10.0

really awful
Crashes / Fires:
6 / 0
Injuries / Deaths:
2 / 0
Average Mileage:
30,746 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.

2016 Subaru Forester brakes problems

brakes problem

Find something helpful? Spread the word.
Get notified about new defects, investigations, recalls & lawsuits for the 2016 Subaru Forester:

Unsubscribe any time. We don't sell/share your email.

2016 Subaru Forester Owner Comments (Page 1 of 2)

problem #25

Dec 072023

Forester

  • miles

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

Concerned driver stopped me and said I had no brake lights, only the lights atop the hatch showed breaking. After returning home I checked all settings on light controls and none made lower break lights work when pedal depressed. This could cause someone not watching top of vehicle crash into my vehicle. If light on top malfunctions I will not have any brake lights. Running lights work fine but do nothing when breaking. At first though it had to do with setting on light controls. I think I-??ve been told I had no tail lights only front running lights and had to turn control at dusk to have taillights of any kind.

- Lake Charles, LA, USA

problem #24

May 052022

Forester

  • miles
I arrived at work. I was placing my car in park with foot on the brake. The car took off and the brakes took time to stop the car. I tried to stop the car as we hit a fence and was headed through it it and into a pond. Pumping the brakes throwing car in reverse stopped us from ending up in the pond. Major car damage incurred. Thank goodness noone was seriously hurt. The car just accelerated with my foot on the brake and with me attemtping to put it in park.

- West Salem, OH, USA

problem #23

Jan 112022

Forester

  • 110,858 miles
The contact owns a 2016 Subaru Forester. The contact stated that while driving and approaching a stop sign, the brake pedal was depressed however, the vehicle failed to stop. The contact released the brake pedal and the vehicle slowed down. There were no warning lights illuminated. The local dealer was not contacted. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not contacted. The approximate failure mileage was 110,858.

- Eastchester, NY, USA

problem #22

May 112021

Forester

  • 75,606 miles

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

Subaru accelerates occaisionally when one hits the break and the motor races until one puts car in neutral.

- Auburn, CA, USA

problem #21

May 062021

Forester

  • 75,000 miles
'several times over the last 3 months the vehicle randomly accelerates usually when I brake to slow down the car. I have to put the car in neutral to stop the racing of the engine. It happens at various speeds, 5,10,20, 60. It is scary and I have to allow extra room while driving.

- Auburn, CA, USA

problem #20

Feb 012020

Forester

  • 55,000 miles
Key stuck in ignition when car is in park.

- Bloomfield Hills, MI, USA

problem #19

Oct 162020

Forester

  • 16,000 miles

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

The contact owns a 2016 Subaru Forester. The contact stated when depressing on the brake pedal it failed to stop the vehicle and rear ended another vehicle. The contact stated no warning light was illuminated. The contact did not have any injuries or sought medical attention. A police report was filed. The contact stated he had experienced the failure on 3 different occasions. The vehicle was taken to local dealer grayson Hyundai ( 8729 kingston pike, knoxville, tn 37923; (865) 693-4550) and had not been able to properly diagnose the vehicle as of yet. The vehicle had not been repaired as of yet. The manufacturer had been informed of failure. The failure mileage was approximately 16,000.

- Knoxville, TN, USA

problem #18

Oct 162020

Forester

  • 168,000 miles
When stopping/stopped it will suddenly accelerate/surge forward and I need to slam on brakes

- Zephyrhills, FL, USA

problem #17

Sep 172020

Forester

  • 40,000 miles
The vehicle was maintained regularly in dealer's service center. It is a local commute vehicle and has less than 40000 miles. In Nov 2019, the vehicle was found out of alignment, four tires were worn out and two breaks were out too. All four tires and two breaks were replaced. In June 2020, I reported bad smell to the service center but nothing was found. In Sep 2020, bad smell was noticed again. The service center found oil leak in the engine front and back. The engine was opened and some parts were replaced. Service center also found the condenser was leaking and replaced it. In less than a year, three defects happened and two were rare but major defects. During this time, the car was only driven around 2000 miles. I reported to Subaru customer service. They just told me to keep an eye on it.

- Morganville, NJ, USA

problem #16

Jul 062020

Forester 4-cyl

  • 23,741 miles
Sudden acceleration while parking. All low speed <5 mph. Car was in drive, braking, made a hard left turn then stopped. Car was shifted to reverse, moved 25 feet, brake and stopped. Car was shifted to drive (low), applied acceleration (light), hard right turn, brake applied, car accelerated, jumped curb, shifted car to park, turned off ignition. Restarted car, stability control light on, shift would not engage even with brake depressed. Remove shift lock cover (small button near shift) depressed release and move shift to neutral and then reverse to back off curb. Incident over, car functioned as designed at this point. Floor mats were not any where near pedals, mats were in the retainers to hold position. I am sure that my foot was on the brake at the time the acceleration occurred. It remained there even after the car was turned off because I looked at my passenger to see if she was ok and then looked at the position of my foot, still on brake. There were no codes flashing. I brake and accelerate with only my right foot. Checked to see if this is a problem and saw several reports and issued this one. Taking this to my dealer would be a waste of time, they always find nothing but the money in my wallet. This is Subaru number 6 for me.

- Cortland, NY, USA

problem #15

Apr 092019

Forester

  • miles

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

The contact owns a 2016 Subaru Forester. The contact stated that the brake pedal traveled to the floorboard when depressed. The contact had to replace all four brake rotors. The vehicle was taken to #1 cochran Subaru butler county (4520 william penn hwy, monroeville, pa 15146, (412) 245-4580), but could not be serviced. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and did not assist. The failure mileage was unknown.

- Earentum, PA, USA

problem #14

Aug 312019

Forester

  • 13,888 miles
Vehicle only has 13888 miles on it while replacing all 4 brake rotors (yes all 4 due to warpage and dishing) found left rear coil spring busted replaced myself due to holiday weekend and don't have time to get vehicle towed because we need car for work

- Tarentum, PA, USA

problem #13

Jun 102019

Forester

  • miles
My vehicle is subject to a safety recall (wue-90). After receiving the recall notice, I called my local dealer and requested an appointment to address the safety issue. I was told I could not get an appointment until October. However, if I scheduled my car for another paid service (a wheel alignment) they would fix the issue within three weeks. My questions are: 1) can a dealer postpone a safety recall for five months? and 2) can a dealer require a customer to pay for another service to get a timely appointment for a safety recall?

- Maple Valley, WA, USA

problem #12

May 242019

Forester

  • miles
Problems scheduling an appointment with carbone Subaru on commercial drive, yorkvlle NY. 1: couldn't get through on phone to make an appointment. Called numerous times and listened to their obnoxious promotional speech to many times and never got a person. Tried leaving a message and nobody called back. Went in person and they said the earlies they could schedule me in was the last week in July!

- New Hartford, NY, USA

problem #11

Apr 222019

Forester

  • 32,368 miles
While getting ready to slow for a traffic light red signal the ABS light came on including the need to tow the vehicle. I got the vehicle to a parking lot about 1 mile away with the warning light still on and the vehicle slowed to about 2 miles per hour until I stopped. I shut off the vehicle and restarted it, the ABS lights did not come back on. The brakes performed normally. I drove home. Overnight the brake lights came on and I now have a dead battery. The brake light ignition switch was replaced on a recall last week about 150 miles ago.

- Lewes, DE, USA

problem #10

Oct 162018

Forester

  • miles
Brake lights may not illuminate recall (wue-90) when I'm parked or driving, multiple alerts show on my dashboard (eyesight off, ABS needs to be checked, vehicle dynamics control system needs to be checked, hill start assist system needs to be checked). Sometimes when I start my car and I'm about to change to drive, it won't let me switch out of park. I've also noticed that when the alerts go off, my brake lights don't always illuminate. This began happening in October 2018. I was then in an accident and after my car was repaired, the problem appeared to be fixed until the lights began to illuminate again at the beginning of March 2019. You can see the warning lights that have illuminated in the attachments.

- Mountain View, CA, USA

problem #9

Dec 232018

Forester

  • 32,000 miles
Brake pedal goes to floor when stopping with maximum load when stopping on street or highway.

- Schenectady, NY, USA

problem #8

Sep 052018

Forester

  • 30,589 miles
ABS warning lights comes on then after I turn off the car it disappears. Bothe time it happened I was stopped then while accelerating the warning lights came on. The first time I was parked then when I backed up lights came on. The second time I was at a stop light with a slight incline when I started the lights came on. Then following time after the lights were off, I would restart car and the lights came on while driving

- Margate, FL, USA

problem #7

Feb 022018

Forester

  • 32,000 miles
During periods of heavy rain, the vehicle appears to suffer major electrical issues. Since February of 2018, my vehicle has reported problems after a major storm with the eyesight camera system, ABS, hill assist, and fuel gauge. Fyi-eyesight includes the dynamic cruise control, crash avoidance, and lane monitoring system. The issue has been reported to our Subaru dealer/maintenance team but they have not been able to discover the source of the issue.

- Arlington, VA, USA

problem #6

Apr 122018

Forester

  • 43,189 miles
This will be the second time I'm bringing my Forester back to dealer do to the car with my foot on brake would not shift out of gear from park three lights showed up on the dash one being traction controll, second was the ABS light and last one was the car on hill light after a few minutes it shift out of park allowing me to drive but all the lights remain on and would not go over 40 the first time I took it back to the dealership it was in December 2017 they said it was the sensor behind the brake pedal, well little behold for the second time I'm bringing my Forester back to dealership for the same issue as its only been 4 months. I bought the car of there lot brand new in May 2016 I only have 44,000 miles on it now.

- Adams, MA, USA

Read the next 5 complaints »

Not what you are looking for?