2018 Subaru Forester problems
Owners have filed 678 complaints about the 2018 Subaru Forester with NHTSA. Visibility/wiper accounts for 19.9% of them — narrowly the most common, ahead of air bags at 17.7%.
Complaints678
Crashes53
Fires1
Injuries17
Deaths0
What owners report breaking
Visibility/wiper 19.9% · 135
Air bags 17.7% · 120
Unknown or other 12.1% · 82
Electrical system 10.3% · 70
Engine 4.6% · 31
Vehicle speed control 4.4% · 30
Seats 4.4% · 30
Steering 3.5% · 24
Severity
Of those complaints, 53 describe a crash, 1 describe a fire and 17 report an injury.
Reading the numbers
Across the 23 model years of the Subaru Forester in this data, 2018 sits 5th by complaint volume. 2019 draws the most.
Filings have fallen off, 126 in the last three years against 296 in the three before. The issues here may already have been addressed.
The median odometer reading at the time of complaint was 14,771 miles.
In owners' own words
While driving I heard a very loud bang and immediately saw the windshield was cracked. There was no traffic or vehicles in front of me on the local highway traveling at 55 mph. The bang startled me so bad I started to swerve into the other lane. When I reached my destination I was surprised to see how long the crack extended. I took the camera off the windshield to get pictures of the full extent of the crack. Visibility/wiper · reported at 12,000 miles
Have had my 2018 Subaru Forester for almost 4 years now and it has approx. 29855 Miles. Before the crack appeared I had no damage to my windshield. While driving down the interstate, I heard a a slight pop almost like a bottle dent popping out because of carbonation at the time their were no other vehicles traveling in my vicinity, shortly after hearing the noise my passenger noticed the crack. Visibility/wiper · reported at 29,855 miles
After not driving my vehicle for 2 months due to covid I noticed I have a huge crack that grew by at least an inch a day whilst the car was in my garage. The crack started on the bottom black portion where it looks like it chipped (see photo) the windshield and has spidered from there. I have measured the crack daily with a chalk marker and the crack will soon be across the windshield. Visibility/wiper · reported at 12,000 miles
Verbatim from NHTSA filings. Complaints are unverified owner reports.
Safety recalls
Checking NHTSA for open recalls…