2008 Subaru Forester owner complaints

My car as been seen by Subaru dealership since the day I bought it in 2012. I paid for 5 years. After I finished paying in july, I just discovered that is an oil leak , all my engine from front to back is dirty with oil, a second opinion mechanic stated that he does not know how I am using this car for years like that. But the car just had last year a head gasket changed "by charity" , offer of Subaru factory to me and the dealership in moline, il did the change. How after pulling down the engine they never noticed the oil leak and smoking. I once was there with my son, changed oil, smoke came up, drove back to them and they told me that was an oil spill probably. I paid 283 dollars for 5 years for a 2008 Subaru from the dealership glazman, pa with 60,000 miles, I had to many expenses that

In one miles time cruse light when on then engine light then died. Got extremely hot.. Blew gaskets and possible engine. I have never missed oil changes and have taken very good care of car. *tr

My engine started failing. The compression started rapidly declining these last few weeks. My engine was sluggish and jerky. I previously had the car serviced with a new alternator and had my emissions testing done for my registration. The next day the engine light came on to alert for the problem. I brought it back in and after some testing was told it was the compression to the engine that was not working properly. It is in the shop now. After further testing decompression was even worse than previously diagnosed at other mechanic and the engine was declared to be failing. I am having to get a complete engine remake. $8,000.

I had a check engine light come on. Pulled the code and ran it by a friend who is a Subaru mechanic. After realizing this is a smog issue contacted dealer who said its not covered under emissions warranty. I know this is false as parts are to be covered by law up to 100k miles. Now it's going to cost $1600+ to repair this issue in order to pass smog. On a 5 year old car. Below is a posting from mechanic notifying forums, facebook, and anyone else who will listen of the issue (there are good mechanics out there). One of the issues we have been hearing a lot about, getting calls on, and personally seeing for ourselves is these air injection solenoids having issues on the 06+ model vehicles. Remember the air pump is suppose to only run for a short moment under start up (it injects oxygen

The check engine light went on - flashing. I drove immediately to my local garage. When I turned off the engine, I smelled a strong burning oil smell, as did the mechanic. The oil was checked and I was down 2 quarts even though I had a recent oil change at that same facility. There had been no oil leaks, and no stain in my driveway previous to this. The mechanic saw no abnormal oil flow or leak when he checked. *tr

Tl* the contact owns a 2008 Subaru forester. While driving 30 MPH, the contact heard a knocking sound coming from the engine and the vehicle ran out of oil. The vehicle was not taken to a dealer or independent mechanic. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The dealer was not contacted. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and stated that they could not assist because there was no recall on the issue. The approximate failure mileage was 65,000.

Right front lower control arm failed due to rust (safety recall WVX34 and NHTSA campaign 11v464000). Part of arm completely detached from connection to frame. Dealer states the recall is closed and there is nothing they will do. I notified Subaru by Email last night on the day it occurred -1 Dec 2021. Have not had reply as yet. This caused uncontrollable steering as it was not controllable by the steering wheel. Fortunately this failed as I was backing out of a parking spot and not at speed on the highway. Car was not drivable. I inspected the left front control arm and it too seems to be also affected by rust.

The contact owns a 2008 Subaru Forester. The contact stated that while driving at various speeds, there was a clanking and knocking sound coming from the front end of the vehicle. The vehicle was examined by an independent mechanic who discovered severe subframe rust and corrosion. The vehicle was not repaired. The contact stated that while backing out of the driveway, the front driver’s side control arm was fractured, rendering the vehicle undrivable. The contact stated that the failure was caused by corrosion of the front lower control arm. The manufacturer was notified of the failure, but no assistance was offered. The contact was informed that the vehicle was previously repaired under NHTSA Campaign Number: 11V464000 (Suspension); to prevent the failure from occurring; however, the veh

The contact owns a 2008 Subaru Forester. The contact stated that while driving at various speeds, an abnormal grinding noise would emit from the vehicle without warning. The contact then stated that upon turning into a driveway, the front lower control arm detached from the vehicle without warning. Due to the failure, the contact had the vehicle towed to his home where he began to repair the vehicle himself. The dealer and the manufacturer were both notified of the failure but offered no assistance. Upon investigation, the contact discovered NHTSA campaign number: 11V464000 (Suspension) which he linked to the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was 97,000

The contact owns a 2008 Subaru Forester. The contact stated while driving approximately 30 MPH, the vehicle was shaking. Additionally, the passenger’s side front wheel was shaking, and the vehicle was drifting to the right. The contact who is an independent mechanic noticed that the front lower control arm was fractured. The dealer was not contacted. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and informed the contact that the vehicle was previously repaired under NHTSA Campaign Number: 11V464000 (Suspension). The approximate failure mileage was 180,000.

This happened while driving on a freeway. Weather was sunny, in the 20s, pavement was dry but there were short icy patches under bridges. Every time I passed over one of these patches I experienced severe fishtailing. I had to reduce speed to under 30mph to retain control of the car while traffic was passing me at 60+ MPH. Tires were new goodyear assurance. This is extremely nerve wracking and is a frequently reported problem on the Subaru online user forums such as: http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/topic/127473-ghost-walking/ the problem is not evident when driving on dry or on snowy roads.

Tl* the contact owns a 2008 Subaru forester. While driving approximately 50 MPH, the lower control arm fractured on the front passenger side of the vehicle. The dealer (gary lang Subaru, 1121 state rte 31 building 3, mchenry, il 60050, (815) 788-6506) indicated that the vehicle was already repaired per NHTSA campaign number: 11v464000 (suspension). The manufacturer refused to authorize the dealer to repair the vehicle; therefore, the contact had to pay out of pocket for the diagnostic test and repair. The vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic for further diagnostic testing. The vehicle was not included in NHTSA action number: pe11011 (suspension). The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 88,900.

September 19, 2020, I was driving on the interstate, at 10:30 pm, going 75mph and al of a sudden I heard a loud pop. I had lost all control of my car and my front passenger side felt like it completely gave out on me. I slammed on the breaks and tried to get it on the right side of the road but I couldn't. It sent me on the left hand side, the fast lane, right up against the interstate divider wall, my came to a stop ina couple seconds. I was sitting flush with the wall, I couldn't open my door, and I didn't want my passenger in the car to open his door onto oncoming traffic, I turned my emergency blinkers on and processed to climb out of my window onto the concrete wall. I starting looking at the front end of my car to see what had happened. I saw both of my front tires had popped, th

I have problem with my 2008 Subaru forester. When I quickly turn steer wheel for changing lane, the car seems lost control and can only go all the way to the left. Then when you have to turn the steer wheel to the right to return straight, the car would go all the way to the right. I have to keep this balance until the car turn itself off. It happens to me twice. One time is on a bridge, one time is on the busiest interstate highway 95. I feel extremly lucky either time. I am still alive and did not kill anybody. But is that normal for a subura all wheel drive? *tr

The airbag on driver’s side deployed (malfunctioned)without incident while parked in my garage. It is currently at local Subaru dealer. Mechanics cannot determine what caused the malfunction. An engineer from Corporate Subaru inspected. Another team of engineers from Corporate is going to conduct a more thorough investigation once more photos of interior and exterior are provided by retailer. It is, of course, available for inspection. Fortunately, I was not driving the vehicle at the time of deployment. No one was in the car at the time of deployment. Vehicle was parked in my garage and deployed overnight. The dealer has confirmed deployment, but as stated above, has not been able to determine cause of deployment. Dealer’s mechanics and a Corporate engineer are only ones to my kno

Tl* the contact owns a 2008 Subaru forester. While attempting to have the vehicle inspected, it would not pass the smog test due to a secondary air injection pump being stuck open. While driving various speeds, the secondary air pump caught fire. The vehicle was pulled over and the key was removed from the ignition. The contact stated that the fire burned out on its own. The vehicle was not repaired. The vehicle was not included in the manufacturer's satisfaction campaign to address the issue. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 90,000. ..updated 01/04/17 *bf ...updated 01/23/17 *bf the consumer stated the vehicle was not included the recall, but the failure was identical. Updated 12/5/2017*js updated 7/11/18*jb *tr

There is an oil leak from the cam shaft, only noticed after I finished paying the car, 60 months paying 283 dollars, now there is a problem. My car is full with smoking under the hood due to this oil leak, apparently all Subaru cars have the same issue. Now I am left with a paid car that basically does not have value and over thousands of dollars to fix it, or my car can burn down.

We purchased a Subaru forester 2008 in the fall of 2007. At about 4 years, or 40,000 miles the plastic headlight lenses fogged over, reducing light output and dispersing, not focusing the headlight beam making it difficult to see the road at night. My husband spent time using plastic polish to remove the apparent fog on the plastic-headlight cover. At this point the lenses were clear and un-fogged. After less than two months the fog on the plastic-headlight lens reappeared. I believe this to be a manufacturer's defect. Subaru uses some sort of plastic that is extremely sensitive to road-dust abrasion. This creates an unsafe driving condition when the head-light beam is dispersed rather than focused on the road-necessary for night time visibility. Subaru has denied this is a manufac

"floating around" floor mat problem on my 2008 Subaru forester. I bought my forester in december of 2007. Within a couple of weeks the mats started to slide around the floor and have bunched-up under the pedal cluster. I am careful to reposition them. What happened is that the hundreds of rubber tabs on the bottom of the 4 mats started to fall off. This is on all four mats. Subaru told me this was not covered by warranty. I read about a similar problem with Toyota and I understand that Toyota has an ownership interest in Subaru. Perhaps they use the same vendor to supply floor mates in the usa. I know this is dangerous. My car is still under the new car warranty, so I am not looking for something for nothing. My bet is others have this problem too. Like I said it affects

Bearings and hub assembly - road noise from rear of auto 65k miles, changed to new tires 70.5k road noise continued from rear, had the car examine by Subaru technician 71k and estimate bearings and hub assembly likely pitted or scorned. *tr