general problems of the 2016 Subaru Forester - part 2

Battery drains quickly and car dies, even after replacing with a brand new battery.

In March 2020, I took my 2016 Subaru Forester to the dealership to fix the issues associated with the Subaru safety recall wum-98 / NHTSA recall 19v-701 (unstable electrical connections causing issues with the occupant detection system in determining the correct status of the right front seat occupant, which would prevent the front passenger-side airbag from deploying in the event of a crash). Service was performed and the ods harness was replaced. In August of 2021, I took my Forester back into the Subaru dealership (where previous service was performed) because the “airbag warning” light and the “passenger airbag off” indicator began to illuminate, however this occurred somewhat inconsistently. Sometimes both warning lights illuminate when someone sits in the front passenger seat, sometimes they do not illuminate at all and everything seems fine. Other times, the lights illuminate when no one is sitting in the front passenger seat. Additionally, sometimes the seatbelt alarm sounds when no one is sitting in the front passenger seat. However, this is also inconsistent. In August 2021, the Subaru dealership told me that the issue is likely caused by water damage (a spill) on the front passenger seat that has caused the sensors within the seat to malfunction. I told them that I did not recall spilling any liquids on the front passenger seat. Now the dealership is telling me to replace the passenger seat bottom assembly sensor for $1,211 usd.

The ignition key has started getting stuck in the ignition after turning the motor off. It takes several tries, involving turning the motor back on and pulling the key out as I’m turning the motor off and pushing the stick back into park really hard per Subaru. . . . Subaru has acknowledged it’s a faulty part and lots of complaints online. . . They even did a tech bulletin # 16-112-18r but say its a customers problem. . . .

Per Subaru's TSB 16-112-18r, it appears that my 2016 Subaru Forester xt is experiencing a failing park-range switch. Starting around July 26, 2021, I started having issues trying to take the key out while in park. It started as intermittent but slowly has grown to where I having issues almost everyday now. Currently, there is not an official recall but there really should be given the number of folks I have read on internet forums having this occur from all makes, models, and years of Subaru vehicles. The unofficial workarounds present a safety hazard because the workaround disables the safety mechanism for the ignition key.

Key stuck in switch when car is put into park. Steering locks up and then can not restart or remove key. This happens almost daily at this point.

Car turns itself off soon after starting when you try and put it into gear. Even after a tune up the car just stalls out when starting or low idle while sitting at light.

The battery drains quickly if the engine is not running and the key remains in the ignition even for a short period of time. From what I can tell even if you shut off the car completely, you cannot leave the key in the ignition or something is still drawing power. You must physically remove the key from the ignition. The issue stranded my family on two separate occasions requiring a jump start. Once was late at night in a secluded area, the other in a parking lot. We have two other cars from different makes and have not had this issue. In one case the car was off in a parking lot with my wife waiting for 15 minutes. In the other my daughter was listening to the radio while parked for less than 10 minutes. This Forester has the stock radio with no after market mods. The Forester drives great and feels very safe in all other respects. We truly love the car. But I have to make sure that we do not park the car and leave the key in the ignition or the battery will die. I asked my mechanic to check the battery, but he said that the battery itself tested fine. Seems like this problem has been reported elsewhere. Thanks.

Battery seems to drain for no reason very frequently.

The backup camera and reverse taillights stopped functioning soon after I bought this vehicle in 2020. I am the 2nd owner and bought it from peterson Toyota dealership in boise, id. There was no particular incident, I just noticed that the backup camera no longer showed an image when putting the car into reverse. I later found out while getting an oil change that the reverse taillights were not functioning either. It is available for inspection, and I have taken it to 2 Subaru dealerships who assessed it and said they couldn't find any specific issue. They confirmed the problem however. It has not been assessed by insurance representatives or police. There was no warning lamp or indication that my reverse lights were not working, other than realizing why no one was letting me out of parking spots. I have tried both replacing the bulbs and replacing the fuses for these systems, with no change. Upon researching, I found an identical problem occuring in Subaru wrx's manufactured between 2015-2021 that is listed under recall 22v522000. I would like to get this fixed as soon as possible and would like to see if it is possible to extend the existing recall to include my vehicle?.

Battery drain requiring multiple jump starts and battery replacement.

Key often will not rotate to the lock position so the key may be removed after vehicle iis stopped. The transmission is set for park and the parking brake is also set at the time. This happens regularly now and has been for over a month. At times, I've been successful when rotating the key to start and turn off the engine several times, but results are not consistant.

Unidentified problem in the electrical system is causing the second battery to drain in my Subaru Forester. The battery was replaced January 02, 2021 after it went dead on the parking lot but I had to jump start the car three times in one month after that. Subaru certified technician can not identify the issue. The battery check shows battery is fine.

Car’s battery/ electrical system seems to drain car battery excessively. Even with a new battery, car battery dies if car isn’t run at least every 2 or 3 days, meaning I can’t rely on car if I take a trip of any length and leave the car behind. There’s a risk of being stranded. Car is 6 years old, and already has had 4 batteries. Im concerned about being stranded.

My 2016 Forester will accelerates with no warning . The very first time it happened I cannot remember exact date , I would guess it was around oct. Or Nov. Of 2015. I bought the car may 2015. To the best of my recollection, I was parking space car and as I put the car in park the car lunged forward , barely missed hitting the fence in front of me. At that time I blamed ugg boots . Never wore them again. The second time do not remember when but it had to be sometime after March 2017 because I had was purchased a puppy and went to petco and I was in that parking lot when it happened. I was pulling out of a parking space and as I put car in it jetted backward with such force and I hit a cement pole that was directly behind me . The pole was designated for a handicapped space . And car . Luckily there were no pedestrians there or I could have hurt or killed them. No damage to car . I didn't know what happen. I checked mats to make sure they were not under gas because I've heard that could happen but no all was good . Going forward just kept watch and see if it happens again cause then I would know there is a problem with the car. One, two, three times, no definitely something wrong with car. The most recent sept. 8, 2020, I was on side street stopped at light. Took foot off brake to inch up to make turn all of sudden car lunged forward to intersection I quickly made turn. Luckily avoiding accident. When I took car in to be checked was told by representative at the dealership she never heard of such a thing. When this happens it's usually due to human error and they're not aware of any acceleration issues with their cars. She then preceded to ask if I had air conditioner on when this happened. I said I don't remember but I'm assuming I did. Left car to be checked. R dealership said the mechanic drove car for 3 mile , could not duplicate my complaint.

After parked the 2016 Subaru Forester, the key was stuck and could not be pulled out of the key cylinder. It happened every other days.

When turning off the car, the key will not completely turn counterclockwise but will get stuck at about 2/3 of the way towards off (near the "acc" point). Cannot take the key out. The only way to get it to release is to start the engine again. Sometimes several times are needed. This is an intermittent problem but is happening more frequently and could be a safety issue if there is a need to leave the vehicle quickly or secure the vehicle in a public parking area. Leaving the car with the battery engaged and the key stuck is not an option. The car is completely stopped, in park, and I am ready to turn the engine off. The problem has been occurring for approximately a month (started in Aug 2020) and initially I thought I was not putting it in park, or the steering wheel had turned or some other issue I could correct. Since it is intermittent, I thought it might go away. Unfortunately it is happening more frequently and is disconcerting.

The key will not come out of the ignition after car has been driven and car is parked. The first time was Saturday,August 1. Since then, it has been happening about once every other day for five days. Now it is happening at least once every day.

While the vehicle is stationary, the key gets stuck in the ignition when attempting to turn the car off. The motor shuts down, but the key will not turn completely to the removal location. I often have to turn the vehicle on and then quickly off in order to get the key to remove from the ignition. Sometimes putting the vehicle back into gear (reverse or drive) before returning the transmission to park is also required. Several attempts may be necessary before successfully removing the key from the ignition. This problem started suddenly in the last month and occurs at least 50% of the time when the vehicle is used.

Please recall the 2016 Subaru Forester for failure of the accelerator at high speeds. Our 21-year-old daughter, a nursing student, took her 2016 Forester into grayson Subaru in knoxville, TN for a recall service on rear coil springs, oil change and tire rotation. Within an hour of leaving the service department she was driving 70 mph on the interstate when her "low fuel" warning light came on. According to the Subaru, that means 2. 6 gallons of gas remain. Assuming 20 mpg, that means she could drive approximately 52 miles before running out of gas. Within a minute of the low fuel light coming on, the accelerator failed to work and all the warning lights came on the dash. While traveling at 70 mph on the interstate, she had to cross 3 lanes of traffic to pull over on the shoulder. Very shaken and crying, she called grayson Subaru and they sent a tow truck. After steve kachelrie of grayson's service department assessed the car, he concluded, "your daughter just ran out of gas. There is nothing we can do other than put gas in the tank. " when I told him that the gas meter said she had 50 miles of driving to go before empty, he dismissed it and repeated that she "just ran out of gas. " I researched the 2016 Subaru Forester on NHTSA. Gov and found 20 reports of identical incidents of the car showing 50-70 miles to go before empty and the accelerator completely failing at high speeds on the interstate and all warning lights lighting up. When I told grayson service that was an unacceptable response, they referred me to the owner of the dealership, walter grayson. He agreed to fulfill Subaru's guarantee to pay us the trade-in value of the car, $14,800. The dealership sent us a check for the 2016 Subaru Forester and we purchased a new Toyota.

Ignition key will not disengage after the vehicle is parked and the engine turned off; vehicle has a cvt transmission.

The battery died on several occasions. I had to purchase a portable jump starter to keep in the vehicle for times that the vehicle would not start. I had the battery replaced by the dealer, but the same issue happened again. In the winter of 2020 I ended up purchasing an after market agm (advanced glass mat) battery for the vehicle.

The battery in my car continually dies. It all started about 2 years ago, we replaced the battery, but I have to charge it frequently. The car never dies while I’m driving it, but sometimes I will come to start my car and it won’t start. This happens about 1-2 times a month.

The battery drains when the car is turned off without anything electrical being on, possibly a parasitic battery. Have taken the car to dealership multiple time and they said the battery itself was fine.

The key will not come out of the ignition when the car is stopped and in "park," intermittently. I need to restart the car, readjust the shifter out and then back into "park," until the vehicle senses that I am actually in "park" and allows me to remove the key.

Since my driving has cut down drastically since Nov 2019 right before the pandemic, I have been plagued with my battery draining quite quickly. This happens when the car is not driving regularly, sometimes within a week and a half. I have to put the battery on a tender as well. This even occurred after getting the battery replaced at Subaru, and the problem coming back nearly immediately.

Unable to remove key from ignition after car is turned off. Requires several attempts of jiggling the transmission shifter to finally free the key. Vehicle is off and not moving when this occurs. A quick bit of research indicates that this is problem is occurring on all Subaru models not just the Forester. Subaru service bulletin 16-112-18r addresses this issue. Only 40k miles my vehicle, out of warranty repair is over 500 dollars. I don't see how this is not a recall if it happening on all Subaru models, an obvious defect here.

The contact owns a 2016 Subaru Forester. The contact states that his vehicle is not safe to be on the road ,the contact stated that his lights on his vehicle are not properly working. The vehicle has been to 3 different dealers for repair and the problem is still occurring . The contact stated the engine stops on its own without any notification.

Battery constantly fails after a few days of driving. Even after battery has been replaced with new, the problem continues to occur. Car does not start and it needs to be constantly jump started. The problem first started happening in 2019. Just discovered there was a lawsuit related to this issue, but I did not receive any type of notification about it.

Airbag sensor for front passenger seat is defective. Srs warning light remains on most of the time that the car is running. Lights indicate airbag is off even with passenger in seat. Dealer has checked computer; told me that I may have caused damage to the sensor, usually with water. Seat has never been wet nor have we done anything that could damage the sensor. Google search brings up numerous cases of same issue, indicating a possible widespread problem. I am advocating for a recall to repair this defect.

Intermittent ignition issue will not always release key when auto is turned off. The position of the steering wheel seems to affect it. Does not allow rotation to the release key position. Sometimes I have to turn auto back on, back out, and pull in with wheels and steering wheel in perfect straight alignment, which seems to allow me to turn key to release key position.

The airbag sensor in the front passenger seat randomly goes off when there's a passenger in the car or not. The seat belt alarm for the passenger side goes off without a passenger in the car. Airbag sensor says "off" with a passenger in the car. This is very unsafe, as I do not know if that airbag is truly functional, and also an annoyance, as the seatbelt alarm dings while I'm driving.

The rear hatch door has opened three times without my doing anything to open it. . Each time I have found the door up after the car had been parked overnight in my carport. I live alone and no one else has access to the electronic controls.

Tl the contact owns a 2016 Subaru Forester. The contact stated that a red warning indicator icon flashed intermittently inside the vehicle. The contact drove to Subaru of rochester (4840 maine Ave se, rochester, minnesota 55904, (507) 285-4777) and was informed that the occupant detection system sensor failed. The contact was provided a cost estimate for repairs. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The failure mileage was 55,000.

My vehicle alarm system came on unexpectedly toward the end of a day-long drive, with the engine light, hill assist, eyesight, and other dash warning lights all illuminated. The problem disabled the eyesight system, which is a safety issue in clear weather when a driver expects it to work. The remainder of the drive was unnerving, late on a Thursday night, on a highway in the middle of nowhere, when nothing was open. Turns out this problem is all over the internet. It deserves a recall!.

Key stuck in ignition carmust be left unlocked with key in it when parked - this creates a safety problem because car can be stolen or intruder can come into car. Dealer acknowledged it is a known problem and had a revised part 35122fj033 to fix the problem. Despite being a known design defect with safety implications there is no recall and the consumer must pay the $400 for the repair.