2023 Subaru Forester problems

“Eyesight collision braking system engaged as I was rolling up my driveway to go into garage. Garage door was rolling up and was about 5 feet off the ground when Anti Collision system engaged and slammed the brakes on. I was going under 1 mph and would not have hit the door. It beeped right before brakes engaged. This is the second time it has engaged when it shouldn't have. The first time was in a right lane, a car about 6 car lengths in front of me was and did turn right as I was driving down the road. It almost caused an accident with the car behind me. The brakes slammed on so hard my back and neck are now sore and it bent my fingernail backwards somehow on the steering wheel.”

“Windshield developed a crack during a week with wild temperature swings. There was no incident leading up to the development of the crack that would have caused an initial chip or point of failure. The initial crack appeared during the day where the temperature went from the mid-60s to below freezing with precipitation in a matter of hours. Crack was not present in warm AM and appeared during cold PM. It grew (initial crack ended where the scotch tape is) during a day later that week with another wild temperature swings. Clearly a failure in the tempering process and insufficient QA for the component.”

“Transmission slipped, stranded me in the middle of a road XXX. Stopped wouldn’t go. Started locking down in reverse 1 month after I purchased the vehicle. XXX, my husband was backing down a road that had no turnaround. The RAB locked down, slammed so hard, the car slid six feet and the motor shut down. I found out a week later that L-5 was fractured in my back. The lockdown has hurt my [XXX] mother’s neck also, in March of this year. The friction clutches is fried in my transmission. My transmission is jerking, slipping, clanking, shaking from multiple lockdowns. I took vehicle to [XXX] Subaru XXX for service. I told [XXX] about it locking down, what is sounded like and what it done. He brushed me off, said that’s what it’s supposed to do and that it had something to do with backup camera. [XXX] went to my car and showed me how to turn backup camera off. Put car in reverse and hold RAB until off. XXX XXX, a dry rotted hose blew out. RAB light was on, check engine and more. I had it towed to [XXX]. I plainly told them it locked down in reverse. They told me my DOG tore it up and gave me a bill for a new transmission. Only 14 k miles. I took it to Hallmark Subaru…”

“I am writing to formally report a critical safety defect regarding the driver-side footwell design in my 2023 Subaru Forester Sport, which poses an immediate and severe risk of a crash. A hard plastic lower extension for the HVAC air duct sits dangerously low directly above the brake and accelerator pedals. For drivers with larger or longer feet, this duct extension acts as a physical obstruction that interferes with safe pedal operation in two specific, highly dangerous ways: Delayed Braking: When attempting to transition from the accelerator to the brake pedal, the toe of the driver's shoe frequently catches on the lip of the air duct extension, delaying the ability to depress the brake pedal in time-sensitive or emergency situations. Pedal Entrapment: When the brake pedal is depressed, the driver's foot can become completely wedged between the brake pedal arm and the air duct extension. This traps the foot, making it impossible to smoothly or quickly release the brake. The physical proximity of this hard plastic duct to the primary driving controls is a severe design flaw. The air duct should not protrude into the clearance space required for standard…”

“The contact owns a 2023 Subaru Forester. The contact stated while at a stop light, the brake pedal was released, but the vehicle failed to move. The accelerator pedal was depressed, and the vehicle jolted forward. The contact was able to drive to a parking lot. After shifting to drive, the vehicle unexpectedly reversed. While in reverse, the vehicle would shift to drive erroneously. The vehicle jolted forward. The vehicle was shaking, jerking, and skipping gear. The engine and oil warning lights were illuminated. The local dealer was not contacted. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not contacted. The failure mileage was approximately 11,426.”

“1. The passenger seat air bag turn on mechanism malfunctions in a 2023 Subaru Forester Limited. The seat mechanism can be tested (and has been tested) upon request. 2. An adult that weighs 104lbs is not detected when in the seat, so the air bag is not turned on. 3. The problem has been reproduced by two dealers. 4. No other parties have inspected the car seats or the mechanism. 5. The problem indicator is the status light that shows the air bag as off or on. 6. Testing of the car by the dealer found no problems with the setup of the SRS and seat detection technology. Employees weighing more than the customer getting into the seat turned on the air bag. 7. Testing with the customer reproduced the problem 100% of the time. Testing was done by having the adult get into the seat multiple times after a restart of the vehicle. The air bag light never turned on. 8. The same test was performed with the adult customer using a different Forester. The detection mechanism of the other Forester also failed to detect the customer 100% of the time.”