Table 1 shows one common steering related problems of the 2022 Subaru Forester.
| Problem Category | Number of Problems |
|---|---|
| Steering problems |
My 2022 Subaru Forester sport, <24,640 miles, suffers from persistent, life-threatening safety failures. Thick white exhaust is present in every temperature, and a heavy burning smell fills the cabin during acceleration regardless of outside temperature. I have been dealing with these failures since March/April of 2023. My car was in a rear-end collision in may 2023 and was repaired at an authorized Subaru body shop. Despite these authorized repairs, the mechanical and electronic failures have continued to deteriorate. My car has required 4 emergency tows and was out of service for around 90 days in 2025 alone. It has been to several independent mechanics and they tell me that since everything happens intermittently, I must take it back to Subaru as it should be covered under warranty due to the low mileage. However, four different authorized dealerships consistently claim "nothing is wrong". My car sits at these dealerships for weeks at a time without a significant change in the odometer. I had 2 claims with Subaru of America this year, including a claim for the vehicle randomly unlocking itself (not via remote), but they closed both claims and nothing was done. Ongoing failures in steering, suspension and braking systems make the vehicle unstable and dangerous to drive. I have a 2-inch thick file documenting repeated service visits for these specific issues yet Subaru refuses to acknowledge or repair them. The primary computer system, media system, and eyesight (adas) safety suite fail daily. The dashboard lights up constantly when these safety features fail. The system frequently freezes and resets while driving, which disables all safety and navigation features without warning. The remote start fails to warm the car after 10 minutes in cold weather; once the heat functions, the car is filled with chemical fumes. All of these issues continue to get worse as time goes on.
Incident on highway 80 on may 30, 2020. Entered highway 80 (east) from donner sumit roadside rest, accelerated in the slow land and passed a truck and accelerated in the fast lane to 65-70 mph. Began feeling a severe/violent shaking of the steering wheel, a couple of inches or so, side to side. Pulled over and steering wheel was still shaking and brought the vehicle to a full stop. Shaking stopped. Inspected wheels for looseness and nothing appeared abnormal. Lane keeping system was not engaged at the time. Could be new automatic emergency steering but activated falsely. Felt very unsafe and had to hold steering wheel tight to retain control took vehicle to dealer who could not find anything wrong with car, no codes in diagnostic. No warning lamps or messages appeared.