Electronic Stability Control Problems of Subaru Forester - part 2

During periods of heavy rain, the vehicle appears to suffer major electrical issues. Since February of 2018, my vehicle has reported problems after a major storm with the eyesight camera system, abs, hill assist, and fuel gauge. Fyi-eyesight includes the dynamic cruise control, crash avoidance, and lane monitoring system. The issue has been reported to our Subaru dealer/maintenance team but they have not been able to discover the source of the issue.

See all problems of the 2016 Subaru Forester 🔎.

The speedometer information is very difficult to see in sunny daylight. Numbers are "red". If "polarized" or regular sun lenses are used, (info. (numbers) can not be read. 2019 models, the speedometer is changed, with "white" characters. Finally Subaru got the message. It is critical to be driving and you can not see the speed that you are driving !.

See all problems of the 2018 Subaru Forester 🔎.

Brand new vehicle. Driving on an interstate at 55mph and made a slight left turn at a bend in the road, well within the clearly painted lane markers. Clear weather, temp about 50 degrees f. Heard one beep and lost control of the steering for a second while the car steered itself slightly left. My hands were on the steering wheel and I was active operating the vehicle. Startling! happened two more times. Took it to a dealer and he explained that I might not be used to electronic steering. The same day, on a two lane road at 35 mph, at a slight left bend in the road, one beep and lost steering for about a second but enough to take the vehicle to the edge of the shoulder. I was startled again and turned sharp left, crossing the double yellow line into the oncoming lane. Fortunately, there were no vehicles in the lane. The culprit seems to be the "lane keep assist" feature of the eyesight system where the vehicle's computer takes over control if it detects a lane departure under certain conditions. Obviously, it is not functioning correctly and could have caused an accident or worse. Turned lka off.

When I parking my car into the parking place, the car suddenly gave a roar and rushed into someone's backyard. Although I pushed the brake pedal as deep as possible, the car rushed around 10 meters(?) and fully stopped after the car hit the rods of wood staircase(two of the rods of staircase was boken by my car). At that moment I just want shift the car from "d" to "r" (but not yet), the unintended acceleration happened to this car. Time: it happened between 2:30 to 3:00 pm on Nov 30, 2017. Place: rushed into the backyards of 8352 kavanagh rd, dundalk MD 21222, this backyards located on sandy plains road. Consequence: 1. Scratchs to front bumper. 2. Front bumper became loose after collision happened to the rod of staircase. 3. I have stiff muscles on both thighs for two days after this accident.

See all problems of the 2011 Subaru Forester 🔎.

While driving my vehicle several lights came on in the instrument panel, abs, and a picture of an auto on a hill. I then pulled over and put the auto in park. It locked up in park and I couldn't get it out of park. I called the dealer, they walked me thru a series of steps to get the car out of park. Not an easy task. I took the auto into the dealer and they replaced a switch stop, I knew there had been a service bulletion put out on this problem and was informed the switch had been redesigned. Of course it was out of warranty and I had to pay for the switch and labor, although it was only out of warranty for a month. I feel this is dangerous! what would I have done if it had been on the interstate or I wasn't able to contact a dealer. There are many complaints on the internet with this same problem and I was told at the dealership they had replace many of these switches. There should be a safety recall on this switch. It's dangerous. When this happened I was aon a city street, pulled over and put it in park. It would not release and come out of park.

See all problems of the 2014 Subaru Forester 🔎.

I started driving and found that my hill holder, my vehicle dynamics control system, my abs, my Subaru eyesight and multiple other warning lights were all lite up. I pulled over and turned off the car and when I restarted the car I couldn't put my car into gear. It was stuck in park on the side of the highway. After a few more tries I was able to get it into gear and continued driving with all the warning lights on. This problem occurred multiple times yesterday as I attempted to get it to the dealership.

See all problems of the 2015 Subaru Forester 🔎.

While backing up a winding hill on a hard packed gravel driveway I backed into a seven inch diameter tree on the edge of the road. Did not hit it hard enough to damage the back bumper. I put the car in drive and in an instant the motor went wide open. I hit the brakes, but no noticable effect. I narrowly missed the corner of the garage. The car dug four depressions in the driveway when it took off. And threw gravel all the way down the hill and on the flat until it hit a large tree, the motor still racing. The runaway happened in seconds. The car was totaled. My wife suffered a badly broken right wrist. I was nearly knocked out. I have been a safe driver for 60 years. Drove professionally for about four and a half years. I also have over 175,000 miles and counting on motorcycles. This car definitely did malfunction. Fortunately the house security camera captured the action. I don't know if I can upload the video to your site. Please advise. Sabaru canada and the my Subaru dealer ignored my complaint, with the dealer rep saying, �the floor mat was probably on the gas petal. �.

Twice the Forester surge forward --once it stopped before hitting a tree and the second time it hit a building. Both times pulling in to a parking space from a road and from a parking area.

While driving at 60 miles an hour on a 4 lane highway, I was going around a slight curve when the lane assist came on. I was in the left lane and not near the left line in road, but centered in the middle of lane. I heard one beep and then the steering wheel became very loose in my hand and it took me a few seconds to gain control of the steering wheel. This also happened while going on a slightly curved city street going about 40 miles an hour. It scared the dickens out of me as it was not what I expected the lane assist to do. I went back to dealership and told them about the steering and they said I just needed to get used to how the electric steering worked. After it happened a couple more time I made appointment for someone to take a test drive. The technician felt a slight swaying but said it was the type of steering of the lane assist. He suggested I turn it off and not use it for a while and see how car then handled. The technician filed case # 26296330423, no problem found with vehicle, system is operating as designed, no repair attempt performed. (eqmr was also filled out and submitted. ) I have not driven my Forester with the assist on since this happened. I have not had this loose wheel steering happen again. I am convinced it is the lane assist and feel it is not working properly in my vehicle. I will probably never use it again. Lane departure is fine, does what it's supposed to do. I have no complaints with the dealership or their technician, they were very thorough and kind. This lane assist is just an aspect of this safety technology that I don not like how it works. Or is there something wrong with it in my car that this has not happened to others yet? I do understand how lane assist works, I did test drives having it on and it would bring me back to my lane if I went over the line without a blinker on.

While driving, the electronic stability control, the hill assist brake and the abs lights randomly deploy. Happened 3 times in 24 hours. Turning the car off and back on seems to clear the issue. However, after that, now two times while traveling at a regular speed, the braking system automatically applied itself, including the cvt engaging into low speed and forcing the car to drive only at 10-20 mph. As well, when this occurs the braking system does not work. Other reads sound like a faulty brake light sensor or sensing system, but this is a potentially fatal malfunction as one traveling 60 mph on the highway was suddenly stopped with no warning. Then when trying to get to safety, the brakes would not work while attempting to come to a stop at a light. The vehicle seems to "reset" and be fine for a few miles, only to either go to the all lights on system (abs/hill assist/stability control) or go into the braking/cvt error as well. Will have the car towed to the dealership, but this is a serious safety concern that is electronic in nature as the default fall back is not a manual working brake system but seems to be a non-working brake system.

There were 5 major issues with my vehicle that I want investigated. I was driving straight nb on us-101 in the #1 lane of traffic, going approximately 75 mph, when for no explainable reason, the rear tires of my 2016 Subaru Forester began to skid me across the #2 lane of traffic. I will note that it had just stopped sprinkling and the road was damp. Issue 1: during my skid, the skid control feature never engaged (which is a marketed feature and a reason I purchased this vehicle). I had to fight the skid on my own. Issue 2: the roll over feature never engaged (which is a marketed feature and another reason I purchased this vehicle). After fighting to prevent my vehicle from rolling over and skidding out of control, I ultimately crash on the shoulder of the freeway, hitting a light post. Issue 3: upon hitting the light post, my seat belt flew off. (both my hands were on the wheel at the time and there were no loose objects in the area. Unless this is some "feature" it is extremely dangerous for the seat belt to disengage automatically. ) issue 4: the crash notification feature, that I paid extra for, did not do it's job. Even with my cell phone linked to the vehicle, the crash notification never called 9-1-1 on my behalf. I immediately called 9-1-1 to notify chp of my accident because I was fearful of another vehicle also spinning out of control and hitting me. Chp took a report. ** issue 5 **: the air bags never deployed. None of the air bags deployed. My car was deemed totaled by the insurance company and auto body shop. The auto body shop stated vehicle hit the pole so hard all bolts were bent into a 45 degree angle. How does a crash that severe not engage the air bags? I had a scar on my collar bone for a month after the crash. None of the marketed or required safety features worked to prevent the crash nor assist after the crash.

Forester - 500 miles - consistent and continuing problems: car lurches forward on its own in first gear. - in motion engine not only has excessive (can last 5 seconds or more) "rev-hangs" shifting up from any gear but actually increases by 700-900 rpms. This has caused difficulty in slowing down (reducing speed with downshift). When using brake to reduce speed when this occurs, the engine will begin to race, increasing up to 1500 or more rpms, difficult to control vehicle. - in motion 4th gear - stick shift vibrates excessively - so much so it is visible to the eye and seems like it will have to wear out from the friction, - in motion (intermittent) when vehicle dynamics control engages on upward incline a very loud (multiple) banging occurs at the rea car lurches . - turning, in motion. Engine noise is extremely loud compared to other 2017 Foresters I have driven. Can sound like it is ready to throw a rod in the near future - in motion and stationary Subaru states all is normal. Service manage at dealer states loud engine is definitely not normal for the 2017 model and he experience the excessive rev-hang but doesn't know what to do these things because Subaru says this is normal are normal.

See all problems of the 2017 Subaru Forester 🔎.

I've had the same issue happen on 2 separate occasions (October and November 2016) - while driving the car I bought brand new, and going appx. 75 mph down the interstate, driving approximately 2 hours straight on flat interstate, the rpm's all of a sudden shoot up and it feels like my car falls out of gear. The car essentially shuts down and fails to accelerate and slows down quickly, while totally unresponsive. We have to quickly pull off the road to avoid being hit. Several lights show on the dash (have photo) and the vehicle does not respond to acceleration. We had to shut the car off completely and turn it back on - no response to acceleration or anything. It did not respond until the 2nd time turning it off and back on. Upon bringing to dealership, they have not been able to pull any codes or duplicate the error (either time). They also had a Subaru field engineer look at it and found nothing. I am continuously sent away without a solution other than to "call roadside assistance" if it happens again, which puts myself and others in serious danger. The most recent time they put 300 miles on it and found that it "fell out of cruise control", but aren't offering to fix it and didn't actually duplicate the same error as I had. I'm afraid I'm going to get into a serious car accident and hurt myself or someone else the next time this happens. It feels like Subaru (or dealer) isn't owning up to this problem or possibly trying to cover it up to keep their good safety ratings. The dealership has told me that I'm "the only person in the whole united states reporting this issue", which I find very difficult to believe.

Most recent near-miss fatal incident happened on Nov. 6, 2016 driving on a highway at the speed of about 65- 68 miles , car suddenly died, and stopped completely without any warning signs and warning lights, it felt like car suddenly lost the power and completely stopped. When tried to re-start immediately, car didn't start. After a few minutes, car started. Total driving distance on the highway before this incident happened was about 260 miles. I was able to pull the car on the shoulder; I was driving in a right lane at the time of the incident. It could have been a major fatal accident, as I was driving on a 2 lane highway, 90 east thruway, because sudden change in the speed from 68 mph to zero speeds without any warning in a matter of less than 1 minute. There was lot of traffic on the thruway. Timing of the incident was at about 5 pm on Nov. 6, 2016. There were 2 other passengers in the car. This was the scariest experience I ever had. Car was not set for cruise control while driving on the highway. There were no emergency lights or signs visibly or no noise alert at all. I took the car to Subaru dealer for a check on 11/ 8/2016 and reported this incident. Subaru dealer in service reported that they didn't find the cause for this near fatal incident. Second near miss fatal incident occurred on April 21, 2016 at about 3 pm. I was backing up the care in a driveway, vehicle suddenly would not stop, breaks didn't work, I had no control of the steering wheel. I was able to put the vehicle in the park to gain control of the vehicle again. I took the care for a service and reported this incident to Subaru dealer on April 22, 2016. Subaru dealer service department were not able to find the reason for this terrible incident. Speed at the time of the incident was 5 mph, estimated.

Which driving on the interstate at rush hour at 65 mph. . . With absolutely no warning or warning light my car stalled. When this happened the steeling went out along with the breaks and all power. I sat in the fast lane of traffic unable to safely exit my car for almost and hour until help arrived. I took the car to the dealership neil huffman in louisville ky where I purchased the car new 4 years ago. I was told the mass airflow sensor had failed. I was also told that they had no idea why this happened at 65 mph with no warning. I paid the 403. 00 repair and contact Subaru USA due to my concerns. Although I called several times and was on hold each time for up to 10 min and also emailed. . Still not response. This seems to be a major safety concern. I no longer feel safe in the car. . And plan to purchase a new car soon. . But am concerned someone else will be my car and be in danger.

See all problems of the 2012 Subaru Forester 🔎.

I leased this vehicle on June 2015. Back on 8/26/2017 while driving on freeway and going 70 mile and hour, car suddenly died in the middle of freeway. I almost got killed by a truck that was behind my vehicle. They towed this car to glendale Subaru and after two days, they said they could not find anything. Since that incident I have taken the vehicle back to dealer for performance and transmission issue. In addition, some major electrical issue with the isite system. The dealer charged me over $2000. 00 for unrelated repairs. The car has a major issue in cold and hot ideal. Many complaints were filed to Subaru customer service and they did not assist me at all.

Within the last year, I have experienced on three separate occasions, instances where the warning lights for various safety systems on my 2015 Subaru Forester will come on, indicating that the system has been disabled due to a malfunction. These lights always come on while driving, within 15 minutes of the car being started. The first two instances related to my air bags being turned off. When brought to a dealership, they had no explanation, and desired $70 to do an electrical assessment. When I brought it in for that, I was told that the car would have to be displaying the light at the time I brought it in, which the indicator light had turned off in between visits. Today, my abs, traction control, and incline assustance lights came on , indicating that those systems were disabled due to a malfunction. I brought it to my dealer, who told me that the air pressure in the tires was responsible, which ranged from 28lbs to 35 lbs. I had my car serviced at said dealership 2 months ago and the pressure was 35 lbs each. It was suggested to me that the cause of this discrepancy was "parking my car in the sun. " both computer-related problems apparently didn't leave a code to be read, according to the dealership. Any information was wiped when the car was turned off.

7 months old, 20,000 miles. Driving 65. 6 mph, in light rain with cruise control on. 1st time driving in bad weather, noticed wind or flat tires causing sometimes side shaking. Stopped to check tires. Noticed no wind nor low tires pressure. Continued on. Had used cruise control on and off, and turning on and off the traction switch to find a pattern for the iradic driving. Could not id a cause. Continued driving. Car took a sudden jerk to the left, knew we were going to crash and could not turn steering wheel. 'crash' . We slid 40 feet down the center divide. The front wheels were still pointed straight ahead. The air bags did not deploy. We were lucky. The rear wheels had 'excessive wear' , front wheels were in good condition. When the car was torn apart, the main pully had a 1" ding and the fan belt was knocked off the main pully and partically of the 2nd pully. The belt was on all the other pullies. . I believe the traction device malfunctioned when I was in cruise control, the left front wheel hydroplaned. And the brake was applied sending me into a out of control crash, that I could not steer out of. Subaru of America said wet payment, high speed and excessive wear on rear tires caused the accident. They documented the speed and wear of rear tires. Rain was very light, a drizzle. Highway was straight and light traffic. No debre on the highway.

While starting the car with only 2. 2k miles the check engine light came on and disabled the vehicle dynamics control, the cruise control and the incline start assist leaving the vehicle without important safety features in bad weather conditions.

Dashboard warning lights (traction control, cruise control and engine light) are lit because of a problem with the catalytic converter. It is very costly to fix the catalytic converter. Because we cannot afford to fix the catalytic converter, we are left with no traction control or cruise control. Also, if something horrible happens to the car, we will not be warned about it since the engine light is on for the catalytic converter. I am not alone. So many people have the same problem - just look at the hundreds and hundreds of people on the online Subaru forum. This is totally unacceptable. When so many people are having the same problem through no fault of their own, then it is the manufacturer's responsibility to solve the problem. I am requesting for this problem to be addressed in a recall of the catalytic converter for the 2010 Subaru Forester.

See all problems of the 2010 Subaru Forester 🔎.

Upon starting the vehicle or while driving it the following warning messages appear (it has happened multiple tines over the past few months, they will go away and ten reappear days or weeks later): vehicle dynamic control system needs to be checked abs system needs to be checked hill start assist system needs to be checked took car to dealership for normal maintenance in July (bay ridge Subaru) they could not find anything, messages started reappearing. Issue with theses messages is car will not go into gear upon starting unless you pump breaks multiple times.

At approx 40 mph, on wet road (no standing water) vehicle lost control and began swerving uncontrollably across three lanes of traffic. Driver was unable to control vehicle with steering maneuvers. Immediately before incident, driver could feel traction loss in rear tires. Rear of vehicle slid to right than to left and continued fishtailing until vehicle regained traction. Driver was safely able to pull to side of road.

See all problems of the 2009 Subaru Forester 🔎.

I have a subru 2009 that I bought last yeay with around 25000 miles under an extended warnty . VIN jf2sh61689h771927 . And this as happened te times so far . While drving or just starting of the car shakes ver hard , and the stabilty control light comes on the check engin ad cruse conrol and as the car trys to shift th whole car shakes . Then as you are driving down th highway it loeses power almost as if it is stalling out . It did this to me on iterstate 85 at 65 mph and I barle missed a truck. I have contacted te dealer ship twice and taken it in once and they said nothing was worng ? now that I almost wreked last night I am contacting you .

At 40 mph front left brakes " self-applied" at maximum force. Abs prevented complete skidding of the tire, so no flat spot on tire. The vehicle lurched into a " nosedive" onto the left front wheel. After incident steering wheel cocked to left at about the "10:00" position. Flatbed to dealer. Dealer showed me bent tie rod end, anti sway bar and lower control arm. Vehicle 100% fine before incident. I believe the sudden violent weight transfer onto front left caused damages. Dealer unable to road test car with bent components. Parts on order to dealer. Will road test after repairs got case # from Subaru of America. Waiting to hear from them.

After sharp acceleration the check engine light came on and stayed on. No other issues noted. Two months later with 7500 miles on the odometer, the same thing occurred but this time the cruise control light and the vehicle stabilization light came on as well. Cruise control did not work and I assume the stabilization didn't either.

When in heavy traffic and it was necessary to accelerate at a high rpm, the traction control light and check engine light come on and start flashing and the cruise control light also flashed. This is the 3rd time this has happened. First time all the lights went out, second time it happened my cruise control was disabled and the other lights continued to be on and flash and I had to take it the dealership to be "reset". Dealership told me it was a "computer" problem and Subaru has not fixed it. Yesterday it happened again. Was able to let off accleration quick enough to keep it from locking out my cruise and causing all the lights to flash continually.

Engine and stability issues.

I am writing to you today with great regret. After a lot of researching and thought, I purchased the Subaru Forester on August 2008 from dunning Subaru ann arbor mi 48103. What drew me towards the Forester was the 4 wheel drive so I was very happy to purchase this car. I was very happy with it up till a couple of months ago when I started experiencing problems. First, after returning from an oil change on may 2009, I came home and packed my car. Later when I went back to the garage, the floor was filled with oil because it was dripping from the engine; I was terribly upset and contacted Subaru right away. They asked me to come back and took care of it. Again, on November 29th I was on my way back from dropping my daughter at wayne state university when engine suddenly just stopped. It started making some odd sounds on the passenger side and just within 5 seconds, the engine was dead. I was on highway heading towards ann arbor, which is a extremely busy highway. But to my luck, at that moment it was not crowded, and I was able to switch lanes and pull over to the curb right away. Because the engine stopped so suddenly and quickly, it did not give me enough time to pull over all the way to the curb, causing my car to be half in the lane, and half on the curb, try to consider how dangerous that situation is, especially on a rainy night at 11pm. After pulling over to the curb, we waited 20 minutes(in the rainy weather) to let the engine cool down and tried restarting the car because we didn't expect something like this from Subaru. Unfortunately, that did not work, and nothing work. The only option we were left with was to call aaa and have the car towed. While making the calls to aaa, a cop pulled up behind us to tell us that our car was in danger because we were half in the lane and half in the curb, as I mentioned earlier, because of Subarus engine shutting down on us so quickly and suddenly, it was not enough time to pull over completely to the curb.