Electrical System Problems of Subaru Forester - part 1

Two incidents happened first battery died, we replaced the battery. Then battery died again, we replaced the alternator on June 5, 2025. Then on Saturday September 13, 2025; all system lights came on at once on the dashboard then the battery died again. Car locks up and is stalled out. Cannot restart car, has to be towed. We replaced the battery cable and cleaned the terminals. Three months later, December 1, 2025; the battery light came on then all system lights came on at once, the battery died again. This happened on interstate 95, it could easily have caused a crash. Car locks up again and is stalled out again. Cannot restart car again, has to be towed again. Something in the electrical is causing this, we do not know what.

See all problems of the 2017 Subaru Forester 🔎.

Subaru Forester 2019 January - February of 2025: issue initially presented as the hatch beeping, indicating that it was not closing fully. The hatch would not pop back up as if something was in the way, just remain down & continue beeping. The car would then not start, with only the hatch beeping noise (beep beep beep) going off. When I drove it, it kept warning me that the hatch wasn't shut completely. After I parked it in the garage, the next morning it would be dead. The issue was supposedly resolved in February of 2025 as I replaced the battery on my own and replaced this part: 29182aa060. Schomp subuaru reported no issues with their diagnostic tests. November 30th - December 2025: I started the car just fine. When I opened the trunk and closed it, it gave me three beeps and wouldn't fully close, even if I pushed it shut and locked it. The next morning, the car would not start - the battery was dead. The tow company also could not jump start the car. As the car was being towed, the hatch alert was the only thing working/beeping. Even when not trying to use the hatch. I have used the car every single day up until this issue started. I have not left the keys in the car. The car is now back at the dealership. The unreliability of this can/has left me and my passengers stranded and cold. The dealership found no issue the last time this occurred even though there was a class action lawsuit about this exact issue, but somehow my car was not considered included. I cannot have Subaru tell me that there is no issue again.

See all problems of the 2019 Subaru Forester 🔎.

On 5/15/2024 and 5/21/2024 I had sudden uninteded acceleration. I had a auto shop try to solve the problem by replacing the air fuel ratio sensor and the mass air flow sensor. This seem to fix the issue until 11/27/2025 & 12/7/2025 when the sudden uninteded acceleration returned.

See all problems of the 2014 Subaru Forester 🔎.

I have reported this before but it never went anywhere. When at a red light or in a traffic slowdown, the car will activate the auto start/stop system. Three times in the past 2 days, the car would not turn back on and required me to turn the car off and back on again. You can imagine that this leaves me in a dangerous situation because the cars behind me see a green light and get ready to move, or they see traffic clearing up and they get ready to move. I am forced to turn my car off and back on again in the middle of a 4 lane highway or on a busy city street. I get cursed at and nearly rear ended each time this happens. I did an internet search and there are entire threads dedicated to this exact problem with this Subaru model and year. There should be a recall. It is very unsafe.

Passenger airbag safety intermittently turns on stating that the passenger airbag is not able to deploy. If I turn the car off and on it goes away and doesn't turn until another time I start the car. Also detects a passenger in the seat when there is no passenger or weight in that seat. Overall some sort of issue with the airbag safety system in the front passenger seat. I will state no liquids have been spilled on the seat.

The defect presents itself when the equipped data communications module (dcm) attempts to communicate with 3g cellular networks. As 3g networks within the u. S. Are no longer functioning, the call will continuously fail even after the vehicle has been turned off, draining the battery and resulting in a no-start safety risk for drivers. [xxx] information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u. S. C. 552(b)(6).

See all problems of the 2018 Subaru Forester 🔎.

My Subaru has an auto start/stop. I was at a complete stop, making a left-hand turn, and my car completely shuts off with the following message: for safety, auto restart disabled; eyesight with a \ through the words, put car in park and restart vehicle. In the time it took me to put the car in park and restart, I was almost t-bone. This was terrifying. This had happened on previous occasion in stop and go traffic which is dangerous because my car has come to a complete stop without any warning to me where the driver behind me there are no warning symbols, warning lights, or any type of signal or symptoms to notify me that my car was going to stop completely. . Typically I remove my foot from the break, the car starts and then I put my foot on the gas pedal and the car moves forward. In the situations described above the car just stopped. It just flat out stopped. There’s never been any indication or signal to indicate the car is not going to restart the retailer replaced my battery and said it should help. I called the Subaru factory rep who was of no help. She said she is not a trained technician and all that she could offer to do was to contact the retailer. The dealer was not able to reproduce the problem. The retailer replaced the battery without any response about the safety issue. I asked if Subaru had a safety board I could report this too and the factory rep said no, but she will document it and they’ll do an internal review to see if we have any other similar issues reported, however, they will not contact me because they don’t talk to the public about these issues. I told her there are hundreds of these if not, thousands concerns online stating the same issue. The rep said she would document my concern. Documentation is good if there’s a fix but I’m concerned about the unnecessary death of a driver. The retailer also advised I could do the auto start override, I’m trying to make a point of how serious of a safety issue this problem can be. Thank you!.

See all problems of the 2021 Subaru Forester 🔎.

Previous recall for passenger ods. Having continued issues with passenger airbag ods not recognizing someone sitting there. Intermittently turns on and off even if no one is sitting there. Took it to a dealer and they want me to pay out of pocket for diagnostic and possible parts. Very high concern for even allowing someone to sit in the car (even my pregnant wife) in the case there was ever an accident.

While driving on public roads, all dash warning lights illuminated simultaneously. The instrument cluster displayed “eyesight off. ” at the same time, the electronic parking brake engaged / the vehicle would not accelerate and required me to stop and shift to park. The only way to restore drivability was to turn the vehicle off and restart. This has occurred intermittently, including in traffic, creating a serious safety hazard for myself and surrounding drivers.

See all problems of the 2020 Subaru Forester 🔎.

The vehicle has experienced four separate engine shutdowns while stopped in traffic. Each time, the engine turned off unexpectedly, requiring a manual restart. One incident occurred near a railroad crossing with my child in the car. The vehicle also lurches forward at low speeds and hesitates when accelerating after being stopped. These issues persist despite service visits. I believe they may relate to technical service bulletins regarding the auto start/stop and battery systems (tsbs #16-147-24, #10232217, #07-218-23r, #10251098). Subaru service staff have acknowledged awareness of these problems. I’m submitting this complaint to ensure the safety risk is documented and investigated.

Traveling at approximately 45 mph through a green light at a 4-way intersection a car making a right on red turn turned into the outside lane in front of me. I had no warning sounds or automatic braking, to avoid a collision I had to steer to the left after an on coming car passed. There were no chimes or auto braking. I have had several instances similar with no alerts. My eyesight system has been problematic for the life of the car and required many diagnosis and recalibration with many trips to the dealership and no permanent repair. Frequent software updates and days with no eyesight -see manual. Finally had a total eyesight replacement with the assurance this was a long awaited technology all under 60,000 miles. A few months later eyesight malfunctioned again and required another update. Eyesight still remains unresponsive and goes in and out a couple of times a day. The technology is defective and unreliable. Subaru has provided no lasting fix.

See all problems of the 2023 Subaru Forester 🔎.

Car frequently dies and won't want to start. Have changed the battery already. Will come to a stop and it will just randomly shut down. Have had to shift to park and restart the car. This is unsafe.

2020 Subaru Forester periodically will stall out at a light or stop sign in heavy traffic. It then takes several attempts to restart. (sometimes completely dead) my mechanic hasi changed the battery and checked the alternator, all in working order. It’s hard to figure out what is wrong because it doesn’t happen all the time.

50k mileage mark: when the vehicle turned off at the stop light to save gas, the car stalled. I had to frequently put the car back in park, and restart the engine. Since then, I had to turn off the “auto turn off” function for fear of the car stalling on the road. This has caused unnecessary anxiety and fear while driving, harming my psychological wellness. Since the 50k mark this has happened about 10 times. The most recent issue was this month.

When stopped at an intersection the car stalled. It would not restart for three minutes and caused a dangerous situation for my family and children in the car while traffic was moving. There were no warning signs, lights, or engine codes. The problem is random and cannot reproduced. The car is available for inspection.

We were traveling in rural California, 1 hour north of bishop, CA on CA-120 when our vehicle's "check engine" light, "parking break" light, and several other lights lit up on our dashboard. Our car began to stall out immediately. We were able to pull off to the side of the road as best as we could as we were towing a camper at the time as well. We waited for 4 hours to get our vehicle and camper towed 1 hour away to a mechanic. The mechanic couldn't fix our car, but we were able to get an engine code reader to clear the codes as they came up. The closest Subaru dealership was 4 hours away in las vegas, nv. We had to drive through mountains and death valley. Despite using the engine code reader to clear codes every 30 seconds, our car stalled out 6 times on the way. The problem was the thermo control valve for p26a6, a known problem with Subaru vehicles like ours. We had our vehicle serviced in July 2025 for 60,000 miles and the dealership did not say anything about this known issue.

Car has died 10+ times in the last 2 weeks. Will not hold a charge and it’s getting to the point that my car is dying in the middle of the road, during heavy traffic. That or the car will just not start unless jumped.

I, the owner of a 2020 Subaru Forester am writing to you in regards to an issue with my vehicle’s eyesight program. Over the past month, there have been several instances where the eyesight program fails and caused the vehicle to suddenly stop without warning. This prevents me from safely moving the vehicle to the side of the road as the car stops. In other words, the car abruptly stops on the spot. This creates an immediate danger to life and health to myself and to other motorists. This issue must be addressed immediately and the necessary steps taken to ensure the safety the driver, passengers and other motorists on the road. Thank you for understanding.

- *incident 1 (2023):* while driving, my vehicle suddenly stopped while in drive gear, accompanied by a high-pitched alarm and multiple engine service lights. It took over 30 seconds to shift into park and restart the vehicle. The incident occurred at an intersection, and I was fortunate to avoid any collisions. - *incident 2 (September 2025):* the same problem recurred on two separate occasions- after certified repairs. The vehicle came to a complete stop while driving uphill at a decelerated speed, and also while stopped at an intersection. In both instances, the gear was in drive, and the vehicle shut down completely, displaying engine service lights. *previous repairs:* - replacement:* the thermo control valve was replaced under warranty due to a faulty issue affecting the eyesight system. - *battery replacement:* the battery was replaced under warranty in 2023 after the initial incident. Whats concerning is that my dealer said to have found an “after market” appliance hooked up. This said feature was placed by certified Subaru dealership when vehicle was purchased. This said item was never identified as to causing the said issue. Which raised even more safety concerns.

The contact owns a 2020 Subaru Forester. The contact stated that while his wife was stopped at a red traffic light in the middle lane and surrounded by other vehicles, the auto start/stop system engaged; however, when the brake pedal was released, the vehicle failed to restart. After several attempts, the vehicle eventually restarted, allowing the driver to safely pull over. There were no warning lights illuminated. The vehicle was towed to the local dealer, where it was diagnosed with a dead battery. The dealer advised the contact about turning off the auto start/stop system. The battery had been marked as good on two separate occasions. The battery was replaced. The contact reached out to the manufacturer, who opened a case but confirmed there was no warranty coverage on the vehicle. The manufacturer referred the contact to the NHTSA hotline to report the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 36,585.

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

See all problems of the 2016 Subaru Forester 🔎.

Parasitic battery drain.

8/25/seat heater came on by itself on a hot day this summer, it got so hot it burned my right thigh. Seat heaters are burning people. I drove directly to Subaru dealership service and the service person, dave confirmed the seat heater was off and felt that the seat was hot and getting hotter as the heat began going up into the back of the seat. The service personnel inspected my car and could not duplicate the incident and everything tested "normal" ~ I requested they unplug the heater and they said they could not as it will effect the computer. Subaru corporate connected me with a customer advocate who arranged inspection by a corporate service person. Scheduled 11/25/he did not drive my car -I dont know what he did besides remove my car seat covers, he left a message for me that everything tested normal he couldn't duplicate the issue and the seat covers were not allowed (Subaru sells the same type covers for my Forester :/ finding this odd I began researching and found others are getting burn by the same issue!! ) there were no lights on- the seat heater was in the off position ~Subaru service personnel can confirm. I am requesting an emergency "kill switch" be installed in all vehicles with seat heaters to prevent further injury. Thank you.

I am writing to report a serious safety concern involving my '22 Subaru Forester, which is equipped with the auto start/stop feature. This issue created a dangerous driving situation that could have resulted in severe injury or death to myself, my family, or other drivers on the road. While driving on the highway, our Forester's auto start/stop system malfunctioned causing the engine to shut off completely while the vehicle. Specifically, the vehicle shut down in the left lane of traffic and failed to restart immediately leaving us unexpectedly immobile. Fortunately, my husband remained calm and immediately placed his foot back on the brake, placed the vehicle in park and restarted the vehicle manually by pressing the ignition button. However, had he hesitated during the confusion by not placing his foot back on the brake we could have been rear-ended, possibly by a large semi-truck which would have propelled us into the vehicle in front of us. Our dealer said the auto start/stop system failing to restart the vehicle due to a weakening battery—for which there is no warning. The fact that a non-critical feature like fuel-saving start/stop is allowed to override the engine's operability based on battery voltage is deeply concerning. Batteries degrade over time. But a degraded battery should not be allowed to disable a moving vehicle. Having spoken directly with Subaru of America about this issue, they acknowledged and documented my case however I was told that it would be used as data for potential future action if other similar cases arise. In the meantime, no corrective action is being taken by Subaru, with me as an owner or proactively with the feature design. I respectfully urge the NHTSA to investigate this matter as a potential safety defect. The auto start/stop system, as implemented in certainsubaru models (specifically the 2022 Forester in my case) may compromise safe vehicle operation when battery voltage drops below a certain threshold which is a safety flaw.

See all problems of the 2022 Subaru Forester 🔎.

After arriving home from a short drive to the grocery store I parked my car in the drive way and went inside. On the drive home I could hear a low humming coming from the speakers and the car was decelerating when the accelerator was not being pressed, no warning lights or sounds came on. About 10 minutes after I parked a neighbor knocked on the door letting me know my car was smoking from inside the hood. Within a minute or 2 the entire hood of the car was engulfed in flames. The entire front half of the car burned to a crisp, the fire also burned half a tree. The car was burning so hot that it melted the hood of the car, had I parked it with the hood facing my house my house would have caught fire. The problem has not been reduced or confirmed by dealer or independent service. The vehicle is being stored by the insurance and for the time being is accessible for investigation. Because I was having trouble with the infotainment system, the humming coming from the speakers, and a recent warranty extension by from Subaru for the infotainment system due to known issues I suspect that the fire was caused by electrical issues.

I’m facing a really big issue here. I’ve been experiencing all the textbook issues in my vehicle for both of the recalls that did exist for my vehicle. I purchased my vehicle in [xxx], and I was just in to walser Subaru in st. Paul mn where they said my recalls were completed in April 22, 2022. That is absolutely not true. I was at the dealership all day that day. So I called miller hill Subaru in duluth mn where it said it was done, and all they provided me with was the 2 dates I had brought it in for a general inspection and for an a/c issue. All I had done there was a transmission flush and both of those times were well after April 22nd. I purchased my vehicle from anderson auto in rice lake township. So now I have my car with recalls that were falsified that they were done, but I am expected to pay for them. Information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u. S. C. 552(b)(6).

Driving on the garden state parkway in NJ on August 1st at approximately 1pm my car just stopped in traffic and steering locked up and all lights came on dashboard along with a constant beeping sound-I was in the middle of a four lane highway traveling south-I could not get out of my car and feared someone would hit me as I was a "sitting duck" while cars were swerving around me-my only saving grace was that my flashers worked after I turned them on-I called roadside assistance as I was starting to panic and was told they could not help me as I was on a private road-I saw a helicopter overhead and at the same time a police office weaving in and out of traffic behind me to slow and stop the traffic-he then proceeded to push my car off the road with his car to the shoulder and called a tow truck-car was towed to nearest Subaru dealer where they performed a diagnostic test and found nothing wrong with my car!! how could that be?? I was then charged for the test and the tow-have called Subaru customer care several times but they say they cannot help me because the test result showed nothing-please help me as I no longer have peace of mind driving this vehicle and I am a single woman in my 70's who needs to drive long distances several times a month- there were no previous warnings in my car it just stopped.

I was stopped at a red light and the engine stalled. It read "for safety, auto restart disabled". All warning lights on the dashboard lit up. I had to put the car in park and restart it in order to drive. I was honked at and put in a dangerous position. This has happened at least twice now.

This has happened 8 times in a month span. The car is currently being looked at by the dealership and so far they can’t find anything wrong. When I’m stopped in traffic, my car’s engine turns off. Once the light turns green and I press on the accelerator I hear a beep and the car doesn’t move . The dashboard shows a few error messages and a message stating that the eyesight has been turned off. In order to get the car to work again I have to put it in park, turn it off, and turn it on again. It is particularly dangerous because the car won’t move when the light is green.

Yesterday 6/19/25 I was driving out the driveway when the vehicle accelerated on its own, and not slowly, but like it had been punched. I was actually coasting at the time since I didn't want to stir up dust. My foot was not on the gas pedal. And it was not the floor mat. It happened on its own, the first time in 87,000 miles. It probably cannot easily be replicated as it was completely random, although now that it's happened once, it very well could happen again if there's a faulty or aging part or sensor. Neither the local dealer nor Subaru has acknowledged the problem (I called both today) but it's a serious safety issue. No check engine light or other means of warning. It just happened out of nowhere. Glad I was in the driveway and not in town waiting while a pedestrian was crossing the street.

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 passenger airbag sensor often, but not always, malfunctions in my 2017 Subaru forrester. Often it says passenger airbag off when there is a passanger. Occording to kbb kelly blue book there is a current recall in place for 2017 Subaru forresters for exactly this issue, including for my car - but when I typed in my liscnese plate in the NHTSA website, no unrepaired recalls showed up for my car.

My vehicle is equipped with automatic start/stop system. In early 2024, I began having issues with sluggish restart during the start/stop cycle. I took it into the dealer at that time, who stated it required a software update and charged the battery. The issue persisted. It was more serious, as it was not just sluggish on the restart, but the restart would fail and stall the car. This happened in heavy traffic, which was very scary and unsafe. I took the vehicle back into the dealer in late 2024 for the same issue. They did another software update and charged the battery again. They recommended that we purchase a new battery. One month later, we purchased an upgraded agm battery, as it was recommended for auto start/stop systems. The issue continued to persist. First, with sluggish restart. Later, the auto start/stop system failed again in heavy traffic. We took the vehicle in again, and again the dealer stated it was the battery. They recommended we purchase a new battery. It was explained the battery was 6 months old, and the issue has never been fixed. Further, it was pointed out that the car could be restarted manually with the push button ignition, after a start/stop system failure. That led us to believe it was not a battery failure, but a deeper system failure. The dealer continues to assert it is the battery, even though it happened with a factory battery and a new, upgraded, battery. Neither of the batteries have failed testing, and report as "good" on the diagnosis forms. We believe there is a system issue, that is causing issues with the auto start/stop system, and is not being identified by the dealer. It is a safety issue, as it has happened in heavy traffic several times. We have attached diagnostic reports from March 2024 and June 2025, but cannot find the October 2024 diagnostic report.

Without any prior issue of having the engine turnover from being parked for more than 20 hours, the car would not start. It’s like the battery completely died overnight. I was able to unlock it but the car would not start, and therefore was unable to go into neutral because I didn’t have a long enough screwdriver with me to manually override into neutral. So it had to be jumped partially to be towed (had it towed for more than just the battery because it’s under warranty). The interesting part is that my car has a factory issued battery, and my car was the third Subaru made after 2020 that had to be towed due to the same issue, in the same day. Maybe the batteries are defective? regardless, since everything relies on power now, having a provided device to allow for manual override would prevent folks from being stranded. I tried using my key and the screwdriver that comes with the spare tire. Both were to short.

During severe stop/go, thick, holiday traffic on I-495 (DC beltway), during daylight hours, once again (this has happened several times before), the auto engine shutoff feature catastrophically malfunctioned, turning the car off, and simultaneously, activated the entirety of the dashboard to flash on/off, causing nearly every indicator light to come on, and then had difficulty restarting. This has been brought to Subaru's attention multiple times and they essentially have washed their hands of it and stating since they can't duplicate it, it essentially must not be occurring and they cannot repair it.