2013 Subaru Forester — Problems & Complaints
NHTSA has 78 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
602 complaints
What Owners Complain About Most
Recent Owner Reports
I had a family member driving an 2013 Subaru Forester all-wheel drive with a manual transition. The car had crash and rolled. The car at the most rolled twice and none of the air bags never deployed. I have photos of the accident and of the vehicle at the towed yard and its clear as day that the air bags are still rolled up.
TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2013 SUBARU FORESTER (N/A). THE CONTACT STATED THAT WHILE DRIVING 10 MPH, THE VEHICLE INDEPENDENTLY ACCELERATED TO 30 MPH. THE VEHICLE WAS TOWED TO THE DEALER FOR DIAGNOSIS AND THE CONTACT WAS INFORMED THAT THE FLOOR MATS WERE RESPONSIBLE FOR THE FAILURE. THE CONTACT DID NOT BELIEVE THAT THE FLOOR MATS WERE THE CAUSE OF THE FAILURE. THERE WERE NO FURTHER…
SINCE PURCHASING THIS VEHICLE WE HAVE REPLACED THE DRIVERS SIDE HEADLIGHT 6 TIMES. IN THIS SAME TIME PERIOD WE HAVE REPLACED THE PASSENGER SIDE HEADLIGHT ONLY ONCE. THIS CONCERNS ME, AS IT MAKES ME THINK THERE IS A WIRING PROBLEM & A POSSIBILITY OF A MORE SEVERE PROBLEM
My 2013 Subaru Forester had some noise (grinding) from the rear passenger side brake pad. I set up an appointment to have it inspected later that week. I then used my car to run an errand several days later. I was driving on the highway and found I had no brakes (brake pedal went to the floor). I was able to get to a parking lot and stop the car. When I exited the veh…
SQUEAKY BRAKES, SEATBELT RECOIL
Recalls & Crash Tests
Complaints are one half of the picture — see the official recalls and NHTSA crash-test stars for the 2013 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.