general problems of the 2017 Subaru Forester

When I pulled into a parking spot in a parking lot, the car seemed to go faster than I intended. I swiped a car next to me, which to me as it was not a tight space. I immediately, turned off the engine and dealt with the passenger of the other vehicle, exchanging information. After sometime, I got back in my car to move it to another location. As soon as the motor was running in reverse, in began to accelerate making a loud roaring noise. I stepped on the brakes, meanwhile going in reverse at an accelerating speed, trying to keep away from cars parked on either side. I also pulled up the emergency brake. At the end of the row, I felt I could move forward without hitting many cars and hoping that in doing so, it would now slow down. It did not. At that point, I thought the only way to stop it, was going to be hitting something. (I did not want to go out of the parking lot into traffic). I aimed for a small tree, not realizing that there was a high curb surrounding it. The car hit the curb and flew over it, missing the tree, blowing out a rear tire, and hitting another parked car. That car slid into another car causing a chain reaction with still another car. There were 6 cars that were damaged in all. My insurance company is involved, but I do have a cap on how much liability I can pay.

On three separate occasions, my Forester has stalled while driving. The engine loses power, and pressing the accelerator increases the rpms sporadically. We have had to coast to the side of the road. Then, when we try to restart it, it turns over but never actually starts. After a couple of tries, it eventually will start and run normally again. Because this happens while driving at highway speeds, it is a safety issue. The problem happens rarely, but is dangerous when it happens. There are no warning lights or indication of what went wrong and mechanics do not find an issue, as it hasn’t happened while they were driving.

On July 31,2023, approximately 8pm, I was driving my 2017 Subaru slowly as I made the 90degree turn into my driveway. Midway up the driveway, the car suddenly —on its own—spontaneously accelerated , burst through the half open garage door, across the garage, and crashed through the garage wall into my family room—bulldozing through two sheets of plywood and large pieces of firewood in the garage, and then destroying heavy antique furniture in the family room before coming to rest. The jagged remains of the wall prevented opening either the passenger or the driver’s side door. My adult son, gregory, was my passenger in the front seat. He climbed to the back, but the hatch has no handle on the inside, so we were trapped in the car. I called 911. Police and fire departments arrived. Miraculously, we were not hurt, but had anyone been in the family room at the time, they would have been seriously injured or killed. I made an insurance claim with allstate insurance company the next morning. They determined that the car is "repairable" but will not pay for it to be examined and repaired at a Subaru dealership or Subaru certified body shop . They tell me I have to use at shop in their "preferred network" and pay the extra cost that a Subaru facility would charge. A non-Subaru affiliated mechanic theorized that it was a computer problem that caused the malfunction. Doing a "google" search, I find that hundreds of drivers have had this sudden, unexpected acceleration problem,(Subaru Forester years 20120-2018) but that Subaru dealerships are unable to discover the cause. There have also been two "class action" lawsuitsi I called groove Subaru dealership,(5300 s. Broadway, englewood, CO, 80113, and the service department man that I spoke with seemed not at all concerned about the spontaneous acceleration issue, and casually recommended a body shop. The unknown cause needs to be found before someone is killed !!! please help.

Forester in known for chronic exhaust leak into cabin through ac vents. Reported this to dealership and they "could not find the problem. " cabin of vehicle smells heavily of exhaust. Driver gets headache from smell/gas while driving. Internet forums show this is a common unaddressed issue by dealerships. Car is a 2017 and should not be leaking exhaust into the cabin.

2017 Subaru Forester- I had arrived to work and stopped at parking spot. Before I could put car in park position. . I heard a car high pitch revving sound. The car throttles forward and hit a building. Now I’m scared of the car.

Front windshield has developed two linear cracks spontaneously, one small one 5 cm long, the other across the driver's side windshield about 50 cm. This appears to have occurred spontaneously, there was no debris, etc, first noted while vehicle was in garage. There are no stellate markings, etc.

I was driving on the high way for about 2 hours, 70 mph, gas was at about 1/8 full, but low gas light on. The gear shifter remained in d and the indicator on the dash said d. The engine revved as if it were in neutral and would not provide power to the wheels. The check engine, traction control, and cruise control lights came on, along with possibly others. The car began to slow since it was just revving in what appeared to be neutral while the gas pedal was pressed. Eventually I made it to the shoulder. I turned the car off for about 15 seconds then started it again. It struggled to start for a moment like the battery was low or it was cold outside, but still started on the first try. I shifted into d and began to move on the shoulder, but when the car when over about 10 or 15 mph, it would rev and not provide power to the wheels. I had the car towed to the dealer where they added gas, test drove it, said there was nothing wrong, and nothing that they could do.

On three separate occasions thus far, while driving approximately 70 mph on interstate 93 in massachusetts and new hampshire, my 2017 Subaru Forester touring (with 21k miles) lost power and completely shutdown. All three times, I was luckily able to steer the vehicle to safety while avoiding other motor vehicles and neither myself, my passengers nor anyone else around us was hurt. When the vehicle decides to shutdown, it feels like the car drops itself into neutral, the rpms shoot up to about 4500-5000 and all of the lights on the dashboard light up. There is about a five second window to steer the vehicle to safety from when you first detect that the issue is occurring. After waiting for about 45 minutes after the incident, I am able to start the car back up and drive it. This is a serious safety concern of mine (and it is terrifying when it happens) and I have already contacted Subaru of America asking for a solution. I am now currently only using the car on short trips and if I have to get on the highway, I stick to the right lane and do not go over 60 mph.

Engine low level oil light came on a few times when I drove up my driveway or over a few inches of snow. Manually inspected oil levels the first few times and restarted engine. The warning light would go away. Warning light never came on when driving on a flat surface and always went away when parked on flat surface and restarted vehicle. There was no loud engine sound, knocking sound or smoke. Page 3-19 of the owners manual stated that the warning light might illuminate temporarily when driving on inclined surface. One day 15 minutes into my commute on a freeway I heard a rattling noise and then heard server knocking , smoke and then the whole engine caught fire. The entire vehicle then caught fire in a few minutes. I have talked to Subaru and formally filed a complaint. Insurance has determined it is a manufacturing issue.