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Owner-Reported Problems · NHTSA

2020 Subaru Forester — Problems & Complaints

NHTSA has 602 owner complaints on file for this vehicle. Every report below was filed by a real owner with the US government's road-safety agency.

602
Complaints
filed with NHTSA
26
Involved a Crash
owner-reported
9
Involved Fire
owner-reported
16
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.

78 complaints

403 complaints

615 complaints

415 complaints

589 complaints

498 complaints

834 complaints

602 complaints

210 complaints

99 complaints

74 complaints

30 complaints

98 complaints

0 complaints

Problem Areas

What Owners Complain About Most

Visibility/wiper 252 reports
Unknown Or Other 107 reports
Electrical System 103 reports
Engine 81 reports
Visibility 49 reports
Forward Collision Avoidance 42 reports
Power Train 32 reports
Vehicle Speed Control 24 reports
In Their Own Words

Recent Owner Reports

Electrical System ODI 11562836 12/31/2023

When I am idling at a stop sign or sitting in traffic and I have come to a full stop, the car's engine shuts down as a gas-saving feature. This is not the problem! The problem is that sometimes when this feature engages, when I lift my foot off the brake to start driving again, a shrill constant ringing sound starts and the engine won't power back on. There is an error message…

Air Bags ODI 11445769 12/31/2021

Driver gets choked while drinking a cold beverage, gets disoriented and loses consciousness momentarily causing the vehicle to veer off the street and strike a tree with extensive front end damage. Airbags did not deploy at all. Driver has injuries from the crash, such as possible fractured wrist, contusions and much pain in the neck, chest and back areas. She was transport…

Visibility/wiper ODI 11292220 12/31/2019

CAR IS BRAND NEW. WITHIN 2 WEEKS OF PURCHASING ALREADY 3 CHIPS IN WINDSHIELD WHEN NO ROCKS WERE OBSERVED HITTING. ONE OF THE CHIPS IS IN FRONT OF THE EYESIGHT SYSTEM AND IF IT GROWS IT WILL HAMPER THE SAFETY SYSTEMS OF THE CAR. IT WILL COST ME AROUND 1700 DOLLARS TO REPAIR SOMETHING THAT SHOULD HAVE NEVER HAPPENED.

Engine ODI 11707836 12/30/2025

While driving my 2020 Subaru Forester at approximately 15 mph, the engine unexpectedly shut off, resulting in an immediate loss of propulsion (vehicle stall while in motion). This created a safety risk because the vehicle was in traffic and could have been struck from behind or lost the ability to accelerate out of danger. No crash occurred and there were no injuries. There we…

Electrical System ODI 11445591 12/30/2021

The contact owns a 2020 Subaru Forester. The contact stated that the battery drained quickly, and the vehicle had to be jumpstarted after three days. The vehicle was not diagnosed nor repaired by an independent mechanic or dealer. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 2,000.

Same Vehicle

Recalls & Crash Tests

Complaints are one half of the picture — see the official recalls and NHTSA crash-test stars for the 2020 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 2020 Subaru Forester reliable?
Owners have filed 602 safety complaints with NHTSA for the 2020 Subaru Forester, most often about visibility/wiper. 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.