2019 Subaru Forester

My windshield mysteriously cracked there was not existing damage. When I research my car's make model and year I learned that there was a class action lawsuit that was settled that requires Subaru to cover the cost of the windshield. At the time of purchase this defect was not disclosed to me. I reached out to the dealership and they seem to have no knowledge of this. Additionally, they are not taking any responsibility.

On April 16, 2024 the Thermo Control Valve on my 2019 Subaru Forester failed while I was going 70 mph in the middle lane of rush hour traffic. All of the warning lights came on at once as my engine stalled. I lost all mechanical power and was barely able to make it off the highway without getting hit. There was no prior warning that the Thermo Control Valve was bad. I had the car serviced at a Subaru dealership three weeks before the incident and was told that everything looked good on my car. The dealership replaced the Thermo Control Valve under extended warranty coverage. I have a second 2019 Subaru Forester that also falls in this group of vehicles, but Subaru will not replace the Thermo Control Valve until it fails.

Engine failed without warning while driving on a busy highway on 4/20/2024. The engine suddenly stopped and tried to automatically restart itself only to immediately shut down, simultaneously dashboard lit up with multiple warning lights ( eyesight disabled, check engine light, RAB off, brake light etc). No power to the car with inability to accelerate. My husband driving the vehicle was able to maneuver the car over 2 lanes in heavy traffic to the rumble strip between 4 lane highway and a 2 lane acceleration entrance ramp. We came within seconds of being hit which could have been a very serious accident. Since the car had no power we weren't even able to get to the right shoulder. We had to sit in the vehicle over 2 1/2 hours waiting for a tow surrounded by high speed traffic on both sides. The cause of engine failure was a defective Thermo Control Valve, diagnostic code P26A6. Subaru recently issued an extended warranty in April for the TCV which is present in many of its vehicles. It should be a RECALL and not just an extension of the warranty since failure can be quite serious resulting in the engine completely shutting down. We had NO previous warning that the car was at risk for unexpected stopping. Car is well maintained with only 34,608 miles (2019 model) and had been in the shop the DAY before the incident getting routine car service. The service manager knew what the problem was by description before even performing the necessary interrogation for diagnostic codes. He was able to get the vehicle to start and drive it into the dealer repair shop by simply removing the TCV before starting. We were the 3rd vehicle in that day for replacement of TCV. He stated they replace 5-10 a week although most present with a check engine light and some with other warnings such as eyesight disabled. The factory original TCV has been replaced with a reportedly revised TCV. Risk of engine failure without warning as result of faulty TCV is putting lives at risk.

The contact owned a 2019 Subaru Forester. The contact stated while parking the vehicle, the vehicle suddenly accelerated to approximately 80 MPH unintendedly. The contact stated that she depressed the brake pedal, but the vehicle failed to respond. There was no warning light illuminated. The contact stated that the vehicle spun several times, causing her to lose control of the vehicle. The contact stated that the vehicle hit several power generator boxes while spinning. The vehicle then turned around and drove across the street unintendedly, and the front end of the vehicle crashed into a pine tree. The contact stated that the forward collision avoidance failed to engage. The air bags failed to deploy. The neighbors assisted the contact out of the vehicle. The contact stated that she was shocked and was assisted in a chair. The contact that she later felt pain all over the body and was taken to the hospital, where she was informed that she had sustained a broken sternum, bruises, and pain all over the body. The insurance company towed the vehicle to a tow lot, where it was totaled. The dealer was notified of the failure. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and sent a field engineer who retrieved the EDR from the vehicle. The manufacturer later informed the contact that the information retrieved from the EDR indicated that there was no vehicle malfunction and that the air bags had not deployed because the impact was not significant. The failure mileage was approximately 34,000.

The contact owns a 2019 Subaru Forester. The contact stated while entering the vehicle, she noticed that the new windshield that was installed 11 days prior, was cracked. The contact stated that the windshield was previously replaced due to the same failure. The contact was unable to determine the cause of the failure. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired by an independent mechanic or dealer. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was unknown.

The check engine light went on and the diagnostic code read was P26A3, Engine Coolant Bypass Valve is failing in my 2019 Forester, which only has 46,000 miles on it. Subaru was aware that this part was defective in the 2019-2021 models, because in Feb of 2022 the part was replaced and a service bulletin 09-80-21 was issued with instruction for replacing the part, but did not issue a recall, despite this problem causing the advanced safety features to stop working and directly affecting the proper functioning of the engine. My car is just out of warranty, and the quote to have my mechanic replace the part is almost $1200 which I am unable to afford and do not feel I should have to pay for. Subaru should be help to account for this issue.

4/2/2024 at 5:30am my Eyesight system flashed a message in orange that the Eyesight system was off - not temporarily disabled. This is NOT due to an obstruction of the cameras by weather/glare/dirt etc. All functions controlled by Eyesight including lane departure, adaptive cruise control, and forward emergency braking, as well as reverse automatic braking are disabled by this malfunction. I removed the negative lead from my battery in an attempt to reset the system which did not clear the error. No check engine light accompanied this error and all other systems seem to be functioning normally.

Check engine light came on roughly 3 days prior to incident. Temperature control/coolant bypass valve failed (replaced by dealer at my expense with now updated design), caused the car to unexpectedly lose power rapidly and enter limp mode, dropping from 55 MPH down to 5 MPH in seconds. The incident occurred on a rural road. I had been on an interstate during rush hour roughly 15 minutes prior and could have caused a crash if the incident happened there.

Car was sitting outside for the day (with camera observing it). Windshield had no issues when the car was moved to the street in the morning. Windshield was cracked from driver side bottom corner all the way past the half way point and about half way up the windshield. Review of camera video confirmed that no one or thing touched the car during the day. Suspect that the windshield is defective.