2012 Subaru Forester — Problems & Complaints
NHTSA has 105 owner complaints on file for this vehicle. Every report below was filed by a real owner with the US government's road-safety agency.
Subaru Forester — Complaints by Model Year
Years flagged AVOID have at least twice this model's average complaint count — the strongest public-data signal of a bad year.
262 complaints
147 complaints
105 complaints
78 complaints
403 complaints
615 complaints
415 complaints
589 complaints
498 complaints
834 complaints
What Owners Complain About Most
Recent Owner Reports
TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2012 SUBARU FORESTER. WHILE TRAVELING APPROXIMATELY 60 MPH, THE VEHICLE LOST ALL POWER WITHOUT WARNING. THE CONTACT WAS ABLE TO COAST THE VEHICLE TO THE SHOULDER OF THE ROADWAY. THE VEHICLE WAS TOWED TO AN INDEPENDENT MECHANIC WHERE IT WAS DIAGNOSED THAT THE MASS AIR FLOW SENSOR AND BATTERY FAILED. THERE WAS ALSO TOO MUCH FUEL IN THE SYSTEM. THE VEHICLE …
WHILE DRIVING ON A MAIN ROUTE CHECK ENGINE LIGHT KICKED ON AND PROCEEDED TO FLASH WHILE THE STABILITY/TRACTION CONTROL LIGHT CAME ON DISABLING THE TRACTION CONTROL. THIS LASTED APPROXIMATELY 10-15 SECONDS, ALL LIGHTS KICKED OFF AND SEEMED OKAY. A COUPLE OF DAYS LATER THE SAME THING HAPPENED ONLY NOW THE CRUISE CONTROL LIGHT WAS ON AND FLASHING, CHECK ENGINE WAS SOLID AND STABI…
TL* TAKATA RECALL. THE CONTACT OWNS A 2012 SUBARU FORESTER. THE CONTACT RECEIVED NOTIFICATION OF NHTSA CAMPAIGN NUMBER: 17V014000 (AIR BAGS). THE PART TO DO THE REPAIR WAS UNAVAILABLE. THE CONTACT STATED THAT THE MANUFACTURER EXCEEDED A REASONABLE AMOUNT OF TIME FOR THE RECALL REPAIR. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO PUTNAM SUBARU OF BURLINGAME (85 CALIFORNIA DR, BURLINGAME, CA 94010)…
2012 SUBARU DASH LIGHT ALL COME ON AND THEN THE CAR STARTS TO STALL OUT. DEALER CAN NOT FIND OUT THE PROBLEM. THE HAPPENS INTERMITTENTLY. THEY RESET THE COMPUTER AND IT RUNS FOR A COUPLE HOURS OR DAY AND THEN IT HAPPENS AGAIN. THIS WILL HAPPEN IN THE WHILE DRIVING ON THE HIGHWAY AND IS VERY DANGEROUS.
MY CAR SUFFERED A CATASTROPHIC OIL EVENT WITHOUT AN INDICATOR LIGHT OR ANY OTHER WARNING THAT IS NESITATING A NEW ENGINE. THE CAR HAD LESS THAN 70,000 MILES ON IT AND WAS IN SERVICE SEVERAL TIMES RECENTLY WITHOUT ANYONE NOTICING THE OIL PROBLEM? ON THE DAY OF THE EVENT I WAS DRIVING TO WORK AND WAS HEARING A TICKING NOISE LIKE WHEN YOU PUT A BASEBALL CARD ON YOUR BICYCLE SPOKE…
Recalls & Crash Tests
Complaints are one half of the picture — see the official recalls and NHTSA crash-test stars for the 2012 Subaru Forester, or check your exact car by VIN with the free VIN lookup.
Problems Checker
Any year, make and model: open the Car Problems Checker. Data: NHTSA (US DOT, public domain), cached up to 7 days.