2014 Subaru Forester

WHILE DRIVING VEHICLE ON HIGHWAY SPEEDS IN TEMPERATURES AROUND 85-90 (OR GREATER) DEGREES VEHICLE WILL NOT ALLOW ACCELERATION. VEHICLE STUMBLES, DETONATES AND WILL NOT ALLOW THE DRIVER TO APPLY POWER WITHOUT HESITATION AND ENGINE STUMBLES. THIS PROBLEM CAN BE RECREATED AT WILL AND YET THE VEHICLE WILL NOT THROW A CEL UNLESS A LARGER FAILURE HAPPENS, WHICH TYPICALLY IS THE #3 CYLINDER BURNS OFF THE SPARK PLUG ELECTRODE AND DAMAGES THE ENGINE. SUBARU IS AWARE OF THE ISSUE BUT CONSIDERS THIS CONDITION NORMAL. THE VEHICLE IS NOT APPROPRIATELY MAPPED FOR THE SUBARU SUGGESTED FUEL OCTANE LEVEL, HAS TURBO BOOST PIPING LEAKS ACCORDING TO NUMEROUS INDIVIDUALS.

ON JUNE 22, 2016, MY HUSBAND PARKED THE CAR ON OUR DRIVEWAY, LOCATED AT 1264 HANCOCK PLACE IN POCATELLO, IDAHO. I GOT OUT ON THE PASSENGER SIDE DOOR AND STEPPED TO THE SIDE AND CLOSED THE DOOR WITH MY LEFT HAND. I WAS NOT FAR ENOUGH AWAY FROM DOOR AND THE CORNER CAUGHT MY LEG AND THE CUT REQUIRED 11 STITCHES. THE CORNER HAS NO RUBBER PROTECTION ON IT, I FEEL IT IS A DESIGN FLAW. THE CONSUMER STATED MANUFACTURER WAS NOTIFIED AND HAD THE DOOR INSPECTED. THE INSPECTOR SUGGESTED HAVING THE DOOR FILLED/CUT OFF. NO FURTHER ASSISTANCE WAS OFFERED. UPDATED 08/23/2017 *JS

VEHICLE IS UNSTABLE DUE TO STALLING AND LURCHING FORWARD UNDER ALL THROTTLE RANGES. VEHICLE MAY "CHUG" AT VARIABLE DRIVING SPEEDS. THE FAILURE IS INTERMITTENT AND VARIES FROM SUBTLE TO HEAVY EFFECTS. SEVERE EFFECTS CAUSES VEHICLE TO SHUDDER AND/OR STALL THEN ABRUPTLY ACCELERATE. ISSUE DOES NOT APPEAR TO BE RELATED TO "TURBO LAG" AS IT OCCURS UNDER LOW BOOST CONDITIONS. TRANSMISSION ALSO PRODUCES "CLICKING" SOUND WHEN ENGAGING FROM NEUTRAL OR UNDER CHANGES IN SPEED. CONDITION OCCURS THROUGHOUT ALL DRIVING MODES (I, S, S#). CONDITION OCCURS MOSTLY UNDER ACCELERATION FROM DEAD STOP, BUT MAY ALSO OCCUR UNDER "PICK UP" ACCELERATION, IE OFF THROTTLE TO DECELERATE (55MPH-45MPH) THEN LIGHT THROTTLE TO RESUME DRIVING SPEED. VEHICLE MAY ALSO BACKFIRE UNDER ACCELERATION. VEHICLE MAY HESITATE FOR SEVERAL SECONDS BEFORE ACCELERATION FROM STOP OR AT HIGHWAY SPEED THAN UPON RESUMING ACCELERATION VEHICLE MAY HAVE A FLAT/SLOW ACCELERATION IN SPITE OF HEAVY THROTTLE. FACTORY AUTHORIZED REPAIRS ATTEMPTED TO REMEDY CONDITION BY CLEANING THROTTLE BODY AND "UPPER ENGINE" CLEANSE AND STATES UNABLE TO REPLICATE FAILURE. CONDITION HAS BEEN ON-GOING FROM PURCHASE WITH APPROXIMATELY 30K MILE TO CURRENT WITH 74K MILES.

SAFETY PROBLEMS FROM SUMMER 2014. THE CAR ABRUPTLY LOSES POWER WHEN ACCELERATING. THIS IS DANGEROUS WHEN OVERTAKING LOG TRUCKS AND OTHER SLOW TRAFFIC ON STEEP TWO-LANE HIGHWAYS. WE HAVE TAKEN THE VEHICLE TO DEALERSHIPS SEVERAL TIMES FOR REPAIR AND EXCEPT FOR UPDATING THE ENGINE CONTROL UNIT FIRMWARE; THEY HAVE BEEN UNABLE TO ISOLATE THE CAUSE. IN FEBRUARY 2016, SUBARU OF AMERICA (SOA) MAILED US RECALL WQW-58R. THE DEALER DID NOT RESPOND TO OUR RECALL APPOINTMENT REQUESTS. WE ASKED FOR SOA ASSISTANCE. THE DEALER WAS HOSTILE, YET CLAIMED TO PERFORM THE RECALL. LATER, A DEALER EMPLOYEE INFORMED US THAT SOME EMPLOYEES SABOTAGED THE VEHICLE WITH THE INTENT OF HAVING THE ENGINE EXPLODE. ANOTHER SHOP CONFIRMED FACTS AND CORRECTED SOME DAMAGE. CALIFORNIA BUREAU OF AUTOMOTIVE REPAIR CASE (SA2016005132) CITED THE DEALERSHIP . THE SUDDEN POWER LOSS REMAINS AND IT IS UNSAFE TO OPERATE. IT HAS FAILED TO START ON OCCASION. WE ARE AFRAID THAT THE ORIGINAL PROBLEM OR OTHER ACTS BY THE DEALERSHIP MAY CAUSE US OR TO BE INJURED OR KILLED IN A HEAD-ON COLLISION WHEN POWER FAILS. IT MAY STRAND US IN AN ISOLATED AREA DURING A SNOWSTORM OR IN SOME DANGEROUS LOCATION. WE HAVE REQUESTED THAT SOA ACCEPT THE CAR BACK AS A LEMON. THEY HAVE REFUSED. THE INSTRUCTIONS TOSERVICE DEPARTMENTS INCLUDES THE FOLLOWING: 'REMINDER: ENGINE ASSEMBLY REPLACEMENT WILL ONLY BE REQUIRED IN A VERY LIMITED NUMBER OF CASES.' [SOA INSTRUCTIONS TO DEALERS INCLUDES THE WORDS 'REMINDER' AND 'VERY LIMITED' IN BOLD TYPE] IN OUR OPINION, THE 'REMINDER' TO DEALERS WAS INTENDED TO SUPPRESS CORRECTIVE ACTION AND REDUCE COSTS TO SUBARU OF AMERICA. THE SUBARU OF AMERICA WQW-58R RECALL DOES NOT APPEAR ON THE LIST OF SAFETY RECALLS. FROM OUR EXPERIENCE, THIS IS A VERY DANGEROUS VEHICLE TO OPERATE, AND WE REQUEST THAT THE NHTSA INCLUDE THIS RECALL AS A SAFETY ISSUE FOR THIS MAKE AND MODEL.

I ALSO HAVE OIL CONSUMPTION PROBLEM WITH MY 2014 SUBARU FORESTER, PURCHASED AT EARLY 2014. THOUGH, MY FORESTER'S OIL CONSUMPTION RATE IS ABOUT 1-1/2 QUART PER 5000 MILES. I VISITED THIS SITE BECAUSE I RECEIVED A SETTLEMENT NOTICE IN THE MAIL, PER DISTRICT COURT OF NEW JERSEY. I WAS HOPING THERE ARE SOME OFFICIAL POST TO GO ALONG WITH THE SETTLEMENT NOTICE FOR GETTING A NO-CHARGE FIX FROM THE DEALER, IF THERE IS ONE. I SUPPOSE THE NOTICE ITSELF WILL HAVE TO DO. A OFFICIAL POSTING APPEARING SOON ON THIS SITE WOULD BE NICE. HERE IS THE URL FOR THOSE THAT DID NOT GET THE NOTICE: HTTP://WWW.OILCONSUMPTION.SETTLEMENTCLASS.COM/

I PURCHASED A BRAND NEW 2014 FORESTER IN 2013. IT NOW HAS 20,000 MILES ON IT. IT HAS EXCESSIVE OIL CONSUMPTION. I NEED TO ADD A QUART TO A QUART AND A HALF ABOUT EVERY MONTH. THE DEALERSHIP SAYS THAT IT IS 'NORMAL' FOR THE CAR TO USE A QUART OF OIL EVERY 1200 MILES. SUBARU RECOMMENDS CHANGING THE OIL EVERY 7500 MILES. THAT MEANS THAT I AM ADDING OVER 6 QUARTS OF OIL BETWEEN EVERY RECOMMENDED OIL CHANGE. THAT IS RIDICULOUS. THE OIL IS SYNTHETIC AND VERY EXPENSIVE. AFTER HAVING THE LOW OIL LIGHT COME ON SEVERAL TIMES WHEN I WAS ALONE AT NIGHT ON THE INTERSTATE, NOW I CARRY SEVERAL QUARTS OF OIL WITH ME AT ALL TIMES. THIS IS A VERY EXPENSIVE VEHICLE AND IT IS RIDICULOUS THAT SUBARU KNOWS OF THE PROBLEM AND WILL NOT ADDRESS IT. EXCESSIVE OIL CONSUMPTION IS A PROBLEM WITH A NUMBER OF SUBARU MODELS OVER A NUMBER OF YEARS. HOPEFULLY NHTSA OR EPA (WHOM I ALSO NOTIFIED) WILL HELP PERSUADE SUBARU TO ADDRESS THE PROBLEM AND RECALL THEIR DEFECTIVE CARS AND FIX THEM.