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:
23 / 0
Injuries / Deaths:
8 / 0
Average Mileage:
20,611 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 engine problems

engine problem

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2014 Subaru Forester Owner Comments (Page 1 of 2)

problem #40

May 302022

Forester

  • 44,000 miles

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

The contact owns a 2014 Subaru Forester. The contact stated while pulling into a parking space, the vehicle accelerated unintendedly, went over a cement post, onto a sidewalk pavement, and crashed into a condo building. There was no warning light illuminated. The contact did not recall whether the brake pedal was depressed but failed to respond. The air bags failed to deploy. The contact was informed by the emergency units who examined her at the scene that she had sustained high blood pressure. There was no police report filed. The vehicle was towed to an autobody shop where it was repaired. The vehicle was then taken to the dealer where it was being diagnosed. The failure mileage was approximately 44,000.

- Rockville, MD, USA

problem #39

Dec 032021

Forester

  • miles
On Friday, 12-3-21 I was in an accident in my local Costco parking lot while backing out of my spot. While backing out of the spot slowly with the wheel turned, my 2014 Subaru Forester had a sudden and extreme acceleration in reverse doing a reverse u-turn into a parked car causing considerable damage to the rear end of both cars. I am certain that I did not to press the gas pedal as this is a busy parking lot and I always back out very slowly just covering the brake. There is some kind of mechanical issue with my car that caused this malfunction. I was evaluated by paramedics and taken to the local emergency room with a significant bump on the back right side of my head. My car is currently available for inspection. I am in the process of reporting this to Subaru of America to see if they can inspect/evaluate the car.

- Manchester , NJ, USA

problem #38

Sep 062018

Forester

  • miles
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 #37

Aug 272021

Forester

  • miles

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

Went through automated car wash. Proceeded to lane for towel drying. Car suddenly unintentionally accelerated. Hit rear passenger side of parked car and also collided with the fence that ultimately stopped my forward motion. The car passed across two side walks and one side street during this event. No pedestrians or cross traffic was present or this would have been catastrophic. There were no previous warning signs of this event. My insurance company was notified and inspected the vehicle. A formal complaint was filed with Subaru of America and we are still waiting for them to inspect the vehicle. They have authorized repair of the vehicle prior to them seeing it.

- Jersey City, NJ, USA

problem #36

Jul 042021

Forester

  • miles
Car revved too much and was not moving. Was able to pull over on the shoulder from the fast lane due to the momentum of the car. Avoided a fatal injury for sure. Apart from this, 1. Car sometimes speeds up way more than it should. 2. Subaru changed the short block due to excessive oil consumption but intermittently it still is out of oil way too soon.

- Hooksett , NH, USA

problem #35

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 #34

Jun 082018

Forester

  • 30,000 miles

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

The contact owns a 2014 Subaru Forester. The contact stated that the vehicle independently accelerated, while attempting to park. The contact stated that the brake pedal was depressed however, the vehicle failed to stop. The contact was able to turn the steering wheel to avoid crashing into a building. The vehicle came to a stop when it crashed into two poles. The contact stated that no injuries were sustained. The police department was present; however, the contact was unaware of a report was filed. The vehicle was towed to an auto body repair facility where the physical damage was repaired. The cause of the failure was not diagnosed by a dealer. The manufacturer was not contacted. The contact mentioned that when the brake pedal was depressed the vehicle would slightly 'hop'. the failure mileage was 30,000.

- Toms River, NJ, USA

problem #33

May 072018

Forester 4-cyl

  • 44,700 miles
Car accelerated when I was pressing the brake to park my car in a private company's parking lot.

- Milpitas, CA, USA

problem #32

May 142020

Forester

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

- Brambleton, VA, USA

problem #31

Oct 312019

Forester 4-cyl

  • 68,000 miles
At/about 1230 central time on 31 Oct 2019, my wife [xxx] experienced an uncommanded acceleration event in our 2014 Subaru Forester and narrowly escaped being killed. Context: My wife was taking the car through an automated carwash at the caseys gas station at 9911 S. 71st St in papillion ne. When she reached the end of the conveyor belt and when signalled by the attendant to move forward, she stepped on the brake and attempted to move the automatic transmission from N (neutral) to D (drive). She encountered resistance moving the gear lever but was able to move it to D. upon doing so, the car abruptly accelerated and lurched forward despite her foot remaining on the brake. The car rapidly accelerated and tore through the closed garage door at the end of the carwash and continued outside, across an access road and up a small hill, before losing power and rolling backwards down the hill to stop in the access road. No other vehicles or persons were involved or injured. My wife was uninjured other than being sprayed by glass fragments from the windshield as it was punctured by the garage door as the car tore through it. Our insurance company (usaa) declared the car a total loss. Neither my wife nor I had ever experienced anything like this incident before; we both have excellent driving records. Weather at the time of this incident was clear, dry and sunny. The car to the best of our knowledge was in excellent mechanical condition. The papillion ne police dept responded and filed a report, and we filed a drivers motor vehicle accident report. Both are on file with the papillion ne police dept. There were also several witnesses to this incident per the police report. Information redacted pursuant to the Freedom Of Information Act (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6).

- Papillion, NE, USA

problem #30

Jul 262019

Forester 4-cyl

  • miles

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

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 #29

Jul 162019

Forester

  • miles
My 2014 Subaru forrester accelerated and hit a tree as I pulled into a parking space. It tboned the front end and and the air bags did not deploy..I was going into the space very slowly and it was when it accelerated.

- Santa Cruz, CA, USA

problem #28

Jan 262019

Forester

  • 49,900 miles
On January 26, 2019, at 8:00 pm, in a parking deck at a shopping center, I was in a line of cars making a right turn into an aisle. I tapped the accelerator very lightly to move a few feet forward. The car unexpectedly and suddenly accelerated greatly, and I immediately put my foot on the brake as hard as possible to avoid hitting the car in front of me. I had to swerve to the left to avoid hitting the car in front of me because hitting the brake didn't immediately slow the car down. I was able to avoid hitting anything, but it was a frightening experience because the car was out of control. This was clearly a case of sudden unintended acceleration.

- Lawrenceville, GA, USA

problem #27

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 #26

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 #25

Jan 102018

Forester

  • 42,000 miles
The contact owns a 2014 Subaru Forester. While the vehicle was being reversed, the accelerator pedal was slightly depressed and the vehicle accelerated very quickly. The contact's vehicle crashed into another vehicle. The contact stated that the brake pedal was depressed, but failed to slow down or stop the vehicle. There were no injuries and a police report was not filed. The vehicle was not repaired. The vehicle was not included in NHTSA campaign number: 13V159000 (equipment). Neither the dealer nor the manufacturer was contacted. The approximate failure mileage was 42,000.

- Wilmington, DE, USA

problem #24

Nov 302017

Forester 4-cyl

  • Automatic transmission
  • 25,000 miles
The contact owns a 2014 Subaru Forester. While exiting the car wash, the vehicle accelerated independently without warning and crashed into a pole. When the brake pedal was depressed, it failed to operate and the steering wheel seized. The air bags did not deploy. A police report was filed and there were no injuries. The vehicle was towed to a tow yard. The dealer was not notified and the vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 25,000. The consumer stated the vehicle was considered a total loss. The manufacturer reimbursed the cost of the rental vehicle. The consumer stated the floor mats could not have caused the failure. Updated 9/13/18

- Moneta, VA, USA

problem #23

Jul 112017

Forester

  • 46,000 miles
Car was parked in street. Started it and put it into reverse to back into a driveway. Car suddenly accelerated at high speed in reverse. I would have had to have stomped heavily on gas pedal to get it to that speed but I'm not sure I even touched it. Traveled 2-3 car lengths before I could stop it. Grateful no injuries or damage. Not related to car mats which were anchored in place.

- Greenfield, NH, USA

problem #22

May 092017

Forester

  • 36,000 miles
When slowly entering home garage vehicle suddenly accelerated & despite standing on the break pedal & pulling the emergency break it crashed into table & work benches at front of area causing damage to furniture & damaging front of vehicle. Previously in November 2016 when pulling into highway rest area parking place the car suddenly accelerated, jumped the curb a & traveled 15' onto a grassy embankment before stopping with maximum breaking applied.

- Bend, OR, USA

problem #21

May 052017

Forester

  • 35,000 miles
Vehicle was slowly entering a parking space, suddenly accelerated, jumping curb, crossing sidewalk and impacted a building. Car was then put into reverse, it accelerated in reverse and impacted an adjoining parked car. After the accident the area around the accelerator and brake were inspected and nothing was found that might have caused the brake or accelerator to stick or malfunction. The driver of the vehicle claims that her foot was not caught on the accelerator nor did her foot slip off the brake and accidentally hit the accelerator.

- Crystal Lake, IL, USA

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