2019 SUBARU FORESTER Complaints

The Thermal Control Valve on my Subaru Forester failed while I was driving recently. The failure caused the car to stop while making a turn. It was a very frightening experience. Luckily at that time the traffic was light. The car was towed to a Subaru dealer, and the Thermal Control Valve was replaced at no charge because Subaru extended the factory warranty. Subaru should have had a Recall Notice put out because this problem could cause serious bodily injury.

Engine lost power and was misfiring while many warning symbols appeared on the dash. There was a divider separating the lanes. The car coasted to almost to a stop, but the engine chugged enough to slowly turn left at the first opening in the divider and just barely made it off the main road. The engine stopped. I restarted it several times. The engine was misfiring barely running. The electric brake was applied on its own. The car did not respond to moving the shift selector out of park, so the car was immobilized. I put the 4-way flashers on and called AAA. There seemed to be no way for me to move it out of park or release the electronic parking brake. AAA could not respond quickly and suggested I call the police to divert traffic around my car for safety which I did. The tow truck operator was able to disengage the wheels and was able to flatbed it to the nearest repair shop. This being Saturday 1/3/26 it wasn't until Tuesday the repair shop determined the car would not run long enough to provide a reliable diagnosis due to the multiple trouble codes coming up on the computer analysis. I had the car towed to the nearest Subaru dealership who replaced the thermos control valve under their warranty extension. The dealership said usually when this part fails it just triggers a check engine light and not the dangerous situation I experienced. I believe a recall to replace this part should be issued on all cars with this defective part as its failure can cause a dangerous situation without warning.

I had a tire rotation at my Subaru dealer in 12/2024. Two weeks later I had a flat and could not break two lug nuts. Tire repair dealer found that the lug bolts had been stripped. I had the remaining lug bolts examined by the dealer and a 3rd was found stripped. All three had to be replaced. I underwent tire rotation on 12/11/2025 and dealer found a fourth lug bolt stripped which needed replacement. I was assured this was not the fault of the mechanics and was instead told that this was a manufacturer problem with the lug bolts. If this is true, there are a host of Subaru's out there with lug nuts that cannot be user removed to repair a flat. Although when stripped, the lug nuts are apparently firmly attached, does this represent a wheel / tire failure issue? Thanks for your attention.

The contact owned a 2019 Subaru Forester. The contact stated that while driving and merging onto the highway in the rain approximately 62 MPH, the contact’s vehicle was rear-ended by another vehicle that was driving erratically. Due to the impact, the vehicle spun out of control approximately 3-4 times and the vehicle bounced off the concrete highway sound barrier. The vehicle continued to spin out of control and struck the barrier wall on the passenger’s side before coming to a stop. The contact stated that the rear driver’s axle fractured and ended up on top of the wheel, and the wheel was flat on the ground. The contact stated that the air bags failed to deploy upon impact or during the crash. The vehicle was not drivable. The contact and his wife were transported to the hospital and were both treated for whiplash, body pain, and pain to the head and neck. The contact also had a throbbing headache from the crash. The contact and his wife both received CT scans that showed no signs of injuries. The other driver also spun out of control and struck the metal guardrail located in the middle of the highway. The contact stated that the other driver had not received medical attention at the scene. A Police Report was filed. The vehicle was towed to a collision yard where it remained. The insurance company had not inspected the vehicle; however, the contact expected that the vehicle would be deemed a total loss. The contact stated that the driver who caused the accident was cited by the Police for causing the crash. Neither the dealer nor the manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 71,400.

Subaru Forester 2019 January - February of 2025: issue initially presented as the hatch beeping, indicating that it was not closing fully. The hatch would not pop back up as if something was in the way, just remain down & continue beeping. The car would then not start, with only the hatch beeping noise (beep beep beep) going off. When I drove it, it kept warning me that the hatch wasn't shut completely. After I parked it in the garage, the next morning it would be dead. The issue was supposedly resolved in February of 2025 as I replaced the battery on my own and replaced this part: 29182AA060. Schomp Subuaru reported no issues with their diagnostic tests. November 30th - December 2025: I started the car just fine. When I opened the trunk and closed it, it gave me three beeps and wouldn't fully close, even if I pushed it shut and locked it. The next morning, the car would not start - the battery was dead. The tow company also could not jump start the car. As the car was being towed, the hatch alert was the only thing working/beeping. Even when not trying to use the hatch. I have used the car every single day up until this issue started. I have not left the keys in the car. The car is now back at the dealership. The unreliability of this can/has left me and my passengers stranded and cold. The dealership found no issue the last time this occurred even though there was a class action lawsuit about this exact issue, but somehow my car was not considered included. I cannot have Subaru tell me that there is no issue again.

The contact owns a 2019 Subaru Forester. The contact stated that while driving approximately 70 MPH, the Forward Collision Avoidance system activated, and the vehicle immediately decelerated to 56 MPH. The failure was intermittent but had occurred several times over 5 years. The contact had to manually turn off the Forward Collision Avoidance system to avoid the failure. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, who was unable to determine the cause of the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not informed of the failure. The failure mileage was unknown.

I have reported this before but it never went anywhere. When at a red light or in a traffic slowdown, the car will activate the auto start/stop system. Three times in the past 2 days, the car would not turn back on and required me to turn the car off and back on again. You can imagine that this leaves me in a dangerous situation because the cars behind me see a green light and get ready to move, or they see traffic clearing up and they get ready to move. I am forced to turn my car off and back on again in the middle of a 4 lane highway or on a busy city street. I get cursed at and nearly rear ended each time this happens. I did an internet search and there are entire threads dedicated to this exact problem with this subaru model and year. There should be a recall. It is very unsafe

About a month ago while approaching a stop light turning green at a busy intersection, I was slowing into the left turning lane when my car just stopped. No avoidance, no alerts. I had a semi behind me who started pulling out around me in heavy traffic. I could use my flashers. I turned the car off, then on and it finally restarted. This is a 2019 Subaru Forester, original owner, only one incident - but it was definitely weird, and unsafe!

While I was driving on a major road, the car appeared to sense an issue and automatically started to brake. While I was a road with 55mph drivers, my car was forcing me to stop. May warning light appeared; Eyesight Issue, Check Engine, Brake and many others. I was able to disengage the crash prevention manually and continue to drive. When I took it to my mechanic, he told me all the codes went to a Technical Service Bulletin for the Thermo Control Valve. He reset the codes and told me to take it to Subaru for an under warranty repair. Once I left the mechanic, I was travelling home and the car had the same issues, again while driving on a very busy road. This time I could not disengage the system, and I struggled to get the car over to the left shoulder. It was very narrow, and not safe. I ended up having to have the car towed to the dealer. The dealer did fix the car, under warranty. However, twice I was caught on busy roads in a very dangerous situation. I am very glad that I was not injured, nor those that came to rescue me. But this should not have happened. The Technical Service Bulletin was issued on April of 2024 and I had no idea.

The auto stop/start feature occasionally causes the entire vehicle to totally shut off. This happened 3 times 2 years ago and I was to it was a low battery. On 10/4/25, the car is stopped at a red light on a four lane highway and when my wife stepped on the gas to start, the vehicle totally shut off. After panicking, I helped her turn the electronics on in order to start the flashers, then move the vehicle from drive to park, and then restart the vehicle. With cars moving at 55 miles an hour toward a green light we were very concerned about getting hit from behind. Luckily, we were not hit. The Subaru dealer then suggested the problem might be the ECM and they charged us $203 for a software update. It is not clear what causes this total vehicle shutdown but it is a significant safety issue that puts the vehicle and occupants at risk. I hope the Subaru engineers have identified and fixed this issue in future models.