Wheel Problems of Subaru Forester - part 1

I had a tire rotation at my Subaru dealer in 12/2024. Two weeks later I had a flat and could not break two lug nuts. Tire repair dealer found that the lug bolts had been stripped. I had the remaining lug bolts examined by the dealer and a 3rd was found stripped. All three had to be replaced. I underwent tire rotation on 12/11/2025 and dealer found a fourth lug bolt stripped which needed replacement. I was assured this was not the fault of the mechanics and was instead told that this was a manufacturer problem with the lug bolts. If this is true, there are a host of Subaru's out there with lug nuts that cannot be user removed to repair a flat. Although when stripped, the lug nuts are apparently firmly attached, does this represent a wheel / tire failure issue? thanks for your attention.

See all problems of the 2019 Subaru Forester 🔎.

Rear whells bearings damaged at about 59 000 miles driven on flat serfaces. Car parked in garage. Dealer stated that bearings have to be replaced.

See all problems of the 2017 Subaru Forester 🔎.

Wheel studs are of inferior quality, which leads to galling. Replacement of a wheel results in snapped studs. I have replaced three so far on two occasions within a week. Swapping to a spare in an emergency with broken studs will leads to accidents. As of now, I will need to drive with one broken stud to get it fixed. This is a known issue, the lugs were not over-torqued. The softness of the threads results in galling such that the threads tear out and fuse to the lug nut. How they have not issued recall/replacement/upgrades is astounding.

See all problems of the 2018 Subaru Forester 🔎.

The wheel hub bolt stud and nut freeze/lock up. They break apart when the technician attempts to remove to perform tire rotation. It is a common problem with the Subaru Forester. I have had to replace 2, so far. Dealer charges $200+ for replacing it. Subaru has not stepped up to take responsibility for the defect.

See all problems of the 2015 Subaru Forester 🔎.

I purchased a brand new 2025 Subaru Forester wilderness and immediately noticed a persistent vibration in the steering wheel, seat, and footwell area. The vibration is present at all times — while driving at various speeds and even while idling. It is very distracting and uncomfortable. This ongoing vibration creates a constant sensation of movement that affects my comfort and ability to stay fully focused on the road. I have arthritis in both hands, and the steering wheel vibration causes physical discomfort, pain, and fatigue, especially on longer drives. I previously owned a 2024 Subaru [same model], which did not have this issue. I have also spoken with other owners of the 2025 model who are not experiencing this problem, so I do not believe this is typical for the vehicle. Subaru of America sent an engineer to inspect the vehicle, but the evaluation was limited to measuring vibration levels. He did not place the vehicle on a lift or inspect any physical components, such as the suspension, wheels, or drivetrain. Despite this limited assessment, he concluded the vibration was “normal. ” I respectfully disagree with this conclusion, as the vibration significantly affects the drivability, comfort, and confidence I feel while operating the vehicle. I am reporting this issue because I believe it may indicate a defect that deserves further investigation.

First was a control arm bushing and than a rear wheel hub assembly. At around 40000 miles. Both failures created unsafe control of the vehicle. Subaru has a TSB with updated parts, so they know the original are poor quality. It has been confirmed with dealer and independent shops. No warning lamps.

Got a notification about a Subaru Forester recall for my vehicle VIN that is not being listed on your website regarding my wheels. Subaru of America, inc. (Subaru) is recalling certain 2025 Forester vehicles equipped with 18" aluminum alloy wheels. The wheels may have been manufactured with an incorrectly specified lug seat surface, which can result in the wheel being improperly attached and cause a loss of vehicle stability. Consequence a loss of vehicle stability increases the risk of a crash. Remedy dealers will inspect and replace the wheels, as necessary, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed February 28, 2025. Owners may contact Subaru customer service at 1-844-373-6614. Subaru's number for this recall is wrb-25.

Premature wear on bridgestone ecopia tires. We have had several instances in our company with these tires wearing prematurely, some as low as 12k miles but usually somewhere in the 20's & 30's thousand-wise, these tires exhibit numerous cracks especially on the inner side that is difficult to see unless you pull the tires off. A lot of web chatter indicates that they are especially vulnerable in cold weather states. We've informed Subaru several times but are often hushed since they fear a major recall.

See all problems of the 2022 Subaru Forester 🔎.

Bought 2025 Subaru Forester in January 2025. Within 300 miles of driving brought it back to place I bought it, complained about constant vibraton in sterring wheel at high speeds around 55 - 65 mph. They said the wheels were out of balance, they re balanced them and the problem was resolved, but it wasn't. I brought it back to them at 600 miles they looked it over and took it for a ride they said they did not feel the wheel vibration. I said how could you not feel it. I brought it back a 3rd time at 800 miles. They took it for a ride with me in passanger seat . Even as I told them I could feel it in armrest they still said they did not feel it. I opened a case with Subaru of America advocates. They advised me to take it to a different dealer which I did. The second dealer acknowledge the wheel vibration at high speeds. They had my SUV for about 10 days they tried several different brands of tires . They same result happended . Then they said one brand of tires the vibration was less but it is not less it is about the same. They are trying to get me some new tires but I don't think it is the tires. The supension has been looked over by both Subaru dealers. They say it is safe to drive. But it still vibrates it is not just road noise. I just want the vehicle fixed properly.

Wheel lug nuts are frozen and cannot be removed without breaking the stud in many cases. TSB 05-79-20 mentions that Subaru was aware but offers no warranty for this issue.

When the car accelerates to around 70 mph, the right front side starts to shake and vibrate, giving the impression of driving on a bumpy road. The issue becomes noticeably worse when changing lanes to the right. Both wheel alignment and tire balancing have been checked and found to be fine. After researching online, many Subaru owners have reported similar issues caused by problems with the lower control arm or wheel bearing, leading to shaking at high speeds. However, when contacting Subaru of America about this, they declined responsibility, citing an expired warranty.

See all problems of the 2016 Subaru Forester 🔎.

My wife’s 2015 Subaru Forester is reported to have a bad rear driver side wheel bearing from our mechanic. She only has 58,464 miles at the time of the incident/ diagnosis. I believe this wheel bearing has prematurely failed. We both drive normally and are not reckless. Please look into the batches/ lot# of the wheel bearings that went into their vehicles around the 2015 models and who makes them. Even multiple manufacturers or mixed batches being installed into new vehicles. They refuse to cover this as our new vehicle warranty has expired.

The vehicle was sold to me by a local dealership not Subaru manufacturer themselves with the conditions marked above and more, the wheels when purchased as I turned any corners it would sound like the underside of the vehicle would explode even when driving straight it was just less frequent and caused the abs system to activate and would pull one way or another. The transmission has never been inspected by the dealership that sold it to me and the manufacturer seal was broken so it had leaked and caused major lack of power resulting in many close calls due to lose of forward propulsion it is a closed transmission without a dip stick and the dealership refused to do anything about it. The airbag system has never worked at all and the dealership knew this and same with the reverse hazard warning detection system or the tpms and again I was told that I just needed to drive it and it would work itself out by the owner of the dealership who test drove it 3 times and refused to do anything about the obvious issues and now it has been a little over a year I’m in debt and basically out of a vehicle and can man as well as personal money sunk into this vehicle that I would consider beyond a lemon.

My wife's Subaru Forester (2017, VIN [xxx] ) at 70,131 miles started to have a loud droning sound from the rear of the vehicle on [xxx]. I took the SUV to a local mechanic, and they diagnosed the problem as two faulty rear wheel bearings. They removed the old bearings on September 4, 2024 (I have the faulty parts if needed) and placed new bearings. The mechanic warned me that the faulty wheel bearings can seize and cause an accident if they are not replaced. The repair resulted in the disappearance of the droning sound from the rear of the car, so it was clearly a correct diagnosis. In looking online, I have learned that many 2017 Subaru Foresters have a problem with rear wheel bearing failures. The company has expressed no interest in my concern about this incident. Information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u. S. C. 552(b)(6).

Upon getting a flat tire on the front passenger side tire, two of the vehicles wheel studs and lug nuts were seized together and broke off when using hand tools to remove the lug nuts. The metal was extremely soft and broke off easily. All 5 lugs and nuts needed replacement.

Driving on the road a tire randomly blew out and upon that happening every airbag in the car went off despite there being no collision.

Vehicle feels like it is always stuck in first gear. The Subaru dealership says its a rear hub bearing, drivers side. Cost to repair over $500. The vehicle has less than 60k miles on it.

Subaru is well aware of the rear wheel bearing prematurely due to the faulty backing plate design. They have even sent a service bulletin mentioning the problem. So the rear wheel hub and backing plate should be replaced by Subaru. They are charging $1000 for repairing this. Https://static. Nhtsa. Gov/odi/tsbs/2020/mc-10185064-0001. Pdf.

Lug nut studs snap very easily. I had to replace a wheel hub as the studs could not handle basic pressure. Extremely dangerous when you’re changing your spare and in the midst of traffic.

Lug nuts stripped off on the drivers rear wheel, that was corrected. Now my right rear lug nuts have been stripped completely off.

At just under 54,000 miles, noticed a loud hum, thought it was a bad transmission, took it into the dealer (walser Subaru of south st. Paul, mn) that concluded it was faulty rear wheel bearings on both sides, and told me it was a serious safety issue that should be fixed immediately. Had it fixed for $1,000 plus and problem seems to have been solved, but dealer reported that Subaru would take no responsibility for such a serious safety issue at such low mileage. My feelng is that Subaru should pay to fix such a defect for me and other victims.

We have had numerous problems with the wheel lug stems on this car. One issue was very serious. We were driving from new jersey down to florida, and two of the lug stems snapped off. . We had to have these replaced in south carolina. I’ve looked on many websites and this is a well known problem with the 2016 Subaru forrester. I don’t know why you do not think this is a big safety problem as losing a wheel driving at 70 miles an hour on [xxx] is very serious. Information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u. S. C. 552(b)(6).

First issue: wheel lug studs and nuts have failed on two separate occasions. Second issue: the c/s brake, hill assist and traction control emergency lights went on and off and usually stayed on after the lights went on. The O2 oxygen sensor was replaced. Then after this didn't fix the problem with the emergency lights coming on, the hydraulic unit module was replaced. This fixed the problem.

I believe this is my 3rd or 4th lug stud that's sheared off when removing. I believe it happened at the dealer once and the tire shop I have the tires rotated at two or three times in the last couple of years. This worries me that they may be weak and could potentially break, while driving, before removal breaks them. The boken stud is typically sheared and stuck inside the lug nut. Google searches would make this seem like it's not an uncommon issue. Subaru may have a TSB for rusted nuts already that may relate to this issue. TSB 05-79-20 is what I found through google searches, if related.

Ball bearings all broke in car. This is a known issue but not until I googled it. It causes horrible noises and potential inquiry if not corrected.

This is our 3rd Subaru Forester from corpus christi TX dealer hicks. During the past six months we have had the stem valves in the tires replaced 4 times. I said to the manager that there appears to be a systemic issue , the run may be defective and requested that these tires be replaced total mileage 6700 dealer had three shots at fixing the problem plus the 4th shot today as the pressure signal was on. The request was denied please investigate and help.

See all problems of the 2021 Subaru Forester 🔎.

The vehicle fails to maintain stability at either a right turn, and at left turn angles. The vehicle makes a clicking sound on either turn and loses power when you complete the turn and attempt to drive straight. This poses an incredibly unsafe driving experience. When this occurs the traction message light turn on, as well as the passenger airbag, and the upwhill light turns on.

Loud roaring noise came from rear of vehicle while driving. Sound increased with increasing speed. At first I thought it might have been the tires but they were properly inflated and in excellent condition. The vehicle was brought to the dealer who determined that the rear wheel bearings were defective and needed to be replaced. The noise and condition began at roughly 50,000 miles but the car was 6 years old and out of warranty. I contacted Subaru and they offered to cover half the cost of the repair. Had the situation not been corrected the rear wheels could have frozen causing loss of control of the vehicle. The only warning was the noise itself. I believe that this issue, especially at such a low mileage, is a significant safety concern.

46,000 miles and the lower control arm is broken. Causing the vehicle to shake and almost be undrivable.

Noticed an ongoing "humming" noise coming from the rear of our 2015 Subaru Forester which got considerably louder at highway speeds. This sounded like a bad wheel bearing but the car had only 46, 800 mi. Took the car to a mechanic to inspect. As suspected it was a bad left rear wheel bearing. I had it replaced. Less than 2 months later same problem on the opposite side of the car (right rear wheel bearing). Before taking the car for repair I stopped by the dealership to see if they routinely stocked the rear hub assemblies for 2015 et al Subaru's . . . I found that this was a 'very popular' item. While most drivers and practically any "car buff" will detect a bad bearing audibly because the failure occurs at such low mileage I am sure that a significant number of people are driving with this defect unsuspectingly . . . Some to near failure.

Vehicles wheel studs and nuts striped. Common complaint with Subaru's. Nuts won't come off and unable to completely put back on to contact with rim. Nuts also won't come off all together, frozen on stud, studs breaks when trying to remove. Unable to remove with extension bar or impact wrench.

The tire pressure monitoring system module failed which also disabled the key fob remotes. I had the tpms module replaced 3 times. The first occurrence was on August 26th 2021 and was confirmed by the dealership Subaru service center. During the failure and malfunction of the module, the dashboard warned about not to drive because there is problems with the tires and key fob not working. This worried me because of the potential safety to me and others if I continued to drive with defective tires. Eventually I found out my tires did not have any problems. After the module malfunctioned the second time, the service center replaced it stating that the first module was defective. Several months passed by and the module failed the third time. I started to research online and found that other Subaru owners experienced similar issues and figured out that water such as from heavy rain leaked through the roof railing gasket into the area where the tpms module is kept and shorted out. When I went in to the service center the third time, I explained my investigation and eventually the associate agreed that was the cause. I think without me telling them this, they would have just replaced the module stating another defective unit. This discovery had them not only replace the tpms module, reprogram my key fobs but also replace the roof railings and it's gasket which they made me pay $960. 43.

While rotating tires two wheel studs sheared off. The lug nuts are always started by hand, tightened (and removed) without an impact tool, and torqued to spec. Took it to a shop for repair. While removing the wheels two more studs sheared off in the shop. Mechanic stated this is a very common problem with Subarus. Google searches verify this. . Read more...

The car was parked for a week while visiting. (it has recently had its 30,000 mi. Service) when I got in and started it, all the dashboard lights lit up including check engine. I tried reaching a Subaru near where I was visiting. No luck so I called my Subaru in vt. I was told I was safe to go as long as the check engine wasn't blinking. It wasn't so I drove home (I did note the steering wheel felt "tight". ) when I went into the dealership upon my return, they did their computer diagnostic test. It was explained it could be as simple as not tightening the gas cap. The computer turned up something in the wheel. At first, he wanted to give me an appointment a week and a half out, but then found a car he could loan me that following Monday. I wanted to know why they needed it several days. He said it was to figure out the issue. When I asked if it was safe to drive, he said it was but there was a possibility of being on the highway and losing control/not being able to stop, but that was rare. I asked about the change in steering, as though the power steering was lost, and he explained they don't have that kind of system. I drove home slowly and went no where except Sunday when I drove a couple of miles to a farm stand close by. Upon returning into the driveway, I put it in reverse to park. It accelerated and when I tried braking, it wouldn't respond. It was a though everything was locked. The car jolted. Sped. Jolted. The side airbags deployed. My arm was banged up from the airbags but nothing broken. I did not mistake the accelerator for the brake. The floor mat did not get stuck under the accelerator (I've weather tech mats. ) when the car got towed, it started. The tow driver said it should not have done that with the side airbags deployed. (it won't let me type in the box how fast were you going. It should have been 2mph. The car accelerated and lack of braking and control contributed to the crash.

I was traveling down a steep two lane road (California route 32) on my way to chico, CA when my rear drivers side wheel came off. With some difficulty, I was able to pull the car off to the left side of the road (steep embankment on the right side, 50-60 foot ravine on the left side). I had my car safety inspected before I left on this trip at the missoula, mt Subaru dealer and I suspect that they did not properly tighten the wheel and my spare tire was flat even though that was also supposed to be checked in the safety inspection. The body around the wheel well was slightly damaged, my muffler under the car broke and chico Subaru refuses to fix any of it. I also contacted Subaru America and am waiting to hear back from them.

See all problems of the 2006 Subaru Forester 🔎.