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Owner-Reported Problems · NHTSA

2023 Subaru Forester — Problems & Complaints

NHTSA has 74 owner complaints on file for this vehicle. Every report below was filed by a real owner with the US government's road-safety agency.

74
Complaints
filed with NHTSA
8
Involved a Crash
owner-reported
4
Involved Fire
owner-reported
6
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.

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

Unknown Or Other 20 reports
Forward Collision Avoidance 13 reports
Visibility/wiper 11 reports
Electrical System 8 reports
Service Brakes 6 reports
Vehicle Speed Control 6 reports
Air Bags 6 reports
Power Train 5 reports
In Their Own Words

Recent Owner Reports

Service Brakes ODI 11706572 12/22/2025

In three years I've had the Automatic Emergency Braking system engage and almost cause accidents several times. The breaking system engages when it's not needed. Going down a road driving straight at 25 MPH, no obstacles in road and breaks engage. Verry scarry, what if I was going 65 MPH on the highway! Another incident was on an off ramp in a curve, and another making a U…

Air Bags ODI 11628405 12/02/2024

The front passenger side air bag remains turned off when a 105 pound adult sits in it, but turns on when a 185 pound adult sits in it. Subaru service informs us that it is factory set so that it will not deploy when a child is in the seat and cannot be adjusted. This puts any small adult or teenager sits in the front passenger seat.

Visibility/wiper ODI 11557651 11/30/2023

Just replaced my winshield for my 2023 suburu, first off safelite uses after market, also I haven't had the car for more than 3 months, the next day the winshield was hit with another pebble causing another crack. Like what the hell is the matter with these winshields and what is suburu go8ng to do about it. I'm missing work, and losing money here, not only that it's very dang…

Visibility/wiper ODI 11556853 11/26/2023

Small pebble hit winshield and in no time I have about a 3 inch crack. Car purchased a few months ago, used I have about 4000 miles on it. Read about winshield problems in newer cars with eyesight happening frequently and bam, it happens to me. This needs to be corrected!

Electrical System ODI 11700531 11/20/2025

Traveling at approximately 45 mph through a green light at a 4-way intersection a car making a right on red turn turned into the outside lane in front of me. I had no warning sounds or automatic braking, to avoid a collision I had to steer to the left after an on coming car passed. There were no chimes or auto braking.I have had several instances similar with no alerts. My eye…

Same Vehicle

Recalls & Crash Tests

Complaints are one half of the picture — see the official recalls and NHTSA crash-test stars for the 2023 Subaru Forester, or check your exact car by VIN with the free VIN lookup.

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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 2023 Subaru Forester reliable?
Owners have filed 74 safety complaints with NHTSA for the 2023 Subaru Forester, most often about unknown or other. 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.