2026 Subaru Forester Driver assistance Problems

• Symptom: Total electrical and mechanical shutdown at highway speed (70 mph) immediately following the manual disengagement/deactivation of the cruise control system. • Behavior: Complete loss of engine power, power steering assist, braking assist, and all instrument cluster functionality. • Post-Incident Diagnostic: An OBD-II code reader scan registered zero active, pending, or historic DTCs, indicating an instantaneous loss of primary ECU/ECM power or a critical grounding drop rather than a sensor-driven component fault.

NHTSA ID

11775053

Incident

Oct 31, 2026

Mid-afternoon - clear day - dry pavement - cruise control set at 70+ MPH on Interstate 35. Car suddenly detects obstacle and starts phantom breaking excessively. Causes complete terror that we're about to hit something - only there was no obstacle to be found. Alarm eventually shut off and after a few moments, I was finally able to accelerate again. Luckily, there were no cars directly behind me or that would have been a huge pile up. Reported concern to Subaru dealer - referred to corporate - they have had my car for 25 days. Today I was notified that due to not signing a waiver issued today stating I would turn all eyesight data over to any third party vendor and law enforcement - both now and in the future data - the safety case was at an impasse. No further explanation as to how this concern would be addressed. Corporate has not contacted local dealer with next steps. It is a 2026 forester with under 15,000 miles on it. No explanation as to why they could not have a form with a reasonable request - I.E. timeframe, no law enforcement involved, etc. Concern for this is the phantom braking with no explanation as to why and refusal to fix it.

NHTSA ID

11772223

Incident

Aug 27, 2026

The pre-collision breaking system activated while I was driving 35mph on a straight road with no cars or obstacles present. There was enough force generated in the abrupt stop that the seatbelt locked and unsecured items were thrown to the floor.

NHTSA ID

11770721

Incident

Oct 12, 2026

I was pulling into a handicapped parking spot at the grocery store, turning right into it, and was almost stopped, with my right foot on the brake, when the vehicle suddenly accelerated at top speed, surging over the median strip, flattening the "Handicapped Parking" sign, and racing ahead into the street beyond. I drove forward and turned left back into the parking lot and parked the car. The flattened parking lot sign ripped the front panels off the car. I went into the grocery store and asked if we needed to call the police, and they said no, and that they would replace the sign. The two store managers helped m by putting the ripped off front, plastic panels into the back seat and advised me to take the car to the dealer to address the damage. My foot was on the brake when this unexpected acceleration occurred. I was extremely lucky that this did not happen when I was breaking at a stop light; if it had, I would have soared out into moving traffic and probably been killed.

NHTSA ID

11763914

Incident

Sep 5, 2026

When I am driving forward, or turning, sometimes the car automatically beeps very loud and puts on the breaks and the car in front of me is far away. It’s stressful and problematic. It doesn’t seem like an effective feature. This has happened like 10 times

NHTSA ID

11758790

Incident

Aug 22, 2026

Twice within a month. the Eyesight front collision braking system suddenly activated in traffic while passing through a signal light showing green when the car in front made a right turn onto an adjacent street. My vehicle was clear of the car that had turned right and could continue to proceed through the light without incident. The Eyesiight system activated and caused a near-miss potential rear end collision situation between my car and the cars following behind me.

NHTSA ID

11755786

Incident

Aug 3, 2026

I was merging into a road in Windsor, Ontario on July 3/4. I was nowhere near another vehicle. There was a LARGE gap between myself in any other cars. I am always extra cautious being out of country and driving. The automatic brakes kicked on and told me I had an obstruction ahead and would not let me control the vehicle. I was stopped turning into the middle of a five-lane road without control of my vehicle. This was incredibly dangerous. Luckily, it was only a few seconds and I had time to move before other cars got to me but it was a much closer call than it should have been.

NHTSA ID

11750448

Incident

Jul 3, 2026

[XXX] [XXX] [XXX] [XXX] VIA CERTIFIED MAIL – RETURN RECEIPT REQUESTED U.S. Department of Transportation National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) Vehicle Safety Compliance Division (NVS-210) 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE Washington, DC 20590 Wednesday, May 6, 2026 RE: SAFETY DEFECT COMPLAINT – 2026 Subaru Forester VIN: [XXX] Honorable, Eileen Sullivan Associate Administrator, Enforcement I am filing this formal safety defect complaint regarding my 2026 Subaru Forester. A pedestrian incident occurred on February 2, 2026, in which the vehicle failed to warn or brake automatically when a pedestrian crossed in front of my car. Additionally, the Subaru EyeSight system does not remain enabled between ignition cycles. Every time I start the car, I must manually re-engage the system. Consequently, Automatic Emergency Braking (AEB) is not active by default during ordinary driving and will reverts to off (not remain enable) when I am driving . I believe this poses an unreasonable risk to pedestrian and occupant safety. I am aware of prior investigations (e.g., NHTSA Action Number PE23010 and related lawsuits) involving Subaru EyeSight failures, including lack of braking for obstacles. Vehicle Information: Year: 2026 Make: Subaru Model: Forester VIN: [XXX] INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

NHTSA ID

11736419

Incident

Jan 7, 2026