2014 Subaru Forester owner complaints

Tailgate lift support failures- on nov 3, 2019, my 2014 forester was parked in my driveway. I opened the tailgate and allowed my dog to jump into the back of the car. When I closed the tailgate there was a loud metal-on-metal crunching noise. I carefully opened the tailgate and then noticed that the driver's side tailgate lift support was hanging down because it had snapped off from where it connected to the tailgate. The crunching metal sound was caused by the tailgate being closed on top of the broken lift support. The tailgate door would not remain open on its own which made it nearly impossible to load or unload the rear of the vehicle without another person to assist. My husband was able to locate a new lift support online and he replaced the part himself. On dec 28, 2019, my car wa

I had 2 accidents with this car. The first was on October 10, 2023. I pulled into a parking space and braked. I move forward a little more and braked again. The car suddenly accelerated and hit 2 vehicles parking across from me. My car was damaged, and one of the cars I hit was badly damaged, and the other had less damage. My 93 year old father was not injured. I had an injury on my hand, where the skin split between my right hand and forefinger. Fortunately there was no one in either of the other cars. I do not know if the vehicle was inspected by anyone. There was no warning light. It all happened in seconds. I had no idea what happened, so I thought my foot must have slipped and hit the gas pedal. I had my car repaired at the Apple Subaru's body shop in York, PA. It was in the sh

Repeated thumping noise when turning left at speed approx. 25 MPH. Noticed 2 or 3 months ago. Odometer at about 79000 miles.dealer diagnosed bad wheel bearings and repaired them for $700+. No change noticed. Dealer diagnosed and replaced defective auto transmission at no expense to me. (amazing!) I still hear the noise when I turn left. I am concerned that this might indicate a safety issue. Web search "subaruforester.org" shows several similar complaints but no resolution.

My 2014 Subaru forester's engine at times acts as if it is going to stall. It acts as though it is getting no fuel. I have had the fuel filter/fuel pump assembly replaced and it seemed to run ok for a short time. The stalling action does not always happen. Sometimes it runs smoothly. Then it starts the sputtering/stall action again.the mechanic who replaced them in an effort to correct the problem is not able to tell me what else could be causing it. My vehicle gets 93 octane gas and only has 32,000 miles on it. Please help.

Tl* the contact owns a 2014 Subaru forester. While driving 78 MPH, the vehicle stalled. The contact coasted the vehicle to the side of the road. The fuel indicator displayed that the fuel was low. The contact called the police and was escorted to get some fuel. The contact added fuel to the vehicle, restarted the engine, and drove 400 miles without further incident. The vehicle was taken to Subaru of daytona (650 n nova rd, daytona beach, fl 32114, (386) 255-2252) where they diagnosed that the vehicle was overheating and replaced the fuel pump. The dealer informed the contact not to drive the vehicle with less than a third of a tank of fuel since that caused the fuel pump to overheat. The fuel reader later displayed unusual readings and started illuminating constantly. The vehicle was take

A piece of the rear suspension coil spring fell out onto the road when I was driving, and came to a halt behind me on the street. It is similar to a piece I found in my driveway a year ago (which I did not recognize or know where it came from. The car's handling has been 'different' but can't tell if it will become unsafe.

Tl* the contact owns a 2014 Subaru forester. While driving into the garage, the contact noticed metal on the ground. There were no warning indicators illuminated. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic who confirmed that the rear passenger side spring fractured. The contact called capitaland motors (37 saratoga rd, schenectady, ny 12302, (518) 631-5792) and informed them of the failure. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not contacted. The failure mileage was 29,000.

Rear coil springs broken right and left 01/07/2019 - 27811 miles on car, replaced by dealer during state inspection I did not know they were broken until told by service advisor

Bottom of both left and right rear coil springs broke - at the point where they sit on the lower spring seat of the strut. They both fractured at exactly the same spot on the coil - at the first 1/2 loop of the coil (about 4 inches) and in the same diagonal type of shear. Pictures attached of the pieces that broke off each coil. Car has only 58,000 miles and never driven off road or overloaded. Not exactly sure when they broke - was discovered by my mechanic while doing other work on the car.

Driving down the highway at approximately 70 MPH and the drivers side rear coil spring collapsed. We heard a loud metal bang and when we got home I noticed the coil spring was broken.

I have had ignition problems turning off the engine after stopping also I have to keep putting a quart of oil in when the oil light comes on while driving

During an oil change this week. I was told that I was down 1.5 quarts. I called the dealer and requested an oil consumption test. They denied my appointment and told me that this"was the new normal". I do not accept that my 2014 Subaru should be using this much oil. I checked the class action Subaru oil consumption lawsuit, but my VIN number is not included in the action. I believe there is still a problem and this needs to be further addressed.

Failure of the continuous variable transmission (CVT) is a known and dangerous defect for certain models of subarus. Subaru of america issued an extended warranty in 2018 which partially addressed CVT problems, but fell short of a recall, which is what customers deserve and are owed. Additionally, this extended warranty only recognized problems with specific CVT components, but omitted other CVT components that are known to fail. In december 2020, the CVT on my 2014 Subaru forester failed in motion and the vehicle became undrivable. The dealership (casey Subaru of newport news va) made the necessary repairs, which Subaru deemed not covered by warranty, at the cost of $1931.36. The receipt is attached. Subaru of america has demonstrated negligence on this defect, and disregard for its c

On Friday, 12-3-21 I was in an accident in my local Costco parking lot while backing out of my spot. While backing out of the spot slowly with the wheel turned, my 2014 Subaru Forester had a sudden and extreme acceleration in reverse doing a reverse u-turn into a parked car causing considerable damage to the rear end of both cars. I am certain that I did not to press the gas pedal as this is a busy parking lot and I always back out very slowly just covering the brake. There is some kind of mechanical issue with my car that caused this malfunction. I was evaluated by paramedics and taken to the local emergency room with a significant bump on the back right side of my head. My car is currently available for inspection. I am in the process of reporting this to Subaru of America to see if they

Tl* the contact owns a 2014 Subaru forester. When the contact parked the vehicle and released the brake pedal, the rear brake lights remained illuminated. There were no warning indicators illuminated. The vehicle was not taken to a dealer or an independent mechanic for diagnostic testing. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 68,000.

On 5/15/2024 and 5/21/2024 I had sudden uninteded acceleration. I had a auto shop try to solve the problem by replacing the air fuel ratio sensor and the mass air flow sensor. This seem to fix the issue until 11/27/2025 & 12/7/2025 when the sudden uninteded acceleration returned.

Failed rear wheel bearings twice within 20,000 miles. Increasingly loud noise when in motion.

Tl* the contact owns a 2014 Subaru forester. While depressing the brake pedal, it would not activate and caused the brake lights to fail. The contact also stated that the vehicle exhibited issues starting due to the brake switch activation failure. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, but the failure could not be duplicated. The contact stated that the failure recurred, and the vehicle was taken back to the dealer where it was diagnosed that the switch that activated the brake lights failed and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired. The VIN was not included in NHTSA campaign number: 15v366000 (exterior lighting, forward collision avoidance). The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was 35,000.

Within a few days of having the car, I noted that it did not move forward smoothly from a dead stop but surged ahead. I had not depressed the gas pedal very far. There after I am very careful to depress the gas pedal very carefully until the engine responds smoothly to a normal speed. I never had this happen in any other car I have owned and I noted after reading the complaints of other owners that others have the same problem. I have not reported it to the dealer because it was not a big issue but now I wonder if this could eventually become a dangerous problem as the car gets older. I also noted a complaint by another person, about the lines on the climate control knob that are difficult to see which she solved by marking them with white nail polish. Perhaps Subaru designers wi

Tl* the contact owns a 2014 Subaru forester. While exiting the car wash, the vehicle accelerated independently without warning and crashed into a pole. When the brake pedal was depressed, it failed to operate and the steering wheel seized. The air bags did not deploy. A police report was filed and there were no injuries. The vehicle was towed to a tow yard. The dealer was not notified and the vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 25,000. *tt the consumer stated the vehicle was considered a total loss. The manufacturer reimbursed the cost of the rental vehicle. *js the consumer stated the floor mats could not have caused the failure. *js updated 9/13/18*jb