2020 Subaru Forester Complaint Log

Windshield cracked and split to the middle unexpectedly

The contact owns a 2020 Subaru Forester. The contact stated that she observed that a crack had started at the bottom of the passenger’s side windshield. The contact stated that the crack had begun to spread and had gone in an arc upwards and stopped at middle of the windshield. The contact had the windshield replaced. The contact had taken the vehicle to a local glass shop and not a dealer to replace the windshield. The vehicle had been repaired. The manufacturer had been informed of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 70,000.

We hit a deer, front-end impact, then our Forester started on fire and completely burned up. The airbags did not deploy, we were not injured but the car is a complete loss.

Firestone Wauwatosa, WI told me I need to have them recalibrate the Driver Assist System as part of an alignment I took the car in for on 5523. This added $125.00 on top of a $209.99 cost for the lifetime alignment cost. Laura, in the service department at Zeigler Subaru, Kenosha, where we bought the car, said this would only have to be done if the car had been in an accident. Not knowing what is actually required leaves me feeling unsafe.

Noticed a crack in the windshield glass today in the parking lot at work. This crack starts at the bottom of the windshield and goes upward about 8 inches. There are no signs of the windshield being hit. I looked this issue up and there is a class action lawsuit going on about defective windshields on certain Subaru models. Mine is included.

While driving the vehicle suddenly stalled and stopped running. The dashboard illuminated with most lights and the check engine message came on the screen. I was thankfully able to get into the shoulder on the road safely without creating an accident or getting injured. The vehicle would not start again and had to be towed to the dealership. I am now out $1800 because I am slightly over my powertrain warranty in mileage on the vehicle. This is a known issue in bulletin: https://static.nhtsa.gov/odi/tsbs/2022/MC-10208664-0001.pdf I am not only disappointed with Subaru of America and NHTSA that this is not already a recall but I am also willing to seek legal action and compensation if this repair is not going to be covered. There are many incidents and reports online of similar issues: https://www.subaruforester.org/threads/2019-thermo-control-valve-assembly-and-warranty-merged-thread.823510/ https://www.carcomplaints.com/Subaru/Forester/2020/drivetrain/power_train.shtml I have filed a case with Subaru of America corporate and am waiting to hear back. Someone is going to cause an accident or end up dead because of this faulty part. It is borderline criminal that this is not already a recall.

The contact owns a 2020 Subaru Forester. The contact stated that after parking the vehicle in the garage, it was later discovered that a small crack had formed on the upper passenger’s side of the windshield. The contact stated neither a rock nor another object had impacted the windshield to cause the crack to form. The local dealer and manufacturer were not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 30,000.

The Battery life was considerably short. It started requiring frequent jump starts.

The contact owns a 2020 Subaru Forester. The contact stated while driving 35-38 MPH in cold weather, the temperature gauge indicated that the vehicle temperature was cold. The check engine warning light was illuminated. Additionally, the Forward Collision Avoidance system, the Lane Keep Assist, the Auto START/STOP feature, the cruise control mode, and other unknown features no longer operable messages were displayed. Additionally, the vehicle shifted into Sport (S) mode. The contact was able to drive to her residence. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, where it was diagnosed that the thermal control valve needed to be replaced. The contact stated that there was an inch-long slice like cut in the front passenger's seat. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure via mail. The failure mileage was approximately 47,000.

Was slowly pulling into a parking spot when the "Automatic Emergency Braking" and "Collision Avoidance Systems" engaged. The systems said that there was an "object detected" and slammed the car to a stop. Shut off the car and got out, there was no object. Had to disable the AEB system to pull into the parking space. Vehicle and component have not been inspected for this issue. Vehicle received regular maintenance at a shop (oil change) about 1 month ago and new tires about 1 week ago. Problem has not been confirmed.

I was on the highway doing 70 mph with the adaptive cruise control set. Then suddenly the check engine light turned on, the eye site and cruise shut down and the car slowed down quickly to 60 mph almost getting rear ended. This Subaru Forester has 65,592 miles. The Subaru Dealer said that the cooling therm valve is bad and needs to be replaced. This cooling therm valve seems to be a major part of the engine and they want $1500 to fix the problem.

The contact owns a 2020 Subaru Forester. The contact stated that upon entering her vehicle, she noticed that a vertical crack had formed at the middle base of the windshield. The contact stated that the crack obstructed her vision while driving at various speeds. The vehicle was taken to a dealer where a manager inspected the windshield with a ballpoint pen and determined that the failure was caused by the contact. The manufacturer was also notified of the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was 26,000.

The contact owns a 2020 Subaru Forester. The contact stated that while driving 25 MPH, the front windshield cracked without impact. The dealer was not contacted. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not contacted. The failure mileage was 29,500.

Car stalls occasionally while stopped in traffic, at a signal, stop sign, and in heavy street or highway traffic. I have read about this, and it is problematic for this make and model, posing a significant safety hazard.

The check engine light illuminated and the thermo control valve failed at 3 years old. The defrost and heater stopped working immediately making visibility extremely difficult . The eyesight and automatic braking system were also disabled due to the TCV issue. My Forester mpg dropped to under 20 mpg. The Subaru dealer inspected and confirmed code P26A3 and stated the thermo control valve needs to be replaced.

While merging into a lane, I went to accelerate. I pressed the accelerator pedal to the floor to quickly get up to the speed of traffic. After successfully merging into the lane, I took my foot off of the accelerator pedal and noticed that my vehicle was still accelerating. The floor mat was not interfering with the accelerator pedal. Thankfully, slamming on my brakes while in the middle of a lane caused the accelerator pedal to come off the floor and my vehicle began to decelerate. This was frightening and an absolute hazard to the well-being of myself and other drivers and pedestrians on the road. Without quick thinking and a lack of traffic ahead of me, I and others would have likely been involved in a life-threatening traffic accident. Whether this is a reoccurring incident or a one-time incident, this is not acceptable for any vehicle sold and allowed to be driven by a manufacturer or dealership.

The headlights produces little to no lighting when driving at night. I almost got into an accident last night because I had extremely low visibility, even with the high beams on.

Driving car in my town to grocery store. As I was driving, I looked in rearview mirror and noticed the windshield had spontaneously developed a 6 inch crack running straight down from the middle of the top edge, directly over the rearview mirror. The crack was not there when I'd started driving approximately 30 minutes prior. No impacts, not using wipers, temperatures have been moderate. There is no glass chip or other indication of impact at the edge of the windshield or on the adjacent edge of the car roof. There is no other visible damage to the windshield. The car is 2 months out of standard warranty. I will be filing an insurance claim.

Windshield cracked in J shape starting at the center of the bottom. The crack appeared overnight; there was no crack when the car was parked the night before, and the crack was observed when entering the car the next morning. No impacts observed. Approximately 12k miles.

The Subaru starlink system has no controls around transfer of ownership. I only discovered this after receiving a $150 charge 2 months after I traded in the car to a Subaru dealer. Even after trading in the car I was able to unlock, lock, start the car, and track the cars location. This represents a significant safety risk to the consumer and must be addressed immediately.

Thermo control valve stays open. Needs replacement. Automatic brakes have gone on with no car in front of vehicle. Unsafe.

The windshield cracked while I was stopped at a light. It creates a visibility issue. The windshield was repaired previously and has cracked again. The vehicle has not been inspected the manufacturer, police, insurance or others. There were no warnings prior to the incidents.

Windshield cracked while parked during the day. No visible reason for the crack - no chips, divots, or impact marks on windshield. Crack runs from bottom corner of driver's side windshield up to mid windshield right in the line of vision for driver.

When I was driving this car one night, every dash light was suddenly activated and remained on -- and as a result all safety features were deactivated. When I was able to do so, I touched the battery cables together to reboot the system. I had to do this 3 times over the course of 4 days. Realizing the problem was chronic, I took the car to the dealership (a 2 hour drive), where a service tech explained the problem 'was caused by a low battery.' This car is only 2 years old. A new car battery should last longer than 2 years. It thus seems to me the battery was defective or the car improperly drained it somehow. More important, there is no warning that a 'low battery' -- one which can easily start a car -- could still deactivate safety features while driving.

Stopped at a stop light for a few minutes and when trying to move forward the car just stopped working. This happened twice.

I bought this vehicle new. In the past three years, I have needed three windshield repairs. The first two were chips that could be filled and repaired. Most recently, a small chip has begun cracking and will require replacing the entire windshield at substantial cost. This vehicle is more prone to windshield damage from normal interstate use than any other I have driven in four decades.

Windshield suddenly cracked from lower passenger side almost 2-feet long. No obvious cause, driving around 50 mph in 62 degrees, clear sky.

The contact owns a 2020 Subaru Forester. The contact stated while driving approximately 60 MPH, the contact became aware of a crack on the windshield on the far-left driver's side about three inches above where the VIN was located. The contact had taken the vehicle to a glass shop where it was diagnosed that there were several cracks and determined that the windshield needed to be replaced. The vehicle had been repaired. The contact stated that the new windshield had developed a crack and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not yet repaired. The manufacturer had not been informed of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 34,500.

Much like the 2018 Outback issue I had, my 2020 Forester is having the same issue with fuel indication inaccuracy and mpg increasing when fuel level gets under a quarter of a tank. My local Suburu dealership said this is not an issue for this model. I have reported this to Suburu as well. Previously, Subaru found that the software that controls the fuel system can cause the fuel gauge to show that there is still fuel left in the tank when there isn’t. More specifically, the low fuel warning light may not actually come on, and the miles to empty display could be inaccurate. The software is causing additional miles to be showing when they are not available. I don't know if this is a similar issue or not, but no one has fixed it. With any vehicle, you need to be able to rely on the fuel gauge. Knowing how full (or empty!) your gas tank is extremely important when driving, particularly if you are driving a long distance. If you do run out of gas, the engine can stall; fortunately, the vehicle can be driven to the side of the road if it stalls when you are in motion. As the issue involves a software bug, it is easily fixed by the dealership.

I haven’t driven my 2020 Subaru Forester since 11/06/22 I come out this morning to a cracked windshield on the driver side obstructing my view. No form of impact what so ever - what needs to be done about this ?

The contact owns a 2020 Subaru Forester. The contact stated that while her friend was driving 70 MPH, the windshield started to crack at the center base of the windshield. The contact called the local dealer and made them aware of the failure. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer had not been informed of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 16,000.

I have had to replace the tire valve stems on ALL 4 tires. In addition, 1 of the replacement valve stems also had to replaced within 1 year when it was first replaced. All this within the first 3 years of owning the vehicle.

Windshield cracked for no apparent reason. It is cracked from the passenger side to the middle of the vehicle. The car was parked when this occurred. There isn’t an object near the crack.

Rock chip on windshield spread across whole windshield in 2 days. Had to pay $1200 to have it replaced with a third party windshield.

1. Fragile windshield, easily get cracks on it. It is available for inspection upon request. 2. Could cause serious problem if the crakes are bigger and on the diver's side. 3. Not yet. But a lot other Subaru Forester owners have experienced the same problem. 4. Not yet. 5. No.

On October 26th 2022 I was in a accident with a deer. It was a head on collision where my airbags deployed but the main windshield airbag didn't go off.

The other day, the check engine light came on & Eyesight was disabled. I take it to the nearest mechanic who tells me that the cooling fans are running too long at idle & this could drain the battery. He also tells me to watch for the engine overheating. The recently checked coolant level had dropped lower than the minimum. I take it to dealer who keeps it for day. Similar to the 2 other complaints, the fault is related to TSB-09-80-21R calling for replacement parts to be installed. Subaru did not do any recall but instead waited for the parts to fail. I have minimal heat & the engine runs cool a lot of the time which affects emissions. My gas mileage is getting worse. The part is on backorder with no estimated time of arrival. I was told to just keep driving it & to let them know if it starts to run rough. The dealer said there are a lot of other cars & drivers in this situation at the dealer’s service department.

The contact owns a 2020 Subaru Forester. The contact stated that upon entering the vehicle, she noticed an abnormal crack on the front windshield. The dealer was notified of the failure and the contact was informed that the windshield was not covered; however, the vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and the contact was informed that the VIN was not included in a recall. The failure mileage was approximately 30,000.

The contact owns a 2020 Subaru Forester. The contact stated that while pulling into a parking space and pressing the parking brake, the vehicle suddenly experienced unintended acceleration and accelerated forward. During the incident, the vehicle drove over a curb, hit a lamp post, and crashed into a parked vehicle. No injuries were reported. A police report was taken at the scene. The vehicle was not towed away. The cause of the failure was not determined. The local dealer was contacted. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 26,000.

Windshield cracked for no apparent reason from edge. Started to spread.

Vehicle was parked in a parking lot for approx 30 mins. Upon returning to the vehicle, the windscreen was found to have been cracked. Visibility is now obscured. This problem is known to Subaru, however they refuse to do anything about it. A class action lawsuit was filed in 2020 over the problem.

I've owned this car for less than a week and already have to replace a battery that was said to be completely fine. It does not retain charge or replenish when parked.

This is about a problem of which your agency is already aware. Subaru of America has been aware of a defective Thermo Control Valve for almost a year (Part 21319AA010). The part was redesigned since the initial part was subject to extreme corrosion. The redesigned part has the same part number as the original part. Subaru did not do any recall but instead waited for the parts to fail. When it fails on a car with safety features (called "eyesight"), each and every safety feature is permanently disabled until the redesigned part is installed. In addition, the engine runs too cool and there is little or no cabin heat. My car has been on the lot of my local dealership for 2 months with no end in sight. My car is covered by the original warranty and an extended warranty. Managers at the dealership have told me that they have no idea when the part will arrive, that it may be many months and that there are many people already waiting for the part. A 6-page letter by me to the General Counsel of Subaru of America did not result in any direct response. By information and belief, this involves thousands of cars nationwide. By information and belief, dealerships are initially telling people the cars are still drivable despite the loss of all safety features since this what was initially told to me. I refused to accept the car in a defective unsafe condition. There may be thousands of cars being driven in which said safety features are fully disabled. Subaru claims the part has been on "back order" since March. By information and belief, based upon Subaru's own February 2022 service bulletin, it appears that the newly designed part is currently being installed on new cars at the factory thereby putting into question the "backorder" label. This analysis was enunciated in detail in my letter to Subaru of America's General Counsel and there was no response contesting that allegation. Your agency's investigation and intervention are immediately required.

Windshield keeps cracking as if unable to withstand regular road conditions that other vehicles/windshields for vehicles with the same capabilities and from the same brand (but different models) can. Windshield for my vehicle has been replaced once but will need to be replaced again, each time with an oem part

Corrupted Driver Assist Software. Dashboard icons for hands on steering wheel, dynamic vehicle control, lane change control were flashing that systems were off, controls were turned off randomly. Vehicle was not tracking appropriately in its lane, steering was not acting correctly. Car at times acted as if it were being blown by a strong crosswind. Steering between lanes was not consistent. Icon warning that my hands were not on steering wheel when both my hands were on the steering wheel.

Car window cracked while parked at work. Heard there was recalls from the internet was wondering if my car is in the classification of defective windshield

I have a 2020 subaru forester with low mileage. A few weeks ago, I started to move forward when the traffic light turned green. There is a car in front of me that started to move forward. There was another car perpendicular to my right. I started to apply the gas, and the car fought me and was appying the brakes. I saw no reason for the car to brake. This concerns me. I was on dry pavement in daylight. I fear if this had happened when the roads were covered with ice or snow, it could have caused me to spin out.

The contact owns a 2020 Subaru Forester. The contact stated while driving approximately 30 MPH, the check engine warning light illuminated. The contact stated that the check engine warning light remained illuminated after starting the vehicle and shifting to drive(D) or reverse(R). The contact stated that the engine temperature gauge indicated that the engine was “COLD” even after she had driven the vehicle approximately 30 minutes. The contact stated that the heater no longer worked as intended and only blew out cold air. The contact had taken the vehicle to a local dealer where it was diagnosed and determined that the thermostat coolant valve needed to be replaced. The contact was advised that the part needed for the repair was on a national back order. The vehicle had not been repaired. The manufacturer had been informed of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 65,000.

My windshield cracked without any damage. While driving down the road one giant crack appeared out of nowhere.

The SUV developed the long crack across its windshield (see attachment) while parked in garage. There was no impact to cause the disintegration. There was a minor "star" damage at the bottom of the windshield, approx. 3/4 - 1 inch wide, no ding, that had occurred some two weeks prior, that I was about to get repaired. The concern here is quality of the glass that is easily damaged and disintegrates without impact.