2019 Subaru Forester Complaint Log

2019 Subaru Forester with 38,000 miles. Heat stopped working. 30 minutes later, check engine light came on. Warning on dash stating that Eyesight cannot turn on. Lane assist and adaptive cruise control will not turn on. Mechanic found it needs the Thermo Control Valve replaced or the car will have no heat and the engine can overheat. Quoted a $2,000 repair cost and 3 weeks before we can get the part.

Thermo Control Valve went bad causing car to have no heat in the cold can’t use the defroster for windshield and no safety features Subaru knows about issue but not recalling it leaving us the high service payment

Subaru has issued a service bulletin regarding this issue. The vehicles auto engine on/off (gas saving feature) fails to restart while driving due to OEM battery is known to be too weak. Only way to resolve the issue is to replace with higher capacity battery requiring new battery tray and additional new equipment. Current, customer has to pay repairs out of warranty. Incidents are frequent and reoccurring.

The contact owns a 2019 Subaru Forester. The contact stated that the front windshield had been replaced two times and the failure had reoccurred three times within the year. The vehicle was taken to the dealer the first two times the failure occurred. The contact stated each time the dealer replaced the windshield but could not determine the cause of the failure. The failure reoccurred. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired by an independent mechanic or dealer. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 118,000.

This is a follow up from previous complaint 11525953 dated 6/8/2023. My subaru forester stalled again on 8/2 at an intersection after 15 minutes of driving, and then again on 10/4 at an intersection after 45 minutes of highway driving. There are no warning signals or any indication of engine problems. I replaced the air filter in June hoping that might solve the issue.

4 days ago my Check Engine light came on. In my car, when this happens, it disables all Eyesight features - collision warning, lane departure warning, etc. Work hours being what they are, I drove home that night and back to work the next day with it on. I managed to get it scanned when it popped a code for the Coolant Bypass Valve. Searching that code online lead me to DOZENS AND DOZENS of forums, posts, stories of the same code popping up on other 2019-2020 Subaru's. They all had to take it in for a hefty repair. It also led me to a Service Bulletin issued last year, which showed that Subaru had rebuilt the TCV so it could withstand corrosion, unlike the previous version. So naturally I took it into my local dealership to have it looked at, and sure enough - the TCV needed to be replaced. WHY HASN"T THIS PART BEEN RECALLED YET??? Given there is no thermostat on my cars dash, I would have no clue whether my car was overheating due to this faulty valve, until its too late. It seems like this is a big potential safety issue that Subaru needs to address, and someone needs to force their hand.

The temperature control valve (TCV) has gone bad and so the check engine light is on and reverse automatic braking and the Eyesight system is disabled. The problem with the temperature control valve is unrelated to the safety systems, however, when this valve goes bad, these safety systems are disabled automatically.

The check engine light came on and all of the eyesight components on the car were disabled as I was traveling down the highway at 70 mph (this included the adaptive cruise control, the lane departure warning, forward collision warning, etc). In addition, the engine thermostat light came on and the heater and defroster stopped working. It was cold and rainy and the window started to fog up and I was unable to clear it without a functioning defroster. This was definitely a safety issue and I had to stop driving. The car was taken to a subaru dealer today and diagnosed with faulty thermo control valve. The technician told me the car should NOT be driven in this condition due to the problem being in the engine coolant system. This is a known issue on the 2019 Forester, and other Subaru models as well, and has a TSB originally issued in Sept 2021. (#09-80-21) My car has 70K miles and therefore is just out of the warranty period. I will have to pay over $1500 to replace this part and because it is a safety issue I have no choice but to pay for the repair. It is a part that is known to be defective and I am requesting that a recall should be issued before others are also put in potential danger and/or forced to pay large sums of money to get it fixed.

1 . TERMAL CONTROL VALVE 2. TRAVELING OUT OF STATE AND ENGINE LIGHT CAME ON 3. WARNING LIGHT (CHECK ENGINE WAS ON) 4 CONFIRMNED BY DEALER 5. ALL LIGHTS ON DASH BOARDS ON

I came out to my parked vehicle to find a large crack on the windshield.

Check engine light is on and the heater control valve needs to be replaced. This part is on back order because so many vehicles need to have this replaced and it turns off all the safety features of the vehicle. This is unsafe, faulty and putting loyal Subaru drivers in a vulnerable position. This part needs to be a manufacturing recall as to replace out of pocket is close to $2,000 and only effects the AC but impairs the safety of the driver.

Thermo control valve needs replacing at 34k miles. Not covered under warranty. Also needed new tires at 30k miles and now faulty ignition coil

The contact owns a 2019 Subaru Forester. The contact stated that while stopping, the contact went to park in a parking lot and the vehicle had launched forward while the foot was still on the brake pedal which caused the contact to crash into a tree. The air bags did not deploy. The vehicle was going 1 MPH. No warning light was illuminated. A police report was filed. The vehicle was towed to a dealership. The vehicle had not been diagnosed or repaired by an independent mechanic or dealer. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and advised the contact to tow her vehicle to the nearest dealership for diagnosis. The failure mileage was approximately 22,000. The VIN was not available.

The contact owns a 2019 Subaru Forester. The contact stated while driving 60 MPH in a thunderstorm, the vehicle lost motive power inadvertently. The check engine, the Vehicle Dynamic Control, and the Eyesight Driver Assist system warning lights were illuminated. The contact was able to pull to the side of the road. The contact stated that the engine continued running, and the instrument panel functions were operable; however, the vehicle failed to respond upon depressing the accelerator pedal. The vehicle was towed to the local dealer, and the vehicle operated as needed. The dealer test-drove the vehicle but could not determine the cause of the failure. The contact stated that she picked up the vehicle; however, the failure recurred while driving. The vehicle was taken back to the dealer, and the dealer diagnosed that water was leaking out of the thermal control valve and onto the electric wiring. The vehicle was repaired under Warranty. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 16,600.

Thermo Control Valve malfuncitoned, causing check engine light to come on. Car only has 72k miles on it, so dealership (McDaniels Subaru, Columbia. SC) said they couldn't repair under warranty. Even though car has 100K powertrain. To get to this part you have to remove intake manifold, so I don't see how it's not considered part of the powertrain. While Check Engine light is on, NONE of the safety features of this car function. From Internet research, this part is going to fail, (part has been redesigned due to this), it's just a matter of whether it fails within your warranty period or not. Mine was not.

As a result of code P26A3 (engine coolant bypass valve), the cars Eye Sight system is turned off as well as lane departure, reverse automatic braking, and pre-collision braking system. While code P26A3 may in fact refer to a serious problem with then engine, there is no reason why a safety system should be shut off!

The thermo control valve (TCV), responsible for regulating cabin temperature and engine temperature failed, causing the vehicle to go into safe mode and was not drivable.

My wife was driving her 2019 Subaru Forester (purchased new) and the Eyesight disabled and the check engine light came on. The car was still running, but not as it normally would. It had less power but would still maintain the speed limit. At home the car idled differently, like it was running too rich or too lean. The exhaust also smelled funny.

Sun roof malfunction. Would not open. Once open, went on highway and had to close it. This was distracting to me, driver, and put us all at risk for no weather protection or debris on highway. The sunroof malfunctioned again by not responded and would not close. No warning for any errors. Has not been inspected by insurance. It is available for inspection. Online forums show multiple people are having this issue!

We were driving our vehicle westbound on U.S. Route 24, between Fairbury, IL and Chenoa, IL on Saturday, July 15, 2023 around 7:00 PM. We were travelling at approximately 55 to 60 mph when the brakes engaged suddenly and brought us to an almost immediate stop. This happened so quickly that it destroyed out transmission, cv joints and brakes. Had we not had out seat belts on, I feel certain that we would have been ejected. If a vehicle had ben behind us, I have no doubt that it would have collided with us. Immediately following the incident, the vehicle, which was now immobile, displayed the Eyesight warning on the instrument panel.

On our way to a vacation in NJ, we were driving on the expressway and a deer jumped over the rail into the hood of the car. The car immediately started to smoke ( dark black). We got out of the car, retrieved two luggage bags, and the car burst into flames. All within 60 seconds of hitting the deer. About five years ago, same thing happened to my daughter driving a Subaru WRX…. Twice in the same family….no recall?

Over a dozen times now, when at a traffic light, the automatic on/off feature turns the cars engine off. When you take your foot off the brake to reactivate the engine, there is an EyeSight Disabled warning and the car stalls and fails to turn off. You have to turn the car completely off to restart it. I have previously brought the car into a Subaru dealer for servicing after this happened. It has continued happening since then.

Dear National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, I am writing to report a safety issue with my 2019 Subaru Forester, which I believe may affect many other Subaru vehicles as well. Specifically, I have experienced a problem with the thermo control valve, which has caused the EyeSight safety features to be disabled and potentially poses a safety risk. I first became aware of this issue when the EyeSight safety features on my vehicle were automatically disabled due to a malfunction. I brought my vehicle to a Subaru dealership for an inspection, and they determined that the thermo control valve was faulty and needed to be replaced. It was alarming to learn that many other Subaru owners had experienced the same issue, and some had even experienced engine failure as a result. The EyeSight system is a driver assistance technology developed by Subaru that uses cameras and sensors to monitor the road and surrounding environment, alerting drivers to potential hazards and providing automatic braking support if necessary. This technology has been recognized as one of the most advanced driver assistance technologies available, and is designed to help prevent accidents and reduce the severity of collisions. The EyeSight system includes features such as adaptive cruise control, pre-collision braking, lane departure warning, and sway warning, which work together to provide a comprehensive safety package for drivers and passengers. These features are critical in keeping drivers safe. I am concerned that this issue may be more widespread than initially thought, and that it may pose a safety risk to drivers and passengers of affected Subaru vehicles. The faulty thermo control valve can cause the EyeSight safety features to be disabled, which can lead to reduced safety performance, accidents, and potentially harm to drivers and passengers. Sincerely, Davide Alves

Vehicle was parked in a private single-home garage near Houston, TX. While parked overnight the windshield cracked spontaneously. Crack is ~18 inches long and goes to the bottom edge of the glass around the middle of the windshield.

All side windows and the sun roof have become scratched. This vehicle is garaged, has 28,000 miles and never goes off road. The scratches extend into the door gasket area thus reaching to very top of the glass. Scratching of the windshield and rear window do not show this. We use a touchless auto wash. The paint is near flawless. There are no such scratches. I believe the glass is defective. We also own a 2015 Subaru Forester. it does go into dirt and grit. The side windows have no such tendency to scratch.

When driving, ALL lights on the dash went on and vehicle safety features did not work- no cruise control, automatic breaking, automatic headlight adjustments, etc. We were over 500 miles from home and had the oil changed but it did not fix the problem. Had $72,000 miles on it, 4 years old. We had to drive home that distance to get it repaired over a 2-3 day period. No safety features were enabled as we drove. Thermo Control Valve was deemed faulty and replaced. Seeing after the fact that the TSB was issued without any VIN numbers: [XXX] , I believe it should include our VIN number and be recalled and the replacement paid for. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

2019 Subaru Forester Premier. 6/29/23 All ok while driving for 3 hours on highways. Never had any issues before. I stopped car to take a break, when I restarted the car. All the warning lights lit ou and eye-site was off and could not be turned on. Check engine light on along with many others. Had 30 minutes more to go, stopped a few more times to check on the engine compartment - all ok. Brought it to the dealer today, 6/30/23, they were going to need 4 hours to replace a Thermo Coupler Valve? Issued a loaner car, and said Subaru will cover it under warranty even though it has expired. Only 24500 miles on a 2019 Forester.

When I turn the car on it flashes check engine eyesite failure which then turns off the ability to use cruise control, crash detection, lane assist, ext. we called Dick Hannah Subaru and the code came up as P26A5 engine coolant bypass valve A position sensor. They said a thermo valve needs replaced and they’ve seen that happen a lot in 2019/2020 Subarus

On June 20, 2023, the "check engine" light came on my 2019 Subaru Forester and "Eyesight" flashed on my dashboard as disabled. I immediately went to my mechanic and he ran a diagnostic which showed the following: "P26A3 - Engine Coolant Bypass Valve." My car has 75,000 miles and is out of warranty for the powertrain. In reviewing online forums, this problem is a recurring one that is affecting many Subaru owners. The cost is $1,200 to $1,500 to fix. I believe this should be a recall issue. Other drivers have noted sudden engine shutoff but I have not experienced that yet. The car is currently in the shop. Subaru knows this is a problem.

RAB disabled, eye sight disabled, I drive disabled, check engine light came on. Car drives like it's is in sport mode with very touchy throttle. Pulled a code and it's the TCV. It's a known issue by Subaru with a part that has since been revamped but with thousands of vehicles on the road affected. Should be a recall. Contacted Subaru of America with no response so now a $1,900-$2,500 depending on dealer cost is being pushed on the consumer. Vehicle currently has 80,000 miles but as a Subaru ambassador I used to put a lot of miles on going to events, meets and typical camping and outdoors activities you expect out of these vehicles so my milage is slightly higher than the normal work commuter.

Multiple incidences approximately 8 since 2022. Stopped for 8 months with new battery. No issues are recorded in the computer in any of the troubleshooting visits. Normal Sequenced of events: Stopped at a stop light, Start/Stop engages, take foot off brake, start providing gas, car stalls, dashboard lights up, alarms, provides instructions to place the car into park and restart, and the car restarts after that is performed. Danger situations that this has caused: Aggressive car behind not paying attention to the stall and Green light with no one behind and car coming up behind quickly while you are attempting to restart the car. As this cannot be disabled without modification to the car this created a dangerous situation.

Was driving in the right-hand lane on the interstate with the cruise control set, went to change lanes as I was approaching a slower moving semi truck going up an incline. Cruise control deactivated with no inputs from myself. Vehicle began to decelerate. Looked at instrument cluster, the Check Engine Light was on along with Eye Sight Off symbol. Additional symbols for forward collision avoidance and rear active braking were also on. No warning signs were present prior to the cruise control turning off. The unexpected loss of power increases the risk of collision while traveling on the highway. Vehicle was taken a Subaru dealer, diagnosed with code P2682, Coolant Bypass valve performance, with a recommendation to replace the coolant bypass valve.

On 6-11-23, while parked in a private driveway, the front windshield of our 2019 Subaru Forester spontaneously cracked. This 20-inch crack ran diagonally from the upper left corner down toward the center of the dashboard. We are not aware of any impact that may have caused such a crack. The day was overcast, drizzle rain, ambient temperature was about 66 degrees F.

The auto start/stop occasionally malfunctions where the auto stop turns on as expected but then doesn't turn off when you try to use the accelerator. It has happened when a red light turns green the car stalls, displays an error message and you have to restart the car to get moving again. This recently happened to me at a very busy intersection and was very dangerous.

Driving home for 15 minutes. parked on left turn lane, slight incline. when traffic light turned green, i stepped on the gas and the engine stalled. I remember seeing "eyesight disabled" warning light come on. I put vehicle in park, shut it off, and turned engine back on. I was able to drive home. possible system failure - fuel system, auto/stop feature? yes, available to inspect safety - 5:30pm heavy traffic on 4 lane highway0. blocked traffic turning left. no where to pull over. have not taken vehicle to mechanic or been inspected. I saw no warning lights prior to vehicle stalling, or experienced any engine anomalies.

First problem was eyesight was not engaging. Had diagnostics run and they said there was no problem. That problem continued. Second problem was when I was sitting at a red light. When the light turned green and I started to go, Eyesight engaged and totally shut the car off. It had to be placed in Park and restarted. Dealer said they have never heard of this. Internet says it's a problem. I had contacted Subaru headquarters after 1st incident. They paid for diagnostics, but would not respond after I contacted them to say it continued. Dealer and headquarters blew me off.

Windshield has developed a 14 inch crack from HVAC unit on bottom of windshield. Replacement windshield also developed a 20in horizontal crack.

The visor will not stay in place and drops into my visibility while driving, blocking partial view of the road. Subaru has had this issue for years and has not fixed the issue with their visors.

Car would not restart after engine turned off multiple times at intersections. All warning lights came on. Had to turn off vehicle completely and restart. Very dangerous. Required new battery

2019 subaru forester failed thermo control valve. There are literally 1000s of complaints on this issue and SOA refuses to issue a recall. Subaru has issued a bulletin to replace the faulty design with redesigned part. When this fails the car goes into limp mode and all lights come on. Very dangerous and quote frankly completely irresponsible that subaru refuses to recall this failure. I am out of warranty and it's minimum 2k to fix. I have a 2019 vehicle parked that I can't get Inspected and can't afford to fix because Subaru of America is trying to save money. Just a matter of time before this causes a tragic accident before they own up to recall.

The pneumatic manual liftgate rear door holders by HANI PRECISION CO are defective. From one day to the other, these stopped working for absolutely no reason. I am extremely concerned about having my skull crushed if the temporary stick I am using to hold it comes down when door is in use. I can no longer open the rear lift hatch door because these two pneumatic holders no longer work. My family have purchased at least 10 Subaru vehicles. Not ever have we ever have experienced this issue. The Subaru Forester was purchased in 2019 and current mileage 34,157. This is the second issue I have encountered with this car. The first was defective tires that required replacement after 15k miles. After having not one but two problems with this Subaru, I will NEVER purchase another vehicle from Subaru. They are providing DEFECTIVE parts despite the cars costing close to $30k. They have lost this customer for life.

The contact owns a 2019 Subaru Forester. The contact stated that upon entering the vehicle, she noticed an L-shaped crack on the driver's side windshield starting at the base of the windshield going upwards the top of the windshield. The contact stated that the temperature was not a hot or humid day when the windshield cracked. The vehicle was not taken to the dealer or an independent mechanic. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 70,000.

The Starlink Infotainment system started to continually reboot despite any attempts to reset it. With the car shut off, the CD player began continuously spinning up then winding down. This drained the battery. I had to pull a fuse labeled BACKUP to prevent this from happening. This has rendered the backup camera unusable.

The TCV Thermostat Control Valve has failed which is a known issue and Subaru is very aware. The vehicle will ultimately believe it is overheating and shut itself down. This is a very well known incident and should be a proactive recall but instead subaru insists on waiting for customers to fail and hope its outside of warranty so they can charge them $2k to replace a known faulty design and part.

I was driving my 2019 Subaru Forester on 5/16 and it was operating normally that morning with no visible warning lights. I got back into the car later and it started fine. While getting onto a local highway, accelerating to highway speeds, multiple warning lights including the check engine light turned on. I was subsequently unable to accelerate and needed to coast to a stop on the closest off ramp, fortunately avoiding an accident. After turning the vehicle off and back on again the check engine light was still illuminated and the car would only make short lurching movements. I needed to have the car towed to a local Subaru dealership (Maita Subaru in Sacramento, CA) and they diagnosed it as a problem with the engine's thermo control valve. This was replaced under warranty and the vehicle is now working normally. The dealership told me this is a known issue with 2019 Foresters and that they've repaired other vehicles under similar circumstances. Multiple other owners have detailed similar experiences on an online forum as well. There does not appear to be a recall but this is a serious safety issue.

According to an inspection from the Subaru dealership, my thermo control valve failed. Because of this, the check engine light came on and my safety "eyesight" feature (automatic breaking/collision prevention system) was disabled. This first occurred after starting my car after a visit to a park 2 miles away. When this occurred, I drove my car home and parked it until I could get it in to be inspected at the Subaru dealership who pinpointed the problem. Besides a quick check from AutoZone, this is the only representative that has inspective my vehicle.

Windshield cracked for no reason. I was sitting next to the car for 2 hours, when I arrived at location windshield was perfect, when I got in to leave it was cracked. I never was more than 10 feet from car and nothing hit it.

While driving on the highway my car started to stall and rough idle, It wouldn't drive past 2 rpm sometimes less and would stall. My car constantly stalling made multiple cars/semi-trucks almost hit me and cause them to swerve. The problem was confirmed to be the thermo control valve eroding, which Grayson of Subaru verified. The manufacturer inspected it and confirmed this needed replaced. The only warning signs or messages that appeared appeared after the vehicle stalled when the check engine light, and all lights on the dashboard lit up. Subaru of America has even admitted that this is a problem and offered to pay part of the cost to fix it, therefore knowing they are at fault. They have said they would email me/contact me but haven't returned any correspondence.

The contact owns a 2019 Subaru Forester. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the check engine warning light illuminated. The vehicle was taken to Auto Zone, where it was diagnosed that the thermal control valve was faulty. The vehicle was then taken to the dealer, where the thermal control valve was replaced. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The contact related the failure to Technical Service Bulletin: 09-80-21 (Thermal Control Valve – Design Change) however, the vehicle was not covered under the TSB. The failure mileage was approximately 93,000.

SRS warning light illuminates after honking of horn (horn activator on central steering wheel). After turning off the car and then restarting, the warning light is not visible, but then the warning light recurred after honking horn again during driving. Appointment for evaluation at dealer scheduled.