2016 SUBARU FORESTER Complaints

113,727 miles. 2016 Subaru Forester. 5 different warning lights all came on at the same time. Before that I noticed occasionally there was a delay starting again at a stoplight. Reputable mechanic replaced the valve body of the transmission. They said they service 2-3 Subarus for this same issue every month.

Passenger Airbag occupancy light stays in off position when seat is occupied. When this occurs the airbag system warning light comes on. Took it to the dealership and they said the problem is the seat sensor, which they say is not covered by the earlier wiring harness for the sensor recall. Cost of part is 1,200 and with labor is 2,000. Part is on back order minimum 3 months. Dealer indicated they had three other people waiting for the same part. So basically I can't have anyone in the front passenger seat. Subaru forums are filled with similar stories. How is this not a recall?

Subaru is aware of issues with their transmission system and previously offered an extension but my car is outside the 100k limit. The transmission started to fail and each time i stopped at an intersection, it would start to idle roughly and try and lurch foreward even with the brake fully depressed. I had to shift to neutral to avoid being pushed into oncoming cross traffice each time for a few weeks and then all my warning lights came on and my usual safety features were shut down

I bought a new 2016 Subaru Forester in March of 2016 from Subaru of Dayton. I have been hearing reports of unexpected acceleration. I have had two cases of this problem. Both times I was turning right. The first time I was pulling into a parking spot in a shopping center. As I turned right the car surged and I almost hit a light pole. Luckily when I jammed on the brakes, it stopped in time. The second time I was slowly pulling out of a parking lot. As I turned right the car lurched and quickly caused the car to hit the curb very hard. This was 8/5/2021and I took my car to Dayton Tire Sales to see if there was any damage that needed to be fixed. They just checked the tire and said that there was no major damage to the tire. I have a copy of the invoice (could not attach) from that incident but never went to the dealer thinking it was just some fluke. Now I am concerned and feel that Subaru needs to address this problem before more people get hurt. Now that I have heard these other complaints I am very concerned about this problem. Has Subaru looked into this problem? Is there something that I should be doing? Is there a fix? Is it safe to drive my Forester?

I backed out of a parking space, put my foot on the brake and shifted into Drive to finish maneuvering out of the space. Although I didn't remove my foot from the brake, my Forester immediately accelerated at extremely high speed, striking the two cars parked next to me, and seriously damaging both. Rather than slowing down after hitting the other two vehicles, my car continued to speed up, only coming to a stop when it hit, head-on, a cement barrier surrounding the lot. My car hit with such force that every airbag in it deployed, and its front end was totally destroyed. No one was in the other two cars; I suffered minor injuries.

I was driving very slowly in a long line of traffic due to a sudden downpour of hail, ice pellets, and frozen rain which blanketed the road in white. Suddenly, without warning, my 2016 Subaru Forester accelerated and veered to the right and into a grove of trees doing extensive damage to the front end. The vehicle was totaled by my insurance company. I suspect that there was sudden acceleration and because of the icy road conditions my car left the road instead of plowing into the car ahead of me. The airbags didn't go off and I wasn't hurt at all but the entire front end was beyond repair.

Issue with the Front Passenger Seat Airbag Sensor. The Airbag Warning Light, indicating an issue with the passenger side airbag, has been illuminated recently. Passenger seat is also occasionally registering as occupied even when no one is sitting in it. Previous recall on the same seat's wiring harness was completed previously. Took the vehicle to the dealer and they told me that the seat must have gotten wet to cause the issue. The seat has not been wet. Dealer said a new seat is needed at a price of roughly $1500. This is a safety issue, as I am uncertain whether the airbag will deploy if needed. Googling "2016 Subaru Forester Passenger Seat Airbag Sensor Issues" indicates that this is a systematic issue across Foresters of this model year and not isolated to my car.

ODS failure on passenger side impacting air bag. Cost to repair is prohibitive, $1922.97. Complete seat needs to be replaced. There was never any damage to the seat.

I was backing up and the way that the sun came through the passenger window, I was unable to see people walking behind my car using the back up camera because of the squiggle lines throughout the screen. When the sun hits the screen, you cannot see anything. Whether it is changing the radio station, or backing up. Had I had only relied on the backup camera ( which most people do) I would’ve hit the pedestrians. I notice in newer models, the issue is not there as the screen is different. This is extremely dangerous. I’m grateful no one was hurt but the radio screen needs replaced. This needs to be a safety recall.

The contact owns a 2016 Subaru Forester. The contact stated that while parking the vehicle and shifting into park with the brake pedal depressed, the vehicle suddenly jerked forward and drove over the curb. The vehicle came to a stop after striking a fence. The contact stated that there were no warning lights illuminated. No injuries were reported. The vehicle was driven to the residence. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The local dealer was not made aware of the failure. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 73,000.