general problems of the 2016 Subaru Forester - part 1

I had my foot on the brake, opened the garage door with my garage door opener, and before I took my foot off the brake the car surged, jumped, and smashed into the brick wall next to the garage. I did not put my foot on the gas.

I have a 2016 Subaru Forester and started 3 weeks ago with a problem when I turn it on all the lights on the dashboard turn on and the car won't star. The mechanic has changed the battery and the problem continues. It's happened three times now that it's suddenly shut off while I'm driving. It was very scary. Now the mechanic said that I have to take to the dealer because it is the body control module.

Vehicle self-accelerated abruptly while parked and crashed into another vehicle causing damage to both vehicles.

The rear backup camera failed. No warning lights appeared. This is a safety issue. This repair was expensive should not have happened at 79019 miles. The problem was inspected and estimated by our Subaru dealer. We were told that the radio/screen unit first needed replacement, then if that didn't fix it, to then replace the camera. We were give a rough estimate of $2500 to replace both items. We decided to get another estimate. They determine it was the camera, which we had them replace.

The airbag sensor (ods) malfunctions for front passenger seat. The "airbag off" warning lights up when the seat is occupied. This was fixed by dealer back in 2020 under recall wum-98/NHTSA id 19v-701000. However, this problem recurred intermittently about five months ago. I called capitol Subaru in san jose, CA and spoke with service advisor, dan padilla, who informed me that the recurrence of this safety issue would no longer be covered under this recall. He offered to schedule an appointment for a diagnosis, but I declined since it would cost $300. I also spoke with jorge, case specialist, from Subaru of America who reiterated that the aforementioned recall only covers a one-time repair and cannot be reopened. It is my understanding that safety recalls do not expire and that "federal law often mandates the manufacturer to provide free repairs for safety recalls on vehicles up to 15 yrs old. " how can NHTSA help in resolving this car safety issue with Subaru? the ods system is unreliable and poses a risk to my passengers.

Passenger's seat belt sensor is alarming when no one is in the seat. The passenger side airbag warning light is also coming on and off. I took it to the dealer, and they confirmed that the sensor in the seat pad is bad. The airbag light was intermittently going on for several weeks before I took it in. The car has been at the dealer since mid-August, and I am told that the part is currently on backorder without an estimated arrival date.

113,727 miles. 2016 Subaru Forester. 5 different warning lights all came on at the same time. Before that I noticed occasionally there was a delay starting again at a stoplight. Reputable mechanic replaced the valve body of the transmission. They said they service 2-3 Subarus for this same issue every month.

Concerned driver stopped me and said I had no brake lights , only the lights atop the hatch showed breaking. After returning home I checked all settings on light controls and none made lower break lights work when pedal depressed. This could cause someone not watching top of vehicle crash into my vehicle. If light on top malfunctions I will not have any brake lights. Running lights work fine but do nothing when breaking. At first though it had to do with setting on light controls. I think I’ve been told I had no tail lights only front running lights and had to turn control at dusk to have taillights of any kind.

My horn stopped working. When I press the lock button three times the horn still sounds the problem is the clockspring on the steering wheel it is broken and this is a safety issue. It controls multiple things on the steering wheel including the airbag. One evening on my way home a car was trying to enter my lane I tried to sound a warning and my horn didn't work, to avoid being hit I had to move over to on coming traffic lane which was thankfully empty. Subaru should be fixing the the issue. I have since found out the original part has been updated but that update has not been passed on to the consumer unless they need to replace the part. And the replacement cost is the consumers responsibility.

Battery drain issue, 3rd battery in since purchase.

While driving my vehicle on my daily trip to work, I experience sudden power loss. My interior lights began to blink erratically, as my vehicle loss power and caused me to panic, as I was entering the highway. Some highways have no shoulders, so as quickly as I entered the highway, I pulled off took the next exit. I went into a shopping center, to see what the issue was. I noticed that my radio and my air conditioning loss illumination. I turned the car off, opened the hood. I did not see anything of significance, I started the car up again, now the radio would not even start nor did the air conditioning. I phoned the Subaru dealer, to be told that this happens often! what, I thought to myself? I asked them if this was a well-known problem, why this has not become part of a recall, or why the dealership not contact Subaru of America, to work with their customer base and remedy the issue. I was told, that all that is done in the "diagnostic process", any codes are cleared, and this should get you back on the road. Are you kidding me, this is truly any motorist's nightmare. Losing power on a major highway, any road at night, or on a turn will literally bring catastrophic consequences to us Subaru owners, but all other motorists as well.

The horn stopped working in the vehicle. This is a known issue with many Subarus. The horn is essential for safety reasons due to this the vehicle cannot pass a safety inspection. The culprit of this issue is the electrical coil spring component in the steering wheel behind the air bag. The component has multiple connections going to it including an airbag connection. In the event of accident it is not guaranteed that the spring coil component would deliver the signal for the air bag to deploy. This component is defective in many Subarus and is a very costly repair due to all the electrical and safety components connected to cloak spring. This component has been an issue in previous Subaru models but has not been extended to newer models that clearly have the same issue. Please see document attached.

The horn does not work due to failure of the clock spring. This is a common problem among many Subaru vehicles. Without the use of a horn warning noises cannot be made to alert other drivers of potential hazards. There are numerous video and forums detailing this issues on multiple Subaru models.

Battery drain due to can system. Has caused loss of power to functions of car resulting in vehicle dynamic control and airbags to be turned of in the middle of driving causing the abs to become unusable in the case of an accident putting everyone in the car at risk of injury or death.

The contact owns a 2016 Subaru Forester. The contact stated that the battery had drained and was replaced by an independent mechanic. A few months later, the vehicle received an oil change by a dealer. After leaving the dealer, the vehicle failed to startup while in a parking lot. The contact was able to restart the vehicle and drove back to the dealer. The contact was informed that the battery was defective, and the battery was replaced a second time. The old battery was taken back to the independent mechanic and tested. The contact was informed that there was nothing wrong with the battery. Several months later the battery failed. Upon investigation, the contact linked the battery failure to the starlink technology feature that came equipped with the vehicle. The vehicle was taken back to the dealer and the contact was informed that the dcm (digital control module) needed to be replaced. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was 108,000.

Electrical system drains battery. Had battery replaced at dealer under lawsuit settlement guidelines.

The battery drains constantly. I’ve had it replaced several times but it continues to die even when I jump it repeatedly. This may be a known issue but the Subaru dealership’s tech refused to admit their car’s electrical system caused the issue and attempted to have me continue to drive with a dead battery, then have aaa replace the battery under the aaa warranty (even though Subaru’s car was at fault, not aaa’s battery), which was really disingenuous. At the dealership, I was told that if I chose to have Subaru replace the battery (as they should given it has a class action settlement and has an extended warranty) I “may never get paid” if I submitted a class action lawsuit claim. My car has died multiple times, inconveniencing me again and again, even at gas stations. The way Subaru is handling their electrical system error is not professional at all.

Check engine light, service emissions, dash lights blinking and loss of power!!! I was pulling out into a busy intersection and warning lights started to flash and I lost power to cylinder #2 (per the technician at van Subaru, he told me the alternator was sending bad info to the computer) and I was almost t-boned as I limped through the intersection.

Multiple occasions of vehicle cranking and not starting, or not cranking at all. Had original battery replaced at 35 months, and had new battery tested on 10/06/2022. The manufacturer mandated test showed the new battery was rated as a fail, not meeting industry standards for this battery type/configuration. Dealer confirmed that there is no known repair available, including a reflash of the engine control module (ecm). Subaru is involved in battery lawsuit, and will not work on any battery related issues without forcing owner to register in the class action and give up rights to getting problem fixed. These actions are forcing us to own vehicles that the manufacturer considers unrepairable and are guaranteed to fail to start due to battery issues.

The horn does not respond when pressing the button on the steering wheel. The only works if the steering wheel is turned. This is a hazard as the horn is needed to prevent a collision. I have had near miss collisions due to this failure.

I pulled into a parking space with a friend and as I turned the wheel to pull in and had the foot on the break, as soon as I let up on the brake the car lurched forward. Luckily, I slammed back on the brake since my foot has just come off it. This was very scary as I came close to ramming into the car parked in front of me. There is no way that I hit the gas and made it lurch like it did. The car is only a 4 cyl. Now I am scared to drive it. There were no warning lights at all. I have not taken the car in to the dealer as I suspect they will say there is nothing wrong and charge me for diagnostics. I saw there were 200 complaints about this, mostly with 2017 models, but there should be a recall. I had another problem where the power steering quit working after parking the car in the garage overnight. Again, no recall and when I called Subaru they said they could run diagnostics but if nothing is found, I have to pay. Nice racket they have going.

Our Subaru Forester is slow to respond on acceleration and then surges quickly. This problem just started to surface. Our concern is when stepping down on the accelerator the car is very slow to react and then surges forward quickly, creating a serious concern over a potential accident. On August 17, 2022 I was reversing up my driveway to the garage and as I depressed the accelerator the car failed to respond. I was reluctant to depress the pedal further over concern it might suddenly surge backward too fast. What was concerning is that the accelerator did not respond as normal. August 18th, I started the car, drove out of the garage and onto the street. When I stepped onto the accelerator the car showed no response, then suddenly without warning surged forward at high speed, catching me off guard. I stepped on the brake and the car immediately stopped. I carefully tried to drive forward, again the car surged forward. I drove back into the garage. Our neighbor’s nephew took it for a drive and experience the same unexpected surge of acceleration. It was towed to the Subaru dealership. The dealership has consistently maintained our Forester since purchased. I asked if the car had surged and the service advisor shared that the technician had noticed an irregularity in acceleration. However, diagnostic tests found nothing. The shop manager said he put almost 40 miles on it but found nothing. The service adviser called and suggested we come in and ride with the shop manager, which we did. He test drove it for a few miles and the acceleration appeared normal. He did say after the test drive that he sensed something irregular about the acceleration when leaving a stop sign. We asked they keep the car and test the car after sitting over the weekend. I asked service advisor and the shop manager if he had ever heard of a Subaru with this issue of being slow to respond on acceleration and then surging quickly. They both said they had never heard of this issue.

Battery dead from constantly parasitic drawing in less a week. Brand new interstate agm mtx-35 battery. Had to take out the battery nad charged in room because living in an old apartment building which does not have outlet to connect the charger. Very annoyed by this flaw. The Subaru of America should settle a recall to fix the problem.

The brake light bulbs keep burning out. As much as 1 per year the last four years.

The contact owns a 2016 Subaru Forester. The contact stated while driving at various speeds, the vehicle started jerking and hesitating while attempting to accelerate. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer and the transmission fluid was flushed; however, after retrieving the vehicle the failure persisted. The contact stated that several unknown warning messages were displayed. The vehicle was taken back to the dealer who diagnosed that the transmission was faulty and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not yet repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure but no assistance was offered. The failure mileage was 126,000.

Was backing up and car started excelling and the throttle stuck hitting 2 cars it was out of control I got it in drive and it took off forward running full throttle up over the pavers around a tree and ran up on the side of a BMW which was sitting on the side of the hostess paved driveway coming down the side of the car my car was on 2 wheels . Came off the BMW and slammed into a tree trunk which stopped it. I got out of my car in disbelief . It happened on private property and we did call the police. But since it happened on private property they did not come but told us to get each others info for insurance purposes.

Car will kill a new battery in less then 7 days.

While driving on highway using cruise control at 70 mph my car suddenly stalled …. I was able to get to apron of road , but my steering locked and I had no brakes. . I could put car into neutral but had to “jam” it into park , trying to get it to stop rolling . It would not restart . I had it towed to an auto repair center as there was no Subaru dealer in the area. Because I had kept trying to restart it , my battery was dead . They recharged my battery and the car then started . I took it to a Subaru dealer where I was told they could find nothing wrong …. Except I needed a new battery . This was not the reason that my car suddeney lost power ! it had happen once before while on the highway but I was able to restart it at that time . This could have caused a serious accident and I worry that it will happen again. I warning was indicated prior to episode . I have receipts from auto repair shop (in Lincoln, illinois) and Subaru dealer ( in columbia missouri).

I have had to replace the car's battery three times in under 3 years. The most recent battery lasted for under a year. I am attaching paperwork from last year. I just a battery replace this week as well but am awaiting the paperwork on that.

Parasitic drain after car left parked and locked for ~4 days. This has occurred since I purchased the car new in 2016. I have replaced the battery 4 times but it has not helped the issue. I am now forced to leave the car plugged in to a battery tender when parked.

The controller area network ("can") did not enter sleep mode when the car was turned off, resulting in a "parasitic battery drain. " I replaced 3 batteries over a period of 24 months of ownership, and just paid $1355 to have the manufacturer-installed computer chip replaced to stop the battery drain and properly shut off the vehicle. This is a safety issue for several reasons - not knowing when my battery would be dead when the vehicle was needed, living in northern mn and having a dead battery in cold and potentially life-threatening conditions, and living in a rural area without ready access to businesses or others when support or a battery jump was needed.

Had recall completed for Subaru Forester (wum-98) where dealer replaced ods sensor harness in 2020. At the end of 2021 had the srs light intermittently come on but would then go off for months( front passenger seat). This kept happening intermittently so I brought it to dealership and had it diagnosed in 2023. They suggested replacing the passenger seat ($1200 p&l). Dealer said no water damage to seat and cables looked good. Brought it to new dealership in 2024. They said it needed a new ods sensor harness and replaced it. Since this was replaced, I have not had the srs light come back on. This is a huge safety risk to front passenger riders. Disappointed that it needed to be replaced so soon after the recall was completed. I did open a case with soa and they offered goodwill assistance but said the recall warranty only lasted a year.

There was a short in the wiring harness, causing the car to loose power and stall.

The battery drains quickly compared to my husband's car. I had to get a new battery every other year. Subaru has known issues with the can system and it hasn't been addressed. This is dangerous as my car wouldn't start. I didn't feel safe. Other people have posted similar situtations online and those have to be corrected. I would rather not waste money on a battery every other year. My safety is more important of course. The electrical systems need to have a recall put in so this can be fixed without money coming out of my pocket as this is a wide-spread issue for Subaru.

At least a couple of times a week, the key gets stuck in the ignition. I can turn the car off, but I can't remove the key. If I start the car back up and shift it into drive, and then slam it back into park, after several tries, I can remove the key. I searched the Subaru forum and found this is a long-existing issue for all Subaru models with the key ignition. All with the stuck key issue here is the TSB 16-112-18r info https://static. Nhtsa. Gov/odi/tsbs/2018/mc-10153178-9999. Pdf and the p/n for the select lever (shifter) mechanism 3511al00c.