2020 Subaru Forester

Driving my 2020 Subaru Forrester on 1/26/24, at night. Stopped at traffic light. Car started shaking, dash lights system lights came on. Turned off car and restarted. Car would not accelerate. Had towed to mechanic. Diagnosed as probable thermo regulator. Could not repair because part only available from Subaru. Called dealer who was not sympathetic or helpful. Told to bring in and leave. Would get to it when they could.

When I am idling at a stop sign or sitting in traffic and I have come to a full stop, the car's engine shuts down as a gas-saving feature. This is not the problem! The problem is that sometimes when this feature engages, when I lift my foot off the brake to start driving again, a shrill constant ringing sound starts and the engine won't power back on. There is an error message that comes on that says "eyesight disabled." When this happens, none of these factors (the ringing, the error message, the dead engine) stop until I put the car in park and power it down completely, then restart the engine. Then none of the symptoms are there anymore and the car drives normally. I have not noticed any consistency about when this problem does or does not happen - it occurs in all weather types, temperatures, times of day, slopes/flat roads. I sometimes go months without it happening, and other times it happens twice in several days. The only consistent thing is that it only happens when the car is at a full stop and the engine has shuddered off to save gas. I live in Chicago and almost exclusively drive short distances in the city, I hardly do any highway driving. This has happened maybe 20 times since I bought the car in February, 2023.

My vehicle has repeatedly required being jump-started after sitting for a period of time. Recently it has become a safety issue because the engine is designed to turn off at times in order to traffic to improve fuel efficiency. After research, Subaru has a known issue with the DCM system used to power the optional (subscription based) Starlink system. This system uses 3G signals to provide emergency assistance; however 3G signal has been decommissioned and the system is unable to connect to a tower and never stops trying. This creates a parasitic drain on the battery that can (and has) prevents the car from being able to restart from a stopped position.

Vehicle continuously suffers a total loss of power (engine shuts off) while driving, creating obvious hazard to the user of the car and other drivers. This continues to happen without warning and often while driving through intersections and other dangerous situations. No warning lights precede these events. We brought the vehicle to the Subaru dealership and, after testing/diagnosing the problem, they informed us the vehicle needs a larger battery (which also requires installation of a larger battery tray) than the one that came equipped with the vehicle from the manufacturer. No aftermarket modifications have been made to the battery or electrical systems and the current battery is the size and type recommended by Subaru in the owner’s manual; the dealership, however, advises that that battery is insufficient and needs to be changed for a larger-sized battery.

The contact owns a 2020 Subaru Forester. The contact stated that the auto START/STOP feature was malfunctioning. The contact stated that upon coming to a complete stop, the engine turned off, but failed to restart after releasing the brake pedal. The message "Engine Disabled" was displayed. The contact depressed the brake pedal and pressed the Push to Start button and was able to continue driving. The contact stated that the failure had been recurring. The dealer was notified of the failure and advised the contact to manually deactivate the auto Start-Stop feature by pressing a button. The contact stated that she followed the dealer's instructions; however, the feature had been engaging independently and the failure had been recurring while at a complete stop. The vehicle was taken to the dealer to be diagnosed. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 39,000.

Daughter was driving vehicle on the morning of September 15, 2023, when smoke came from under hood. Immediately pulled over and engine was engulfed in flames. Got out of vehicle and moved a safe distance away as glass started to break and fire department arrived on scene. Picked up vehicle on September 12, 2023, after having the thermal control valve replaced (warranty) but after doing research there are other components that also had to be replaced (fuel line, etc) as part of this repair. Noticed there have been other vehicles with recall due to thermal control valve just nothing on the Subaru Forester. Completely traumatized as the vehicle was gone in a little over 3 minutes. Have been in contact with Subaru but no resolution on what they believe caused the car to catch on fire. Did authorize them to get “black box” on September 29, 2023.

I’ve owned my Subaru forester for over a year now. About 6 months ago while getting off an exit and at a light, when I went to accelerate my car died. All lights came off and no power to vehicle. I was able to restart and drive home. Called the dealer took it in and paid almost $2k for repairs. Today the same thing happened on the turnpike in stopped traffic. This could have been a bad accident.

The car dies when it stops for a traffic stop. Sometimes it starts again and and sometimes it does not. It does not do it when the air is on. People honk at you in traffic if you do not start right away. I thought there was a recall on Subarus for same which is why I never bought one. The vehicle has been inspected. It also unlocks itself sometimes after I lock it.