2017 Subaru Forester Electrical Problems

There was a recall on this vehicle from 2022, and we did not own this vehicle at that time. Recall passenger side airbag contact under seat can cause fire or electrical issues. I contacted Subaru and they said the recall was satisfied in 2022.

Two incidents happened first battery died, we replaced the battery. Then Battery died again, we replaced the alternator on June 5, 2025. Then on Saturday September 13, 2025; all system lights came on at once on the dashboard then the battery died again.

Previous recall for passenger ODS. Having continued issues with passenger airbag ODS not recognizing someone sitting there. Intermittently turns on and off even if no one is sitting there.

We took our 2017 Subaru Forester on December 9, 2022, to change the ignition switch because our key continued getting stuck. It was covered under an extended warranty. The spark plugs were changed during the same appointment only to satisfy the maintenance agreement.

My 2017 Subaru Forester has had its battery replaced twice. There is obviously either a problem with Subaru batteries, or there is something inherent in the electrical system of the vehicle that drains the battery. For a senior citizen, a dead battery when travelling is not only an inconvenience, but could be a major problem, especially in the winter months.

These models have amplifier sound issues that routinely cause the amplifier to fail and cut the sound. This could definitely cause a crash by distracting the driver. The amps are extremely prone to failing and cause ear deafening tones, no sound, crackling etc.

On 9/29/18, 1:35 pm while in the process of parking the vehicle and initiating a turn to the right the car suddenly accelerated from idle to full throttle unintentionally and launched itself towards a 12' x 20' wood framed outbuilding on our property which has an attached deck.

The motor for the wiper fluid dispenser went bad. I took the vehicle back to be repaired and while they had the vehicle apart, I was informed that my entire wiring harness needed to be replaced. Now, my vehicle has sporadic issues such as windows not going down, the door locks engaging on their own, my fuel economy will suddenly drop to 19mpg from 28 MPG.

There appears to be a parasitic battery drain in the vehicle when it is stopped and all electrical systems are off (lights, heated seats, chargers etc) but the key is in the ignition. The most recent event was 7/20/2022 when the car was stopped for fueling and the key left in the ignition for no more than 10 minutes.

Starting our 2017 Forrester has seemed sluggish recently, so we had the battery, starting system, and alternator checked. The starting system and alternator were in good working order. The battery's cold cranking amps (CCA) were below 400.

I filed a NHTSA report on 7/19/2021 about having to replace my 2017 Subaru Forester's battery for the 3rd time in a 4 year old vehicle. I now am submitting another Complaint as now that #3 battery (all installed by Subaru Dealers) has FAILED, with #3 battery only 10 months old with approximately 6,000 miles driven with that battery.

The battery had died multiple times and we replaced it only to continue to have the problem. Dealer service says that we must be leaving the lights on or that we need to run the car more to recharge the battery. Being stranded in upstate NY with a dead battery in winter is a safety problem.

New battery and multiple replacement batteries fail to keep the electrical system charged when the vehicle is turned off. intermittent problem that happens unexpectedly, causing the consumer to be stranded and incur costs for alternate transportation, new battery, and roadside assistance. Multiple class action suits against the company are ongoing.

My 2017 Subaru Forester battery died in June 2019, leaving me stranded in a parking lot on a Sunday 50 miles from my home. The battery was still under warranty & was replaced by Subaru. I was told by the Service Manager that the batteries only last approximately 2 years.

Parasitic drag in Subaru Forester caused battery to die. Managed to get it jump started minutes before a downpour. Almost left my daughter and my wife stranded.

The battery of our Subaru Forester 2017 has died three times from June 26, 2021 through August 20, 2021. Simply put, from one day to the next, the battery is suddenly drained of all its power. From July 2017 when we first leased the car through May 2021, we had no battery problems.

I've had to replace the battery three (3) times in a four (4) year old vehicle. I've had several calls to AAA for a jump start (to then get to Dealer to replace battery) and I had to purchase a rapid charger which I must carry in my car all the time in case the battery dies again.

The issue is sudden battery drain. The risk is being stranded. Unfortunately the drain happens randomly.

The battery in my 2017 Subaru Forester was completely drained of power in 4 days of non-operation of the vehicle. The battery in question was installed on 10/4/2020 by my Subaru dealer to replace a battery that also had drained of power and would not take a charge. I presume the current battery was fully charged by my trip home to Arlington, VA from Philadelphia, PA on July 5, 2021.

The vehicle was traveling along the highway at around 65-75mph and we went up a grade (cuesta grade) along 101 freeway in california and vehicle had a sudden loss in power while climbing up the hill. Ultimately, no power was ever regained and the vehicle shut off completely and stopped.

After driving the car and placing it in "park", the key could not be extracted from the ignition. Putting the car into different gears was of no help. I was sometimes able to restart the car and then extract the key, but not every time.

Tl* the contact owns a 2017 subaru forester. While driving approximately 70 MPH the vehicle suddenly stalled. The dealer was unable to diagnose the cause of the failure.

Tl* the contact owns a 2017 subaru forester. The contact stated while driving at 15 MPH, the vehicle stalled without warning. The contact was able to restart the vehicle.

Battery drains so that car won't start. After having a new battery installed, the battery is still so weak that the car will not start, and the electrical power is completely drained. Even the clock has to be reset.

Tl* the contact owns a 2017 subaru forester. While driving various speeds, the vehicle lost power without warning. The vehicle was able to restart itself after a few minutes.

Passenger airbag safety intermittently turns on stating that the passenger airbag is not able to deploy. If I turn the car off and on it goes away and doesn't turn until another time I start the car. Also detects a passenger in the seat when there is no passenger or weight in that seat.

The passenger airbag sensor often, but not always, malfunctions in my 2017 Subaru Forrester. Often it says PASSENGER AIRBAG OFF when there is a passanger. Occording to KBB Kelly Blue Book there IS a current RECALL in place for 2017 Subaru Forresters for EXACTLY this issue, including for my car - but when I typed in my liscnese plate in the NHTSA website, no unrepaired recalls showed up for my car.

I’m facing a really big issue here. I’ve been experiencing all the textbook issues in my vehicle for both of the recalls that did exist for my vehicle. I purchased my vehicle in [XXX], and I was just in to Walser Subaru in St.

The WUM-98 recall fix did not address the problem with the front passenger occupancy detection system. We, and many other Subaru Forester owners are continuing to experience problems post recall repair with the SRS Airbag light on, indicating error code B1760 "Occupant Detection Sensor Mat" failure.

The Occupant Detection System (ODS) has failed in this 2017 Subaru Forester. The dealership tried replacing the wiring harness under a previous recall but it did not fix the problem. The ODS does not correctly identify when a passenger is seated in the passenger seat and therefore will not properly activate the passenger airbag.

I noticed that the airbag light was continuously illuminated on the dashboard of my Subaru Forester. I promptly took my vehicle to a certified Subaru dealership to have the issue diagnosed and resolved. After a thorough inspection, it was determined that the passenger seat bottom occupant seat mat required replacement to rectify the problem.

I have a 2017 Subaru Forester 2.5i touring that seems to be plagued by a parasitic battery drain issue. I bought the car used in 2019 and successfully moved from Seattle to the Boston area in it shortly after the purchase with no issues. The dead batteries started during the pandemic, when the car was sitting undriven for extended periods of time.

We're having to consistently jump-start a battery that is only 4 months old. The problem has been consistent over the years (currently on our 3rd battery in about 5 years) but appears to have worsened after a DCM update to the Starlink system. Dealership has assessed the problem as parasitic battery drain (while the car is turned off) from the telematic module, but refuses to correct the issue.

This is the same issue we are seeing with our other Subaru where we come out to drive and the battery is dead. We would jump the battery and be able to drive for the day and the next day the battery is dead in the morning. I replaced the battery several times over the last few year and the battery would die with a less than 2 month old battery.

Battery drains if not driven approximately every 5 days. We have replaced battery three times. We’ve asked the local Subaru dealer a couple of times why the battery goes dead so quickly.

We have had issues with the battery draining since early on in owning the car. First the power windows stopped working and they replaced the battery. We are now having more battery issues and the care is in the shop.

The SRS airbag light is on, airbags disabled while driving vehicle with passenger in front. Sensor within passenger seat cushion is defective. Dealer says to fix passenger seat cushion needs to be replaced.

Purchased July 2016. Battery has failed to start car several times requiring a jump-start. Battery has been replaced 4 times (09/'18, 01/'19, 06/'19 & 03/'20).

The Tire Pressure Monitoring System module failed which also disabled the key fob remotes. I had the TPMS module replaced 3 times. The first occurrence was on August 26th 2021 and was confirmed by the dealership Subaru Service Center.

I have a 2017 Subaru Forester that I bought brand new with only 5 miles on it at the time. Within the first year my battery needed replaced twice! I am still having this issue 5 years later and have purchased sometimes 2 batteries a year depending!

2nd Battery in two years is dying while car is off. 1st battery did the same, and the dealership replaced it under warranty. There is a parasitic drain somewhere, that bleeds the battery while not in use.

The battery is constantly dying and the car needs to be jumped often. The battery has been replaced and the connections have been cleaned multiple times. The battery can still be completely drained even if it is started every day.

Excessive battery drain/replacement. I have had to replace the car's battery five times since purchasing the vehicle new in 2017. The newest replacement battery has lasted 3 months.

Frequently, when I put the car in park and try to turn the key to off, it gets stuck. At this point you have to move the shifter into and out of gear many times to try to get the key to go to off. Sometimes the key will not go to off so you need to leave the key in the ignition.

I'm having trouble removing the ignition key even with the car in PARK and pressing on the brake pedal, on level ground. It's intermittent and both keys are involved. The steering wheel still moves freely.

My new battery completely drained over a weekend in my garage. I had AAA jump the battery and drove to their service center to check the battery to see if it was damaged. They said it was in great condition, no problems they could detect.

Battery drain. I've replaced the battery once around 30000 miles.

The contact owns a 2017 Subaru Forester. The contact stated while attempting to start the vehicle, the vehicle would not start due to battery drainage. The contact stated that the battery had to be connected to a battery charger after each use.

The vehicle does not recognize when it is park (a problem with a sensor down by the shifter) so it is nearly impossible to take the key out of the ignition. Although Subaru has created a TSB 16-112-18R that NHTSA is aware of, I want to report this happening to my vehicle. I believe it is a very dangerous situation to experience especially with children as passengers in the vehicle.

The battery on my 2017 forester has been replaced under warranty three times after being found dead. All three times subaru has said it was a bad battery. The battery couldn't be jumped and my mechanic said it was an electrical issue if it happened more than once.

Battery goes dead and must be replaced if not driven for several days. I have replaced the battery twice.

In nov 2019 we left the car parked for a week at the cruise terminal while stationed overseas in italy. We we came back, the car wouldn't start and had jumped. Over the next several days the car had difficulty starting and we ended up taking the car to the subaru dealership in frosinone, italy.

2017 subaru forester battery drains power and leaves car totally dead on several occasions since purchase (1/2017). Battery died in 2018 twice: once during summer and once in november. (one time subaru service roadside assist was used, 11/18, and one time a friend charged battery).

Tl* the contact owns a 2017 subaru forester. The contact stated upon starting the vehicle, the key occasionally seized in the ignition. The contact believed that the issue was related to the shifter sensor or the key sensor.

Intermittently, the key in the ignition would not go to the "off" position so that I could remove it after the car was in "park." I would have to move it (the key) back to the "on" position, then back again to the "off" position (beyond the "acc" setting).

Intermittently, I cannot remove the key after putting the vehicle into park. Restarting the car, taking it out of park, and putting it back into park (sometimes requires multiple iterations) eventually allows the key to release.

First time, I was driving in the middle lane on interstate at highway speed, all of sudden the accelerator would not respond, the car panel went black, no lights or info showed. I coasted off to the side of the road, the car was in drive, ignition on. The emergency light wouldn't go on.

After shutting engine on 2017 subaru forester, and putting gear selector in park, I was unable to remove the key from the ignition and it was locked in accessory position..after many tries and by calling dealer, putting the shifter in neutral then park enabled me to remove it. This occurred on another occasion. The shifter plate guide had to be replaced.

Tl* the contact owns a 2017 subaru forester. The contact stated that while the transmission was in the park position, the ignition key was unable to be removed from the ignition switch. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer subaru of melbourne located at 4340 west new haven ave melbourne fl 32904, who diagnosed that the park range switch was defective inside the gear select lever assembly.

Key remains in ignition and will not disengage from ignition with radio and all dash lights still on. It has happened 12 times since purchased in the middle of june. The car was parked moved several , turned on and off with no result .

On october 4, 2019 my car was parked and the passenger rear bumper was hit and damaged by a school bus. My car has been in the shop 4 times to get fixed and it is still not fixed. The bsd/rcta sensors are not working.

Tl* the contact owns a 2017 subaru forester. The contact stated that the key was stuck and failed to release from the ignition switch while in park. There were no warning indicators illuminated.

There is intermittent surging upon initial acceleration and while driving at higher speeds. The back interior light will intermittently turn on while all doors are closed. The passenger side seatbelt sign comes on intermittently while there's nothing in the seat.

Passenger air bag switches to "off" despite passenger sitting in seat. Subaru dealership diagnosed faulty sensor, suspected cause being seat covers. Removed seat cover, sensor is still faulty.

Screen blacked out everything went off, no lights, no radio, no dash board vision. This happened 3 times before I took it to the dealer. I was told it was an electrical issues and electrical cables were replaced, however, just this week my vehicle, while waiting at a light, turned completely off.

I have a total of electrical power lost for 7 times. 2 times while driving I experience all electrical lost while driving on the highway. I was able to pull over to the side and was able to jump started the car with a jumper battery 5 minutes later.

I was merging on I-95 at 4pm and it was raining, I was accelerating into the traffic pattern in the right lane when suddenly the accelerator would not respond, the car panel went black,no lights or info showed. I coasted off to the side of the road,the car was in drive,ignition on. The emergency light wouldn't go on, nor the bluetooth or sos call line.

Tl* the contact owns a 2017 subaru forester. The contact stated that the control module screen reflected light onto her face while driving. The contact's vision was impaired.

Odometer Fraud. The contact purchased a 2017 Subaru Forester. The contact stated that it was discovered that there was a mileage discrepancy.

Suddenly ignition starts having an issue where driver cannot pull out ignition key, which creates risky situations. If an emergency and unable to remove keys, then the driver is stuck. Apparently, this has been happening to Subaru's from 2014-2018 all over the country, and clearly defective design.

Key repeatedly gets stuck in ignition. Similar problem to other model years. Vehicle needs to be restarted and put in park several times to be able to remove key.

Malfunctioned component is Start / Stop switch. It is a safety Issue since not able to remove the key after stopping and parking the car. This creates issues when we need to get out of the car quickly.

Battery fails often, does not hold a charge, consistently registers as low battery. Occurs several times in 2021, 2022, and 2023, Have had to replace battery twice in 2 years.

I have had to replace my Subaru Forester battery at least 4 times since I have owned it. The battery dies within a few days of replacing and I am forced to jumpstart the vehicle every time I want to drive. This has been happening since the day I bought the vehicle...

If you do not start the car everyday, the car drains the battery. Car must be jumped.nothing left on. It has a battery drain problem.

2 new battery drains dead just sitting in the driveway.

Our battery continually dies if we don’t drive it for 2 days. At first we thought it was just the battery but it keeps doing it. Our mechanic tried to fix it but it still happens.

Battery dies often

As far as I know, my vehicle is performing as designed, but I am quite serious in thinking this is a safety issue - the radio cannot be muted, or turned off, or the volume decreased, when the transmission in in Reverse, because of interference of its head unit with the backup camera. This is a hugely annoying distraction when trying to parallel park safely and quickly in dense urban settings.

Battery Drain / Passive / When Vehicle is Parked The NEW battery drains passively when the car is parked. Will not start and needs a jump. This cycle has ruined a brand new battery.

The vehicle's battery drains quickly when the car has been turned off, left stationary, and not in use, which renders the vehicle inoperable.

Driving on the highway and the driver side window which is rolled up completely shattered. There are no cracks no indentation that the glass would have broken at time of the incident. The only issue leading up to this the window would not roll up all the way at times.

I've been having more problems with taking my key out of the ignition. It start of happening once in awhile and now everytime I turn off my car and take the key out. I search on the problem and read alot of people having this problem.

This is a 2017 forrester. The battery keeps repeatedly dying. For example: had to jump in last night, drove it for 45 minutes to ensure it should be charged back up.

Periodically unable to remove key from the ignition. Has been happening more frequently over the past 2 months. Key is "locked" in ignition, unable to completely "turn off" key switch and therefore unable to remove the key.

Have a 2017 forester. At least a couple times a week, the key get stuck in the ignition. You can turn the car off, but you can't remove the key.

Ignition key sticking. Unable to remove key after placing vehicle in park position.

The key fob gets stuck in the ignition and can't be taken out. I have to play with the center console drive shifter to go in and out of park position until it finally turns and comes out. Please reference TSB 16-112-18r.

After putting the vehicle in park and shutting off engine unable to turn key all the way back to remove. Have to make several attempts at it. Subaru has a TSB 16-112-18r for this.

Passenger air bag off light began displaying

Usually while driving, the passenger airbag sensor will turn off and put an error code out that says not on even with an adult in the seat. Resetting the code can get it to go off but it returns. Has turned off on its own before and come back.

The vehicle's eyesight system experienced multiple malfunctions. This happened often during foggy and raining days.