2016 SUBARU FORESTER Complaints

The oem battery in this vehicle has failed Multiple times (dozens of times), upon sitting for a few days. Nothing in the vehicle was On, it was just sitting. A couple of times it was towed to the dealership in Bozemanwhere I bought it (Gallatin Motors) for diagnosis and repairs (bad/dead battery). The battery was replaced Once per Subaru's policy. Then I was on my own for repeated, totally unexplained DEAD battery upon trying to start the car after a couple/ few days/ nothing left on. I finally bought my own new recommended Interstate Battery after repeated dead out non starts. I bought a Duracell battery maintainer/ conditioner to install in my garage, which I use when the vehicle sits for more than 2 or 3 days to be sure the darn battery will start the car. It's obvious to me there's a parasitic battery drain in this smart car, but no one from any dealership will acknowledge/ has any advice about this! This is discussed in multiple online forums. I love the car and it's smarts, but not turning Dead Off after I'm finished driving it - and draining the battery making it impossible to start again without a jump - is totally not acceptable for a "vehicle."

The battery died on several occasions. I had to purchase a portable jump starter to keep in the vehicle for times that the vehicle would not start. I had the battery replaced by the dealer, but the same issue happened again. In the winter of 2020 I ended up purchasing an after market AGM (Advanced Glass Mat) battery for the vehicle.

The battery drains when the car is turned off without anything electrical being on, possibly a parasitic battery. Have taken the car to dealership multiple time and they said the battery itself was fine.

Context: We were driving on the freeway at ~30-40mph when the car in front suddenly braked and stopped. We hit the breaks at the same time that the automatic brakes kicked in. The car stopped, as needed. Issue: After stopping, we pressed the accelerator to start the car moving again but the car revved instead of accelerating. We pulled off/slowly drifted to the side of the road and turned the car off and then back on before the accelerator started to function. This seemed like an engine problem. Safety risk: During this incident we were stopped on the freeway with no way to accelerate, which was very dangerous. We were lucky to be next to the shoulder lane. Otherwise, we would have been stuck in the middle of a freeway with a speed limit of 60mph. Inspection by Subaru result: "FOUND NORMAL OPERATION ON TEST DRIVE. NO CURRENT CODES OR RELATED HISTORY CODES. LIKELY A TEMPRARY FAULT UNDER EXTREME CONDITION. PLEASE MONITOR".

The contact owns a 2016 Subaru Forester. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the contact heard an abnormal sound and noticed that the windshield had cracked. The contact stated that the crack expanded to approximately 12 inches. The cause of the failure was not yet determined. The local dealer and manufacturer were not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 40,000.

Since my driving has cut down drastically since Nov 2019 right before the pandemic, I have been plagued with my battery draining quite quickly. This happens when the car is not driving regularly, sometimes within a week and a half. I have to put the battery on a tender as well. This even occurred after getting the battery replaced at Subaru, and the problem coming back nearly immediately.

SUBARU ACCELERATES OCCAISIONALLY WHEN ONE HITS THE BREAK AND THE MOTOR RACES UNTIL ONE PUTS CAR IN NEUTRAL .

'SEVERAL TIMES OVER THE LAST 3 MONTHS THE VEHICLE RANDOMLY ACCELERATES USUALLY WHEN I BRAKE TO SLOW DOWN THE CAR. I HAVE TO PUT THE CAR IN NEUTRAL TO STOP THE RACING OF THE ENGINE. IT HAPPENS AT VARIOUS SPEEDS, 5,10,20, 60. IT IS SCARY AND I HAVE TO ALLOW EXTRA ROOM WHILE DRIVING.

MY FORESTER HAD AN ISSUE WHERE I COULD NOT GET THE KEY OUT OF THE IGNITION ONCE I WAS STOPPED AND IN PARK. I HAD TO REPEATEDLY TURN THE CAR ON AND OFF AND MOVE THE SHIFTER BACK INTO AND OUT OF GEAR TO GET THE KEY OUT. I HAD MY CAR REPAIRED AT THE DEALERSHIP AT A COST OF $419. I FIRST HEARD ABOUT AN ISSUE LIKE THIS WHILE WAITING IN THE DEALERSHIP LOBBY LISTENING TO ANOTHER FORSTER OWNER WHO HAD THIS ISSUE. SINCE THEN OUR FRIEND AND OUR DAUGHTER HAVE ALSO HAD THIS ISSUE WITH THEIR SUBARU CROSSTREKS. THEREFORE, SINCE THIS SEEMS TO BE A SYSTEMIC PROBLEM, IS IT POSSIBLE TO HAVE THEM ISSUE A RECALL FOR THIS DEFECT?

IN SPITE OF CAREFUL MAINTENANCE AND USE I HAVE HAD AT LEAST 7 INSTANCES WHERE THE BATTERY HAD DIED. IN 4 OF THOSE INSTANCES I WAS ABLE TO JUMP START THE CAR AND CONTINUE USING IT. IN 3 INSTANCES I WAS UNABLE TO JUMP START IT, SO I HAD TO REMOVE AND REPLACE THE BATTERY 3 TIMES SINCE OWNING IT NEW IN LATE 2016. I HAVE LOST MY FEELING OF CONFIDENCE IN USING THE CAR OVERNIGHT IN REMOTE AREAS, SUCH AS WHEN CAMPING OR HIKING. I BROUGHT IT TO THE DEALER TWICE AND THEY HAVE NOT FOUND ANY ELECTRICAL PROBLEMS TO CORRECT, SO I THINK IT IS A DESIGN FLAW.