WHEN IN HEAVY TRAFFIC AND IT WAS NECESSARY TO ACCELERATE AT A HIGH RPM, THE TRACTION CONTROL LIGHT AND CHECK ENGINE LIGHT COME ON AND START FLASHING AND THE CRUISE CONTROL LIGHT ALSO FLASHED. THIS IS THE 3RD TIME THIS HAS HAPPENED. FIRST TIME ALL THE LIGHTS WENT OUT, SECOND TIME IT HAPPENED MY CRUISE CONTROL WAS DISABLED AND THE OTHER LIGHTS CONTINUED TO BE ON AND FLASH AND I HAD TO TAKE IT THE DEALERSHIP TO BE "RESET". DEALERSHIP TOLD ME IT WAS A "COMPUTER" PROBLEM AND SUBARU HAS NOT FIXED IT. YESTERDAY IT HAPPENED AGAIN. WAS ABLE TO LET OFF ACCLERATION QUICK ENOUGH TO KEEP IT FROM LOCKING OUT MY CRUISE AND CAUSING ALL THE LIGHTS TO FLASH CONTINUALLY. *TT
2012 Subaru Forester complaints
Owner reports filed with NHTSA about this vehicle, newest first and reproduced as filed. They are unverified accounts: one proves nothing, and a pattern across many is the thing worth reading. Back to the full 2012 record →
MY FORESTER HAS HAD THE ISSUE OF MISFIRING ON THREE OCCASIONS. IT HAS BEEN TO THE DEALERSHIP FOR THE FIRST TWO, NOW THEY TELL ME I NEED TO WAIT UNTIL THEY CREATE A COMPUTER UPDATE, THAT MY CAR HAS A "GLITCH IN THE COMPUTER". MY CRUISE CONTROL BECOMES DISABLED, WHILE DRIVING AND THE CHECK ENGINE LIGHT FLASHES, ALONG WITH VEHICLE DYNAMICS CONTROL WARING LIGHT ALSO BLINKS. THE DEALERSHIP TELLS ME THE CAR WILL RUN PROPERLY, NOT TO WORRY. THE OWNER'S MANUAL STATES THAT THE ABS IS POROBLABLY MALFUNCTIONING. THE FIRST TIME THIS HAPPENED, THEY DEALERSHIP SAID I MAY HAVE HAD WATERY GAS. IT HAS NOW HAPPENED UNDER THE SAME CONDITIONS: GOING UP GRADE AND NEEDING TO ACCELERATE. IN A FOUR MONTH PERIOD, I HAVE HAD THIS SAME UNRESOLVED ISSUE, THREE TIMES. ALSO THE SEAT BELTS ARE ON RECALL. WHEN I CALLED TOHAVE THE SEAT BELT REPLACED, I WAS TOLD THEY WERE ON BACK ORDER AND WOULD CONTACT ME. *TR
OUR FORESTER HAS AN INCONSISTENT BRAKE PEDAL. SOMETIMES THE PEDAL IS FIRM AND RESPONSIVE. SOMETIMES THE PEDAL GOES TOWARDS THE FLOOR BEFORE IT RESPONDS. WE NEVER KNOW HOW FAR IN THE PEDAL WILL GO. THUS FAR THE BRAKES HAVE ALWAYS WORKED BUT EXTRA TIME AND DISTANCE ARE NEEDED TO STOP. THE PROBLEM IS INTERMITTENT AND HAS BEEN THERE EVER SINCE WE PURCHASED THE VEHICLE. THE FOLLOWING FROM SUBARU'S RECALL OF OTHER 2012 MODELS EXPLAINS ALMOST EXACTLY HOW THIS MANIFESTS FOR US. PRESSING THE PEDAL LIGHTLY AND SUBSEQUENTLY HAVING TO HIT THE PEDAL HARDER WITHOUT LETTING UP SEEMS TO BE A TRIGGER. THE PEDAL HAS ALSO GONE ALL THE WAY TO THE FLOOR ON 2 OCCASIONS WHICH OCCURRED AT VERY LOW SPEEDS IN PARKING LOTS. MANIFESTATIONS PER THE PARAGRAPH BELOW ARE MOST COMMON AND CAN HAPPEN AT ANY SPEED INCLUDING ON THE HIGHWAY. IN THE RECALL LETTER SENT TO SUBARU OWNERS IT NOTED THAT "IN VEHICLES EXPERIENCING THIS CONDITION, THE DRIVER WILL INITIALLY ENCOUNTER A SOFT PEDAL FEEL AND MAY MOMENTARILY PERCEIVE A SENSE OF LOSS IN BRAKING POWER WHILE THE PEDAL IS BEING PRESSED LIGHTLY. THIS WILL ONLY CONTINUE UNTIL THE PEDAL IS PRESSED DOWNWARD APPROXIMATELY 2 MORE INCHES. EFFECTIVE BRAKING FUNCTION WILL BE ACHIEVED AT THAT POINT, MAKING IT POSSIBLE TO SLOW OR STOP THE VEHICLE." WE HAVE TAKEN THE VEHICLE TO 2 DEALERSHIPS AND THEY BOTH TOLD US THERE IS NO PROBLEM. WE RETURNED THE VEHICLE TO ONE OF THE DEALERSHIPS AND THEY ROAD TESTED IT FOR 3 DAYS AND TOLD US NOTHING IS WRONG. WE APPEAR TO HAVE THE SAME PR
FUEL MILEAGE WAY OUT OF WHACK. ON HIGHWAY AT 100-110 KMH AVERAGES 11 L/100KM SUNROOF LEAKS WHEN GOING THROUGH CAR WASH. *TR
TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2012 SUBARU FORESTER. THE CONTACT WAS DRIVING 5 MPH AND STATED THAT THE VEHICLE MAINTAINED THE SAME SPEED ONCE THE ACCELERATOR PEDAL WAS RELEASED FOR APPROXIMATELY THREE MINUTES. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO THE DEALER WHO CONFIRMED THE FAILURE BUT ADVISED THERE WAS NOTHING THAT COULD BE DONE TO CORRECT IT. THE DEALER NOTIFIED THE MANUFACTURER WHO ADVISED THE DEALER THAT THE VEHICLE WAS PERFORMING AS DESIGNED, AND OFFERED NO FURTHER ASSISTANCE. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 25 AND THE CURRENT MILEAGE WAS 4,800. THE CONSUMER STATED IT WAS APPARENT, THAT WHEN HE REMOVED HIS FOOT FROM THE ACCELERATOR, THE VEHICLE MAINTAINED ITS SPEED FOR TWO OR THREE SECONDS. THE DEALER VERIFIED THE ISSUE AS A SOFTWARE PROBLEM. HOWEVER, THE DEALER WAS INFORMED IT WAS NORMAL AND IT WOULD NOT BE CORRECTED. UPDATED EVOQ 01/26/12
WHILE DRIVING ON A MAIN ROUTE CHECK ENGINE LIGHT KICKED ON AND PROCEEDED TO FLASH WHILE THE STABILITY/TRACTION CONTROL LIGHT CAME ON DISABLING THE TRACTION CONTROL. THIS LASTED APPROXIMATELY 10-15 SECONDS, ALL LIGHTS KICKED OFF AND SEEMED OKAY. A COUPLE OF DAYS LATER THE SAME THING HAPPENED ONLY NOW THE CRUISE CONTROL LIGHT WAS ON AND FLASHING, CHECK ENGINE WAS SOLID AND STABILITY/TRACTION CONTROL LIGHT WAS ON. AT THAT TIME ALL THE LIGHTS STAY ON UNTIL THE CODES ARE CLEARED, UNTIL THAT IS DONE, STABILITY/TRACTION CONTROL AND CRUISE CONTROL DO NOT WORK. *TR
Reading these
NHTSA publishes every complaint as the owner wrote it and investigates only a fraction. Spelling, capitalisation and judgement are the filer’s own. What carries weight is repetition: the same component failing the same way across many filings, and whether the manufacturer eventually opened a recall for it.
Full record for the 2012 Subaru Forester → · Every Forester year → · How the figures are calculated →