Owner-reported complaints naming the visibility system, filed with NHTSA
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Reports naming windshields, glass, wipers, defrosters and mirrors. Every record below is an owner-reported complaint about the 2022 Subaru Forester submitted to NHTSA — not a confirmed defect, not a recall and not a manufacturer bulletin. 24 reports on file name it.
Complaints are reports submitted by owners and drivers to NHTSA. They are not verified and do not establish that a defect exists.
Shown in the owner’s own words, exactly as filed
I was driving along and noticed my windshield was cracked on the passenger side. The crack is vertical from the bottom of the windshield to about halfway up. It was fine the day before. No rocks, etc struck my windshield. I understand that Subaru has had issues with windshields cracking for no reason.
I was driving to work in the morning and was going down a slow side street when I heard a soft noise behind me. When I looked in my rearview I noticed that my back window was cracked all over it though nothing had hit it or fallen in it. The glass then completely fell out.
The contact owns a 2022 Subaru Forester. The contact stated while the vehicle was parked, the contact noticed that the front windshield was cracked. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired by an independent mechanic or dealer. The contact stated that the vehicle was scheduled for the front windshield replacement. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 29,000.
Windshield formed a crack for no apparent reason. The crack increased to about 10 inches in the course of 2 days.
While driving the drivers side rear window imploded sending thousands of shards of glass into the vehicle.
I believe the glass used for the front windshield in my 2022 Subaru Forester is structurally defective. I have experienced 3 chips in different areas of the windshield while driving at different times over the past 2 months. The most recent was October 11,2023. There were no loud impact sounds or obvious rocks strikes that impacted my windshield for each occurrence. I did hear a very faint noise when the latest chip appeared. It is my concern that if an object were to hit the type of glass used for this windshield while on the freeway it could shatter and cause harm to me and impair by ability to operate my Forester. I have read online of many problems with Subaru windshield glass occurring over many years and models. I believe this problem needs to be corrected most likely by changing the type of glass used. I reported this to a Subaru dealer. There were no warnings or other symptoms of the problem prior to the failure.
Overnight, my windshield cracked from the inside. The car was safely in the garage and is only driven by me. The crack was in a "J" or "L" formation on the driver's side, approximately 2.5 - 3", stemming from the dashboard. Nothing had hit or injured the windshield. Over the last few months, the crack has slowly expanded to a larger "L" formation. I've filed a claim with insurance but believe the crack is due to a faulty Subaru windshield.
Windshield has random cracks and scratches everywhere and I only have 18000 miles.
At 5.000 miles I observed a crack in the lower portion of the windshield. The crack was vertical and about 8 inches in length. The crack was located almost in the center of the windshield. The crack is smooth to the touch on both the interior and exterior of the windshield. At no time to my knowledge did any objects strike the windshield. In the next few days of driving the crack grew to approximately 2 feet in length and spread horizontally across the passenger side. I contacted the dealer and was informed that the vehicle warranty does not cover glass. I made arrangements at a local auto glass shop to have the windshield replaced. I believe that the glass was defective.
The windshield seems to crack and get chipped very easily. I have been driving on the same freeway for 10 years. I bought the Subaru last year and have received four windshield cracks in one year. This can’t be a coincidence that this only became an issue with this specific vehicle. The windshield is incredibly expensive to replace yet breaks far too easily.
Windshield developed multiple small chips for no apparent reason. I am the only one who drives the car and never felt any rock or pebble hitting my windshield. Chips were small (less than 1cm). I took the car to my authorized Subaru Dealer (Pembroke Pines, Florida) to be inspected and they told me that windshield needed to be replaced. They did not accept that this was a manufacturer problem and they told me it was not covered by my warranty. They referred to a company they work with to replace my windshield. I am uploading pictures of some of the chips. There were more but I did not take pictures of all of them. Chips were all over the windshield which obviously is very unlikely to happen and never happened to me before with any of my cars.
2 incidents. First day we took car home the vehicle infotainment system failed while phone was connected to Apple CarPlay. Screen went black and there was a loud noise like interference. Has happened repeatedly since, supposedly due to needing a firmware update but it’s been a well documented problem in Subaru automobiles for several years and the manufacturer has done nothing to alleviate the flaw. Second incident involves the windshield cracking in the lower driver side with no apparent cause from anything striking the windshield. Again, this is a well documented issue and there are several complaints on nhtsa.gov from other unhappy customers
Over the past year that I have had my vehicle, having bought it in April 2022, I have had my windshield crack 3 times. Each crack has occurred around the end he’s of the windshield. One was caused by a rock hitting the windshield while driving less then 20 miles per hour - resulting in two cracks up the windshield.
Woke up this morning to a cracked windshield. Car was garaged over night and I drove it around 8:30pm the evening before and their was no crack. Now have a 4” crack in the passenger side windshield.
Two things have already failed on this vehicle. The first being the seats/seat belt clips on the driver and passanger seat. The seat in constructed in such a way that no matter what adjustment is made, the driver feels as if they are falling into the steering wheel. Any attempts to correct the positioning leaves the driver feeling as if they do not have control of the vehicle. Additionally, the inward positioning of the seat-belt clip on the right side on the driver facing inward pushes into the drivers hip and/or thigh causing extreme pain. The narrowing of the seats does not allow the driver to get away from the pain of the seat belt clip. Second, the issue with the windshield. This is my second Subaru Forester. On my first, I had a cracked windshield in 5 places due to small debris hitting the vehicle in a normal operating matter. This was replaced. My current vehicle, with less than 500 miles on it, already has 5-6 chips in the windshield due to some defect in the glass that causes the glass crack under nearly no pressure at all. I can't even imagine where the cracks came from with such low mileage and driving in near perfect, normal operating condition. It is only a matter of time before I will need to have the windshield replaced on this vehicle. It is also hazardous to know that it may shatter and injure me at any time. I have had the vehicle less than 5 weeks.
Windshield spontaneously cracked while stationary on a level paved major thoroughfare. There was no impact on the windshield of any kind. No prior damage. Just sitting at a red light no traffic approaching from any direction and the windshield cracked in the middle sections of the glass, on the right edge.
Driving through a parking lot under 5mph, and the glass cracked with no warning or sign of anything hitting the windscreen.
Windshield Cracked while in the hot sun. I was sitting inside my car and started hearing a cracking noise and noticed my windshield was cracking. Eventually it developed a 7 inch crack.
2 separate windshield cracks in 2 days!!
Subaru installs terribly delicate windshields on their vehicles. I just bought this car in May of 2022 and already there are chips and cracks in the windshield. I had to replace the windshield on my previous 2019 Forester within months of purchase, too. If the slightest pebble (even at low speeds) hits the windshield, it will crack - currently the crack on my windshield is about six inches long and growing.
The contact owns a 2022 Subaru Forester. The contact stated that while driving at 60 MPH, a rock struck the bottom middle of the windshield glass. The rock became imbedded inside the windshield glass which caused water to leak inside the vehicle. The dealer was notified of the failure and insisted that the windshield glass be replaced with the same type of glass and not an aftermarket glass. The contact waited a month for the windshield repair; however, the eyesight and cruise control features both became inoperable after the repair. A month later, the contact stated while exiting the highway, an unknown object struck the windshield and caused another crack to form on the bottom left side of the windshield. The contact stated that each crack obstructed her vision while driving. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was approximately 500.
The contact owns a 2022 Subaru Forester. The contact stated while starting the vehicle, she noticed a crack on the windshield which started from the bottom of the front windshield and expanded to the driver's side casing a visibility hazard. The vehicle was taken to the dealer but was not diagnosed. The representative at the dealer took a picture and forwarded the picture to the manufacturer. The windshield was not replaced. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 7,600.
On May 12, 2022, when I got in my vehicle and closed the driver's side door, I heard a crackling sound. When I looked in the rearview mirror, I could see a gaping hole in the rear windshield and glass falling everywhere. I got out of the vehicle to inspect it. The rear windshield had not been impacted by anything; it just spontaneously cracked. I house the vehicle in my garage, and that's where the situation occurred. I bought this vehicle brand new on March 1, 2022.
Bought my brand new Forester less a month and i have to replace a windshield already!!! Discovered about 5 inches crack while warming up the car on the snow day. Subaru have a glass action agains them about windshield so easily to crack. Service dept refused to replace my windshield because of a super tiny hold that can not be seen by normal eyes, i think it was a damage from crack . We have a different brand vehicle which has about 10x bigger intake but never cause the crack for year. Now i know the reason why Subaru offer the limited windshield replace program.
Higher-selling and older vehicles accumulate more reports. Counts are not failure rates and are not directly comparable between vehicles that sold in very different numbers.
Categories with enough reports to have a page of their own
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