Complaint volume
202 consumer-submitted complaints are matched to this model year. Treat the count as a research signal, then read the actual summaries for repeated symptoms.
Complaint records
2021 Subaru Forester Complaints
202 consumer-submitted complaints on record for the 2021 Subaru Forester, grouped by component category.
202 Total complaints
16 Crash reports
5 Fire reports
5 Injury reports
Complaint data reflects consumer-submitted reports. A complaint is not proof
of a defect, recall, or manufacturer fault. Enriched severity fields come
from official bulk records when the complaint can be matched by ODI number.
Buyer interpretation
How to use these complaints before buying
Complaint records are most useful when they turn into inspection points, seller questions, and comparison checks against nearby model years.
Pattern to inspect
The most common categories are visibility/wiper, unknown or other, visibility. Use those categories as a test-drive checklist instead of judging the vehicle from the total count alone.
Severity flags
Enriched records include 16 crash reports, 5 fire reports, 5 injury reports, and 0 fatality reports. These fields come from complaint records and should be read in context.
Mileage clue
Mileage is available on 36 complaints, with an average reported failure mileage of 12,643 miles. Compare that with the mileage on the listing.
Questions to ask the seller
- Have you had any problems related to visibility/wiper, unknown or other, visibility?
- Can I see recent maintenance and repair records?
- Has the vehicle ever been towed, involved in a crash, or repaired for the same issue twice?
- Can we also check the recall record for this 2021 Subaru Forester?
Used-car checklist
Use these complaints before the test drive.
Build a buyer checklist to turn these issues into questions and inspection points.
2021 Subaru Forester
Build buyer checklist Compare with other years Sends year, make, and model to pre-fill your checklist.
How severe are the 2021 Subaru Forester complaints?
16 Crash
5 Fire
5 Injury
0 Fatality
8 Towed
4 Medical attention
What are the most common 2021 Subaru Forester complaint categories?
VISIBILITY/WIPER 67
UNKNOWN OR OTHER 20
VISIBILITY 13
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 12
ENGINE 11
VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL 6
POWER TRAIN 5
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,UNKNOWN OR OTHER,ENGINE 4
SUSPENSION 4
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,UNKNOWN OR OTHER 3
202 total complaints on record
Latest complaints
| Date | Component | Summary | Severity | Mileage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dec 2021 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM | I have had the wiring in my 2021 Subaru Forrester having to be replaced 2 times - once in front of car, once in fuel parts - due to Rodents eating the wiring. I have been told by Subaru Customer Service staff that the wiring is Soy Based. Subaru has a Class Action Suite in Hawaii for this exact reason yet Subaru in Macon continues to insist this is MY problem not theirs. I have Rodent repellant devices in my car. I am very frustrated, upset with being misled and no concern for the customer being offered. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Dec 2021 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM | Several instances of parasitic drain of the battery resulting in vehicle not being able to be started without a jump. Nothing was left on in the vehicle. Each time it was parked with the alarm set for approx 3-4 hours. The battery was completely dead. This vehicle is only 8 months old and this has happened around 8-9 times. Dealer does nothing about it except to charge the battery. This is unacceptable. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Nov 2021 | VISIBILITY/WIPER | Crack in the windshield in line of sight. There is no entry point and upon research I’m seeing a lot of people complain about the 2021 models of the Subaru Forester with cracks. Living in the cold this is highly dangerous. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Nov 2021 | VISIBILITY/WIPER | I purchased this vehicle one week ago and the first four miles I was on the interstate a small rock cracked my windshield. The issues with the Forester windshields extend to the 2021 models. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Nov 2021 | POWER TRAIN,ENGINE | The vehicle gets a shudder at different speeds and it feels like it's either the transmission is slipping or its coming from the motor but it NEVER THROWS a Trouble Code so as the dealership says if its not throwing a trouble code they can't diagnose it until it does. So that's why I don't like these vehicles because no one know how to fix it old school by being a real mechanic and going old school to find the issue. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Nov 2021 | UNKNOWN OR OTHER | Windshield cracked for no apparent reason. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Nov 2021 | VISIBILITY/WIPER | Windshield cracked at passenger side wiper arm area. There was no impact and no other vehicles in the immediate area. Crack quickly spread in a J shape to the driver's side. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Nov 2021 | VISIBILITY/WIPER | Windshield easily cracks, without an impact site. I will be putting my 3rd windshield in and have owned the car for 7 months. 1st windshield cracked while parked at work. Not driving. May 5th, 2021. Had 1805 miles. 2nd windshield cracked while parked at home last night. Not driving. Have approx 9k miles now | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Nov 2021 | SERVICE BRAKES,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | 1. July 15, 2021 the brakes didn’t fully engage three times. Twice within 30 minutes while driving to work and once on my drive home. 2. Unknown 3. Yes. Car was at dealership put through all kinds of tests and field engineer checked it out. They had me come out on Monday, 9 August and drive it with the head mechanic while hooked up to a computer trying to see if the problem replicated. 4. Yes. 5. Yes. Eyesight technology picked up there was a problem – light came on, a text and an email were sent to me. Subaru got the message too. A specific issue was not identified at that time. Vehicle was towed to dealership three days later. Subaru’s field engineer was called into examine vehicle. Apparently, he saw something he didn’t like on a reading – it had to do with the AEB-autonomous emergency braking system. Dealership replaced the entire braking system and returned the car to my driveway on Monday, 16 August. I bought this car in February 2021 after much research to include the NHTSA recommendations. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Oct 2021 | VISIBILITY/WIPER | Intermittently, wipers do not function, even after 2 repairs. The first time, (3 weeks after vehicle purchase) after driving approximately 5-10 minutes in the rain, the wipers (front and rear) stopped working. After approximately 10 minutes, function resumed. The second time (later the same day), after driving approximately 5-10 minutes in the rain, the wipers (front and rear) stopped working. After approximately 17 minutes, function resumed. Wiper motor replaced by dealer. (3.5 weeks after vehicle purchase) The third time (9 weeks after purchase), after a heavy dew, the wipers (front and rear) did not function. After approximately 10 minutes, wipers began to function. The fourth time (12 weeks after purchase), rain began after driving 1.5-2 hours and wipers (front and rear) did not function at all. Dealer located and fixed a loose connection. (12.5 weeks after vehicle purchase) The fifth time (13 weeks after purchase), rain began after driving 1.5-2 hours and wipers (front and rear) did not function. After approximately 15 minutes, wipers began to function. The sixth time (15 weeks after purchase), rain began after driving 15 minutes and wipers (front and rear) stopped functioning after approximately 5-10 minutes of use. After approximately 30 minutes, wipers began to function. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Oct 2021 | VISIBILITY/WIPER,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | Rock damage to windshield. Subaru advises to replace with OEM glass to guarantee safety systems operate correctly making this a safety issue. The problem is that Subaru windshields are back ordered. There are two problems here. First, Subaru windshields are very susceptible to damage, perhaps more than others. Second, Subaru fails to maintain critical safety system parts. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Sep 2021 | UNKNOWN OR OTHER | Windshield started cracking | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Sep 2021 | VISIBILITY/WIPER | 1100 miles on vehicle.Went inside business came out and 18 inch crack on windshield across my vision.No apparent reason. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Sep 2021 | FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | While driving down a two-lane road at 50-55 mph, the car started beeping and said "obstacle detected" despite there being *no* cars in front of, to the side of, or to the rear of me. Also, there was *nothing* on the road (no roadkill, litter, or other debris). Immediately upon beeping, the speed abruptly dropped from 50 to below 15 in a matter of milliseconds. Had there been a car behind me, they would've either rear-ended me or had to swerve (possibly into oncoming traffic), and had the road been wet or slippery, I would've likely spun out, possibly into oncoming traffic. Had the incident occurred on the interstate, it is entirely possible that I could've been rear-ended by a driver traveling at full speed. Again, all of this over no physical obstacle and with nobody around. This isn't the first time that the crash mitigation system has been activated over no observable obstacle (in fact, similar incidents have happend at least thrice), but this resulted in the most severe and abrupt change in velocity and was particularly concerning due to the high likelihood that it could cause an accident if the event had occurred with someone behind me. Since the incident happened maybe two hours ago, it has yet to be inspected and it didn't cause an accident, but I no longer wish to own the vehicle as it's clearly not safe for passenger travel. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Aug 2021 | VISIBILITY/WIPER | I bought my vehicle and less than 24 hours later I was driving in the middle lane of the highway when my ears popped, and my windshield cracked down the middle. No rock seen or heard. Bought 8/26. Windshield cracks over 12 inches 8/27. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Aug 2021 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM | The batteries drained overnight 3 times within 7 months after the purchase of the new vehicle. Battery was jumped each time by Subaru Roadside Assistant. The dealer checked the battery and it was fine. It is the electrical (CAN) problem that drained the battery. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Aug 2021 | VISIBILITY/WIPER | Windshield cracked without impact. This is on a new forester, less than 1000 miles. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Aug 2021 | VISIBILITY/WIPER | The windshield cracked in the center while driving in a heavy rain storm. The temperature dropped from about 86 degrees to 73 degrees during the storm. I was operating my A/C at the time. The dealer inspected the windshield and found no external indication of damage. The repair was performed by the dealer under the new car warranty. Subaru America customer service was contacted and coordinated with the dealer for repair after inspection. Repair was listed as windshield install for stress crack. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Aug 2021 | VISIBILITY | The contact owns a 2021 Subaru Forester. The contact stated while his wife was driving 65 mph, she heard a ticking sound coming from the front windshield and noticed a small rock had struck the front windshield. The driver drove to the destination however, later in the day the driver returned to the vehicle and noticed a large crack had formed in the middle of the windshield. The vehicle was not diagnosed nor repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 6,000. | Crash: No Fire: No | 6,000 |
| Aug 2021 | VISIBILITY/WIPER | windshield cracked only 3 months on road 2600 miles. long crack in middle of windshield distracts vision. yes it was estimated for repair of 1425.00. history of incidences are very high with cracked windshields since subaru change to acoustic glass. windshield seem more prone to crack damage than other vehicles. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jul 2021 | VISIBILITY/WIPER | March 2021: Windshield - cracked from a small stone on roadway (Rt 1). Crack is from top edge of windshield down and past the middle. Needed to be replaced. Paint chip needed to be repaired. Had to pay deductible of $500. Replaced with new OEM windshield. July 2021 weekend on highway(Turnpike). Stone caused a star shaped crack. Two days later the small damage radiated into 3 cracks covering more than half the windshield. Paying another $500 for replacement. Damage of two new OEM windshields in less than 5 months on a brand new car causes fear of driving freely in case the next pebble might come through. Police can ticket for driving with a cracked windshield. Loss of time and effort to replace. Causes anxiety driving even after the windshield is replaced since it is so prone to damage and costs $500 each time. Weakness in Subaru windshields known since 2015. I would expect such problems would have been resolved six years later. Have not experienced such a problem in 30 years of driving various model cars. Benefits of buying a new car is mostly lost both in expenses and peace of mind. Verified by insurance representatives. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jul 2021 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM | I parked in the parking lot yesterday afternoon. But when I try to start my car this morning, the battery dead！I just bought this new Subaru three months with 5000 miles. Very disappointed. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jul 2021 | VISIBILITY/WIPER | Bought the Vehicle new. 2000 miles later I walk into my garage and notice a 6 inch crack at the top of my windshield. Completely out of nowhere. Neither my wife or I ever heard any impact that would have caused it. Immediately took it to dealership and had service rep inspect it. He seemed understanding and said he would try and get the go-ahead to replace from Subaru of America. Nothing for months. I finally followed up and now nothing again. I am at 7000 miles now and am driving with a 3 ft long C shaped crack because I am not paying for this absurdity. $30,000 and now I am to spend over $1000 more within 2 months of driving. The dealership has the original pictures from when it had just occurred. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jul 2021 | VISIBILITY/WIPER | Cracked windshield while car was parked and nothing hit it. There is a separation in the glass that is not normally seen when caused by debris | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jul 2021 | VISIBILITY | The contact owns a 2021 Subaru Forester. The contact stated while driving approximately 45 mph, the contact noticed that the front windshield was cracking from the bottom of the passenger’s side going upward. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where they informed the contact that the issue was due to an object striking the windshield. The vehicle was repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 5,200. | Crash: No Fire: No | 5,200 |