2016 Subaru Forester Problems

Airbag light is now consistently lit, Has come on & off for some time. when it first happened, I went straight to the dealership & a technician placed a device under the dashboard on the driver's side & switched off the light. No mention of a recall was discussed. Because the light is on most of the time of late, I researched & discovered a recall WUM98. On further investigating I discovered that the dealership had logged the recall as COMPLETE this is not the case as the passenger seat was never checked & repairs never done. I have contacted Subaru Corporate Customer Advocacy & their email response was: "I am sorry to hear about your airbag concern for your 2016 Forester. Currently there are no open recalls or warranty extensions for this concern. I would recommend having your local Subaru retailer address your concerns. I will follow up with you on Wednesday, August 19." This is not good enough I need Corporate to contact the dealership to fix this problem at no cost to me. This is a major safety issue! I have tried to call back but get an answering machine

SRS airbag error warning appears randomly when driving. It turns off passenger side airbags with a passenger in the seat and makes it unsafe to drive. Narrowing it down to the wiring harness seems to be an issue with a loose connection in the airbag seat sensor. Unplugging and re-plugging plus restarting the car seems to fix it at least temporarily. Others have posted about this issue online as well. No liquid has been spilled on the seat (some dealerships have accused others of this and causing the issue themselves).

Problem: Recall for passenger side airbag malfunction in heated seats for my model year. Manufacturer has said they addressed the recall but they have not. My car and thousands of others are unsafe for passengers to ride in because the airbag system does not work. Warning light is the airbag symbol and message that alerts driver that SRS system is not working. Manufacturer and dealers want to charge $200 to look problem over and then tell you its off warranty. My car has 96000 miles and this has been a problem since they “did the recall”. Subaru tells owners that passenger should ride in back seat. How does that work with two car seats. Subaru needs to take responsibility for their engineering design and fix this safety defect. These cars are death traps.

Passenger Occupant Detection System is malfunctioning. It is not registering a passenger in the seat, and in turn not turning the passenger airbag on when the seat is occupied. This puts any passnger who sit in this seat at risk of the airbag not deploying. This issue has been confirmed by the dealer. There was a recall for the Passenger ODS harness (WUM-98R) that the harness was replaced. Since this has been completed they state the Occupant Detection System is a seperate issue that requires seat base to be replaced in order for the system to register an occupant and have the air bags turn on when occupied.

Subaru Forrester was misfiring and sputtering as if it was going to stop running. The car was shaking. Had car towed to Subaru dealer for Service. At first we thought Spark Plugs and Ignition Coils but this did not fix the issue. Service determined a spring valve was broken which caused the issues. I have escalated the issue with Subaru Corporate, waiting for their response. Other Subaru models have had this issue with the spring valves.

My car has required multiple jumps and batteries, since I bought it new. I have records of the services for jumps, and new batteries. The car continues to have a parasitic battery drain, that has caused me to be stranded multiple times. The car is currently at the dealership, and they want to do a DCM test to see if this is cause. I was not informed of battery class action lawsuit, and extension of DCM warranty by Subaru. The dealership staff never discussed this with me as a possible cause, and that I may be eligible for warranty.

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

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.

When I drove the car, All most all light on the dashboard are on onthe road, and when I stop and tried to go, the car is somewhat not controled. I immidieatly went to dealership and dignosed P2764 CVT balve problem. And they add wheel bearing is problem. Subaru noticed these problems but my 88,278 mile 2016 forester has all the lights on and it was very scared and it took 4400 dollars for fixing.

I bought the car between 82-90K miles. Not long after I noticed when I was at an intersection and went from a stopped position to accelerating it would barely go. Spent over a lot to fix it and the guy who did says he has 2-3 Forresters a month in his shop for the same issue.

I had my foot on the brake, opened the garage door with my garage door opener, and before I took my foot off the brake the car surged, jumped, and smashed into the brick wall next to the garage. I did not put my foot on the gas.

I own a 2016 Subaru Forester. Approximately eight months ago, I began noticing some concerning issues with the vehicle. When applying the brakes from higher speeds, the car experiences significant shaking. Additionally, when coming to a stop, the vehicle shifts down hard, causing a jarring lunge forward. This abrupt transition is quite noticeable and uncomfortable. Moreover, when accelerating from a complete stop, the car tends to lunge forward and exhibits a stuttering sensation accompanied by jerking. These issues have raised concerns about the vehicle's performance and safety.

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

As I said earlier: car stopped dead in the middle of I-94, going 70 mph. No reason--had 1/4 tank of gasoline, alternator working, etc. Come to find out that you all recalled 2018 Subaru Foresters for this EXACT same problem--cars stalling while driving. That was for a faulty fuel pump. Discussion boards by owners are FULL of the same exact problem from 2014-2019. You should issue a recall there too, IMHO, since obviously the 2018 are the tip of the iceberg!

The windshield cracked without incident while parked. The is the exact same issue for which there is a class action lawsuit against Subaru for year models 2017-2020. The crack has spread to the drivers side and is obstructing the view. The dealer has reviewed the issue and provided a price quote but will not cover under the extended covered ordered as result of the class action lawsuit. There was no warning of this issue prior to noticing the cracking.

I have a 2016 Subaru Forester. One day I noticed the windshield of my 2016 Subaru Forester cracked in the garage. I do not recall any stone or point of impact while driving. It seems that the crack started from the right-side edge of the windshield extending to the midline. I have to repair this because the crack is getting worse. no warning lamps, messages or other symptoms of the problem prior to this. I have seen this in 2015 or 2016 Subaru Outback or Legacy for which a recall was announced. However, I do not see this for the Forester yet. The dealer confirmed this, but I got the same answer (no recall).

SRS airbag error warning appears randomly when driving. It turns off passenger side airbags with a passenger in the seat and makes it unsafe to drive. Narrowing it down to the wiring harness seems to be an issue with a loose connection in the airbag seat sensor. Unplugging and re-plugging plus restarting the car seems to fix it at least temporarily. Others have posted about this issue online as well. No liquid has been spilled on the seat (some dealerships have accused others of this and causing the issue themselves).

Passenger Occupant Detection System is malfunctioning. It is not registering a passenger in the seat, and in turn not turning the passenger airbag on when the seat is occupied. This puts any passnger who sit in this seat at risk of the airbag not deploying. This issue has been confirmed by the dealer. There was a recall for the Passenger ODS harness (WUM-98R) that the harness was replaced. Since this has been completed they state the Occupant Detection System is a seperate issue that requires seat base to be replaced in order for the system to register an occupant and have the air bags turn on when occupied.

The Horn stopped working in the vehicle. This is a known issue with many Subarus. The horn is essential for safety reasons due to this the vehicle cannot pass a safety inspection. The culprit of this issue is the electrical coil spring component in the steering wheel behind the air bag. The component has multiple connections going to it including an airbag connection. In the event of accident it is not guaranteed that the spring coil component would deliver the signal for the air bag to deploy. This component is defective in many Subarus and is a very costly repair due to all the electrical and safety components connected to cloak spring. This component has been an issue in previous Subaru models but has not been extended to newer models that clearly have the same issue. please see document attached.

Steering Rattle Sound / Steering Wheel Vibration This is a potential safety issue especially when driving free way at 60 or 65K mph. I would like to request if the lower control arm bushing can be part of a recall for subaru forester. Please see attached service bulletin.

When I drove the car, All most all light on the dashboard are on onthe road, and when I stop and tried to go, the car is somewhat not controled. I immidieatly went to dealership and dignosed P2764 CVT balve problem. And they add wheel bearing is problem. Subaru noticed these problems but my 88,278 mile 2016 forester has all the lights on and it was very scared and it took 4400 dollars for fixing.

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)

When I drove the car, All most all light on the dashboard are on onthe road, and when I stop and tried to go, the car is somewhat not controled. I immidieatly went to dealership and dignosed P2764 CVT balve problem. And they add wheel bearing is problem. Subaru noticed these problems but my 88,278 mile 2016 forester has all the lights on and it was very scared and it took 4400 dollars for fixing.

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.

I backed out of a parking space, put my foot on the brake and shifted into Drive to finish maneuvering out of the space. Although I didn't remove my foot from the brake, my Forester immediately accelerated at extremely high speed, striking the two cars parked next to me, and seriously damaging both. Rather than slowing down after hitting the other two vehicles, my car continued to speed up, only coming to a stop when it hit, head-on, a cement barrier surrounding the lot. My car hit with such force that every airbag in it deployed, and its front end was totally destroyed. No one was in the other two cars; I suffered minor injuries.

I was driving very slowly in a long line of traffic due to a sudden downpour of hail, ice pellets, and frozen rain which blanketed the road in white. Suddenly, without warning, my 2016 Subaru Forester accelerated and veered to the right and into a grove of trees doing extensive damage to the front end. The vehicle was totaled by my insurance company. I suspect that there was sudden acceleration and because of the icy road conditions my car left the road instead of plowing into the car ahead of me. The airbags didn't go off and I wasn't hurt at all but the entire front end was beyond repair.

No damage or water spill to the car whatsoever, but now the SRS passenger airbag light is on. This is a recurrent issue with Suabru, and there was even a recall for this part a few years ago, which was replaced in my vehicle during that period. Less than 5 years later, there is already an issue with it. This is not an oil change or a tire replacement; it is an AIRBAG SENSOR!! I cannot find any definite information indicating that my own driver's airbag will go off while the SRS light is on. To think that my airbag may not go off, from no fault of my own, due to an issue with the PASSENGER airbag, is unacceptable. Subaru claims this is out of warranty, will not pay for it, and is charging me over $1000. This is no cosmetic issue; this is incredibly dangerous, and Subaru is aware of this. There needs to be some warranty in place for this part in particular, considering it is a model-wide issue among all Subaru vehicles. This is NOT something that the vehicle owner should need to pay for when it could end their lives. Some diagnostic codes claim the sensor got "wet" after their cars were just detailed! Unacceptable! If the airbag sensor cannot withstand daily wear and tear, then it should not be allowed to be produced and purchased. Not only can the part be damaged way too easily, but it also impacts the safety of all passengers involved. I am so upset with this outcome, in all honesty. My car is unsafe to drive because the recall piece continues to have issues.

Passenger commented, asking why their seatbelt attachment point was not properly anchored and was hanging loose from front seat. Upon investigation, we noticed that the bolt holding the end of the LH portion of the passenger seatbelt had backed out. We were able to make a temporary field repair by tightening the bolt back in with our fingers, and later needed to use a 17mm wrench to further tighten the bolt to the point where it appeared to be reasonably tightened. When tightening the bolt, I did not notice any type of locking washer, or sense there was any type of chemical locking materials on the threaded portion of the bolt and wonder if it was improperly attached when the vehicle was built. In the case of an accident, I think it is reasonable to assume that the loose bolt would have failed and allowed the anchored end of the passenger seatbelt to come loose. The vehicle has approximately 27,000 miles, has never been in an accident, and has never had seats removed or repaired since we purchased it new.

Concerned driver stopped me and said I had no brake lights , only the lights atop the hatch showed breaking. After returning home I checked all settings on light controls and none made lower break lights work when pedal depressed. This could cause someone not watching top of vehicle crash into my vehicle. If light on top malfunctions I will not have any brake lights. Running lights work fine but do nothing when breaking. At first though it had to do with setting on light controls. I think I’ve been told I had no tail lights only front running lights and had to turn control at dusk to have taillights of any kind.

The backup camera and reverse taillights stopped functioning soon after I bought this vehicle in 2020. I am the 2nd owner and bought it from Peterson Toyota dealership in Boise, ID. There was no particular incident, i just noticed that the backup camera no longer showed an image when putting the car into reverse. I later found out while getting an oil change that the reverse taillights were not functioning either. It is available for inspection, and I have taken it to 2 Subaru dealerships who assessed it and said they couldn't find any specific issue. They confirmed the problem however. It has not been assessed by insurance representatives or police. There was no warning lamp or indication that my reverse lights were not working, other than realizing why no one was letting me out of parking spots. I have tried both replacing the bulbs and replacing the fuses for these systems, with no change. Upon researching, I found an identical problem occuring in Subaru WRX's manufactured between 2015-2021 that is listed under recall 22V522000. I would like to get this fixed as soon as possible and would like to see if it is possible to extend the existing recall to include my vehicle?

The contact owns a 2016 Subaru Forester. The contact stated that while driving at an unknown speed, there was a loud humming noise coming from the vehicle. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where it was diagnosed that the rear wheel bearing failed but the contact was unaware which wheel needed to be repaired. The vehicle was repaired but years later the failure recurred. The vehicle was taken back to the dealer where it was diagnosed that both rear wheels bearings failed and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 60,050.

I HAVE A 2016 FORESTER WITH YOKOHAMA G91F TIRES AND JUST HAD INSPECTION THEY SAID TIRE TREAD WAS GOOD EXCEPT THE SIDE ARE WORN DOWN SO I REQUIRED NEW TIRE TO PASS. I FOUND MULTIPLE ISSUES WITH THIS TIRE ONLINE. THE TIRE IS FOR PASSENGER VEHICLES BUT SAYS IT CAN BE USED ON CROSSOVER AND SUV BUT TALKED WITH SEVERAL TIRE SHOPS THAT ALL RECOMMEND USING SUV SPECIFIC TIRES AS THEY SEE THE SAME ISSUE OVER AND OVER WITH CERTAIN MULTI CATEGORY TIRES LIKE THIS WHERE BECAUSE OF RIDE HEIGHT, VEHICLE WEIGHT AND CENTER OF GRAVITY WHEN ROUNDING CORNERS THESE TIRES GET WORN DOWN REALLY QUICKLY BECAUSE OF IT BEING MORE PASSENGER VEHICLE CENTRIC BECAUSE THE EDGES ARE MORE ROUNDED WHERE AS SUV SPECIFIC TIRES HAVE MORE OF A FLAT BOTTOM AND SQUARE EDGES SO THEY DON'T SLIP. I ALSO BELIEVE THIS IS WHY A LOT OF COMPLAINTS TALK ABOUT POOR PERFORMANCE IN WET WEATHER AS THE SLIP IN CORNERS. THESE ARE STANDARD ON FORESTER AND YOKOHAMA WON'T COVER OEM TIRES AT ALL. I BELIEVE THIS NEEDS INVESTIGATED ESPECIALLY SINCE THEY JUST STARTED SELLING THEIR NEW ASCENT 3 ROW SUV NOT SURE IF IT HAS SAME TIRES. IF YOU WISH TO CONTACT ME MY EMAIL IS [XXX] I WOULD BE WILLING TO HELP RESEARCH AND SEND PROOF FROM USER REVIEWS AND TIRE DEALERS PLUS CAN TAKE PHOTOS. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6). *TR

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2016 SUBARU FORESTER. THE CONTACT STATED THAT THE KEY WAS STUCK IN THE IGNITION. THE CONTACT STATED THAT SEVERAL ATTEMPTS WERE MADE BEFORE THE KEY RELEASED AND WAS REMOVED FROM THE IGNITION. COLONIAL SUBARU (761 E CHESTER ST, KINGSTON, NY 12401, (845) 339-3330) ACKNOWLEDGED THE THAT FAILURE HAD OCCURRED IN OTHER VEHICLES. THE MECHANIC ATTEMPTED TO TAP THE SHIFT COLUMN TO DISLODGE THE KEY HOWEVER, THE KEY REMAINED STUCK IN THE IGNITION. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT REPAIRED. THE MANUFACTURER WAS NOTIFIED OF THE FAILURE AND REFERRED THE CONTACT TO THE NHTSA FOR ASSISTANCE. THE APPROXIMATE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 25,000. THE VIN WAS NOT AVAILABLE.*DT THE CONSUMER STATED THE REPAIRS WERE MADE AT THE OWNERS EXPENSE BUT CONSUMER COMPLAINED TO SUBARU ABOUT HAVING TO COVER THE COSTS AND SUBARU REIMBURSE THE CONSUMER FOR THE REPAIRS. *TR