CarComplaints.com Notes: Subaru thinks burning through a quart of oil every 1,000 miles or so is perfectly normal. That's a crude stance if you ask us.

10.0

really awful
Crashes / Fires:
22 / 0
Injuries / Deaths:
8 / 0
Average Mileage:
35,148 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.

2015 Subaru Forester engine problems

engine problem

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2015 Subaru Forester Owner Comments (Page 1 of 4)

problem #64

Aug 152023

Forester

  • 100,000 miles

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

The contact owns a 2015 Subaru Forester. The contact stated while driving approximately 65-?"70 MPH, the vehicle failed to accelerate as needed. There were no warning lights illuminated. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic and the contact was referred to the dealer for assistance. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer, who was unable to determine the cause of the failure. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not contacted. The failure mileage was approximately 100,000.

- Medfield, MA, USA

problem #63

Apr 032023

Forester 4-cyl

  • miles
I was parking the car it suddenly accelerated jumped the curb and was heading towards the building entrance dore. I could not stop it. To avoid entering the building I turned the vehicle tight and it collided against the wall. The air bags inflated.

- New Providence, NJ, USA

problem #62

Mar 072023

Forester

  • miles
We were driving at 75 mph in the left lane when our car suddenly dropped in speed to 40 mph as though the transmission had dropped into neutral. There were no warning lights or any indication about what was happening. We were in heavy traffic, with trucks and car hitting their brakes. This could have caused a very serious accident. We managed to move our car to the right shoulder. The car's transmission re-engaged and we picked up our speed. This happened 3 times in the space of a few hundred miles while we were on a road trip. I called Subaru. They had no idea what it was. We went to the nearest Subaru dealer and they ran a diagnostic test, even including a 12 mile test drive with the computer hooked up. Nothing showed up. They told us to continue our trip. Then it happened 2 more times! The last time, again, in the left lane, on cruise. The engine rpm clocked up at 7500 rpm before I was able to get the car off the road. The engine died and we had to be towed to a shop. Again, no warning dash lights. This is a serious flaw and very dangerous.

- Hancock, MD, USA

problem #61

Jan 132023

Forester

  • miles

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

I was backing out of a parking spot, and there was a telephone poll behind me in my path. I needed to pull forward to navigate around this poll. After backing up some, I put the car into drive to pull slightly forward, and the car lurched aggressively, so much so that I got out to see if it'd caught on something. It did not -- there was absolutely nothing there. So I got back in and tried to continue forward, and the accelerator went full force. I floored the brake pedal, but the car behaved as though I was flooring the accelerator. The car drove itself over a cement block, through a staircase and into the brick wall of an abandoned building, continuing to accelerate for a few seconds while against the wall. Air bags did not deploy. I walked away without physical injury, thank goodness. There were no warning lights, symptoms of or dashboard indicators of a problem before or during the issue. Upon investigation online, we see that there is a pending class action for this exact issue. The vehicle has been inspected by our insurance carrier and been deemed a total loss. Insurance has asked that we turn the title over to them in order to receive our payout, and I believe they plan to destroy the car.

- Elburn, IL, USA

problem #60

Sep 242022

Forester

  • miles
Suddenly lost acceleration and engine stopped - without any dashboard signal of low gas or engine issue. Car was able to start after couple of minutes. At the time of losing acceleration and stopping gas indicator was showing two bars - and car was not running with low fuel indicator. My whole family was in the car and stopping in the middle lane of a busy national highway of 65 miles speed limit on a Saturday late in night was very scary!

- Lexington, MA, USA

problem #59

Aug 022022

Forester

  • miles
I was driving with cruise control going around 70 when the car started slowing down suddenly. Not wanting to slow down even more, I turned off the cruise control by hand using the cancel button on the steering wheel (rather than tap the brake) but when I then hit the accelerator, the engine felt like it was in neutral, revving past 6000 rpm on the tachometer. At that point, I realized I had no control over the drive train so I pulled off the road onto the center median of the highway, just as the engine died - fortunately, there wasn-??t anyone following close behind. We had been driving for about 1.5 hours with the AC blasting and the gas tank at that point was low, with less than 1/8 remaining. All this happened without any dashboard warning lights turning on. This was the very last leg of a ten-day, 2,000 mile road trip. I tried restarting the engine but only got clicking. Since I thought we-??d be struck a while and it was so hot, I turned the key to the accessory position and was able to roll down the windows. We sat there for a couple of minutes wondering what to do. It took another minute to find my AAA card. Before calling for roadside assistance, I tried starting the engine again and this time it turned over. We did not have any further problems in the remaining 100 miles of our trip (though I was very anxious about it happening again). I took the car in to a Subaru service center this morning (36 hours later). They did a multi-point inspection and road test but did not find any issues and were not able to replicate the problem.

- San Francisco, CA, USA

problem #58

Apr 112022

Forester

  • miles

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

I have had several instances while driving on the highway when my forester revs to a very high RPM, the vehicle speeds up suddenly, and then shuts off completely. The only fix is to put the vehicle in neutral, move to the shoulder, and restart the vehicle. This has happened approximately 4 times during my 1 year of ownership and it is completely random when it occurs.

- Largo, FL, USA

problem #57

May 172022

Forester

  • 72,000 miles
The contact owns a 2015 Subaru Forester. The contact stated that while driving approximately 35 MPH, the vehicle experienced unintended acceleration causing the driver to immediately depress the brake pedal to abruptly stop the vehicle. After the failure, the vehicle operated as normal. The cause of the failure was not yet determined. The manufacturer and local dealer were not yet notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 72,000.

- Verona, VA, USA

problem #56

Nov 172021

Forester

  • miles
Sudden accelerations.

- Peoria, IL, USA

problem #55

Dec 312019

Forester

  • 60,000 miles
The contact owned a 2015 Subaru Forester. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, pulling into a parking space, and while attempting to park the vehicle on the street, the vehicle experienced unintended acceleration. The contact had to depress the brake pedal several times before the brakes were engaged. The failure occurred on two separate occasions. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, but the dealer could not replicate the failure. The vehicle was not repaired and was later sold to St. Cloud Subaru (141 Park Ave S, St. Cloud, MN 56301). The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately under 60,000.

- Woodbury, MN, USA

problem #54

Aug 072021

Forester

  • miles

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

This 2015 Subaru accelerates without warning and without gas pedal input. The issue arose about a month ago (July 2021) and has persisted ever since. The vehicle will rev while in park and once put into drive will jolt aggressively and without warning. Additionally, the vehicle will enter low-power mode at random and decelerate to 15-20mph. This has caused multiple hazards when driving on highways/interstates where pulling over is difficult or impossible.

- Littleton , CO, USA

problem #53

May 212021

Forester

  • miles
The 2015 Subaru Forester accelerated unexpectedly while slowly turning into a a Walgreens parking lot. The acceleration could not be stopped by stepping on the brake, and the car crashed into the brick building. The vehicle is at Phil's Auto Body Shop in Rosemount, MN. The estimate on the car is complete, and waiting on State Farm insurance to approve. The police were at the scene of the accident. Walgreens has video of the accident from their security cameras.

- Farmington, MN, USA

problem #52

May 082021

Forester

  • 60,000 miles
Auto accelerated unexpectedly after leaving car wash bay. Auto sped through parking lot into street and crashed into another auto traveling on a road.

- Mansfield, MA, USA

problem #51

Apr 072021

Forester

  • 107,008 miles
Suddenly it started to accurate and the other was all in bord control system default are lighting

- Des Moines, IA, USA

problem #50

Dec 132020

Forester

  • 134,000 miles
The contact owns a 2015 Subaru Forester. The contact stated that while driving, the vehicle experienced an unintended acceleration, causing the speed to increase to approximately 62 mph after leaving from a stop light. On another occasion while driving, the failure recurred and the driver downshifted to slow the vehicle which caused damage to the transmission. The cause of the failure was not yet determined. The local dealer austin Subaru located at 8100 burnet rd, austin, tx 78757 and the manufacturer were notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 134,000.

- Austin, TX, USA

problem #49

Jan 252021

Forester

  • 78,500 miles
I have experienced unintended acceleration during my ownership of my 2015 Subaru Forester xt while I was stopped on a city street. There is also a "lunging" feeling whenever you press the acceleration of the vehicle after proceeding from a complete stop.

- Sunnyvale, CA, USA

problem #48

Nov 172020

Forester

  • 92,000 miles
On 3 separate occasions, my car has shutdown on the highway at speeds around 75-80 mph. They all happened during road trips while my car was between 1/8 and 1/4 tank. The car has a noticeable drop in power, which feels like the transmission disengages and applying more gas doesn't help. This is incredibly dangerous!!!! luckily I was in the middle of nowhere on all 3 locations so I was able to pull over without incident. The car will not start, until more gas is put in the car. It's not out of fuel though because I tracked how much gas is in the car and how much I filled up after towing. This only happens after driving for multiple hours. I can run the car to empty if I'm just driving around town. A recall needs to be issued for this issue. I can see there have been tons of complaints around this issue.

- Holladay, UT, USA

problem #47

Feb 012019

Forester

  • 57,500 miles
Eyesight system fails regularly or does not work at all. This impacts all proximity warnings, automatic speed control and wheel slip control.

- Alameda, CA, USA

problem #46

Sep 172020

Forester

  • 1 miles
Car in motion. Happens on a stop, parking the vehicle in progress, driving slow. When pushing gas pedal slowly from start point; vehacle speed up so much that I have to press brakes pedal to hold the speed down. Happens once every other time.

- San Rafael, CA, USA

problem #45

Jul 252020

Forester

  • 67,000 miles
While driving on the highway at 65mph the car lost all power. The rpms went up like it was in neutral (car was still in drive). Fuel tank was down to a little less than 1/4th of a tank but still had 100 miles until empty. Adaptive cruise was engaged at the time (automated cruise applied accelerator that rose the rpms to 4500). This was in the middle of a 4 hour road trip on a flat straight road. Car exhibited no warning or lights until complete power was lost. I was able to safely pull over to the shoulder. All lights came on in the dash after I was stopped. I turned the car off and I was able to immediately start it again. Shortly after I filled up the tank and the car drove fine for the next hour until I was home. This was a scary incident that could be very dangerous. I noticed that this car has about a dozen other reports that are much like this in the past year.

- Indianapolis, IN, USA

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