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483 owner complaints and 2 active recall campaigns on file. Here's the breakdown — what's serious, what's noise, what a working mechanic would actually do about it.
Average for the segment. Some recurring trouble spots worth knowing about.
Worth owning if you verify the specific issues below before you buy.
Our read of the federal NHTSA complaint and recall record for this exact year and model — not a substitute for a pre-purchase inspection. How we score.
NHTSA recall 19v-701 (Subaru recall wum-98) includes only foresters with seat heaters manufactured from 1/20/15 - 8/1/17. My forester was manufactured on 6/6/18 and is not currently included. Page 3 of product campaign bulletin wum-98r revised 11/20/19 (copy attached) states…
Vehicle was stationary, parked, engine was off, no one was in the car. Crack spontaneously appeared from base of windshield up about 5 inches. There was no crack in the windshield when I parked the car. There was no rock chip on the way up. I looked closely at the crack…
We were driving at 70mph on the freeway, left lane, and suddenly the car lost power as if the fuel pump went out. We had to suddenly get over to the shoulder of the freeway, almost got hit, then limped along the shoulder until we called a tow truck which towed us 40 miles to…
Multiple cracks on the windshield. Some cracks are from very small rocks and my insurance covered it . The most recent crack is very large and didnt appear to start from any rock. This windshield feels very unsafe.the vehicle was stationary .
Drag to your current mileage. Numbers are derived from this vehicle's complaint history.
Installing incorrect tires or applying incorrect tire air pressure may increase the risk of a crash.
If the connection loosens, the front passenger airbag may deactivate even though the seat is occupied, increasing the risk of injury to the front passenger in the event of a crash.
It's got known weak points. With a reliability score of 6.6 out of 10 based on 483 owner complaints filed with NHTSA, the 2018 Subaru Forester has a higher-than-average rate of reported issues. The areas to watch are listed above. Whether it's worth owning depends on price, condition, and how much repair exposure you can absorb.
The 2018 Subaru Forester is acceptable, with specific caveats. Worth owning if you verify the specific issues below before you buy. The record behind that call: Reliability score 6.6/10 — around the segment average; 2 recall campaigns on file. This is our read of the federal complaint and recall data — not a substitute for a pre-purchase inspection.
Based on NHTSA records, the most-reported issue is visibility, with 146 complaints filed. Typical failure occurs around 23,063 miles. Average repair cost runs about $350 at an independent shop.
The visibility is one of the costlier repair items. Average repair cost runs about $350 at an independent shop. Typical failure occurs around 23,063 miles. Catching early warning signs can sometimes extend life by 20–30,000 miles.
Paste your VIN into the decoder at the top of this page. We pull live from NHTSA, so you'll see exactly which campaigns apply to your vehicle and whether the dealer has logged the fix. Recall repairs are always free regardless of mileage or warranty status.
Math is straightforward: a quality service contract runs $1,800–3,500 over 3 years. With 483 complaints on file and the costliest repair averaging $350, one major failure more than pays for it. The catch is reading the contract — many providers exclude wear items and require pre-authorization, so cheaper plans are not always better value.