2019 Subaru Forester Complaint Log

THERMO CONTROL VALVE (TCV) is suspected. I am a member of 2019 Forester group on facebook and reports are quit common for these model year. The check engine light is on and RAB system/eyesight is disabled.

At 70594 miles TCV (Temperature Control ) failed Check engine light came on and sfety features like eyesight were disabled. Subaru has known for a couple years these valves were bad and redesigned them for replacement. Because I was out of warranty it cost me over 2100 dollars to get it repaired

* Eyesight disabled and Thermal Control Valve-P26A3 diagnostic code. Vehicle is available upon request. * Eyesight immediately disabled and maintaining that all safety features are disabled. Safety features that are relied upon, disengaged, and aborted for literally a Subaru known engine issue (TSB #09-80-21) - THAT IS SAFETY AT RISK to everyone that owns a Subaru with this issue. * 2 Independent services confirmed diagnostic- P26A3 *Subaru was requested to review when the vehicle was in for recall inspection. * No warning lamps, messages or any other symptoms of the problem prior to the failure. The warning lights and safety features disengaged all appeared at one time.

Eye-sight system shutdown and the car, although it was drivable, ran rough. Since there is a huge reliance on the monitors as they are designed to "forward think" to aid the driver, this was a major disruption to the driving experience. Not knowing what the disabled components affected, was a huge cause for alarm. Upon seeing the check engine light come, my wife brought the car home and I hooked up my device to read the code (P26A3 - showed up). Then I looked up that code and was directed to multiple incidents where that very same thing has become frequent on this model and a few others like it. We called the Winston-Salem NC Subaru Dealer (Flow) and they suggested we bring the Forester in for a check. Once they checked the vehicle out and confirmed the code we mentioned, they told us the "TCV" problem was found on our vehicle and they have seen others with the same problem. They even had the parts in stock to make the repair that day! They kept the parts and said they were going to be sent back to Subaru of America for analysis.Interesting detail: once we drove the repaired vehicle, it ran better than it ever had and the only work they did was to fix the TCV issue (according to the repair paperwork).

A crack "spontaneously appeared" at the base of the wind shield going up at 18 inches.

The contact owns a 2019 Subaru Forester. The contact stated while driving 20 MPH, the check engine warning light illuminated. The contact took the vehicle to the local dealer, where it was diagnosed with needing the temperature control valve (TCV) to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer had been informed of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 67,000. The consumer had to get the vehicle repaired due to this TCV valve issue all the security systems were not functioning causing safety issues.

Front window has a hairline crack inside glass about 6 in. long. There is no impact point from a rock or object, it just suddenly appeared.

The contact owns a 2019 Subaru Forester. The contact stated that on multiple occasions while driving at undisclosed speeds, or while the vehicle was idling, the vehicle lost motive power; however, the engine remained running. The contact attempted to press the START/STOP button to turn the vehicle off, but the vehicle failed to respond. The contact stated that several unknown warning lights were illuminated, and the turn signals failed to operate. The contact stated that she attempted to restart the vehicle several times however, after waiting for several minutes, the vehicle restarted. The vehicle was taken to the dealer however, the failure could not be duplicated. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 50,000.

The contact owns a 2019 Subaru Forester. The contact stated that after parking and exiting the vehicle, she returned and noticed a large crack from mid driver’s side to the passenger’s side the windshield. The local dealer was notified of the failure and the contact was informed that they do not repair windshields. The windshield was not replaced. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 15,000.

The front windshield on my 2019 Subaru Forester has cracked for no apparent reason. The crack arcs upward from the base of the driver's left side near the wiper blade through the middle part of the lower center windshield approximately 20-22 inches. The crack occurred while the car was parked overnight outdoors. There is no apparent impact damage. The crack appears between the inner and outer layers of the windshield and cannot be physically felt. I have attached four photos of my vehicle's windshield that illustrate the placement and the length of the crack.

Check engine light seemed to put vehicle in "limp" mode, cancelling all onboard safety features, i.e. "eyesight", cruise control, vehicle dynamics control, blinking "S" Upon bringing it to a repair shop, they informed me that the thermal value control needs to be replaced, despite having owned the car for only three years. This leads me to suspect either a faulty part or a design flaw.

Spontaneous Windshield Crack on Subaru Forester he windshield of our vehicle spontaneously cracked without any apparent cause or visual impact. At the time of the incident, there was no visible debris, rocks, or other potential hazards on the road that could have caused the crack. Additionally, the vehicle was not involved in any collisions nor exposed to extreme temperatures or conditions that could have contributed to this occurrence. The sudden appearance of the crack has raised concerns about the integrity of the windshield and the overall safety of the vehicle. We kindly request an investigation into this matter to determine the cause of the crack, and if it is determined to be a manufacturing defect, we request the necessary repairs or replacement of the windshield at no cost to us. Furthermore, we would appreciate any additional guidance on how to prevent similar incidents in the future.

Thermocontrol valve failure. Part failure common to this vehicle make and model. Part has been repaired at this time. However Subaru is aware of the part failure reference service bulletin DTC # P2682 & P26Ax** / Thermo Control Valve – Design Change. Number: 09-80-21. Date: 02/28/2022. I believe this should be a recall as it is a part failure. If valve fails while closed prevents vehicle operation and can cause unexpected vehicle breakdown in traffic.

The contact owns a 2019 Subaru Forester. The contact stated while the vehicle was parked, upon starting the vehicle, the contact noticed there was a crack on the driver’s side windshield that was approximately 8-inches long. The contact believed that the crack was caused by the dramatic change in the weather. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not notified. The failure mileage was 55,000.

March 9, 2023 at 7 AM, I was driving in Philadelphia and traffic had slowed slightly and I was going 5 MPH, coming to a stop in traffic when my car completely "froze", and all the lights on the dashboard came on and it said "auto start disabled" and my car would not move. I tried to hit "start/stop" button but nothing worked and I tried to hit my blinkers so I could warn the cars behind me, but nothing worked in the car and it was stalled. This was the situation for 4 full minutes. I am lucky the cars behind me were paying attention and did not hit my car when it abruptly stopped like that with no warning at all. I am really concerned about this car's safety. This issue occurred to the same car in 2021 and I made an incident report then as well. The dealership said it was due to a faulty hood sensor which they replaced but the same exact thing happened a few times in 2021. I think there is some problem in the car's wiring or electrical system that is not being addressed. This is unsafe and a safety hazard for me and other cars on the road. Subaru needs to address this.

I was driving up hill making a curve, suddenly the car went out of control slide all the way to the left. the car ended it up hitting some rocks, I was lucky that nobody got hurt, just my car was damage. I towed my car to a collision center, and I learned that THE REAR STABILIZER BRACKET WAS DAMAGE which was a recall WRD-21. this issue was address and suppostly was fixed by Subaru dealers but OVER TIME MAY LOOSEN AND INCREASE RISK OF A CRASH. Probably I will never find out if THE REAR STABILIZER BRACKET WAS MALFUNTION AND COUSE THE ACCIDENT. But I wanted to report it. Hopefully NHTSA looks into this issue.

While driving, the car would occasionally experience deceleration despite pressing the gas pedal. It would suddenly pick up speed and continue normally. Moreover, the car stalled twice, and on both occasions, it wouldn't restart. The first time, it took a while to restart, and I initially suspected bad gasoline. The second time, it took about five minutes. Given these symptoms, I suspect that the fuel pump could be causing these issues.

The Thermo Control Valve had went out. When the valve went out, the Subaru Eyesight became disabled. This also turned off the forward collision, automatic emergency braking, blind spot warning, lane departure, and rear cross traffic warning and braking. Subaru has a service bulletin, 09-80-21, stating the issue.

Auto safety systems compromised with illumination of check engine light and engine temp warning light. Subaru dealership service department determined problem with Thermo Control Valve. Engine was not overheating as the vehicle was being driven in winter time, February in Alaska. Only indication of problem was indicator lights and reduced heat from cabin heat system. Vehicle went into "limp" mode as soon as warning lights illuminated, disabling advanced safety systems.

Thermo Control Valve went bad only after 4 years of owning a car. I do mostly highway driving put very little stress on the car. I think thermo Control Valve going bad just within 4 year. I suspect the parts to be faulty and it has some design flaw.

Apparently the electrical system drains the battery when the car is not being used. If I let my car sit for 3 days the battery will be dead when I come out to use it.

Driving uphill when the car suddenly jolted, lost power, and all warning lights became illuminated. All safety features were disabled as well. The sudden stop almost resulted in being rear ended and the car was barely drivable afterwards. Diagnostic trouble codes: P26A6, P2004, P2005, P060B, P0191, P24B9, P2200, P2400.

I purchased this vehicle brand new in 2019, and since them i have had to replace my windshield once in January of 2023 (piece of gravel on highway), then in February of this year, my passenger front window busted out .. nothing hit it, it just blew out while i was driving. Weather that day was 53. Then Friday, another windshield crack near eyesite device. This will require another full replacement. At this pace, i cannot afford to keep this car. Before i purchased this car i searched long and hard for the safest vehicle i could find and Subaru always came up on top. Now that i'm an owner having to dish out of pocket every few months for glass replacement, i'm starting to rethink my purchase. I've done research and have found thousands of the same complaints online.. Its a shame that the company is not taking any steps to improve this huge design flaw!

The windshield cracked for no apparent reason. It was parked in the drive way and just cracked out of nowhere.

Windshield was found cracked after parked for no apparent reason. Crack starts at the passenger side A pillar and goes 10 inches inward.

First, the driver's side window would not go up when rolled down, but instead went up and down on its own, until I stopped the car and restarted it. A few days after that, on Friday, January 13, 2023 while on my way to work, I was stopped at a traffic light. All of a sudden beeping started happening, the "Eyesight" light came on, other things were showing, and the car died. I was too freaked out to notice anything else. I put the car in park and restarted it, and it was fine. Today, January 16, 2023, the exact same thing happened when I was stopped at a traffic light, again on a very busy highway. I am extremely worried and will be contacting the dealership tomorrow.

The contact owns a 2019 Subaru Forester. The contact stated that there was a crack on the windshield. There was no impact on the windshield that might have caused the crack. 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 29,500.

A small rock chipped the windshield and unlike other windshields, it grew into a crack extremely quickly all the way across the windshield I feel like there is a problem with the Subaru windshields as this occured to other people with Suburaru vehicles I feel like the windshield glass is very thin to have the spread and spidering go across so fast.

On January 1, my wife was returning home from a grocery run when our 2019 Forester’s dashboard suddenly lit up like a Christmas tree--Check Engine, EyeSight, Anti-Lock Brakes, Anti-Skid, and blue Temperature lights all came on simultaneously. The Forester did not lose any appreciable power but the heater stopped working and was only blowing cold air. My wife was only a couple of miles away and brought it straight home. I checked under the hood but had no idea what was going on, so I drove it over to my local Autozone for a scan, and it came back with the 'P26A3' Code, as well as 'P3300,' and 'P2100' (Throttle Control Motor-Circuit Open). I brought our Forester back home, did some online research, and discovered that this code typically indicates a thermal control valve assembly (TCVA) failure. Our vehicle's 60,000-mile powertrain warranty had just expired but fortunately, we live near a reputable repair shop which was able to take the Forester in the next day, confirm the codes and TVCA failure, and then make the repair. Further research revealed that this appears to be a widespread quality control problem and typically costs affected owners between $1,100 and $2,000 to fix beyond the expired standard 35,000 mile /60,0000 mile powertrain warranties. In fact, there is a Subaru Forester Owners thread that runs over 33 pages with 654 posts from other owners throughout the world reporting the very same failure over the past year, nearly always between 50,000 and 70,000 miles. (https://www.subaruforester.org/threads/2019-thermo-control-valve-assembly-and-warranty-merged-thread.823510/) This past week, a friend of mine who's an old school mechanic, took the old TCVA apart and discovered that coolant had actually leaked into the part's internal electronics and shorted them out, causing the failure. He was amazed that the short circuit did not damage my Forester's computer. It's certainly a design and manufacturing defect and a recall should be issued by Subaru.

Automatic Rear lift gate will not raise (but does unlatch); the lift gate cannot be raised manually after latch is released. One can only open it about 6 inches until there is heavy resistance- like the strut has seized or a sensor has triggered a brake. Now, the rear gate cannot be opened in an emergency.

2019 SUBARU FORESTER. CONSUMER WRITES IN REGARD ILLUMINATED CHECK ENGINE LIGHT.

There have been multiple incidents where the automatic collision braking system has almost caused me to be in an accident. Although it can be turned off, you must remember to do it manually each time you turn the car on. The dealership has not offered a choice to have this dangerous feature permanently disabled. In this incident, traffic in front of me started to slow down significantly, and I started to make a lane change into the left lane which was open. In the middle of the lane change, the brakes slammed on, which meant if anyone was approaching in the left, they would have to quickly slam theirs on to not rear end me. It is honestly very scary to find yourself suddenly not in control of your vehicle when a human is better able to interpret a constantly evolving situation than a computer system. Case in point, the last time I was scared half to death, the brakes slammed on while I was driving unobstructed as a car pulled out from a store far ahead of me into the lane to my right. I was in the middle lane. At no time was the car crossing into my lane. It had just started to pull out, and my brakes slammed on. If the person behind me didn’t think fast, I would have been hit. There have been lawsuits against Subaru’s eyesight feature because it misinterprets items like trash cans or cones as obstacles. The braking system is going to cause serious harm to someone, and I personally am tired of almost being in accidents because the car brakes without warning. I don’t know at this point what to do to get it disable. Safety features aren’t supposed to cause harm.

The Subaru Forester 2019 Thermo Control Valve (TCV) fails. It is responsible for cabin temperature but also engine temperature and can result in overheating. There are numerous reports that this is a frequent problem and dealerships want to charge $1200+ to replace. It is certainly a design flaw and should be issued for recall. Mine is available for inspection and has been inspected by the dealership. It was first detected by a check engine light.

Random crack in lower passenger side windshield area. Nothing hit windshield. Appeared during the day as temperatures warmed up. Crack goes from the bottom to the center.

The engines shut down or stalled on me while driving completely. It did not accelerate when I was trying to move the car off the road. the engines sputtered / shaken , all the lights came up on the dash board, smokes started to come out of my engines. this problem is similar to the recent Subaru recall on the fuel pump. Please add 2019 Forester on your list of recalls. This is a serious and dangerous issue, i could have been killed if I was dring on the freeway. I was lucky it shut down on a little local street when I was dring slow , about 30 - 35 mpg. Imagine if this happened on the freeway, it could have created a chain reaction , and a lot more people will be involved, and deaths might be involved. Please add Subaru 2019 forester sport on your list immediately because deaths involved. Thank you.

Battery drain quickly. Overnight battery drain. Car driven for over 40 miles and the following day the battery is drained and won't start. Car left for one week with out driving - battery drained and won't start.

Car stalls out sometimes when running while stopped. This is not the stop/start system. Also, driver door power window will sometimes raise and lower on its own.

The Thermo Control Valve has stopped working It causes the engine to overheat while drive. The windows fog up in the cold making it hard to because the defrost does not work Yes by an independent service center No No the engine light came while I was drive.

Windshield cracks developed, 2x since ownership.

Windshield Cracked for no reason on 11/19/2022 while parked in the drive way.

The Thermo Control Valve has failed and threw a check engine light. This disables the Eye Sight System and causes no heat or defrosters. There seems to be a huge backorder with no ETA in sight for the replacement part. When this part fails there is no defrosters, no crash warning, no emergency braking....

Car is continually draining battery, causing vehicle to fail twice now due to a completely dead battery, once was while parked, once while idling with car in drive on road.

TCV valve failed and as a result RAB and Eyesight were disabled. The TCV has a known defective design and there is a bulletin about it. MC-10208664-0001 https://static.nhtsa.gov/odi/tsbs/2022/MC-10208664-0001.pdf

Spontaneous cracking of windshield. There is no evidence of any damage on inside or exterior of windshield. The crack appears to be in the interior fabric of the glass projecting down from the dotted portion adjacent to the rear view mirror. The car was in the garage, temperatures outside were moderate. We had a similar problem with a 2015 Subaru Forrester that had the windshield replaced under a previous ruling. This model year does not have an official recogniton of the continuing problem in manufacturing. Replacement and recalibration cost about $1400.

Several times I have needed to jump start my battery. Most recent incidence: I parked and was waiting to get out of the car. I turned back on the Car after driving for 15-20 minutes, but did not turn on the engine. The car ran for about 2-3 minutes and then turned off to get out of the car. I was away from the car for 3-5 minutes and when I went to start it, the battery was dead. I can not leave the door open to bring in groceries or the battery dies. Or, I cannot open the doors to clean out the car because the battery will die.

Failed thermo control valve assembly, Subaru part #21319aa010 Subaru is aware of the problem but new parts are backordered, with delivery perhaps weeks away as this is apparently a common problem. The local dealer indicated Subaru will pay for parts and labor (this is a verbal offer only), which again suggests this is a known problem. The failure led to automobile not performing and a two to service location. As a known deficiency, why has this not incited a recall or other notice?

No response when gas pedal is pushed. Intermittent. Very dangerous when pulling out into traffic. Very serious safety hazard.

The contact owns a 2019 Subaru Forester. The contact stated that while pulling into a parking space very slowly, the vehicle unintendedly accelerated, and crashed into a concrete pole. The air bags had not deployed during the crash. There were no warning lights illuminated prior to the failure. The contact stated that his wife suffered a fractured sternum, and he had lower back muscle strain with severe spasm. A police report was not filed. The contact and his wife sought medical attention at the local hospital. The vehicle was towed to a collision center, but the vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The dealer was contacted and referred the contact to the manufacturer for assistance. The manufacturer was contacted, and a case was filed. The failure mileage was approximately 25,700.

On 10/7/2022, all the warning lights came on and stayed on, even after tightening the fuel cap and replacing the battery. I brought the car to Ocala Subaru this morning, and paid for a diagnostic that shows the Thermal Control Valve needs replacement. Apparently this is now a common problem on this year and model Subaru. I was told that this is not covered under the powertrain warranty, even though it is part of the engine assembly, and is a very expensive repair, even though the car has only 43,669 miles on it. I was told the part is on national back order and that the car is okay to drive, but that most of the safety systems that have the lit warning lights are now disabled. This is the car my wife uses to transport our 6-year-old granddaughter to school and swim practice and events, as well as elsewhere, and I feel this has compromised their safety and warrants a recall.

The contact’s husband owns a 2019 Subaru Forester. The contact stated that her husband had parked the vehicle and as he returned to the vehicle, he noticed a thin crack on the windshield. The contact stated that the crack started at the middle top of the windshield and extended to its bottom. The contact stated that the crack had formed without an impact to the windshield. The contact’s husband notified the dealer who confirmed that it was a known failure. The vehicle was not diagnosed. The windshield was replaced by Safelite. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 45,000.