2019 Subaru Forester Complaint Log

A very small ding in the windshield turned into a full size crack quickly.

Small rock strike on interstate caused cracked windshield. Second on this vehicle since purchased new.

Numerous small chips throughout normal driving conditions. Mostly pitting. However one rock chip (starburst) received from opposite lane traffic. Had glass company seal, but approx 1 month later it spread across. Throughout my history I've never seen such a fragile windshield.

The contact owns a 2019 Subaru Forester. The contact stated that while at a stoplight, the vehicle stalled. The failure occurred on numerous occasions. The vehicle was towed to the contact's residence. The dealer was made aware of the failure and informed the contact that there was no recall associated with the VIN. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was 84,243.

Since I purchased the vehicle, I have experienced recurring problems with the starter system, affecting the car's performance and reliability. Despite receiving regular maintenance and being evaluated at the authorized Subaru dealership in San Juan, Puerto Rico, the issue remains unresolved. I was informed that even if I replace the part with a new one, the failure could continue, as the component is still being manufactured under the same part number. As a preventive measure, I also replaced the battery to rule out a possible cause, but unfortunately, the problem persists. This is particularly concerning because the car has shut off in the middle of traffic, at intersections, and while waiting at traffic lights, which poses a serious safety risk to me and other drivers. I understand that this issue may be common among other vehicles of the same make and model, and I respectfully request that it be investigated as a potential case for a technical service campaign or safety recall. Additionally, I ask that my case be reviewed for a goodwill repair, as the issue has been present since early in the vehicle’s use—even if the standard warranty has expired. I look forward to your response and to a fair and timely resolution. I sincerely appreciate your attention and assistance in this matter.

The car was parked for a week while visiting. (It has recently had its 30,000 mi.service) When I got in and started it, all the dashboard lights lit up including check engine. I tried reaching a Subaru near where I was visiting. No luck so I called my Subaru in VT. I was told I was safe to go as long as the Check Engine wasn't blinking. It wasn't so I drove home (I did note the steering wheel felt "tight".) When I went into the dealership upon my return, they did their computer diagnostic test. It was explained it could be as simple as not tightening the gas cap. The computer turned up something in the wheel. At first, he wanted to give me an appointment a week and a half out, but then found a car he could loan me that following Monday. I wanted to know why they needed it several days. He said it was to figure out the issue. When I asked if it was safe to drive, he said it was but there was a possibility of being on the highway and losing control/not being able to stop, but that was rare. I asked about the change in steering, as though the power steering was lost, and he explained they don't have that kind of system. I drove home slowly and went no where except Sunday when I drove a couple of miles to a farm stand close by. Upon returning into the driveway, I put it in reverse to park. It accelerated and when I tried braking, it wouldn't respond. It was a though everything was locked. The car jolted. Sped. Jolted. The side airbags deployed. My arm was banged up from the airbags but nothing broken. I did not mistake the accelerator for the brake. The floor mat did not get stuck under the accelerator (I've Weather Tech Mats.) When the car got towed, it started. The tow driver said it should not have done that with the side airbags deployed. (It won't let me type in the box How Fast Were You Going. It should have been 2mph. The car accelerated and lack of braking and control contributed to the crash.

Small star chip on top driver's side, about 2 minutes after that. Large 16" crack appeared on passenger side

A pebble struck the lower right corner of the windshield which precipitated a long crack going one-third of the way across the windshield. I have had many rocks hit my windshield in other vehicles and not once have they started a crack across the whole windshield. In contacting Subaru of Surprise service center, they notified me of a two month backlog order for a replacement windshield.

Battery died.

Windshield cracked for an unknown reason. This is the second crack and windshield replacement within one year.

For the third time my battery has died. After the second time I had them replace the battery. And now it has died again. In the past week (this being Friday) I had driven almost 400 miles, the previous Friday 70 miles, Saturday slightly over 300 miles, and Tuesday 20 miles. It had not been driven for the past two days. The lights were NOT left on. I have purchased a battery charger, and this time started the car myself, but it should not happen.

When i entered my car on Monday 9-13-21 to go to store found a cracked in the windshield start from the top corner to the middle where the eyesight is located towards the middle and formed a J . The car was not used since friday night 9-10-21. I immediately checked if there was any object that hit or cause my windshield crack but could not find any. It just cracked for no reason

On 9/11/2021, i was pulling into a vacant parking spot. I backed into an open area and applied the brakes and shifted from reverse to forward, The car accelerated full open, initially the brakes did not stop the car, I pulled to the left trying to avoid hitting the auto in front of me. I hit the auto on the left bumper, the car continued to race full open while my foot was on the brake, we moved forward five foot or so and then the car stopped. The air bags did not deploy. The auto that we hit was not occupied and there we no injuries. note; we have not yet made a police report but will soon, so the line is now marked no. we have looked on line and similar incidents have been reported going back 20 years' we are waiting for Monday to have the car towed from our house to ther repair shop, no estimates yet. but the entire front is pushed in.

Windshield cracked around September 10 of 2021. Forward warning went off at times since crack. I had windshield replaced and new windshield cracked 4 months later. I must pay $500.00 deductible. Now the crack on new windshield is 3 weeks old and has spread to approximately 15 inches. Windshield must be replaced again. Forward safety now goes off at times as with previous windshield when it was cracked.

Front windshield spontaneously cracked on passenger front side. The crack is only in the inside layer of glass and does not go all the way through it. Subaru dealer documented there is not impact from anything thing.

VEHICLE WINDSHIELD CRACKED. FIRST CRACKED IN LOWER MIDDLE BY TRIM, THEN WENT UP AND SPLIT LEFT AND RIGHT. THIS CRACK IS CAUSING VISIBILITY ISSUES AND CAN POTENTIALLY CAUSE ISSUES WITH EYESIGHT (ADAS)

Normal highway driving, when a loud "pop" noise occurred. Pulled over and assessed the front end, which revealed a large crack on the windshield. Immediately reported to insurance for replacement claim.

on two occasions, when staring from a stop and starting to turn left, the car accelerated on its own. at least once the car's override brake system became active as i was slamming the brake.

My windshield cracked for no apparent reason. To the best of my knowledge, nothing hit the windshield itself. I was parking the car and all of a sudden I noticed the crack. Single line from the left edge. No chips or divots that I can tell

3 chips in the windshield very quickly and had them repaired. This windshield is a rock magnet and easily chipped. Only had 1 windshield cracked and less than 3 dings repaired with all my other vehicles in over 40 years of driving. Also, just driving down the road the windshield cracked right at eye level all the way across the drivers side. Now while driving, have to have seat raised all the way to be above the crack so road view is not distorted or impaired by the crack. Have not replaced it yet because of expense to do so for insurance, Eye Sight reprogramming, researching what brand windshield to replace it with that is not so susceptible to dings / cracking, why this vehicle has more issues than any others I have had and whether purchasing / installing a rock deflector would help. Something to note, that as of this post there are 514 complaints total for this vehicle posted with two thirds of them having to do with visibility (windshield) issues (313 + 25). Not to mention the other Subaru vehicles with the same issue around this time period. Something is not right with these windshields!

The windshield on my 2019 Subaru Forester is the worst windshield I have seen. In three years, of which I have worked from home half that time and thus limited driving, I had over 8 rock chips, four of which are star cracks. I owned a Hyundai for eight years and never had an issue with that windshield. This is the worst glass I have ever had in a vehicle. I wished there was an aftermarket glass that could be installed to replace this one instead of the manufacturer's glass, but I am told the eyesight feature may not work then. I am stuck having to replace this windshield with the same glass. So I am sure I will be returning for another replacement, again and again, and again. The latest rock chip caused the windshield to crack half -way across the windshield and the split causes any passenger to have light refracted directly into their eyes.

Repeated SUDDEN BATTERY DRAIN when car sits overnight, car is disabled. Note that Key FOB is kept away from the car when not in use, no accessories are left on (i.e. lights, door ajar, etc.) and car is only sitting for one night. There were no warning lights or messages or other symptoms prior. No indication as to cause each time after car battery is jumped by road service. Incidents began on March 11, 2019 (car was purchased Nov. 15, 2018); repeatedly occurs approx. every 4-6 weeks without any noticeable time elapse patterns. Began recording occurances regularly since August of 2020 (more incidents prior), total of 21 times to date; and 12 times in 2021 alone. Problem was reported frequently (and once towed) to Hodges Subaru (Ferndale, MI) dealer service dept. Battery & electrical systems were inspected by them several times since 2020. Dealer service claimed there were no problems with electrical system at each check, however Battery was replaced 2 times: 10/20/20 (as a "courtesy") and 5/24/21 (claimed defective battery). The same sudden battery drain continued to occur 9 times after it was first replaced; and an additional 4 times to date since the latest replacement on 5/24/21. Latest incident on Aug. 1, 2021.

Date of incident: 16JUL2021; Mileage at time of incident: 23,202; Driving home from having a recall repair at the dealership, the front windshield cracked with no apparent outside impact. Crack originated in the area where the de-icer for the wipers is located vertically in the middle of the windshield. In an approximate 30 minute time frame the crack proceeded vertically up the middle of the windshield at which point it started to move in a horizontal direction toward the driver side directly at eye level.

The contact owns a 2019 Subaru Forester. The contact stated that while driving in the rain at 55 mph, the vehicle spun a couple of times, then crashed into the median wall. The median wall brought the vehicle to a complete stop. The contact's driver's side seatbelt did not lock the contact into her seat during impact, which caused injuries to the contact's right arm, wrist, and hand. No air bags deployed upon impact. The contact and passenger were transported by ambulance to the hospital. The passenger sustained injuries to her left foot and bruising to her chest from the passenger side seatbelt, locking her into her seat during impact. A police report was filed. The vehicle was towed to the dealer and remained at the dealer, awaiting steering parts and cosmetic repair. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and sent an inspector to investigate. The manufacturer informed the contact that the inspector found that the air bags and seatbelt were functioning properly. The failure mileage was approximately 20,000.

Windshield Crack

I was driving to work at 6:15 am and I was stopped at a traffic light with no other cars around me. I heard a light pop sound and realized my front windshield had a huge (approximately 13” ) crack in it.

Our car was parked in our driveway, off-street. Went to drive on Sunday July 11th, around noon, and noticed a large crack in the windshield where there WAS NONE the day before (last driving occurrence). There were NO signs of impact, no vandalism (security cameras didn't pick up anyone). No hail in the weather report for the night. The crack seems consistent with other reports of cracks originating at the base of the windshield. It is about 2ft. in length, starts roughly at the base of the passenger side and goes up about 4 inches and towards the driver's side the rest of the way.

The windshield spontaneously cracked originating from the passenger side to the middle while driving out of a parking lot. Nothing struck the windshield and there was no previous damage.

While driving on an expressway I heard what sounded like a tiny piece of gravel hitting my windshield. I did not see anything hit. Next thing I saw was a crack spreading across the driver side just above my line of vision. Within two or three minutes it was a foot and a half long. I’m not sure anything hit my windshield or not. There were no other cars in my immediate vicinity and no construction debris. The road was clear. Very puzzling

The contact owned a 2019 Subaru Forester. The contact stated while her mother was driving at 25 mph, the engine revved and the vehicle independently accelerated to 50 mph. The contact attempted to stop the vehicle by depressing the brake pedal but the vehicle continued to the accelerator. As a result, the driver went off the road, through a field, crashed into a few tree stumps, and a playground fence. The air bags failed to deploy. A police report was filed. The contact sustained a sore neck and a couple of bruises but did not require medical attention. The vehicle was not drivable and was towed to a collision center. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. A dealer was not contacted. The manufacturer had not been informed of the failure. The failure mileage was 13,099.

Rear window spontaneously shattered while driving. Nothing struck the window and there was no previous damage.

For the second time in 3 years have large crack in windshield. No known reason for Crack and it is quickly moving across entire windshield.

I was on road driving at night when I heard a crack. When I got to a lit area I noticed 3 inch crack appeared in the lower center of the windshield. No debris hit the windshield all I heard was the distictive sound of the crack.

Windshield cracked for no reason lower passenger side

While driving down the road, with no other cars around, out of nowhere the windshield developed a huge crack starting at the base of the windshield in the middle and traveled upward and across the middle in front of the driver’s line of site obstructing the view. It was very startling. After researching the issue, I discovered it is a known issue and there is a class action lawsuit for this issue. Subaru refuses to acknowledge the issue. 06/21/2019

I’ve owned the vehicle for 21 months and have fewer than 24,000 miles on the car. During this time, I’ve sustained 2 windshield chips (both were promptly repaired), and now 1 windshield crack. This seems unusual and excessive.

When I went to get in Forrester in the morning, the windshield has crack. Running from base of drivers side across to passenger side. It was not there night before Because it goes through drives side, it impairs drivers view of road

We bought our Subaru Forester after researching the cars with the best safety features. The car feels unsafe because of 2 problems: Engine hesitation and sudden acceleration. We have barely avoided an incident on two occasions in a parking lot. We were braking for a car heading toward us when our car lurched ahead coming close to hitting an approaching car. Another time we were braking for a stop sign and the car accelerated into moving traffic. We have not reported it to our dealer hoping it was a fluke. We are going to bring it to the dealer because it's obvious that there is something dangerously wrong with our car. I can't report dates - it happens each time we drive with no warning - no lights. Suddenly the engine hesitates acting like it has run out of gas or it lurches ahead, accelerating on its own.

Windshield with at least 2-ft long cracked line on my 2019 Subaru Forester. Line appeared instantly after something (perhaps a small rock/pebble) hit the windshield. The cracked line is within the sight of vision of the driver. Getting multiple glares from the cracked line when sun light hits it on certain angles. Thus, making driving uneasy during sunny days. Incident happened on 6/18/21 while driving on I-5 southbound in Oregon. I contacted a Safelite Auto Glass shop and was told that the whole windshield needs to be replaced. I made appointment with Safelite to have the windshield replaced when I return back home in Washington state in early July 2021.

Driving vehicle down the road with no vehicles in front and the windshield cracked for no apparent reason. Cracked in the lower left corner and then grew to about 18” spreading to the right and through the drivers sight line.

With about 14,800 miles on my 2019 Subaru Forrester the windshield cracked. I took the Vehicle to Brilliance Subaru, 1500 North Randall Road, Elgin, IL 60123, 224-281-4300 and was told that the crack wasn't covered under my warranty. I know this damage was not caused by any flying debris as the crack started on the bottom of the windshield and there is no chip in the windshield. I have read that many other owners have faced the same situation, as Subaru installed faulty windshields. This should be covered under warranty and the installation and recalibration should be Subaru's expense not the owner of the vehicle.

The contact owns a 2019 Subaru Forester. The contact stated while the vehicle was stationary, a large crack appeared in the middle of the front windshield. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer where it was diagnosed with the windshield needing to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer had not been informed of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 14,000.

I was sitting at a traffic light and heard a crack. No cars in front or at the time passing me by. I then saw a crack on my passenger side windshield. Upon my research I note there have been several complaints with this manufacturer and model of car. The car will be inspected on Monday.

My car has 24,000 miles on it. A month after I got it, a large crack developed in the windshield and I had to replace it. (Very expensive!) The new windshield has chipped twice and I’ve had to have those repaired. Today I discovered another large crack which will require a new windshield. See picture.) I am aware that there is a class action lawsuit in New Jersey regarding defective windshields for this model (and others). So far, I am averaging one chip and one new windshield every 12,000 miles. That is outrageous! I’m sure Subaru will say that the chips and cracks were caused by road debris, but I am 64 years old and have driven since I was 16. In all that time, I have had to have only one chip repaired until I got my new Subaru. The windshield is clearly too delicate and fragile for the task.

The contact owns a 2019 Subaru Forester. The contact stated that while starting the vehicle, she noticed there was a crack on the windshield. There was no impact to the windshield that could have caused the crack. The contact stated that it was the second time the windshield had cracked after replacing it last year. The dealer was made aware of the failure and informed the contact to take the vehicle in to be inspected. The vehicle was not diagnosed nor repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was 14,720. VIN was unavailable. The consumer stated Williams Autoworld did pay for the 2nd windshield replacement.

Windshield spontaneously cracked, beginning above and to the right of the rear view mirror and tracking down and to the left. It was about 15-16 inches long when it was first noticed.

Windshield cracked for no obvious reason.

The contact owns a 2019 Subaru Forester. The contact stated while the vehicle was stationary in his driveway, he noticed a large diagonal crack on the windshield. The contact stated that the crack happened without impact. The vehicle was not diagnosed nor repaired. A dealer was not contacted. The manufacturer was not informed of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 18,900.

A little bit under 15K miles, a now (roughly) 40 inch crack has formed across the windshield that continues to spread. The crack has spontaneously developed and was only discovered when cleaning out the car, which is always parked in a garage. There were no previous signs of a crack or damage to the windshield prior to it forming, nor was it prompted by anything (rocks, debris, etc). As the crack continues to spread, it limits my ability to see while driving. The windshield does require replacement which is not covered under warranty. Through research I've discovered that this is an identified issue, with a few owners going to court and winning their cases.

The contact owned a 2019 Subaru Forester. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the brake pedal needed to be depressed to the floorboard to stop the vehicle. Additionally, the steering wheel would jerk out of the contact's hand while at a stoplight. The dealer was made aware of the failure but informed the contact that it was normal. The vehicle was not diagnosed nor repaired. The contact traded the vehicle in for another vehicle. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 23,000.