2017 Subaru Forester

The Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) opened PE19-009 to investigate 51 complaints and additional Early Warning Report (EWR) data related to allegations of front passenger seat Occupant Detection System (ODS) malfunctions in model year (MY) 2016 through 2018 Subaru Forester vehicles. These vehicles use a capacitive type ODS, which is intended to classify the occupant of the passenger seat as either full-sized, small stature, a child seat or other object. The complaints reported the ODS failed to operate properly, the SRS (Supplemental Restraint System) warning light illuminated, and/or the ODS incorrectly suppressed (turned off) the front passenger air bag when the seat was occupied by a full-sized passenger. In a frontal crash that is sufficient to warrant deployment, a suppressed air bag may increase the risk of injury to the occupant of the seat.On August 14, 2019 ODI sent an Information Request (IR) to Subaru requesting information on the subject vehicles and MY 2014-2015 Subaru Forester vehicles.On October 3, 2019, Subaru submitted a Defect Information Report (DIR) to NHTSA describing a safety defect in the passenger-side front airbag Occupant Detection System (ODS) harness of 366,282 MY 2015-2018 Subaru Forester vehicles equipped with seat heaters.The DIR stated that over time, due to a decrease in contact pressure between the terminals in the ODS sensor mat harness, a temporarily unstable electrical connection may be possible. If the connection is temporarily unstable, the ODS may not properly determine the status of the right front seat occupant. If the ODS is unable to correctly determine the status of the front occupant, the airbag warning light may illuminate, and the front passenger airbag may deactivate even though the seat is occupied, increasing the risk of injury to the front passenger in the event of a crash.Using vehicle production data and field occurrence frequency, Subaru determined the potentially affected vehicle production range to be between January 20, 2015 ?and August 1, 2017.In addition, Subaru indicated that over 99 percent of the related MY 2015-2018 field reports with vehicles in the production range involved vehicles with seat heaters.NHTSA's analysis of complaint and warranty claim data showed 1,440 of the complaints and 11,672 of the claims involve vehicles with seat heaters that were built within the production range covered by Subaru's recall.In addition, NHTSA's analysis showed a complaint rate of 393.1 per hundred thousand vehicles for the recalled population and 89.0 for MY 2014 through 2018 vehicles that are not included in the recall. Analysis of warranty claim data found a claim rate of 3.2 percent for the recalled population and 0.3 percent for MY 2014 through 2018 vehicles that are not included in the recall.Subaru will instruct owners with Subaru Forester vehicles produced in the affected vehicle production range, to bring their vehicles to a dealer to have the sensor mat harness, inspected and replaced with a new part, including the seat cushion assembly, if necessary.Based on ODI's analysis, the actions taken by Subaru mitigate any unreasonable risk to safety posed by ODS sensor mat failures in the subject vehicles. For subject and peer vehicles outside the recall population and those equipped without seat heaters, ODI's analysis indicates that there is currently no safety-related defect trend. Given these circumstances, further use of the agency resources in this matter does not appear to be warranted. Accordingly, this investigation is closed.

Rapid acceleration from a stop. When the accelerator is pressed down even slightly the car lurches forward at a very fast rate. It can travel several feet before I am able to stop it by braking. This is a dangerous condition. In several instances I have almost crashed into a car ahead of me in accelerating after a stop light has turned green. This issue was noted shortly after I purchased the car (purchased new) and shortly contacted the dealership. They said it was inherit to the car and could not be fixed. They test drove the car and said everything is ok. In the last 2 months It has only gotten worst. Yesterday I did a search for this issue and discovered that this issue is quite frequent among 2017 Subaru Forester owners including law suits. Is there anything that I can do to fix this problem since this is an issue tied to Subaru and of my making. Date of issues is the first date noted. This issue has continued on almost a daily basis since the car was purchased.

NHTSA ID

11775282

Incident

Feb 20, 2017

The Occupant Detection Sensor had a recall in 2019 and we replaced under that recall in 2020, but the part has once again failed and in looking at other Subaru forums, many others with this model year of Subaru Forester have dealt with the same ODS replaced ODS sensor failing again. This sensor deactivates the passenger airbag.

NHTSA ID

11774567

Incident

Oct 14, 2026

After replacement of the passenger ODS harness under recall WUM-98, the system still fails to detect a passenger in the seat, making it impossible for me to safely drive with a passenger. Subaru will not fairly cover the defect and would have to install a new seat and recode the new seat to the airbag module. The repair would cost me at least $1500. The capacitive passenger sensor is a major engineering flaw in Subarus, and a very good reason to never buy from them again.

NHTSA ID

11772550

Incident

Oct 20, 2026

I am filing a formal complaint regarding repeated, costly, and premature failures on my 2017 Subaru Forester, as well as the outright refusal by Subaru Consumer Advocacy to provide financial relief or goodwill reimbursement. Between 2024 and 2026, reaching under 90,000 miles, I was forced to pay out-of-pocket for over $6,200 in major repairs: Rear Wheel Bearings (2024): $2,000+ for premature bearing failure. A/C Evaporator Repair (Feb 2025, ~87,000 miles): $2,000 A/C Compressor Replacement (March 2026): $2,200 following additional system breakdown. Subaru issued Service Program Bulletin WRB-21 / WRB-21R specifically acknowledging factory-defective A/C condensers in 2017 Foresters. When an A/C condenser leaks refrigerant and oil, it directly damages down-stream components, including the evaporator and compressor. Despite pointing out Service Program WRB-21 to the Subaru Consumer Advocacy group, my request for goodwill reimbursement was flatly denied.

NHTSA ID

11772202

Incident

Dec 27, 2024

TRANSMISSION LIGHT OVER HEATING COMES ON

NHTSA ID

11770954

Incident

Sep 23, 2026

Valve control assembly failure. A known TSB. Disables safety features of the car. Should be a recall.

NHTSA ID

11770820

Incident

Oct 10, 2026

the occupant detection system has failed for years, the subaru dealership keep temporarily fixing the problem and has finally quoted me 2,000 to completely replace the seat as that is where the sensor is located. If i get in a wreck with a passenger they will have no airbag, and i dont think the seatbelts would work either. This is a faulty part that came with the car. The ODS light is on always, the dealership confirmed this.

NHTSA ID

11769811

Incident

Oct 8, 2026

Within 30k miles, Front passinger control arm bushings required replacement due to bushing failure resulting in uneven tire ware. By 35k miles, the front driver lower control arm also had the same issue effecting steering and uneven tire ware.

NHTSA ID

11766024

Incident

Sep 30, 2024

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