2003 Subaru Forester problems
Owners have filed 238 complaints about the 2003 Subaru Forester with NHTSA. Fuel system, gasoline accounts for 13% of them — narrowly the most common, ahead of fuel/propulsion system at 10.9%.
Complaints238
Crashes28
Fires0
Injuries19
Deaths4
What owners report breaking
Fuel system, gasoline 13.0% · 31
Fuel/propulsion system 10.9% · 26
Air bags 10.9% · 26
Suspension 9.2% · 22
Structure 8.4% · 20
Engine and engine cooling 8.0% · 19
Vehicle speed control 6.3% · 15
Engine 5.0% · 12
Severity
Of those complaints, 28 describe a crash, 19 report an injury and 4 report a death.
Reading the numbers
Across the 23 model years of the Subaru Forester in this data, 2003 sits 11th by complaint volume. 2019 draws the most.
Filings have fallen off, 5 in the last three years against 13 in the three before. That is normal as a generation leaves the road.
The median odometer reading at the time of complaint was 85,000 miles.
In owners' own words
The previous night was -17, I didn't drive the car all day. At 6:30 pm I drove the car for 1/2hour, all was well. 2 Hours later (-3 degrees) I got in the car and drove 15 min at which time I came to a stop sign and turned right onto another road and the smell of gas inside the car began. I looked up the symptoms online and found I'm not the only one. No action has been taken. Fuel system, gasoline · reported at 115,000 miles
My 2003 Subaru Forester has a fuel leak smell that enters the car interior.. It's not a rich fuel mixture exhaust smell, it's the smell of raw fuel inside the cabin. It comes and goes. I see online others are having this problem. Subaru should be held accountable and forced to have a recall to fix the problem once and for all. Fuel system, gasoline · reported at 100,000 miles
When starting my car in very cold temperature there is a very strong raw gasoline smell in the cabin. After driving the car to a doctor's appointment my husband checked under the hood and saw smoke. It is currently parked. This has happened for three days in our current cold weather. Fuel system, gasoline · reported at 60,000 miles
Verbatim from NHTSA filings. Complaints are unverified owner reports.
Safety recalls
Checking NHTSA for open recalls…