2014 SUBARU FORESTER Complaints

The vehicle had 2 dangerous incidents on the interstate, once in 2021 and 2024. After longer 3+ hours of driving, and low on gas, the vehicle lost power, forcing me to coast to the shoulder. Once shut off and restarted, it was perfectly fine. The first time it was on cruise control, driving from Illinois to Texas. The most recent time it was not on cruise control, driving from Houston to Dallas and back. The dealer service center has not found the issue, and I recently traded it in for a newer 2024 model.

Basically, as I was driving on the freeway with my son and his brother, I got 5 lights flashing on dashboard. Abs at temp check engine cruise control hill assist vss etc.. the code were for cut but before I could check them everything shut down. Car went dark, no brakes and burning smell as well as burns oil. Front end damage on car with passenger side damage. Car started back up next day called Subaru and because it’s 2014 forester, may not qualify but it only has 126k on the dash. Well maintained and had no issues besides the oil consumption.

Brake line junction, just in front of rear passenger wheel, rusted and failed catastrophically losing all braking while driving. This is similar to the previous recall in 2014 when "more than 600,000 vehicles in the United States due to a potential issue with brake line corrosion" for many Subaru vehicles. "The recall affected vehicles built between 2005 and 2014 that were registered in states that use road salt in cold weather." SOA claims that the 2014 Forrester is not included in the recall and refuse all responsibility for repairs.

Car was well maintained and serviced by dealer at regular interval. It suddenly had “check engine” light on, within a few minutes the car died while driving and stopped in the middle of road. Then unable to restart. Fortunately I was just off highway with less traffic, otherwise could have been crashed and killed by other vehicles. Dealer confirmed malfunction of crankshaft sensor.

I purchased my 2014 Subaru Forester Limited in May of 2022, already having a high mileage of about 149,800 miles, I was leaning on its reliability and pushing it beyond 200,000 miles. I have encountered frequent oil consumption and assumed that if commuting up and down from the foothills to the valley, it would be natural that it would consume oil. I had to top off a quart of oil every 2000-3000 miles, and once I moved down to flatter land, I noticed the Subaru consumed less oil. Toward the end of December 2023, the Check Engine Light as well as other lights lit up and by then, I had about 170000 miles. I went through every measure to do my own repairs and still couldn't get the check engine light removed and had done a leak-down test on the third cylinder, which doing an engine rebuild has been recommended. I'm currently just over 176200 miles and this is my daily commuter. I still owe money on the Subaru and would love to keep this longer, but the engine problem hasn't been reassuring.

I've been having issues over the past 4 years with my vehicle overconsuming oil. I took it into the dealer 2 years ago and they performed a consumption test. They said everything fell within the normal range Subaru has established. I have to have an extra thing of oil in my vehicle at all times in case it gets low. Yesterday, my vehicle gave me all sorts of warning lights. I took it in today and am having to replace the CVT Valve Body. It appears this is an issue with Subaru's from 2014. I've spent a lot of money over the past few years trying to figure out why my vehicle is acting up. I only have 67,000 miles on it after owning it for 11 years.

Brakes completely failed on the car when driving. Had it towed to the Subaru dealer, which reports that it’s the SAME issue as the recall on the 2008-13 Foresters: rear brake lines rusted completely through. Subaru claims it’s unrelated.

My 2014 Subaru Forester has a defective passenger weight sensor in the passenger seat. This sensor has been subject to recall for the 2015-2018 model years. [XXX] Shouldn’t that be extended to the 2014 model year? It appears to be the same problem and is widely reported online. 1. The airbag is set to not deploy when the weight sensor is not talking to the control computer. A clear safety hazard. 2. The Servco Subaru dealer confirmed it wasn’t working and wants over $1k to repair it. 3. Not confirmed by any other entity. 4. There is a warning icon that appears in the display. Note that it may operate and then stop working, only to cycle through both states again. Thanks for looking into this. I’m hoping you will help all of the Subaru forester owners with this issue before any lives are lost. Also please keep in mind that Servco is the importer of Subarus in Hawaii, unlike the rest of the USA where Subaru America is the importer. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

This morning 2/20/2024 I was driving up a main commercial street in traffic, going about 10 -15 mph. I did not have my foot in the accelerator or brake as I was on a very slight incline. Suddenly, the car accelerated, made a roaring sound as if the accelerator had been stepped on strongly and started to jerk forward. I jammed on the brake and stopped the car. I did not hit the car in front of me. This happened once before, several years ago, but not to the extent of this time. The car has 45, 400 miles on it and was just serviced at the Subaru dealer 2 weeks ago. There were no problems noted at that time. There were no warning lights, messages, or other symptoms of the problem prior to this incident. It was probably the accelerator and fuel systems that failed. I have made an appointment with the Subaru dealer, but can't get in for a week. It was a dangerous and frightening incident. Fortunately, I was quick to respond and had a safe distance from the car in front of me. It could have been a very serious event had I not been quick to respond and had read in the past about this problem with the Subaru Forester. I tend to be a very alert, focused, and aware driver.

Occupant Detection System (ODS) system failure causes the front passenger-side airbag system to malfunction, which could mean that the airbag may not deploy during a collision. Although other model years have a product campaign bulletin for this issue (WUM-98R, NHTSA ID 19V-701), the 2014 does not. Numerous other consumers have complained about this same issue. The dealership indicates that the only remedy is to replace the seat cushion, which costs more than $1,000, at the consumers expense.