2015 Subaru Forester

UNKNOWN. Often when I attempt to accelerate after stopping at a stop sign, the car hesitates, sometimes lunges ahead and then sometimes practically dying before accelerating normally. There have been times when It simply feels like a fuel pump problem and I know that Toyotas with this same Denso fuel pump have had documented problems similar to mine. [XXX] INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

This is the fourth time we have had the same problem. We were on a long drive (more than 1 hour on the road) on the freeway going 65-70mph. The fuel gauge showed 2 or 3 bars left and the estimated mileage left was 40-70 miles left when the car lost forward power, the lights still worked and electrical systems were functional but it was as though there was not gas left. We had to call a tow truck to bring us gas. As soon as they put a couple gallons in the tank the car started and continued without issue to the nearest gas station. This was extremely dangerous as we had our children in the car and had a loss of power on the freeway and had to sit on the side of the freeway in a dangerous area waiting for gas to be delivered. We took it to our mechanic who could not detect any problems with the sensors, or other systems, there were no codes generated and no warning before it lost power, the low fuel light hadn't even gone on.

On six occasions since 2020, our Subaru Forester has lost engine power at highway speeds after being driven for 2 hours on an interstate. On each occasion, we had to pull to the shoulder of the road with no engine power and restart the car. On the last three occasions it has taken 15 minutes to restart. Losing engine power at highway speed could have endangered our family or nearby drivers. We have taken the car to multiple dealers who have not been able to reproduce the failure, but after the latest incident in August 2023 our local dealers now recommends replacement of the fuel pump.

I was on the MA Pike in the middle of three lanes going 70mph and all my red lights came on, the engine revved high RPM, then seemed to be getting no gas and next stalled out. The trip computer said I had had 60 miles of gas left until empty, and I still had a bar of gas left showing on the odometer. There were no warnings lights or messages prior to the failure. It was an extremely unsafe situation, as I had to pull into the “slow” uphill truck lane, lane one of three lanes. There was no shoulder to get on. Trucks were whizzing by me at 70mph. AAA was not able to assist me, as I was in an unsafe location. They called the MA State Troopers who showed up immediately, and frankly probably saved my life, while risking their lives. They ordered gas, as they indicated they had seen this problem before. Two gallons of gas and the car started right up even though it still had gas in the tank. The problem has not been reproduced by a dealer, but it has been written about my many other 2015 Forester owners. Others have reported the same exact problem, sometimes resulting in accidents. How has Subaru gotten away without a recall on this extremely dangerous problem. They definitely are aware of it.

We had driven up Mt Washington in NH (about 6000ft high) and were returning back. We had used the X mode (hill assist) intermittently on the way down. Had driven almost 150 miles back to home, when the car suddenly lost power and started to shudder. We were able to coast to the side. We tried to start again and again the same problem. We noticed that the brakes seemed quite warm. After about 5 minutes we tried again and were able to drive slowly to a gas station, but no one to help since it was late. Since fuel was low at 1 bar (60 miles distance to empty). We filled up the tank and made our way home driving slowly on the back roads. We are not sure if it could be a problem with the fuel, electrical system, brakes or the hill assist. While the car seems to run fine on short trips of a few miles, have not taken it out on any longer drives.

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!

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.

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.