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.
Driving on the highway at 65 mph. Car was not responsive to accelerator and speed drops. It recovers in a few seconds and is accelerator responsive. I brought it to dealer who advised that the defective brake light switch recall replacement switch installed six months earlier had a problem and was now repaired and was the cause, because the car went into "limp" mode. Never had this problem until the defective brake light switch recall replacement.
Sometimes shuts off while I'm driving. This has happened 8 times from 2014-17. So far I've been lucky and have been able to get to the shoulder safely to restart. At 60 mph on a highway, this is scary, though. Starts right up after I get it into Park. Dealer hasn't found anything wrong. No correlation to speed, engine or outside temperature. The last time it happened I noticed my knee (long legs) had bumped the key - I was parked and idling. It's a theory.
Forester engine quit while driving highway speeds (65). After coasting to the shoulder, the engine restarted and ran normally. Dealer said nothing was wrong with the car.
Three times the engine has stopped while traveling at highway speeds, several months apart. Each time after rolling to the shoulder, the car would restart and run normally.
My 2014 Forester XT was accelerating, as I'd done hundreds of times, up an on-ramp to the highway. Started losing power. Limped 1.4 mile to a wide spot and pulled over. Turned it off. Error message on the display. Tried to restart - puff of white smoke. Hauled to dealership 1.25 hr. away that evening. It was a long weekend so the following Wednesday I got a call that something went screwy in two cylinders (no info other than that) and they had to replace the motor. It was supposed to take 2-3 weeks. It took weeks and weeks of calls to continually hear that the dealer was working with Subaru to try to find a long block engine (meaning a bolt off / bolt on swap), then they gave up and looked for a short block (meaning swapping some of my parts over to the new one). On October 18, the dealership said the vehicle was FINALLY in their shop and they expected to have it to me by the end of the week. I never phoned again. As of Friday, Oct. 29 - NINE working days later - no call from the dealership. Happened to be in their town that weekend; vehicle not in the lot so I assume the 3-4 bay shop still have my vehicle.
Told them today I'm done. I don't trust this vehicle anymore. What are they finding that a simple engine swap (1-2 day job) has still not been completed after 9 days and after waiting 3 months - MONTHS - for the new motor?? I suspect they are finding more lemon items in this vehicle so I don't want it back and told them so today. Let's see what they come up with for an offer toward a new vehicle. I love the Subaru Forester XT but I really, Really HATE the way this has been handled. I told them many times I don't want to be that cranky, grumpy angry guy nobody wants to talk to but that seems to be all that works. The dealership blame the delays on Subaru Canada but all the Subaru Canada "Customer Service" people say to me is that they'll check with the dealership. So ... let's see how this plays out.
This problem is similar to one reported by a user on this thread. The problems for me began shortly after I bought the car. The car struggled to turn over on cold starts, the car also stalled going up hill which prompted me to call the dealer and they gave me a highly dubious answer that I probably used the wrong gas and that their diagnostic system showed some kind of fault but they could not see that anything was wrong with the car. They also said that with electronics you could not really pinpoint the problem until i broke completely (or at this point potentially kills me). For the record I only fill with high grade premium from decent stations (Shell or Mobile). The hesitation on start problem occurred again on the 09/04/2014 and I was about to report it to the dealer when the following happened:
-Car was started and began idling at very high RPM 3500-4000
-Check engine light came on and the following lights on the dash were on, speed control, incline alert sport mode, check emission system
- I was in an underground garage and had no choice but to try to move the car to the outside for a tow, reverse gear worked and the car was still idling very high, put the it in drive and the car was not responding to accelerator and could barely make it up the ramp from the garage.
-Got the car to a location where it could be towed and shut it off.
Here is the real insult to injury it took the company Subaru roadside assistance contracts out to took 3 hours to reach the location, by the second hour I decided to try to restart what I now know is a lemon and all of the lights where off. I took it to the dealer and left it there in disgust telling one of the sales reps that was closing up that the car was a real piece of junk and that I was totally disappointed in the brand ( (I didn't call the towing company before leaving out of spite and just to see when they would actually call me saying they had arrived at the location they called after 3 hours). He right away asked if it was under warranty and talking about the lemon law, I get the sense that it was something they had heard about, as a blue marked down XT touring was right beside us. At this point I feel the car is unsafe and will not take it back until the dealer has either figured it out or replaces the car. DO NOT BUY THIS CAR IF YOU ARE CONSIDERING ONE. If anyone else is having this problem this is a potential hazard if the car malfunctions at high speed.
On 7/30/2014, my 2014 Forester XT stopped running. I was going downhill at 5mph and suddenly the check engine light came on for about 3 seconds. The motor just shut down. Both the pedal and hand brakes did not work. The car kept sliding down and it could not stop until it landed on a flat area. The engine won't start anymore. It was really hard to control the car as none of the brakes worked. Thank God I have experience driving uphill, downhill and offloads, otherwise I could have been in danger.
I am a Subaru fan and owned many Subaru cars. I always believed that Subaru cars are safe and reliable as I have not seen any problem like the 2014 Forester XT. If I was on the freeway and this happens, it can cause major problems, crashes, slip off the road etc. As of now, I am not sure what's wrong with the Forester.
It will towed to the Subaru dealer in Chico, Ca tomorrow 7/31/2014 to determine what the issue is. If you own any 2014 Subaru Forester XT, please be careful as this problem can happen to you.
Update from Aug 6, 2014: On 8/3/14, the Subaru services of Chico, CA informed me that they did not know the reasons to why my 2014 Forester XT stopped running. Due to that, Subaru Services of Chico contacted the technicians of Subaru and were told to fill the vehicle with enough gas and test drive the vehicle after resetting the ECU. The vehicle ran fine on the flat roads, but when going uphill and downhill the vehicle shut off. They were unable to restart the engine and had to tow the vehicle back to Chico. As of right now, the technicians of Subaru Services in Chico are still unable to determine the malfunction and reasons to why the vehicle is not running.
If you have any ideas to why or what is the cause, email me at hms1@live.com. THANK YOU!
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
Driving on the highway at 65 mph. Car was not responsive to accelerator and speed drops. It recovers in a few seconds and is accelerator responsive. I brought it to dealer who advised that the defective brake light switch recall replacement switch installed six months earlier had a problem and was now repaired and was the cause, because the car went into "limp" mode. Never had this problem until the defective brake light switch recall replacement.
This condition is a deal breaker for me.
- Neil R., Santa Clarita, US