Two problems related to vehicle shudder have been reported for the 2014 Subaru Forester. The most recently reported issues are listed below. Please also check out the statistics and reliability analysis of the 2014 Subaru Forester based on all problems reported for the 2014 Forester.
Vehicle is unstable due to stalling and lurching forward under all throttle ranges. Vehicle may "chug" at variable driving speeds. The failure is intermittent and varies from subtle to heavy effects. Severe effects causes vehicle to shudder and/or stall then abruptly accelerate. Issue does not appear to be related to "turbo lag" as it occurs under low boost conditions. Transmission also produces "clicking" sound when engaging from neutral or under changes in speed. Condition occurs throughout all driving modes (I, s, s#). Condition occurs mostly under acceleration from dead stop, but may also occur under "pick up" acceleration, ie off throttle to decelerate (55mph-45mph) then light throttle to resume driving speed. Vehicle may also backfire under acceleration. Vehicle may hesitate for several seconds before acceleration from stop or at highway speed than upon resuming acceleration vehicle may have a flat/slow acceleration in spite of heavy throttle. Factory authorized repairs attempted to remedy condition by cleaning throttle body and "upper engine" cleanse and states unable to replicate failure. Condition has been on-going from purchase with approximately 30k mile to current with 74k miles.
In October of 2013, I purchased by way of lease, a brand new 2014 Subaru Forester. Right after purchasing a 2014 Subaru Forester I began to have issues with the oil consumption in my vehicle. In example, before my first oil change of 3,000 miles, I had to have my car assessed by the oil technicians as the oil light kept coming on. The oil technicians would “top” off my fluids and along I went. Sadly, after having my 3,000 mile oil change, I continued to have issues with oil consumption. I think I paid a visit to the oil technicians at least once every 6 weeks or so; so much so that the oil technicians were tired of seeing my vehicle. I practically developed a personal relationship with the oil technicians. If they did not know me by name, they were at least familiar with my vehicle. To make a long story longer, this month (September) or better stated less than a year of having a 2014 in my possession, while still being in the year 2014 with 3 months left to go in this year, I had some major work done to my vehicle. Up to and including a replacement of the engine. Please see the attached invoice to see all the items that were replaced. Now you are problem asking well how many miles are on the car? there are only 7,600 miles on the vehicle. In other words I put maybe 760 miles on my vehicle per month in less than a year. Opportunity: clearly, I was sold a high priced lemon; a dud. In order to improve on customer satisfaction, it is in my opinion that Subaru should provide me with a 2014 Subaru Forester that is not defective or one that does not have design flaws. No vehicle with less than 8,000 miles and less than a year old should require an engine replacement. Please be advised that after the work was done now the car has a vibration and feels as if it is going to shut off.