads. The driver touches nothing and does nothing to begin/end these. Sometimes the lights stay on and then when trip is ended, vehicle turned off and restarted, the lights remain on. Sometimes next time the vehicle is started, the lights are off. The lane assist indicator and auto braking in particular, are of concern. The lane assist comes on (on its own) and is white'then, while driving, it turns green and tries to steer the car off to the right 'the driver has to hold on tight and fight the steering wheel and car. This seems very unsafe. The driver has tried turning off these lights/functions when they just pop up'while driving'but if in heavy traffic, cannot allow for these distractions. If clear/no traffic, driver attempts shutting off these features by pressing the buttons with these icons 'on the center rear view mirror panel or on the lower left panel below dashboard. Sometimes this works, sometimes doesn't and they remain on. The unexpected nature of warning lights going on and off and difficulty controlling the steering wheel are really causing concern. It is like the car is possessed. This is a new vehicle (5 months). Dealer contacted for service but told had to wait 3 weeks for appointment. Trying not to get in an accident until then...

- Minneapolis, MN, USA

problem #6

Aug 192019

Forester

  • 100 miles
1. while the car is in motion (and under normal driving conditions) on highways, my front windshield has cracked 4X since taking delivery of new vehicle at the end of July 2019. Once the front windshield cracks, it continues to spread. During the process of paying for the vehicle, I was encouraged at every step to purchasing additional windshield coverage to cover the cost of replacing the front windshield in case it needed to be replaced due to the eyesight camera system. The windshield has cracked on the interstate, a state tollway, and a highway. 2. the blue temperature light turns on for five minutes or more when starting the vehicle. I have brought this to the attention of the dealership and they dismiss me saying that this is a normal condition of the car (which was not mentioned during the sales process) and to just wait until the blue temperature light goes out before driving the car. When taking the car back to the dealership for the replacement of the front windshield for 4th time, they finally listened to me and added checking the coolant to the list but it has been a fight to have this looked at. 3. while the car was in motion and with no other cars in front of me, to the side or behind me, the car pre-collision system activated and braked the car on its own. There was no pre-warning that the car was going to brake. 4. the car auto light on and off function does not fully turn on the car lights at night. 5. while the car is in motion and backing out of a parking space, I hear a big ka-thunk sound from the front left of the car. It doesn't matter which way the steering is being turned. Ordered the car in June 2019, was told that the car wouldn't be ready until mid-Aug. Due to the factory shutting down for a two week holiday in Japan, received notice from the dealership that the car had been delivered much earlier than expected in July.

- Pflugerville, TX, USA

problem #5

Aug 122019

Forester

  • 8,000 miles
A large crack in the windsheild though the top center, where the eyesight technology center is located, occurred without any incident to catalyze the cracking of the glass.

- Sioux Falls, SD, USA

problem #4

Jan 232019

Forester

  • 663 miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

When I start my car via Subaru starlink the following technical issues occur voice over bluetooth gets distorted, apple carplay does not connect or affects radio first was noticed Jan 23, 2019. Also, power rear gate door would fail and would not open with rear gate button, dash button or via key fob as this on and off problem also noticed after car is started via remote app starlink. Power gate problem reported first on Jan 23, 2019 and continues through the present date. Eyesight failed on Jul 06, 2019 when car was started via starlink, Jul 07, 2019 eyesight back on and failed again on Jul 08, 2019 when car was manually started from parking position. When eyesight fails it effect vehicle dynamic control which analyzes steering angle, engine speed and braking conditions. Also, cruise control fails to work ans well Subaru reverse automatic breaking. Total miles on the car 7321 as of Jul 08, 2019.

- Fair Lawn, NJ, USA

problem #3

Jun 062019

Forester

  • 500 miles
Steering is very sensitive on highway speed -- above 50mph. Car is responding too much and unpredictable on any small movement of steering wheel.

- Scappoose, OR, USA

problem #2

May 202019

Forester

  • 5 miles
Accidentally left the moonroof slightly open. Rainwater got inside the adaptive cruise control causing it to malfunction.

- San Francisco, CA, USA

problem #1

Mar 222019

Forester

  • 1,000 miles
In our 2 week old 2019 Forester, we were driving on the freeway at 65mph and felt a sudden jolt and the car shut off: The lights on the dashboard went off, the headlights went off, the turn signals would not work and the accelerator wasn't working. We guided the car off the freeway and sat on the side of the freeway. The dealer's master mechanic cannot find any code that tells them what is wrong so they tell us there is nothing to fix. This is outrageous. This was a life-threatening event so we do not feel safe driving the car for ourselves and other cars on the freeway. Subaru is not taking this seriously. We read there have been other "car stall" problems similar to ours with Foresters from other years.

- Walnut Creek, CA, USA

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