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Owner-Reported Problems · NHTSA

2025 Subaru Forester — Problems & Complaints

NHTSA has 97 owner complaints on file for this vehicle. Every report below was filed by a real owner with the US government's road-safety agency.

Complaints

filed with NHTSA

Involved a Crash

owner-reported

Involved Fire

owner-reported

6 / 1

Injuries / Deaths

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.

2018 Subaru Forester

498 complaints

2019 Subaru Forester AVOID

834 complaints

2020 Subaru Forester

602 complaints

2021 Subaru Forester

210 complaints

2022 Subaru Forester

99 complaints

2023 Subaru Forester

74 complaints

2024 Subaru Forester

30 complaints

2025 Subaru Forester

97 complaints

2026 Subaru Forester

0 complaints

Problem Areas

What Owners Complain About Most

Unknown Or Other 19 reports

Fuel/propulsion System 13 reports

Visibility/wiper 13 reports

Forward Collision Avoidance 12 reports

Electrical System 8 reports

Exterior Lighting 8 reports

Visibility 7 reports

Service Brakes 6 reports

In Their Own Words

Recent Owner Reports

Unknown Or Other ODI 11705006 12/15/2025

This is the SECOND time in less than 9 weeks that my rear window (hatch) has shattered for no reason. The first time it was when I closed the hatch and this time it was when I shut the driver side door. Both times my car was in my garage and not running. I assume that all my windows were closed, I know they were this time. This would appear to be some defect. I have NEVER had…

Unknown Or Other ODI 11702126 11/30/2025

Sirius XM popping up ads in the interior screen while driving is dangerous and ridiculous

Visibility ODI 11627995 11/29/2024

Driver's side mirror vibrates when driving at highway speeds on freeways; vibration is so bad that it makes the image blurry when using the mirror to change lanes

Electrical System ODI 11701886 11/28/2025

8/25/25: Seat Heater came on by itself on a hot day this Summer, it got so hot it burned my Right thigh. Seat Heaters are burning people. I drove directly to Subaru Dealership Service and the Service person, Dave confirmed the Seat heater was off and felt that the seat was hot and getting hotter as the heat began going up into the back of the seat. The service personnel inspe…

Exterior Lighting ODI 11627686 11/27/2024

The low beam lighting on my 2025 Subaru Forester is dangerous. The beam is set so that it is flat on top and too low. When the car dips at all the beam does not allow you see straight ahead. This is very dangerous when you cannot use the high beam as with oncoming traffic. I have taken it to the dealer and they state that the low beam is set according to Subaru specifications…

Same Vehicle

Recalls & Crash Tests

Complaints are one half of the picture — see the official recalls and NHTSA crash-test stars for the 2025 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 2025 Subaru Forester reliable?

Owners have filed 97 safety complaints with NHTSA for the 2025 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.