2021 Subaru Forester Other Problems

Your Forester's engine Start/Stop system is unexpectedly shutting down the engine while you're driving, including in dangerous situations like railroad crossings, heavy traffic, and turns. This has happened four times over two years despite a battery replacement two years ago, and it's recurring again. The repeated unexpected shutdowns put stress on your battery, electrical system, and engine, and fixing this will likely require dealership diagnostics and potentially replacement of the Start/Stop system components or engine control module.

Your car was delivered with a battery that has the wrong reserve capacity, causing it to stall when idling—which creates a safety hazard. Even after replacing the battery with the original specs, the stalling continued until you discovered the battery wasn't installed properly. The fix will involve ensuring the correct battery is installed according to manufacturer specifications and verifying the installation is done correctly.

Your transmission shifted unexpectedly from Drive to Neutral twice in a single day after purchasing your 2021 Forester. The dealership was unable to reproduce the problem during diagnosis, and Subaru customer service suggested having another dealership inspect it since they couldn't confirm the issue. You're concerned about this potential safety hazard, especially for highway driving. Diagnosis and repair would likely involve a transmission fluid check, software update, or internal CVT transmission inspection by a qualified technician.

Automatic stop activated at traffic light. When the brake was disengaged, the star would not start. The occupant was stalled at the traffic light during rush hour in a thunderstorm with limited visibility for approximately 15 minutes. Winter Haven Police Department was dispatched but did not arrive probably due to other weather-related traffic situations. After that time, the engine did start and was moved into a lot without incident. The good Samaritan that assisted stated he had just stopped down the street on another disabled vehicle in traffic due to malfunctioning auto stop/start. Here is the issue. The alternator and battery have both been checked twice and were in proper order. The OE battery was in use. There was no warning to indicate any issue with the batter. In fact, the Subaru app was reporting the vehicle was operating normally while the vehicle was dead in the road. I work with a local law enforcement agency and have worked fatal crashes on that road. It is unacceptable for the vehicle to not have some type of redundant system to warn owners that the vehicle battery is failing before they are thrust into a possible deadly roadway breakdown.

In the summer of 2024, my forester started completely stall out when I was stopped at a stop light. The auto start/stop system seemed to not turn back on. I would have to put the car in park, turn the car off and turn it back on. It was very scary being in traffic and people getting upset behind me. This happened multiple times. I took my car to the dealership. I was told an update needed to be installed and it was not anything I could do at home. After that point, it worked better, but still started back up hard at times. When I remembered, I typically started turning the feature off each time I drove it because I do not trust the feature. Unfortunately, it happened again yesterday. We were at a stoplight, and the car did not start back up, it stalled out. My husband had to quickly try to put the car in park, turn it off and then back on. Cars started honking at us. I am very concerned about this feature.

Windshield has spontaneously cracked 2 times within ~30 days in the lower passenger side. No preceding event or chips in the windshield before cracking.

I’ve owned the vehicle under a year and am already on my second window replacement. I drive the same route everyday and ever experienced windows cracking in any other vehicle before this vehicle.

To whom this may concern, My name is [XXX] . I was the owner of a 2021 Subaru Forester. I bought this car brand new and I loved this car. One of the biggest reasons I bought a Subaru is because of the multiple safety features the car has. I've had this car for three years and always felt safe until last week. During a road trip on [XXX] at [XXX] My car hit a deer on the front drivers side and within seconds caught on fire. The entire car was engulfed in flames within 3 minutes. All passengers were unharmed and we were able to get 95% of our stuff out of the car. This experience was pretty traumatic knowing that I was supposed to be driving the safest car in America and it caught on fire very easily from a baby deer hit. Not only did my car catch on fire but it left us stranded in the middle of Utah. Thank god it was in a big enough town that had a car rental. Insurance is still assessing my car and I'm currently in the market for a new car but with everything that happened it makes me feel very uneasy about getting another Subaru. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

My Forester was parked and when I started the car I heard a pop, pop, pop. Looked at my front windshield and watched it crack from the lower left - driver side - up to the center of window, with each pop. Googled - the community has posted similar problems with Subaru windshields. Temperature on [XXX] in Phoenix was 60 degrees at the time of windshield popping. No impact, parked car, started engine and crack just started and I watched it expand from 2 inches to 24". Very scary! INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

I have ~50,000 miles and have had an excessive amount of chips on my front windshield. Getting them filled doesn't matter, and the windshield will crack. I've replaced the windshield twice since owning this vehicle at $1200+ (high costs due to front camera recalibration). I've owned many vehicles over the years and have never had a windshield chip or crack this frequent. I've seen many other complaints online, did Subaru cheap out on glass or is the wind shield angle ineffective in shedding simple road debris from causing failures? I have concerns that the windshield would be unable to stop larger debris from entering the cabin and potentially injuring occupants.

I was driving my 2021 Subaru Forester on the highway and suddenly I saw with my own eyes a crack appear in the front window shield glass. A thin crack, about 2 feet long. curved shape. in the section in front of the steering wheel. It was out of nowhere; there was no warning lamps, messages or other symptoms of the problem prior to the failure. I was terrified and shocked, as my car was just 2 years old. No one was hurt, and other cars were not affected as I continued to drive stably. But I was a bit shaken, as I was worried the crack might burst wider and thus I would lose control of the car. Thankfully, it stayed that way and I exited the highway and pulled over at a mall and called the dealership. The dealership was not very responsive: I was asked to call the next Monday again and schedule a time to bring the car there for inspection. It was definitively the poor quality of the glass/defect. I purchased extended warrant/Added Security from the dealership when I bought the car. It should cover this defect. I was hugely disappointed with the quality of Subaru car. Will never buy this brand again.

It was a very cold night on Dec. 21, 2022. I traveled out of town. I don't recall seeing or hearing anything hit my windshield. However, on Dec. 22, 2022 when I got back in my car, I noticed a very long scratch across the windshield. It is now Mar. 1, 2023 and it has gotten much worse. I am unsure how to go about getting it fixed because I cannot pay for the repairs.

Windshield has cracked twice in last month, in separate areas. I replaced the windshield on 11/9/22 and identified a new crack on 12/18/22.

Glass cracked for no reason. According to this article Subaru has been sued related to 2017-2020 Foresters for a similar reason https://www.torquenews.com/1084/new-ruling-subaru-cracked-windshield-lawsuit-now-adds-25m-cars

I purchased a 2021 Subaru Forester with approximately 9000 miles on the odometer. Purchase was made on October 18, 2022, then on October 19, 2022 I experienced unintended acceleration on my way home that day with the car. The car just seemed to have a mind of its own and just "took off" at high speed and quickly it returned to normal. I simply thought I did something wrong and kept driving the car. Then on November 2, 2022 while in my driveway, the unintended acceleration happened again and this time the car hit a building on our property and both the building and the car suffered severe damage.

On 08/23/2022 while driving on a four lane city street, light rain, moderate traffic, at about 35 mph, the car suddenly lost forward speed, depresssing the accelerator move rpm to over 3000, with continued loss of forward speed, until suddenly the drive train engaged and forward speed resumed. This is the fourth time this type of event has occured. A check at a Subaru dealer the next day revealed no codes in memory. Fortunately there was no heavy traffic on this road at the time because in another half hour there would have been very heavy traffic. This is very disconcerting and potentially dangerous to vehicles directly behind. Is there a problem with the Eye Sight system that triggers a sudden loss of speed when there is no vehicle close ahead?

Windshield developed large L or J shaped crack from very top near roof line, down center of windshield and turns toward the Drivers side. This car was PARKED in our driveway at home when it cracked. No stone chips, nothing dropped on it as you can see in attached pictures. We will schedule a visit to Subaru dealer here in Knoxville, TN. for inspection. No warnings because vehicle was parked in our driveway.

Uknown. This vehicle was purchased in January of 2021. Approximately a month afterwards, the windshield had cracked and I paid out of pocket to get it replaced. Shortly after replacing the windshield, it had obtained 2 chips on the windshield and from the second chip, it cracked from the bottom left corner up towards the middle of the windshield. The frequency in which chips and cracks are occurring, especially after purchasing the vehicle brand new and shortly after replacing the windshield, is alarming. This puts my safety at risk because of its interference with visibility and Subaru Eyesight which is suppose to be a safety feature on the vehicle. This has been an ongoing problem with Subaru and their windshields. After owning the vehicle for just 18 months and having replaced the windshield already, this should not be happening in such frequency.

Windshield chipped while driving 60mph on the freeway. A few minutes later while stopped at a light it developed an 18 inch crack as we watched it happen.

Design flaw-2022 Subaru Forester, Antenna placements inside body of car result in pacemaker interference and make it impossible to drive in and avoid. Antennas are built into frame of car and cannot be disabled to accommodate for disabled persons who have implantable medical devices. Inability to be able to permanently and completely disable technology that can interfere with implantable medical devices including "StarLink", GPS, Wireless and Radio wave technologies. Failure by Subaru to release testing results of above telematic devices to consumers. Failure by auto industry to properly test these systems before implementing into autos. Failure by auto industry to allow for accomodating people with disabilities to operate and purchase safely autos with these features. I want a black box warning on all vehicle stickers and complete disclosure in writing to dangers and exclusion to disable person to operate these vehicles! I disclosed to sells staff at Subaru at time of looking at vehicles to purchase that I have pacemaker, no warning was giving or safety concerns for persons with pacemakers. After purchase of vehicle and experiencing pacemaker function issues caused by these systems I was informed to stay 8" away from all antennas, which is impossible to do while driving or sitting in or near vehicle. I now have a vehicle I cannot drive and Subaru has refused to buy back to vehicle. I also want all any any testing info result findings do by NHTSA/Subaru to be mail to me asap! Thanks for your time.

Windshield is faulty because it cannot hold up to small impacts of small rocks. I was driving on the freeway and a nearby car picked up a small rock which impacted my windshield glass. There was about one centimeter circumference star crack that webbed out 1 inches. While driving, the crack grew to 1 foot long in the span of less than 30 minutes during the drive (this day the outdoor temperature was 49-50 degrees F.). This is the second time this has happened. I had recently replaced my windshield about 8 months ago when rock hit windshield and crack grew over 2 feet. I have purchased the car 14 months ago and needing two windshield replacements.

I leased a 2021 Forester in April, and around September, I got a J shape crack in the bottom center of the windshield. Subaru dealership in Glendale, CA told me they would replace the windshield free for the first time. Had to wait until mid-December for the backordered replacement to come in. Today, 1/5/22, was driving on the highway and a small projectile on the road caused a starburst crack on my newly replaced windshield.

Windshield cracked after it was hit by a rock. I have been told there is windshield issues with this vehicle.

Windshield cracked for no apparent reason.

Windshield started cracking

I was on highway and I was not tailgating other cars. While on highway, a tiny rock (so tiny didn't even see it make impact) hit the windshield of my 2021 Subaru Forester. It left less than .5 inch of crack on windshield. The next day, the crack grew to the edge to over of half the windshield. The windshield is surprisingly extremely weak and susceptible to cracking and breaking. If such a tiny rock cause cause that much damage to the windshield, I fear for my safety and passengers' safety if larger hail or other debris will hit the windshield. Worse, if an accident would occur face-on, we will not be protected by the windshield. This is unacceptable that the windshield is weak and poorly manufactured. I brought car to the dealership and they inspected and took photos. I have also contacted Subaru corporate and I am waiting for their follow-up contact.

This is for a car only 18 days driven. Windshield cracked from bottom, under retaining gasket, with no strike, impact, or previous ding. Car hood flexes up and down, more than 2-inches, when large trucks pass in opposite direction. Automatic fuel stop at pump did not work properly, causing fuel spill one time, and underfill another time. Windshield visibility and possibility of total failure. Car hood could fly up and obscure visibility and break windshield. Have not contacted dealer or insurance company yet about issues. Windshield problem is a known defect for Subaru, and subject of many lawsuits. No warnings before problems.

WHILE PARKED AT WORK, MY WINDOW CRACKED ABOUT 10-12' RIGHT DOWN THE MIDDLE. IT LOOKS LIKE IT FORMED FROM A SMALL PIT IN THE WINDOW. EVEN THOUGH THE CAR IS MAYBE 5 WEEKS OLD, IT LOOKS LIKE THERE ARE A BUNCH OF THESE SMALL PITS ALL OVER THE WINDOW WHICH COULD BE A MANUFACTURING DEFECT. MY FRIEND HAS A 2020 FORESTER THAT HAD THE WINDOW CRACK IN THE SAME FASHION AFTER ABOUT 5 WEEKS OF OWNING THE CAR AS WELL. I HAVE ATTACHED A PICTURE OF THE DAMAGE TO THE WINDOW.