general problems of the 2020 Subaru Forester - part 2

Got warning p2a63 that the thermo control valve is shot around 63k miles. Apparently this is happening very often in Subaru's made between 2019 and 2022.

When I am idling at a stop sign or sitting in traffic and I have come to a full stop, the car's engine shuts down as a gas-saving feature. This is not the problem! the problem is that sometimes when this feature engages, when I lift my foot off the brake to start driving again, a shrill constant ringing sound starts and the engine won't power back on. There is an error message that comes on that says "eyesight disabled. " when this happens, none of these factors (the ringing, the error message, the dead engine) stop until I put the car in park and power it down completely, then restart the engine. Then none of the symptoms are there anymore and the car drives normally. I have not noticed any consistency about when this problem does or does not happen - it occurs in all weather types, temperatures, times of day, slopes/flat roads. I sometimes go months without it happening, and other times it happens twice in several days. The only consistent thing is that it only happens when the car is at a full stop and the engine has shuddered off to save gas. I live in chicago and almost exclusively drive short distances in the city, I hardly do any highway driving. This has happened maybe 20 times since I bought the car in February, 2023.

Check engine light came on, low temp light stays on, eyesight disabled, lane departure, emergency breaking, etc have all been disabled due to the issue. I took it to the local autobody shop and they found code p0128 | coolant thermostat issue. This has caused all safety features to become disabled as mentioned above. I was told by the local shop that I need to go to the dealership. I have not brought it to the dealership yet however, after looking online I found that this is a common issue with this make and model vehicle however, nothing has been done by Subaru to recall the component. I am going to bring the car to a dealership however, I'm upset that Subaru hasn't acted on the information that they have a faulty component in this vehicle. I am very concerned with cost of repairs since I am being forced to go to the dealer.

When the vehicle comes to a stop light or a stop in traffic and the engine turns off the vehicle will stall. It then leaves me sitting in traffic trying to restart my vehicle thus leaving me in an unsafe situation. This happens more often than not.

While driving, most of the dash errors lights lit up- alerting me that the eyesight warning, rab ( reverse auto braking) and other safety functions were disabled. The check engine light was on and a flashing s next to it. Cold engine light was illuminated as well. Dealer diagnosed with a faulty thermal control valve, which somehow disabled all safety features. This is a common failure of Subarus and a recall is needed.

The thermo control valve malfunctioned causing the check engine light to come on which shut down all the safety features in the vehicle including the front eye sight camera, blind spot warning, the rear automatic braking, lane departure warning, adaptive cruise control, and lane keeping assistance.

41k miles p26a3 p26a5 ****eyesight disabled*** ***forward collision disabled *** failed tcv and dealer will not cover because warranty period is over.

My vehicle has repeatedly required being jump-started after sitting for a period of time. Recently it has become a safety issue because the engine is designed to turn off at times in order to traffic to improve fuel efficiency. After research, Subaru has a known issue with the dcm system used to power the optional (subscription based) starlink system. This system uses 3g signals to provide emergency assistance; however 3g signal has been decommissioned and the system is unable to connect to a tower and never stops trying. This creates a parasitic drain on the battery that can (and has) prevents the car from being able to restart from a stopped position.

The thermo control valve malfunctioned causing the check engine light to come on which shut down all the safety features in the vehicle including the front eye sight camera, blind spot warning, the rear automatic braking, lane departure warning, adaptive cruise control, and lane keeping assistance. The check engine computer readout diagnostic trouble code was p26a5 "engine coolant bypass valve "a" position sensor circuit range/performance". The vehicle was taken to a Subaru dealer who found the thermo valve performance was out of spec. This vehicle has not been recalled although the manufacturer replaced the part in 2021 vehicles acknowledging the valve was faulty. Because of the mileage on my vehicle, it was not covered under the warranty although many have been replaced under the manufacturer's warranty due to the failure of this valve under the 60,000 mile warranty. I believe this should be a recall item for others who experience this issue.

Daughter was driving vehicle on the morning of September 15, 2023, when smoke came from under hood. Immediately pulled over and engine was engulfed in flames. Got out of vehicle and moved a safe distance away as glass started to break and fire department arrived on scene. Picked up vehicle on September 12, 2023, after having the thermal control valve replaced (warranty) but after doing research there are other components that also had to be replaced (fuel line, etc) as part of this repair. Noticed there have been other vehicles with recall due to thermal control valve just nothing on the Subaru Forester. Completely traumatized as the vehicle was gone in a little over 3 minutes. Have been in contact with Subaru but no resolution on what they believe caused the car to catch on fire. Did authorize them to get “black box” on September 29, 2023.

I’ve owned my Subaru Forester for over a year now. About 6 months ago while getting off an exit and at a light, when I went to accelerate my car died. All lights came off and no power to vehicle. I was able to restart and drive home. Called the dealer took it in and paid almost $2k for repairs. Today the same thing happened on the turnpike in stopped traffic. This could have been a bad accident.

The car dies when it stops for a traffic stop. Sometimes it starts again and and sometimes it does not. It does not do it when the air is on. People honk at you in traffic if you do not start right away. I thought there was a recall on Subarus for same which is why I never bought one. The vehicle has been inspected. It also unlocks itself sometimes after I lock it.

The contact owns a 2020 Subaru Forester. The contact stated that the auto start/stop feature was malfunctioning. The contact stated that upon coming to a complete stop, the engine turned off, but failed to restart after releasing the brake pedal. The message "engine disabled" was displayed. The contact depressed the brake pedal and pressed the push to start button and was able to continue driving. The contact stated that the failure had been recurring. The dealer was notified of the failure and advised the contact to manually deactivate the auto start-stop feature by pressing a button. The contact stated that she followed the dealer's instructions; however, the feature had been engaging independently and the failure had been recurring while at a complete stop. The vehicle was taken to the dealer to be diagnosed. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 39,000.

The contact owns a 2020 Subaru Forester. The contact stated that while driving approximately 70 mph, the accelerator pedal was depressed, and the vehicle started to lose motive power. The check engine warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was steered to the side of the road where the vehicle then stalled. The vehicle was restarted approximately 15 minutes later. The vehicle was towed to a dealer where it was diagnosed that the thermal control valve and electric water pump needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 13,000.

While driving on the highway, the engine suddenly stopped and several warning lights appeared on dash. Driver was able to coast to shoulder but could have been a bad accident. It happened again on the way to dealer service center. Dealer reproduced the problem and identified it as a faulty thermo control valve. Dealer fixed it under warranty. Review of web reports makes this seem like a common problem with various Subaru automobiles.

While driving on an interstate highway the engine suddenly lost power and various warning lights lit up on the dash, including brake, eyesight, rab. Managed to limp to the shoulder without getting hit and had the car towed to the dealer, who replaced the thermo control valve assembly under warranty.

Thermo control valve is bad. Ask Subaru to issue recall on 2019-2020 models.

Thermo control valve needed replaced. Check engine light and all safety lights turned on. All safety features were disabled when light came on. Subaru has has a recall on 2019 but not 2020 .

The thermo control valve on my 2020 Subaru Forester is broken and needs to be replaced. I have owned the car for 2 years, am the first owner, and it has less than 19,000 miles. 90 minutes into a drive the "coolant temp low" indicator light came on. After I pulled over, turned off the engine, and turned it back on the check engine light and sport mode indicator light came on, and all adas were disabled. The coolant level was low so I refilled it and took it to the manufacturer the next morning. They inspected my car and confirmed it the thermo control valve was broken. It is still broken as I cannot afford the repair and it is available for inspection upon request. My safety was put at risk by not having access to the adas forward collision warning, emergency breaking, and lane departure.

While driving the vehicle suddenly stalled and stopped running. The dashboard illuminated with most lights and the check engine message came on the screen. I was thankfully able to get into the shoulder on the road safely without creating an accident or getting injured. The vehicle would not start again and had to be towed to the dealership. I am now out $1800 because I am slightly over my powertrain warranty in mileage on the vehicle. This is a known issue in bulletin: https://static. Nhtsa. Gov/odi/tsbs/2022/mc-10208664-0001. Pdf I am not only disappointed with Subaru of America and NHTSA that this is not already a recall but I am also willing to seek legal action and compensation if this repair is not going to be covered. . Read more...

The contact owns a 2020 Subaru Forester. The contact stated while driving 35-38 mph in cold weather, the temperature gauge indicated that the vehicle temperature was cold. The check engine warning light was illuminated. Additionally, the forward collision avoidance system, the lane keep assist, the auto start/stop feature, the cruise control mode, and other unknown features no longer operable messages were displayed. Additionally, the vehicle shifted into sport (s) mode. The contact was able to drive to her residence. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, where it was diagnosed that the thermal control valve needed to be replaced. The contact stated that there was an inch-long slice like cut in the front passenger's seat. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure via mail. The failure mileage was approximately 47,000.

I was on the highway doing 70 mph with the adaptive cruise control set. Then suddenly the check engine light turned on, the eye site and cruise shut down and the car slowed down quickly to 60 mph almost getting rear ended. This Subaru Forester has 65,592 miles. The Subaru dealer said that the cooling therm valve is bad and needs to be replaced. This cooling therm valve seems to be a major part of the engine and they want $1500 to fix the problem.

Car stalls occasionally while stopped in traffic, at a signal, stop sign, and in heavy street or highway traffic. I have read about this, and it is problematic for this make and model, posing a significant safety hazard.

The check engine light illuminated and the thermo control valve failed at 3 years old. The defrost and heater stopped working immediately making visibility extremely difficult . The eyesight and automatic braking system were also disabled due to the tcv issue. My Forester mpg dropped to under 20 mpg. The Subaru dealer inspected and confirmed code p26a3 and stated the thermo control valve needs to be replaced.

The Subaru starlink system has no controls around transfer of ownership. I only discovered this after receiving a $150 charge 2 months after I traded in the car to a Subaru dealer. Even after trading in the car I was able to unlock, lock, start the car, and track the cars location. This represents a significant safety risk to the consumer and must be addressed immediately.

This is about a problem of which your agency is already aware. Subaru of America has been aware of a defective thermo control valve for almost a year (part 21319aa010). The part was redesigned since the initial part was subject to extreme corrosion. The redesigned part has the same part number as the original part. Subaru did not do any recall but instead waited for the parts to fail. When it fails on a car with safety features (called "eyesight"), each and every safety feature is permanently disabled until the redesigned part is installed. In addition, the engine runs too cool and there is little or no cabin heat. My car has been on the lot of my local dealership for 2 months with no end in sight. My car is covered by the original warranty and an extended warranty. Managers at the dealership have told me that they have no idea when the part will arrive, that it may be many months and that there are many people already waiting for the part. A 6-page letter by me to the general counsel of Subaru of America did not result in any direct response. By information and belief, this involves thousands of cars nationwide. By information and belief, dealerships are initially telling people the cars are still drivable despite the loss of all safety features since this what was initially told to me. I refused to accept the car in a defective unsafe condition. There may be thousands of cars being driven in which said safety features are fully disabled. Subaru claims the part has been on "back order" since March. By information and belief, based upon Subaru's own February 2022 service bulletin, it appears that the newly designed part is currently being installed on new cars at the factory thereby putting into question the "backorder" label. This analysis was enunciated in detail in my letter to Subaru of America's general counsel and there was no response contesting that allegation. Your agency's investigation and intervention are immediately required.

The contact owns a 2020 Subaru Forester. The contact stated while driving at approximately 30 mph the check engine light was illuminated. The contact stated that the check engine light had begun staying illuminated every time she started the vehicle and placed it into drive (d) or reverse (r). The contact stated that the vehicle engine temperature gauge stays in the "cold" side even after she had driven the vehicle for about 30 minutes. The contact stated that her heater no longer works and only blows cold air. The contact had taken the vehicle to a local dealer where it was diagnosed and determined that the thermostat coolant valve needed to be replaced. The contact was advised that the part needed to make the repair was on national back order. The vehicle had not been repaired. The manufacturer had been informed of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 65,000.

There are various lights on on the dash of the vehicle when nothing is seemingly inherently wrong with the vehicle. I notified the dealership about this issue, the dealership claimed that special parts were ordered but I still have not been notifed of their arrival. This puts my safety at risk due to the fact that I am not sure wether the car actually has an issue, or if it is a mere malfunction. The vechicle is now shaking.

At the time,time, car was not fully 2 years old. . Its brand new. This is an addition to a post created a week ago. After the dealership offered to detail the interior of the car to solve the sulferic acid feeling I noticed that the flap above the driving wheel started to feel warm. This happened right in the morning in February. I'm not sure if I am feeling an electrical voltage, smelling the exhaust or there's still sulferic acid in the car. Every once in awhile I my hair smells like oil. . Whatever it is it makes your head feel heavy. My toddler feels something because during a drive he will say " hot". This puts our safety at risk if we are smelling the exhaust or feeling voltage while driving in the car. Sometimes it smells like fuel I the trunk of the car or acidic.

Engine shuts off when coasting into a turn when car is moving at less than 5mph. Causes loss of steering. Will restart if gas pedal is pumped. Dealer can find no problem. Does not happen predictably and can not always be replicated. Very dangerous.

The fuel saving stop/go feature is unsafe. It stops engine at signal lights and during stop and go traffic. When it restarts the engine shakes and hesitates to go when signal lights changes. This model doesn't allow the owner to permanent disable this function as in other models. It will cause lots rear - end related or other serious accidents on high speed roadways and freeways as this function continues.

At one year old this vehicle was involved in a frontal collision with a deer and immediately upon impact burst into flames. The fire breached the firewall between the engine compartment and passenger compartment within less then a minute. Within 2 minutes the engine compartment and front seat area was completely engulfed in flames and within 3 minutes the entire vehicle was engulfed. It appears the fire started as the fuel shut-off system that is supposed to stop the fuel from flowing once the airbags are deployed failed. This put the occupants of this vehicle and any others had this been a collision with another vehicle in extreme danger of serious injury if not even death. Had the driver been incapacitated, not been able to open the door or had a child to remove from a car seat there would have been certain death due to the extremely rapid spread of the fire throughout the entire vehicle. This has been reported to Subaru of America. The vehicle is currently being inspected by the insurance carrier. There were no prior warnings that there were any concerns with the safety features of this vehicle. It was just serviced by the dealer one month prior to the accident. In reviewing other complaints on the NHTSA website there is a complaint of a 2019 Subaru Forester that experienced this same complete and total destruction due to a fire erupting upon impact in what should have been a minor frontal collision.

When climbing shallow hills, car will buck and surge. Engine rpm seemed to stay constant. The transmission seemed to be unable to decide on which gear it should be in. No accident occurred, but surging made the car's performance unpredictable in traffic. Reported to dealer, who noted that this has happened to other cars in the past.

I was in a parking lot at the time driving very slowly to pick a spot. When I went to turn right into the spot my car accelerated at an alarming speed. I had not control over it as it kept turning. It hit the car parked in front of my space pushing it and went on to hit the car parked to the right damaging both the front left and right sides of my vehicle and the 2 parked cars before coming to a stop. Fortunately it was 9am and not very crowded, there were no passengers in both vehicles and no one walking in between or by the cars which could have been tragic. I was wearing a seatbelt. The police were called and completed a report. The Subaru dealership was called and Subaru of America was called. The car was inspected by a bosch. -eaa representative for Subaru on 8/4/2021. I have not heard back from Subaru so far although I was told it could take several weeks. There were no warning lights prior to the incident but afterwards there were several warning lights on. A few months before I got into my car and the radio was blaring and constantly switching channels and I was not able to turn the radio off. When I got home and turned off the car and turned the ignition back on 30 minutes later it had stopped. We notified the incident to Subaru at the next oil change. I immediately notified ussa car insurance and filed a claim. I have not had the damages assessed for repair because I have to wait for the inspection results from Subaru. I felt it was important to document this incident in case other 2020 Forester owners have experienced the same thing. Frightening.

I tried to unlock my car but the remote didnt work- I had to use the blank key inside the remote to get in the car. I couldn't start the car- my husband tried to jump it- that did not work- I called aaa they tried jumping it - that didnt work-- aaa told me the battery was good but totally out of charge 0%-- I called the Subaru salesman I bought the car from & he walked me thru alot of steps & we couldn't find anything wrong besides the battery!! he told me to have my husband try to give me a jump again & after 4 hours the car turned over! what caused it????? no idea??? the next day (7/5/21) I took it to an auto parts store & they tested it out- alternator-perfect--- battery @ 550 with the max 620--- today I read an article about Subaru batteries failing! well mine did for no apparent reason--- maybe they should all be recalled!! I missed my 1st day of vacation due to this!!.