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Owner-Reported Problems · NHTSA

2016 Subaru Forester — Problems & Complaints

NHTSA has 415 owner complaints on file for this vehicle. Every report below was filed by a real owner with the US government's road-safety agency.

415
Complaints
filed with NHTSA
40
Involved a Crash
owner-reported
3
Involved Fire
owner-reported
17
Injuries
across all reports
Years to Avoid

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

210 complaints

99 complaints

74 complaints

Problem Areas

What Owners Complain About Most

Air Bags 99 reports
Electrical System 93 reports
Unknown Or Other 69 reports
Engine 60 reports
Power Train 51 reports
Vehicle Speed Control 37 reports
Service Brakes 29 reports
Fuel/propulsion System 24 reports
In Their Own Words

Recent Owner Reports

Suspension ODI 11291954 12/30/2019

WHEN I WENT FOR MY INSPECTION STICKER,IT FAILED DUE TO A BROKEN RIGHT REAR SPRING,THEN WENT I BROUGHT IT TO BE REPAIRED I FOUND OUT THE LEFT SIDE WAS ALSO BROKEN.

Engine ODI 11163793 12/28/2018

TODAY MARKS THE THIRD TIME WE ARE TAKING THIS VEHICLE TO THE DEALER BECAUSE THE ENGINE STALLS WHILE DRIVING WHEN ACCELERATING.

Engine ODI 11632753 12/27/2024

My car has required multiple jumps and batteries, since I bought it new. I have records of the services for jumps, and new batteries. The car continues to have a parasitic battery drain, that has caused me to be stranded multiple times. The car is currently at the dealership, and they want to do a DCM test to see if this is cause. I was not informed of battery class action law…

Electrical System ODI 11499092 12/27/2022

The battery drains constantly. I’ve had it replaced several times but it continues to die even when I jump it repeatedly. This may be a known issue but the Subaru dealership’s tech refused to admit their car’s electrical system caused the issue and attempted to have me continue to drive with a dead battery, then have AAA replace the battery under the AAA warranty (even though…

Air Bags ODI 11290532 12/27/2019

2016 SUBARU FORESTER. CONSUMER WRITES IN REGARDS TO FRONT PASSENGER SIDE AIRBAG SAFETY RECALL. *LD THE CONSUMER STATED THE MANUFACTURER EXCEEDED A REASONABLE AMOUNT OF TIME COMPLETING THE RECALL REPAIR. *JS

Same Vehicle

Recalls & Crash Tests

Complaints are one half of the picture — see the official recalls and NHTSA crash-test stars for the 2016 Subaru Forester, or check your exact car by VIN with the free VIN lookup.

Check Another Car

Problems Checker

Any year, make and model: open the Car Problems Checker. Data: NHTSA (US DOT, public domain), cached up to 7 days.

Questions

FAQ

Is the 2016 Subaru Forester reliable?
Owners have filed 415 safety complaints with NHTSA for the 2016 Subaru Forester, most often about air bags. Compare the complaint counts across model years above — a year with far more complaints than the model's average is the strongest 'avoid' signal in public data.
Which Subaru Forester years should I avoid?
The rule of thumb used by analysts: a model year whose complaint count is well above the model's own average (we flag 2× or more) usually had a real manufacturing or design problem — not just noisy reporting. Use the year-by-year strip on this page.
Where do these complaints come from?
Directly from NHTSA, the US government road-safety agency. Any owner can file a Vehicle Owner Questionnaire; NHTSA publishes them as public domain data. We cache each lookup for up to 7 days.
Do complaints mean a recall is coming?
Sometimes. NHTSA opens defect investigations when complaint patterns emerge, and investigations can end in recalls. Check the recalls page for this vehicle to see what has already been recalled.