2014 SUBARU FORESTER Complaints

My wife, [XXX] , shifted into reverse to back up a steep driveway. It was difficult to put the transmission lever into reverse. After backing up several feet, the car made a strange noise and ran forward over a steep bank, resulting in a compression fracture in her spine. I have photo and text documents to provide, but I haven't been able to upload them in this web page. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

I had 2 accidents with this car. The first was on October 10, 2023. I pulled into a parking space and braked. I move forward a little more and braked again. The car suddenly accelerated and hit 2 vehicles parking across from me. My car was damaged, and one of the cars I hit was badly damaged, and the other had less damage. My 93 year old father was not injured. I had an injury on my hand, where the skin split between my right hand and forefinger. Fortunately there was no one in either of the other cars. I do not know if the vehicle was inspected by anyone. There was no warning light. It all happened in seconds. I had no idea what happened, so I thought my foot must have slipped and hit the gas pedal. I had my car repaired at the Apple Subaru's body shop in York, PA. It was in the shop for about a month. I drove it aroung for a few weeks then started noticing some lurching forward after braking. I still assumed my foot my foot must be slipping. On December 1, 1923, I decided to go to our local farmer's market for apples. The car lurched a few times causing me to run a stop sign. I decided it was unfit to go on to the market and decided to take it to my service station. The service station is located on a ridge. There office and some of the garage bays are on the upper level on the ridge. The property goes downhill around that. There is an entry next to the office that is marked as a handicapped space. I was not thinking clearly when I decided to park there. I pulled partway into the space, braked, and then moved forward a bit. When I braked the car took off at a high speed, through a railing, over the edge, and landed sideways on the ground below. I was trapped in the car and had to be removed by firefighters. When they pulled me out I was taken to the ER. My car was totalled. My son did some research and sent me some links. I am now sure that the cause was the sudden acceleration problem with Subaru. I have reported this to Subaru.

During driving on the highway control arm failure causing wheel bearing failure and loss of control of the vehicle putting my safety and others at risk of collision at high speeds. Thankfully no major issue occurred and the vehicle was taken to be confirmed and fixed immediately. I paid for all service repairs out of pocket The vehicle was inspected and issue confirmed by independent service center. There was no warning prior to the issue.

The contact owns a 2014 Subaru Forester. The contact stated while driving at an undisclosed speed up an incline, the contact heard an abnormal sound coming from the rear of the vehicle. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic, who was unable to duplicate the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. After investigating the failure, the contact related it to TSB: 12-204-16R. The manufacturer was notified of the failure but provided no assistance. The failure mileage was 54,600.

The contact owns a 2014 Subaru Forester. The contact stated that while parked in the driveway, the contact noticed that rain had leaked through the hatchback which caused mold to form on the rear passenger’s side roof. The interior lights became inoperable. After the vehicle was started, the contact became aware of smoke coming out of the driver’s side mirror. No warning light was illuminated. The vehicle had not been diagnosed or repaired by an independent mechanic or dealer. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 100,000.

The driver window stopped working approximately November 2022 at about 40,000 miles. I was advised to try a reset procedure, which did not work. If there is flooding or any reason the driver needs to escape the vehicle through the window, they will not be able to. I found TSB 07-152-19R for my mom's car, yet the dealer expects us to pay almost $500 to fix this known problem.

The passenger side seat airbag sensor has quit sensing when someone is seating in the seat and turns off the airbag. After taking it in to the dealership and them running diagnostics they said, “it isnt working.” They quoted me a repair of $1182 to replace the whole seat. I know Subaru has issued a recall on certain models, but my car was not one of them. It seems like the same problem though. There appears to be a lot of people having the same faulty sensor system and having to pay high repair costs that only the dealership can do.

My 2014 Subaru Forester constantly burning oil. I have taken my car to Tyson’s Subaru multiple times when within warranty, they conducted multiple consumption test, admitted it burns oil but not enough to fix under warranty. I have my car in and out of the shop since 70-80k and now burning more oil at 140k. I sent this complaint to Subaru of America: MY 2014 HAS BEEN BURNING OIL SINCE 70,000/80,000. I HAVE HAD TWO PCV VALVES REPLACED AND NUMEROUS OIL CHANGES AT STOHLMAN SUBARU OF TYSONS, VIRGINIA. I NOW HAVE 106K AND THE FORESTER IS STILL BURNING OIL. I CAN’T GO PASS 3K MILES WITHOUT THE OIL BEING LOW. AM I STILL UNDER THE WARRANTY FOR THIS ISSUE? WHY DIDN’T STOHLMAN FIXED THE ISSUE WHEN IT WAS ORIGINALLY FOUND AT 70 OR 80K? THEY SAID IT WAS THE PCV VALVE TWICE WITHIN ONE YEAR AND I PAID TO REPLACE THE PCV VALVE TWICE. NOW MY CAR IS STILL BURNING OIL AND NOT FIXED AND I AM INN THE SHOP AGAIN! What can I do other than complaining! Have others complained about the same thing?

Since January, the occupancy airbag warning light would turn on and off. Also, even with no passenger in the passenger seat, I would have to engage the passenger side seatbelt so the reminder bell would stop dinging. On 15 June, I took my vehicle into the Subaru dealership. The diagnoses what that the occupancy senor in the passenger seat was defective. I was informed that this defect also disables the entire car's airbag system. To answer the other questions above: 1) Yes, the vehicle is available for inspection. (2) The safety of my grandchildren, husband, and myself are at risk if the airbags will not deploy. (3) Subaru dealership has confirmed the problem. (4) No other agency has inspected the vehicle but I am willing to obtain a second opinion. (5) The seatbelt issue started January. In May of 2023, the ABS warning light would periodically turn on and off. Thank you.

The contact owns a 2014 Subaru Forester. The contact stated that the passenger’s side air bag warning light illuminated on the instrument panel. The vehicle was taken to a dealer where a diagnostic test was performed. The diagnostic test showed that the ODS (Occupant Detection System) was defective and needed to be replaced. The manufacturer was also notified of the failure, and the contact was informed that the VIN was not under recall. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was approximately 191,000.