2017 Subaru Forester Body & structure Problems

I was driving around the city at about 25mph and the hood flew open, almost entirely blocking my view out the front of the car. I was able to pull off into a parking lot and reclose the hood and get home. A couple of days later, I set out on a longer road trip and I carefully checked that the hood was closed securely, even texting my partner about it when I checked. 3 or 4 hours into the drive, while going 65mph on the interstate, the hood flew open again, shattering through the windshield. Thankfully I was able to avoid any collisions and pull over to the side of the road, but the windshield, hood, fenders, sunroof, and some interior pieces (rearview mirror, console on the roof) were dislodged. My passenger and I could easily have been killed.

NHTSA ID

11728312

Incident

Mar 26, 2026

The contact owns a 2017 Subaru Forester. The contact stated that upon opening the tailgate, the tailgate quickly fell unintendedly and struck the contact's head while the contact was retrieving items from the trunk. The contact sustained head soreness but had not received medical attention. The contact stated that the failure had occurred on several occasions. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, where it was diagnosed, and determined that the tailgate sending unit needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired due to the cost. The failure mileage was approximately 85,000. The VIN was not available.

NHTSA ID

11720656

Incident

Feb 12, 2026

Mileage

85,000 mi

See attached document for complaint.

NHTSA ID

11659483

Incident

Apr 6, 2025

When closing the liftgate during the normal course of use, the liftgate support cylinder on the passengers (right) side failed (metal ball joint snapped where it connects to the liftgate), causing the support cylinder to fall between the liftgate and the rear tail light. Without this support cylinder in place, the liftgate did not receive enough support from the left side support cylinder and rapidly fell, smashing the right support cylinder into the right tail light, shattering the tail light assembly. Additionally, there was no way to secure the liftgate with the broken support cylinder still attached to the body of the vehicle. Fortunately, my wife had a ratchet set in the vehicle from the last time this happened and was able to remove the two bolts connecting the support cylinder to the body of the vehicle. Had she not had the ratchet set in the car, she would have had to drive the vehicle somewhere else with the liftgate unsecured. This was an extremely dangerous situation as the liftgate could have seriously injured someone who may have been underneath when the support cylinder failed. Additionally, the way the support cylinder is installed, when it fails, it WILL break the rear tail light assembly. The support cylinder has nowhere to go but across the tail light. The problem was not reproduced by a dealer, but the same thing happened to the support cylinder on the other side (driver, left side) of the car only 5 months earlier. We have only had the car 8 years. There is no reason this component should fail in 8 years when using the liftgate under normal operating conditions. There are no warning signs that this will happen. It simply just fails and the liftgate comes crashing down. I did not have a mechanic look at the issue as it simply requires a new support cylinder (OEM part at Subaru costs $138). I was able to replace the cylinder when the part arrived, but my tail light is still shattered. I will have to replace that as well ($289 at Subaru).

NHTSA ID

11637139

Incident

Jan 19, 2025

When closing the liftgate during the normal course of use, the liftgate support cylinder on the driver's (left) side failed (metal ball joint snapped where it connects to the liftgate), causing the support cylinder to fall between the liftgate and the rear tail light. Without this support cylinder in place, the liftgate did not receive enough support from the right side support cylinder and rapidly fell down, smashing the left support cylinder into the left tail light, cracking the tail light assembly. Additionally, there was no way to secure the liftgate with the broken support cylinder still attached to the body of the vehicle. Fortunately, we were in the parking lot of a hardware store where I was able to purchase a ratchet kit to remove the two bolts connecting the support cylinder to the body of the vehicle. Had this occurred somewhere else, I would have had to drive the vehicle somewhere else with the liftgate unsecured. This was an extremely dangerous situation as the liftgate could have seriously injured someone who may have been underneath when the support cylinder failed. Additionally, the way the support cylinder is installed, when it fails, it WILL break the rear tail light assembly. The support cylinder has nowhere to go but across the tail light. The problem was not reproduced by a dealer, but the same thing happened to the support cylinder on the other side (passenger, right side) of the car not even 6 months later. We have only had the car 8 years. There is no reason this component should fail in 8 years when using the liftgate under normal operating conditions. There are no warning signs that this will happen. It simply just fails and the liftgate comes crashing down. I did not have a mechanic look at the issue as it simply requires a new support cylinder (OEM part at Subaru costs $138). I was able to replace the cylinder when the part arrived, but my tail light is still cracked. I will have to replace that as well ($289 at Subaru).

NHTSA ID

11637135

Incident

Aug 20, 2024

The front windshield is extremely prone to cracks. I've gotten three cracks in my windshield, all along the bottom half in close proximity to each other, which leads me to believe there is a structural issue with either the body of the car or the glass that is causing this. Two of the times, there were no other cars around me and a pinhead size piece of gravel lodged into the outside layer of the windshield, chipping and cracking it.

NHTSA ID

11572361

Incident

Feb 7, 2024

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.

NHTSA ID

11460981

Incident

Mar 25, 2022

WINDSHIELD IS EXTREMELY FRAGILE. I HAVEN'T EVEN HAD THIS CAR FOR TWO YEARS YET AND ITS ALREADY HAD TWO CRACKED WINDSHIELDS DUE TO ROAD DEBRIS. I'VE HEARD THAT SUBARU MADE THE GLASS THINNER TO SAVE WEIGHT, NOT SURE IF THAT IS TRUE, BUT IT SEEMS CRAZY TO HAVE THE WINDSHIELD CRACK SO EASILY (DRIVING ON REGULAR ROADS, MOSTLY HIGHWAY). ALSO THE GLASS IS VERY EXPENSIVE, AND SINCE MY CAR IS EQUIPPED WITH EYESIGHT, IT ALSO NEEDS TO BE RECALIBRATED EACH TIME ITS REPLACED. I'VE HAD OTHER CARS FOR FIVE TIMES LONGER AND NEVER HAD TWO CRACKED WINDSHIELDS IN THE LIFE OF THE CAR. MAYBE SOMETHING IS GOING ON WITH THE SUBARU OEM GLASS THAT NEEDS TO BE INVESTIGATED? THANKS.

NHTSA ID

11375082

Incident

Nov 12, 2020

Mileage

55,500 mi

THE 2017 FORESTER WAS PARKED AND HAD BEEN PARKED FOR A WEEK. WHILE PARKED THE TEMPERATURE FELL TO 30 DEGREES F AND THE WINDSHIELD CRACKED FROM THE BOTTOM UP. THIS IS IN MASON COUNTY WASHINGTON STATE NOTICED FEB 21 2020

NHTSA ID

11310724

Incident

Feb 21, 2020

Mileage

19,722 mi

ACCIDENTALLY PLACED MY HAND NEAR THE EDGE OF THE REAR POWER LIFT GATE WHEN IT WAS CLOSING. CLOSED ON MY FINGER AND DID NOT AUTO REVERSE. KEPT APPLYING FORCE UNTIL I MANAGED TO PULL MY FINGER OUT! DANGEROUS DESIGN

NHTSA ID

11268101

Incident

Oct 12, 2019

Mileage

50,000 mi

I'VE NOTICED THE WINDSHIELD GLASS IS EXTREMELY SUSCEPTIBLE TO ROCK CHIPPING FROM VERY SMALL STONES, AS IF THE GLASS IS EXTREMELY BRITTLE. THE CHIPPING, MOSTLY TINY POCKETS ABOUT 1/16" MAX IN THE SURFACE OF THE OUTER GLASS, OCCURS DURING NORMAL HIGHWAY DRIVING AND ESPECIALLY ON "FREEWAYS". ALTHOUGH MY REPORT DATE IS 10/10/19, THE CHIPPING HAS BEEN GOING ON FOR AT LEAST TWO YEARS.

NHTSA ID

11267791

Incident

Oct 10, 2019

Mileage

20,000 mi

INVOLVED IN A CAR ACCIDENT THAT WAS WHERE THE SUBARU WAS T-BONED ON THE PASSENGER SIDE, RESULTING IN EXTENSIVE DAMAGE. BOTH FRONT AND REAR DOOR AND ALL PANELING ON THE PASSENGER SIDE HAD TO BE REPLACED. THE SIDE AIRBAGS FAILED TO DEPLOY UPON IMPACT. MY VEHICLE WAS MOVING AT 40MPH AND THE VEHICLE THAT HIT ME WAS GOING 20-30MPH AND ACCELERATING. *DT *TR

NHTSA ID

11265346

Incident

Sep 4, 2019

Mileage

41,500 mi

BOUGHT NEW FORESTER IN MAY 2017. WINDSHIELD CRACKED @ JULY 2017. REPLACEMENT CRACKED OCTOBER 2017. SUBARU DENIED COVERAGE BOTH TIMES. FIRST WINDSHIELD I WAS MOVING ON HIGHWAY BUT UNAWARE OF BEING STRUCK BY ANYTHING. IT WAS NEARLY 100 DEGREES OUTSIDE AND AC WAS ON NICE 68 DEGREES. SECOND WINDSHIELD APPEARED TO CRACK WHILE PARKED IN GARAGE. SECOND WINDSHIELD LEAKED. CRACK IS NEAR WHERE LEAK WAS "FIXED."

NHTSA ID

11033961

Incident

Jul 7, 2017

Mileage

6,000 mi

ON MARCH 1, 2017 I WAS STOPPED AT AN INTERSECTION. AFTER PROCEEDING STRAIGHT THROUGH THE INTERSECTION AND REACHING A SPEED OF APPROXIMATELY 10-15 MPH I HEARD AN ALERT IN MY CAR, AND SIMULTANEOUSLY HEARD CARS BEHIND ME SOUNDING THEIR HORNS. I QUICKLY LOOKED UP INTO THE REAR VIEW MIRROR AND SAW THAT THE TAILGATE OF MY CAR HAD OPENED WITHOUT WARNING WHILE I WAS IN MOTION, CAUSING MY DOG TO FALL OUT OF THE BACK. THIS OCCURRED AFTER TRAVELING FOR APPROXIMATELY 6-8 MILES WITHOUT EVER RECEIVING A DASHBOARD ALERT THAT THE TAILGATE WAS OPEN. THERE HAVE BEEN ELECTRONIC ISSUES WITH THE CAR SINCE I PURCHASED IT NEW. SOMETIMES THE CAR WON'T RECOGNIZE THE KEY FOB AND THE DOORS WON'T UNLOCK, OR THE CAR WON'T START AND I GET AN ALERT THAT THERE IS NO KEY DETECTED (WHEN IT IS IN THE CUP HOLDER MERE INCHES FROM THE PUSH-BUTTON IGNITION START.) TWICE THE FASTEN SEAT BELT ALERT HAS LIGHTED AND CHIMED, WHEN THE DRIVER HAS THE SEAT-BELT FASTENED AND THERE ARE NO OTHER PASSENGERS IN THE CAR. OFTENTIMES THE TAILGATE WON'T OPEN WITH THE KEY FOB OR BY UTILIZING THE OUTSIDE BUTTON - ON THIS PARTICULAR DAY IT TOOK ME SEVERAL MINUTES OF FUSSING WITH ALL THE CONTROLS BEFORE I COULD GET THE TAILGATE TO OPEN AT ALL. THIS WAS THE FIRST TIME THE TAILGATE OPENED ON ITS OWN. THE ONLY OTHER THING THAT I RECALL ABOUT WHAT HAPPENED THAT DAY IS THAT AS I WAS GOING THROUGH THE INTERSECTION MY RIGHT FRONT WHEEL DIPPED INTO A POTHOLE WITH A SIGNIFICANT JARRING.

NHTSA ID

10958676

Incident

Mar 1, 2017

Mileage

1,200 mi

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2017 SUBARU FORESTER. THE CONTACT STATED THAT THE CONTROL MODULE SCREEN REFLECTED LIGHT ONTO HER FACE WHILE DRIVING. THE CONTACT'S VISION WAS IMPAIRED. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT DIAGNOSED OR REPAIRED. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 1,200.

NHTSA ID

10916632

Incident

Oct 11, 2016

Mileage

1,200 mi