NHTSA — Service Brakes Problems

2014 Subaru Forester (Page 1 of 2)

CarComplaints.com Notes: Is burning a quart of oil every 1,000 miles normal? Depends on who you ask. While Subaru says it's within "normal specifications," owners wonder why they need to top off their oil reservoir 4 times between every 5,000 mile oil change.

10.0

really awful
Crashes / Fires:
10 / 0
Injuries / Deaths:
4 / 0
Average Mileage:
30,726 miles

About These NHTSA Complaints:

This data is from the NHTSA — the US gov't agency tasked with vehicle safety. Complaints are spread across multiple & redundant categories, & are not organized by problem.

So how do you find out what problems are occurring? For this NHTSA complaint data, the only way is to read through the comments below. Any duplicates or errors? It's not us.

2014 Subaru Forester brakes problems

brakes problem

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2014 Subaru Forester Owner Comments (Page 1 of 2)

problem #30

Jun 122024

Forester

  • miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

Brake line junction, just in front of rear passenger wheel, rusted and failed catastrophically losing all braking while driving. This is similar to the previous recall in 2014 when "more than 600,000 vehicles in the United States due to a potential issue with brake line corrosion" for many Subaru vehicles. "The recall affected vehicles built between 2005 and 2014 that were registered in states that use road salt in cold weather." SOA claims that the 2014 Forrester is not included in the recall and refuse all responsibility for repairs.

- Pulteney, NY, USA

problem #29

Apr 012024

Forester

  • miles
Brakes completely failed on the car when driving. Had it towed to the Subaru dealer, which reports that it-??s the SAME issue as the recall on the 2008-13 Foresters: rear brake lines rusted completely through. Subaru claims it-??s unrelated.

- Athens, GA, USA

problem #28

Oct 102023

Forester

  • miles
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 shop for about a month. I drove it aroung for a few weeks then started noticing some lurching forward after braking. I still assumed my foot my foot must be slipping. On December 1, 1923, I decided to go to our local farmer's market for apples. The car lurched a few times causing me to run a stop sign. I decided it was unfit to go on to the market and decided to take it to my service station. The service station is located on a ridge. There office and some of the garage bays are on the upper level on the ridge. The property goes downhill around that. There is an entry next to the office that is marked as a handicapped space. I was not thinking clearly when I decided to park there. I pulled partway into the space, braked, and then moved forward a bit. When I braked the car took off at a high speed, through a railing, over the edge, and landed sideways on the ground below. I was trapped in the car and had to be removed by firefighters. When they pulled me out I was taken to the ER. My car was totalled. My son did some research and sent me some links. I am now sure that the cause was the sudden acceleration problem with Subaru. I have reported this to Subaru.

- York, PA, USA

problem #27

Sep 272022

Forester

  • miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

While driving our 2014 Subaru Forester Inclined Assist, ABS, and maintenance lights and worded warnings came on. I scheduled a repair for asap which was completed on 10/13/2022. The independent shop told me the repair was a known problem and this shop has done 4 of these repairs. Subaru actually sells a kit with the parts and fluid (?) for the repair. My understanding is inclined assist (when car is on a certain slope0 can apply the breaks to prevent roll back. I do not know how common this failure is, but failure could cause an accident. One report I read on line claimed while driving the car started applying the brakes without the driver doing anything. Is this possible, I do not know.

- Annapolis, MD, USA

problem #26

Jul 252022

Forester

  • miles
As I was going into a right turn, the brake line failed and leaked a significant amount of brake fluid making continued driving dangerous. Just before the failure, the light for low break fluid came on but there was very little warning before braking was a problem due to a significant leak. The part is no longer available as it has been repaired. I was advised by the non-dealer repair shop that it rusted out where the line comes out from under the floor.

- Grand Island, NY, USA

problem #25

Jul 262022

Forester

  • 61,765 miles
The contact owns a 2014 Subaru Forester. The contact stated that while she had the brake pedal depressed, the vehicle suddenly accelerated unintendedly. The vehicle crashed into the garage in front of the vehicle. The air bags did not deploy. The contact had not received any injuries. There was damage to the garage, itself. The contact had not taken the vehicle to a certified mechanic or dealer as of yet. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 61,765.

- Meridian, ID, USA

problem #24

Sep 062018

Forester

  • miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

September 6,2018 the vehicle suddenly unintentionally accelerated. Came off the highway.Pulled in to a parking lot to turn around. Reaching for the shifter with my foot on the brake. The vehicle went 42mph in less than four feet, a woman was directly in the front center of vehicle when a loud roar happened. The woman jumped out of the way. As the 2014 Subaru Forester shot forward hitting a suburban and then bounced off a fence to stop in the road next to us. Had to fight to get towed to Gresham Subaru. Pulled dtcs and box information.Subaru denies SUA, has a recall on BLS. No airbag deployed, brakes did not work. Skid marks and chunks of tires.

- Portland , OR, USA

problem #23

Sep 172021

Forester

  • miles
Several warning messages appeared on the dash at the same time: Check engine, Check emissions control system, Hill start assist system needs to be checked. In addition, the pictures of a car climbing a hill and a car with swerving skid marks behind it lit up. (I don't know the official names of these icons.) The engine then either lost power and would not accelerate when I pressed the gas pedal or would rev and accelerate on its own, even when I had the brake depressed. I have taken my car into the dealership 4 times over the past two years for this same issue. I do not have the exact dates of the first two instances, but the last two were on July 7, 2021, and September 17, 2021. Each time the dealer has been able to verify the warning lights and unintended acceleration. They say the problem is with the brake pedal assembly and have replaced it with a new assembly 3 times. They're working on the 4th one right now.

- Bellingham, WA, USA

problem #22

Apr 032021

Forester

  • 34,000 miles
Rear wheel backing plate design. NHTSA id #10185064. Occurred on my 2014 Forester with 34,000 miles (garaged). Made a howling noise at low speeds. Replaced by dealer $700 parts and labor. Never had this on any other car I have owned. Clearly a design issue. Please support a recall. Not safe for cars to be making that kind of noise, even though technically passed pa state inspection. Thanks..

- Pittsburgh, PA, USA

problem #21

Dec 012020

Forester

  • miles
I have my back light on by itself without hit breaks and back door poton does not work and I have light on my board always light

- Rocky River, OH, USA

problem #20

Sep 112020

Forester

  • 80,000 miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

Warning lights keep going on while driving including the "ABS warning light", "hill assist" and "vehicle dynamics control". this always disengages the cruise control and often happens after driving for awhile. This didn't start happening until I had the dealer replace the clock spring due to non working horn and cruise control and trouble with steering roll connector. They also replaced rear coil springs and rear left wheel bearing and backing plate.

- Upton, MA, USA

problem #19

Jan 152021

Forester

  • 25,000 miles
Vehicle unexpectedly accelerated upon stepping on the brake pedal after stopping for a red light.

- Bloomfield, NJ, USA

problem #18

Feb 042017

Forester

  • 34,069 miles
My car had an unexpected acceleration when applied the break to park on the parking lot. As a result vehicle went and collided into a restaurant, damaging the restaurant glass wall and front bumper, passenger front wheel/tire of the vehicle.

- Rancho Cordova, CA, USA

problem #17

Jul 262020

Forester

  • 121,425 miles
Started car all warning lights came on and started flashing oil, and, AWD, emission control need to be checked, check engine light on, cruise control indicator stays on. Had been driving on a hot day stopped to get gas when I started the car all the check engine light came I checked gas cap it was tight, I started driving and all the lights started flashing

- Richville, NY, USA

problem #16

May 142020

Forester

  • 87,000 miles
Acceleration while braking and it's sporadic

- Brambleton, VA, USA

problem #15

Jul 262019

Forester 4-cyl

  • miles
2014 Subaru Forester. Consumer writes in regards to battery being drained ABS fault light being illuminated. The consumer stated multiple failures began after having safety recall wue-90 performed on the vehicle. The vehicle's battery repeatedly would drain due to the tail light being illuminated with no apparent cause. The hill control warning light, ABS warning light, and the anti skid warning lights all illuminated. Occasionally, the vehicle would not accelerate when depressing the brake pedal.

- Sumas, WA, USA

problem #14

Aug 012019

Forester

  • 76,032 miles
The contact owns a 2014 Subaru Forester. The contact received a recall notice for NHTSA campaign number: 19V149000 (exterior lighting) regarding a brake lamp switch replacement. After the recall was serviced, while driving 75 mph, the hill assist warning indicator flashed and the vehicle drastically slowed down. The contact attempted to drive the vehicle to Subaru of georgetown (7501 I-35 frontage rd, georgetown, tx 78626, 512 930-2111) with much difficulty and the ABS warning indicator illuminated. The dealer diagnosed that the recall repair was faulty. The dealer adjusted the brake light switch to the correct specifications and repaired the vehicle. The recall repair was performed by cleo bay Subaru (2125 E stan schlueter loop, killeen, tx 76542, (254) 634-3175). The manufacturer was notified of the initial recall, but not of the defective recall repair. The failure mileage was 76,032.

- Temple, TX, USA

problem #13

Aug 192018

Forester 4-cyl

  • 41,870 miles
I reported this incident on August 19, 2018 -complaint number 1120961. I had SUV towed the following day to dealer where I purchased it brand-new. The dealer service dept is trying to tell me there is nothing wrong with the SUV, but that is impossible. The dealer has arranged for Subaru of America from NJ to contact me, but I need your help to get this resolved. The problem is intermittent and they say they have not been able to replicate it. When the incident occurred in my daughter's driveway when I placed it in reverse and it acclerated at such a high rate in reverse with brake depressed and I could not stop it when my foot was depressing the brake, I had my accident running into the back of my daughter's SUV in which was parked in her driveway - causing over $2,000 damage to her SUV - my SUV was damaged in the rear bumper but dealer has not told me the estimate of damage. Subaru is having accident rep contact me within next 48 hours. This SUV is so dangerous that I could be killed and so could others in my car or other vehicle passengers. Please please take this complaint seriously because it is a very serious safety issue. Please refer to my initial complaint.. thank you

- Everett, WA, USA

problem #12

Aug 192018

Forester

  • 41,870 miles
July 6, 2018 driving on city street when my foot had the brake depressed and the auto suddenly accelerated so much that I had to turn into a curb to avoid a collision with another vehicle - I hit a curb with one tire to avoid accident and had to get four new tires because it is AWD. Today my brake was depressed and it accelerated when I was in reverse then attempting to get SUV into drive - driving down my daughter's driveway today, it accelerated so rapidly unintended that pressing the brake would not stop vehicle - engaged emergency brake and it still did not stop it - placed it into park and pressing brake continuously and emergency brake engaged, finally stopped the car at roadside after turning off ignition - very hazardous safety issue - lucky no one was hurt or killed - this SUV is a dangerous vehicle - having it towed by aaa tomorrow morning to dealer. What can I do about this? it has only 41,870 miles on it - bought it brand new from the dealer in May 2014 and I am only driver. Help!

- Everett, WA, USA

problem #11

Feb 182018

Forester

  • 70,000 miles
The stop light switch failed which rendered the car inoperable due to not being able to move from park. The stability, hill decent and ABS warning lights came on.

- San Mateo, CA, USA

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