2012 SUBARU FORESTER Complaints

WHEN TURNING OFF ENGINE, LOUD RAPID PINGING NOISE FROM FRONT OF THE CAR FOR ABOUT 20 MINUTES. PER SUBARU HOME OFFICE THIS IS NORMAL. PER MANAGER OF SUBARU SERVICE DEPT IT IS NORMAL. I WAS TOLD IT WAS THE GUARDS AROUND THE CATALYTIC CONVERTER - THAT THEY GET VERY HOT FROM THE CATALYTIC CONVERTER AND PING AS COOL DOWN. BUT IF THEY ARE CONTINUALLY WARPING BACK AND FORTH CAUSING THE PINGING SOUND, ISN'T THERE GOING TO BE METAL FATIGUE? WHEN THE GUARDS DON'T WORK, IS THE CAR GOING TO BE SAFE TO DRIVE? I MEAN, I WOULD THINK THEY ARE THERE FOR A REASON. I HAVE EVEN HEARD THE NOISE ROLLING DOWN THE DRIVER SIDE WINDOW AT A FAST FOOD RESTAURANT. JUST WANT TO KNOW THE CAR WILL BE SAFE. WOULD LOVE TO HAVE THE ANNOYING NOISE GO AWAY ALSO. I WAS TOLD ALL FORESTERS DO THIS. *TR

2012 FORESTER 2.5X, 4-SPD AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION: WHEN TRAVELING AT HIGHWAY SPEEDS, 50+ MPH, ANY ATTEMPT TO QUICKLY ACCELERATE CAUSES THE AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION TO DOWNSHIFT ALL THE WAY TO SECOND GEAR. THIS RESULTS IN VERY HIGH RPMS, BUT A LOSS IN VELOCITY AS THE DOWNSHIFT TO SECOND GEAR IS NOT APPROPRIATE AT THE HIGH END OF THE ALLOWABLE RPMS FOR THE ENGINE. THE LOSS IN SPEED WHEN ATTEMPTING TO ACCELERATE IS VERY UNSAFE AND HAS CAUSED ME TO HAVE TO UNEXPECTEDLY RETURN TO MY LANE WHEN ATTEMPTING TO PASS ANOTHER VEHICLE. LIKEWISE, ATTEMPTING TO MERGE INTO TRAFFIC TRAVELING FASTER IN ANOTHER LANE IS ALSO UNSAFE AS I LOSE SPEED WHILE EMERGING INTO THE LANE WITH FASTER TRAFFIC. THIS DOWNSHIFT INTO SECOND GEAR RATHER THAN THIRD GEAR AT HIGHWAY SPEEDS OCCASIONALLY CAUSES THE CHECK ENGINE LIGHT TO TURN ON AND THE TRACTION CONTROL WARNING LIGHT TO TURN ON. THIS IS AN ONGOING PROBLEM AND CAN BE REPLICATED AT ANY TIME. THIS OCCURS AT HIGHWAY SPEEDS, AND CAN BE REPLICATED BY DEPRESSING THE ACCELERATOR PEDAL QUICKLY, OR JUST TAPPING ON THE ACCELERATOR. THE VEHICLE SHOULD NOT BE ABLE TO DOWNSHIFT TO SECOND GEAR AT HIGH SPEEDS USING AN AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION. I HAVE RETURNED IT TO THE DEALER TWICE AND THE DEALERS MECHANICS ARE EASILY ABLE TO REPLICATE THE PROBLEM. AFTER NUMEROUS ATTEMPTS TO FIX THE PROBLEM, THE DEALERSHIP CONTACTED THE SUBARU HEADQUARTERS AND WERE TOLD THIS IS NORMAL OPERATION. IT IS ANYTHING BUT NORMAL FOR AN AUTOMOBILE AND IS VERY DANGEROUS. THERE APPEAR TO BE A NUMBER OF COMPLAINTS ON VARIOUS INTERNET SITES ON FORESTERS WITH SIMILAR PROBLEMS. *TR

DURING COLD WEATHER STARTS, THE VEHICLE CABIN SMELLS STRONGLY OF RAW FUEL, AS IF THERE WAS A FUEL LEAK. THE SMELL PERSISTS UNTIL THE ENGINE HAS REACHED ITS NORMAL OPERATING TEMPERATURE. LOOSE FUEL LINES HAVE BEEN REPORTED IN PREVIOUS MODEL YEAR FORESTERS, AND RARE INSTANCES OF THIS OCCURRING IN CURRENT GENERATION FORESTERS (09-13). *TR

WHILE PASSING A PARKED DUMPSTER, THE DRIVER STEPPED LIGHTLY ON THE GAS. INSTEAD OF THE EXPECTED MILD ACCELERATION, THE ENGINE REVVED GREATLY AND AN UNEXPECTED HIGH ACCELERATION OCCURRED. IT RESULTED IN A COLLISION WITH THE CAR IN FRONT. *TR

AFTER SHARP ACCELERATION THE CHECK ENGINE LIGHT CAME ON AND STAYED ON. NO OTHER ISSUES NOTED. TWO MONTHS LATER WITH 7500 MILES ON THE ODOMETER, THE SAME THING OCCURRED BUT THIS TIME THE CRUISE CONTROL LIGHT AND THE VEHICLE STABILIZATION LIGHT CAME ON AS WELL. CRUISE CONTROL DID NOT WORK AND I ASSUME THE STABILIZATION DIDN'T EITHER.

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2012 SUBARU FORESTER. THE CONTACT STATED THAT WHILE DRIVING 10 MPH, SHE APPLIED THE BRAKES AND THE VEHICLE DID NOT STOP. THE CONTACT APPLIED REPEATED PRESSURE TO THE BRAKE PEDAL BUT THE BRAKE PEDAL WAS DEPRESSED INTO THE FLOORBOARD ABNORMALLY. THE CONTACT THEN APPLIED THE EMERGENCY BRAKE AND THE VEHICLE STOPPED. THE VEHICLE WAS SAFELY DRIVEN TO AN AUTHORIZED DEALER BUT THEY WERE UNABLE TO DETERMINE THE CAUSE OF FAILURE. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT REPAIRED. THE MANUFACTURER WAS NOT MADE AWARE OF THE FAILURE. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 2,800.

WHILE OPENING THE DRIVER'S SIDE DOOR, THE TOP, RIGHT CORNER OF THE DOOR STRUCK MY FOREHEAD, CAUSING A GASH JUST ABOVE MY RIGHT EYEBROW THAT REQUIRED SIX STITCHES TO CLOSE. A LITTLE LOWER AND THE SHARP, POINTED CORNER OF THE DOOR FRAME COULD HAVE CAUSED THE LOSS OF MY RIGHT EYE. THE PROBLEM IS WITH THE DESIGN OF THE DOOR FRAME. IN ORDER TO OPEN THE DOOR, ONE MUST REACH FOR THE DOOR HANDLE AND, IN DOING SO, LEAN IN TOWARD THE DOOR. WHEN THE DOOR IS OPENED, IF ONE IS NOT STANDING BACK FAR ENOUGH, THE DOOR WILL HIT THE PERSON OPENING THE DOOR. THE DESIGN IS COMMON TO BOTH THE DRIVER'S SIDE AND FRONT PASSENGER SIDE DOORS. I INQUIRED WITH KINNEY MOTORS OF RUTLAND, VERMONT (802-775-6900), WHERE I PURCHASED MY 2012 SUBARU FORESTER TO SEE IF THERE IS A FIX FOR THE ABOVE PROBLEM AND, WHILE THE SERVICE MANAGER WAS POLITE AND TRIED TO BE HELPFUL, NO FIX WAS AVAILABLE. *TR

WHEN IN HEAVY TRAFFIC AND IT WAS NECESSARY TO ACCELERATE AT A HIGH RPM, THE TRACTION CONTROL LIGHT AND CHECK ENGINE LIGHT COME ON AND START FLASHING AND THE CRUISE CONTROL LIGHT ALSO FLASHED. THIS IS THE 3RD TIME THIS HAS HAPPENED. FIRST TIME ALL THE LIGHTS WENT OUT, SECOND TIME IT HAPPENED MY CRUISE CONTROL WAS DISABLED AND THE OTHER LIGHTS CONTINUED TO BE ON AND FLASH AND I HAD TO TAKE IT THE DEALERSHIP TO BE "RESET". DEALERSHIP TOLD ME IT WAS A "COMPUTER" PROBLEM AND SUBARU HAS NOT FIXED IT. YESTERDAY IT HAPPENED AGAIN. WAS ABLE TO LET OFF ACCLERATION QUICK ENOUGH TO KEEP IT FROM LOCKING OUT MY CRUISE AND CAUSING ALL THE LIGHTS TO FLASH CONTINUALLY. *TT

MY FORESTER HAS HAD THE ISSUE OF MISFIRING ON THREE OCCASIONS. IT HAS BEEN TO THE DEALERSHIP FOR THE FIRST TWO, NOW THEY TELL ME I NEED TO WAIT UNTIL THEY CREATE A COMPUTER UPDATE, THAT MY CAR HAS A "GLITCH IN THE COMPUTER". MY CRUISE CONTROL BECOMES DISABLED, WHILE DRIVING AND THE CHECK ENGINE LIGHT FLASHES, ALONG WITH VEHICLE DYNAMICS CONTROL WARING LIGHT ALSO BLINKS. THE DEALERSHIP TELLS ME THE CAR WILL RUN PROPERLY, NOT TO WORRY. THE OWNER'S MANUAL STATES THAT THE ABS IS POROBLABLY MALFUNCTIONING. THE FIRST TIME THIS HAPPENED, THEY DEALERSHIP SAID I MAY HAVE HAD WATERY GAS. IT HAS NOW HAPPENED UNDER THE SAME CONDITIONS: GOING UP GRADE AND NEEDING TO ACCELERATE. IN A FOUR MONTH PERIOD, I HAVE HAD THIS SAME UNRESOLVED ISSUE, THREE TIMES. ALSO THE SEAT BELTS ARE ON RECALL. WHEN I CALLED TOHAVE THE SEAT BELT REPLACED, I WAS TOLD THEY WERE ON BACK ORDER AND WOULD CONTACT ME. *TR

OUR FORESTER HAS AN INCONSISTENT BRAKE PEDAL. SOMETIMES THE PEDAL IS FIRM AND RESPONSIVE. SOMETIMES THE PEDAL GOES TOWARDS THE FLOOR BEFORE IT RESPONDS. WE NEVER KNOW HOW FAR IN THE PEDAL WILL GO. THUS FAR THE BRAKES HAVE ALWAYS WORKED BUT EXTRA TIME AND DISTANCE ARE NEEDED TO STOP. THE PROBLEM IS INTERMITTENT AND HAS BEEN THERE EVER SINCE WE PURCHASED THE VEHICLE. THE FOLLOWING FROM SUBARU'S RECALL OF OTHER 2012 MODELS EXPLAINS ALMOST EXACTLY HOW THIS MANIFESTS FOR US. PRESSING THE PEDAL LIGHTLY AND SUBSEQUENTLY HAVING TO HIT THE PEDAL HARDER WITHOUT LETTING UP SEEMS TO BE A TRIGGER. THE PEDAL HAS ALSO GONE ALL THE WAY TO THE FLOOR ON 2 OCCASIONS WHICH OCCURRED AT VERY LOW SPEEDS IN PARKING LOTS. MANIFESTATIONS PER THE PARAGRAPH BELOW ARE MOST COMMON AND CAN HAPPEN AT ANY SPEED INCLUDING ON THE HIGHWAY. IN THE RECALL LETTER SENT TO SUBARU OWNERS IT NOTED THAT "IN VEHICLES EXPERIENCING THIS CONDITION, THE DRIVER WILL INITIALLY ENCOUNTER A SOFT PEDAL FEEL AND MAY MOMENTARILY PERCEIVE A SENSE OF LOSS IN BRAKING POWER WHILE THE PEDAL IS BEING PRESSED LIGHTLY. THIS WILL ONLY CONTINUE UNTIL THE PEDAL IS PRESSED DOWNWARD APPROXIMATELY 2 MORE INCHES. EFFECTIVE BRAKING FUNCTION WILL BE ACHIEVED AT THAT POINT, MAKING IT POSSIBLE TO SLOW OR STOP THE VEHICLE." WE HAVE TAKEN THE VEHICLE TO 2 DEALERSHIPS AND THEY BOTH TOLD US THERE IS NO PROBLEM. WE RETURNED THE VEHICLE TO ONE OF THE DEALERSHIPS AND THEY ROAD TESTED IT FOR 3 DAYS AND TOLD US NOTHING IS WRONG. WE APPEAR TO HAVE THE SAME PROBLEM THAT TRIGGERED A RECALL OF MILLIONS OF OTHER 2012 MODELS AND WE DO NOT APPEAR TO BE TAKEN SERIOUSLY. THIS PROBLEM IS POTENTIALLY LIFE THREATENING, AND IT NEEDS TO BE DEALT WITH REGARDLESS OF WHETHER IT MANIFESTS FOR SUBARU TECHNICIANS OR NOT. I HAVE TAKEN THE VEHICLE TO MY MECHANIC AND HE BELIEVES THE MASTER CYLINDER IS BAD BUT HE HAS DONE NO WORK ON THE VEHICLE. *TR