general problems of the 2014 Subaru Forester - part 2

While driving on a highway at 60 mph, the car suddenly lost power, the check engine light came on, and I was unable to accelerate. I was able to safely pull over to the right side, turned off the car, and restarted it - it worked. This happened again, two days later under the exact same circumstances. It happened once before, about a year ago, while driving on local roads at about 25 mph, and the "error code" said that the accelerator module needed to be replaced.

We have had two ongoing issues with our 2014 Subaru Forester. We purchased our car when it was two years old have had oil consumption issues and a hard time getting our key out of the ignition after driving. On our last trip to florida from NY and back we had to purchase and use two quarts of oil. We had a oil change just before we left. This has been going on since we purchased the car. In 2019 I never thought I would have to pull over to check and add oil to a car. The dealer says this is normal for the car. We had at least three consumption tests done and they came back negative. I'm currently afraid to take my car anywhere since the key and ignition are unpredictable. I never know if I will be able to get the key out. Very disappointed with our Subaru. It is our second Subaru. We had no issues with our last car.

On June 22, 2016, my husband parked the car on our driveway, located at 1264 hancock place in pocatello, idaho. I got out on the passenger side door and stepped to the side and closed the door with my left hand. I was not far enough away from door and the corner caught my leg and the cut required 11 stitches. The corner has no rubber protection on it, I feel it is a design flaw.

Horn ceased to work . Steering roll connector replaced.

Drivers side window will not stay up/closed when using auto up switch. Must close window using multiple start stop engagements of window control. Dealer tried multiple to repair multiple times when under warranty. Now, not under warranty. Dealer blamed dirt or temperature but never convinced of exact cause and never offered to replace switch.

Driving at about 60 mph and car starting vibrating violently for a few seconds. Continued driving and 10 minutes later same thing for same length of time happened again.

Prior surging occurred with this vehicle. Auto is due for a normal maintenance and we were going to address this issue. We turned into a parking lot with workers at the corner and slowed down. We continued into the parking lot and made a tight left hand turn into a slot. The vehicle accelerated as we eased into the spot. The brakes were hit preventing further damage. The truck in the front parking spot was hit but not damaged. Our vehicle received a dent and scrapings on the front end. There were no injuries but the biggest concern was the surging and the possibility of it happening again. Date of incident: 8/7/2015 at approximately 4:30 p. M.

I purchased my 2014 Forester in July 2013. I love the vehicle except for the design of the climate control dials which I consider to be a safety hazard because it is so difficult to ascertain at a glance what the current setting is for each function (heat/ac temp, fan speed, fan direction. ) staring at the dial(s) or repeated glances takes the driver's attention off the road for too long, and therefore is absolutely a safety issue: each round dial has a rubber grip surface that the user contacts. On the front face of the dial is a shiny chrome bezel ring. This ring is quite narrow and has 7 small, equidistant indentations around the radius. One of the indentations is yellow plastic, which indicates the setting. At a glance, the small yellow plastic indicator is very difficult to locate among the other six indentations. What the purpose is of the indentations is a mystery (some marketer wanted sparkle?) and why Subaru chose pale yellow against shiny chrome makes no sense. I have successfully altered my dials by putting a tiny drop of white fingernail polish on the black rubber grip directly above each yellow plastic indicator. Now, at a quick glance, I can easily see at what position each function dial is set. It's great. I feel much safer. I know this sounds like a small, unimportant problem, but it was a huge concern to me. I hope no Forester owner is involved in a crash because he/she took his/her eyes off the road for too long trying to figure out one or more of the climate control settings. The Forester might be a "top safety pick" but not on this. Thank you.

Subaru corporate recently purchased my 2014 Forester back under the lemon law. This was after I had 4 documented incidents of the vehicle veering sporadically out of control around 55 mph. It was inconsistent but the mechanic was able to determine that something was pulling it out of alignment/after this happened it was always out of spec. It was quite dramatic. As in the entire back-end would start to pull out of control. This often happened within icier conditions. While Subaru corporate was responsive in getting me a new Subaru, I do not feel they at all acknowledged or took my complaint serious. They kept referencing my inconvenience with an alignment issue. If it was as simple as an alignment issue, they could have fixed it the first time. My concern is that others are having this same issue but since it is difficult to replicate and extremely inconsistent, it'd be easy to not acknowledge the seriousness of this issue. Since mentioning my frustration to random acquaintances, two individuals have contacted me for additional information because they are having a comparable problem with their Forester and/or cross trek. I sent a lengthy description about my safety concerns to Subaru corporate which they ignored. Perhaps that is an appropriate response but I want to make sure that somebody is looking into this/making sure it is not a more serious issue.

I was turning right to park at a state park. The parking area is sandy and full of pot holes. I was almost stopped when the car accelerated violently. My car mounted a flat boulder, one of many in the parking area. I still don't feel like I could have stepped or stomped on the gas pedal vs the brake pedal, but it is a possibility. I am a very cautious driver. Could this be a defect in this car? I feel that it should be reported and noted in case others have the same experience.

This incident is nearly identical to an earlier complaint: NHTSA id number 10574697. I was travelling on a straight portion of interstate at reduced highway speed due to cold weather and light snow when I began to experience a wiggling sensation in the rear end of the vehicle. Like described in the earlier complaint it felt like the rear end wanted to step out, first one way and then the other, repeating rapidly. I could see from the reactions of drivers behind me they were giving me a wide berth and could tell something was visibly happening with my vehicle. The front end did not appear to be affected nor was the ability to steer the vehicle. Once I decelerated to 45-50 the wiggling abated. It was snowing at the time but there was no more than a trace on the roadway. No other vehicles around me seemed to be having any difficulties with traction and most were traveling at full highway speed (70). My ability to steer and brake, even moderately, wasn't affected as I could slow immediately and change lanes and the front end did not skid. I travelled at no faster than 50 mph for about another 5 miles at which time I slowly accelerated and waited for the wigging to resume but it did not. I was able to complete my journey (another 40 miles) without further incident. I'm very experienced in winter driving but this is my first time with an awd vehicle. I have never experienced anything like this in my life and it was quite unnerving. I don't know if the vehicle was indeed stepping out due to slippery road conditions (although nobody else seemed to be having any difficulty) and the awd system was correcting (or overcorrecting?) as designed and that was the wiggling I felt. It's not occurred again . . . But I've been careful to avoid similar weather conditions (defeats the purpose of owning a Subaru) and have not experienced it in dry weather.

I was driving my 6 month old 2014 Subaru Forester at about 50 mph at night and my driver's seat began reclining. I almost lost control of the car and had an accident because the mechanism to stop it was not working. It happened three more times after that occurrence. Also, the power lift gate was inoperable. I had to crawl into the back cargo area to try to open the rear lift gate. It would not open, even from the inside. It was reinitialized several times by kingery rye Subaru in rye, NY and they failed to correct the problem. Eventually they replaced the part but the operation of lift gate remains unpredictable. I need to be able to use the power lift gate at all times to put a wheelchair in the back. I was informed by Subaru of America (in writing) that some of the electrical problems that are occurring are because kingery rye Subaru installed an after market remote starter into my car without my knowledge or approval. I have written documentation from Subaru of America stating the dealers must install Subaru parts. I paid a lot of money for a Subaru remote starter. Rye Subaru put a cheap after market starter into my car. That is fraud. My car is starting randomly and without a key in the ignition. A CO-worker came into work and told me my car was locked and running in the parking lot. Recently I closed the lift gate, using the button on the lift gate and the car started itself as I was walking away from it. The car has started on its own many times. There are multiple dangerous electrical problems that are putting myself and my family's lives at risk. The side driver's and passenger's windows fog up when the heat is turned on. The DE-fogger does not remedy the problem at all. I am unable to see anything out the side windows which poses a big safety issue especially during the winter. I bought the car because it had a high safety rating. This car is not safe.

Oil light (yellow) came on to signify oil level is low. This is an ongoing problem and requires approximately one quart of oil every 1200-1500 miles driven. Subaru was notified from the beginning and has made many excuses over the past 18-months. I have now been asked to leave the car with the dealership for at least a week, for them to be able to further investigate.

After I purchased my vehicle, I noticed a hesitation between 20 - 40 mph. This is the first year for the Forester's to have a cvt engine so I thought it needed broken in. I also went through 3 cycles of filling up my gas tank from 3 different gas stations and the hesitation continued. The first time I brought it in the technician said he overfilled the oil a slight bit, removed it, and I should notice a difference. No difference. I brought my vehicle back to the dealership addressing the same issue. They performed the tests Subaru of America (soa) suggested and nothing was found. The last time it happened, > month ago, I feared an accident because it hesitated through an intersection. I returned the vehicle wanting answers. Subaru sent out their own technician to gather information to send to fuji and what I was told was that their equipment did not find anything wrong and that it was normal for a cvt engine. I test drove several more Foresters and they all had varying degrees of hesitation and all had different mileage on them.