2014 Subaru Forester problems
Owners have filed 576 complaints about the 2014 Subaru Forester with NHTSA. Suspension accounts for 16.5% of them — narrowly the most common, ahead of engine at 12%.
Complaints576
Crashes84
Fires6
Injuries50
Deaths0
What owners report breaking
Suspension 16.5% · 95
Engine 12.0% · 69
Air bags 11.8% · 68
Unknown or other 7.6% · 44
Electrical system 7.3% · 42
Vehicle speed control 7.3% · 42
Power train 7.1% · 41
Service brakes 5.4% · 31
Severity
Of those complaints, 84 describe a crash, 6 describe a fire and 50 report an injury.
Reading the numbers
Across the 23 model years of the Subaru Forester in this data, 2014 sits 7th by complaint volume. 2019 draws the most.
Filings have fallen off, 45 in the last three years against 96 in the three before. The issues here may already have been addressed.
The median odometer reading at the time of complaint was 50,000 miles.
In owners' own words
The right rear suspension on the car collapsed sometime between 6/29/19 and 7/4/19. We did not put weight on the car. The coil spring just sheared somehow. The car has 76k miles on it and has been in mi for the last 3 years. The mechanic could not figure out how this happened, and we are frankly puzzled too. We are not the only ones who this has happened to. Https://www.Cargurus.Com/cars/discussion-t61866_ds789686 Suspension · reported at 76,000 miles
Vehicle was parked in my driveway last night, I heard a loud metallic bang but couldn't see anything outside. This morning I found the rear of my vehicle sagging and a pile of pieces of my rear driver side suspension coil on the ground under my car. Vehicle had not been driven in two days before breakage. The cracked edges where the coil broke are quite rusted, so this has obviously been developing for some time. Suspension · reported at 83,784 miles
Both rear coil springs failed at approximately 6" along the bottom of the coil. Both failed at exactly the same time. The vehicle was up on jacks and as I was removing the brake rotors to replace the rotors and pads I heard a loud crack followed by the metal parts landing on the garage floor. There is evidence of corrosion at the break points (see photos). There are approximately 45,000 miles on the car. Suspension · reported at 45,000 miles
Verbatim from NHTSA filings. Complaints are unverified owner reports.
Safety recalls
Checking NHTSA for open recalls…