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2023 Subaru Forester

Owner reports · Recalls · Investigations

Similar to other model years

Owner complaints for the 2023 Subaru Forester do not stand out strongly from the model-year median of 131.

About this comparison →

When problems were reported

Mileage at the reported incident

Limited mileage data: 8 of 73 reports include usable mileage. There isn’t enough coverage to show a useful chart.

NHTSA’s mileage field refers to the reported incident, not necessarily the filing date. This shows report counts, not the likelihood of a failure.

What to inspect

Issues worth paying extra attention to based on owner reports.

  • Forward Collision Avoidance. Review the 13 owner reports in this category and discuss these concerns during a pre-purchase inspection. Read reports →
  • Visibility/wiper. Review the 11 owner reports in this category and discuss these concerns during a pre-purchase inspection. Read reports →
  • Electrical System. Review the 7 owner reports in this category and discuss these concerns during a pre-purchase inspection. Read reports →

NHTSA owner reports · September 18, 2026 snapshot.

8 crash reports4 fire reports4 injury reports

What owners actually said

73 reports
Mileage unknown · Jul 15, 2024
Forward Collision AvoidanceUnknown Or Other

I was driving down the main street of a small city. There is a decent amount of traffic, so I’m not sure what speed I was going but likely no more than 25 mph. All of a sudden, for no apparent reason, the pre-collision braking went into effect and slammed me to a total stop. I wasn’t too close to the vehicle in front of me,…

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I was driving down the main street of a small city. There is a decent amount of traffic, so I’m not sure what speed I was going but likely no more than 25 mph. All of a sudden, for no apparent reason, the pre-collision braking went into effect and slammed me to a total stop. I wasn’t too close to the vehicle in front of me, there were no pedestrians in the road, etc. thankfully the vehicle behind me was able to stop and did not hit me. I was able to move forward and pulled into the closet parking lot. I looked and could see anything directly on my vehicle. Subaru is saying that one of my tire’s pressure was low and that may have caused it or sunlight may have caused it. There was no low tire pressure light on my vehicle. The light had been on not too long before this and I had filled the tires. But no warning light on the day this happened. I was able to successfully drive further with no issues. Subaru does not seem to be taking this seriously. But, no matter the cause, if either of these things will cause a vehicle to come to an immediate stop, that is definitely a safety issue. And it is a safety concern that should be looked into.

NHTSA ODI #11602395

9,000 miles · Jul 10, 2024
Air BagsVehicle Speed ControlCrashInjury

The contact owns a 2023 Subaru Forester. The contact stated while driving 65 MPH, the vehicle accelerated unintendedly and the RPMs were significantly high. The contact depressed the brake pedal, but the vehicle failed to respond. There was no warning light illuminated. The contact shifted to park(P) and turned off the vehicle, …

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The contact owns a 2023 Subaru Forester. The contact stated while driving 65 MPH, the vehicle accelerated unintendedly and the RPMs were significantly high. The contact depressed the brake pedal, but the vehicle failed to respond. There was no warning light illuminated. The contact shifted to park(P) and turned off the vehicle, and the vehicle decelerated. The contact was able to pull to the side of the road. The contact stated that upon restarting the vehicle, the vehicle operated as needed. Additionally, the contact stated while his wife was reversing, the vehicle accelerated unintendedly and hit a chained gate. The contact's wife depressed the brake pedal, but the vehicle failed to respond. There was no warning light illuminated. The vehicle went into the woods, hit several small trees, and then the vehicle crashed into a big tree and bounced 30 ft. away from the tree. The air bags failed to deploy. The contact's wife sustained a sore neck, but did not seek medical assistance. A police report was filed. The dealer was notified of the failure. The vehicle was towed to an auto collision repair shop, awaiting for a damage estimate. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 9,000.

NHTSA ODI #11600803

Mileage unknown · Jun 26, 2024
Back Over Prevention

Subaru Infotainment system frozen I've been experiencing an issue where the screen suddenly freezes and emits a loud beeping sound. I've tried restarting and resetting to factory settings multiple times, but the issue persists. The situation is worsening; my infotainment system has been unusable for a couple of days now, which…

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Subaru Infotainment system frozen I've been experiencing an issue where the screen suddenly freezes and emits a loud beeping sound. I've tried restarting and resetting to factory settings multiple times, but the issue persists. The situation is worsening; my infotainment system has been unusable for a couple of days now, which means my backup camera is also not functioning. My friend mentioned that I could report this to the NHTSA, as it directly relates to safety concerns.

NHTSA ODI #11596928

Mileage unknown · Jun 19, 2024
Forward Collision Avoidance

We were traveling on a limited access highway at approximately 65 miles an hour. Both the adaptive cruise control and the driver assist were engaged. A car approximately four car lengths ahead of us exited the highway into the breakdown lane. My car slammed on its brakes and reduced speed to less than 40 miles an hour with no wa…

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We were traveling on a limited access highway at approximately 65 miles an hour. Both the adaptive cruise control and the driver assist were engaged. A car approximately four car lengths ahead of us exited the highway into the breakdown lane. My car slammed on its brakes and reduced speed to less than 40 miles an hour with no warning. Had there been a vehicle behind us we certainly would have been hit. This is not the first time we have had difficulty with the adaptive cruise control braking unpredictably , but it’s the first time it endangered our lives.

NHTSA ODI #11595249

Mileage unknown · May 26, 2024
Visibility/wiper

Rear windshield burst for no apparent reason in car less than one year old while car was stopped at a stop light. Other traffic was also stopped around the car. There was no obvious cause (rock, etc.), plus the rear windshield appeared to shatter as much outward as it did inward. Fortunately car was stopped because it was ve…

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Rear windshield burst for no apparent reason in car less than one year old while car was stopped at a stop light. Other traffic was also stopped around the car. There was no obvious cause (rock, etc.), plus the rear windshield appeared to shatter as much outward as it did inward. Fortunately car was stopped because it was very startling and could have affected driving. Also fortunately, there was no one in the back who could have been hurt by the glass. Reported it to Subaru, but they denied any coverage under warranty.

NHTSA ODI #11590835

4,500 miles · May 21, 2024
Vehicle Speed ControlCrashInjury

The contact owns a 2023 Subaru Forester. The contact stated that while in a parking lot, the contact depressed the brake pedal and attempted to shift into gear and the vehicle accelerated inadvertently, jumped a curb, and crashed into a tree. The contact was able to put the vehicle in reverse; however, while the contact’s foot w…

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The contact owns a 2023 Subaru Forester. The contact stated that while in a parking lot, the contact depressed the brake pedal and attempted to shift into gear and the vehicle accelerated inadvertently, jumped a curb, and crashed into a tree. The contact was able to put the vehicle in reverse; however, while the contact’s foot was on the brake pedal, the vehicle accelerated backward independently. The contact was treated by a local urgent care for whiplash. No one else was involved in the crash. The Police were dispatched to the scene however, no Police report was filed. The contact had the vehicle towed to an independent mechanic, but the mechanic was unable to assist. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 4,500.

NHTSA ODI #11590008

Mileage unknown · May 13, 2024
Unknown Or Other

Windshield developed chip driving down a quiet residential street. Expected windshield to be much durable, but seems to be a very common issue with Subaru windshields, even though this is a 2023 model!

NHTSA ODI #11588575

Mileage unknown · May 8, 2024
Unknown Or Other

Our car’s Android Auto navigation system is failing. This is not just a navigation failure. When we drive, especially at night, and our navigation system fails, it becomes a security and safety hazard. The problem: 1. After connecting a phone, TCL A30 Android 11, via the USB cable to the car navigation system and entering an add…

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Our car’s Android Auto navigation system is failing. This is not just a navigation failure. When we drive, especially at night, and our navigation system fails, it becomes a security and safety hazard. The problem: 1. After connecting a phone, TCL A30 Android 11, via the USB cable to the car navigation system and entering an address, frequently, the system gets frozen. After a few tries at physically connecting and disconnecting the cable, we were able to get the system going. 2. While driving, the navigation system frequently fails. Occasionally, it points in the wrong direction, freezes, or shows that the navigation position is lagging by miles from our actual position. Disconnecting and reconnecting the USB cable tends to resolve the problem. When we use the Subaru navigation system and, at the same time, concurrently employ a second phone navigation system, that standalone phone navigation system does not experience the failures we are seeing with the Subaru navigation system. 2. Frequently, we get a message about a lost GPS signal. This is an erroneous message. We know that because a second phone, not connected to the car navigation system, does not give GPS error messages at the time the car navigation system announces GPS errors. We did the following tests to verify that the navigation failures we observed were not phone or USB cable issues. We tested the car navigation system with two different phones and observed the same failures with both phones. We tested the system with two USB cables, and the failures persisted. We tested the USB cables for data transfers by downloading files from the phones to a computer. The file transfers from the phone to the computer were quick and accurate. It appears that the communication protocol that links the phone with the car’s navigation system is broken. We communicated our concerns to Subaru customer support. To the present time, we have received no response from Subaru.

NHTSA ODI #11587735

Mileage unknown · Feb 12, 2024
Air Bags

The contact owns a 2023 Subaru Forester. The contact stated that the front passenger’s side occupant sensor failed to recognize a petite, smaller individual seated in the front passenger’s seat. The dealer was notified of failure and referred the contact to the manufacturer. The manufacturer was notified, and the contact inquire…

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The contact owns a 2023 Subaru Forester. The contact stated that the front passenger’s side occupant sensor failed to recognize a petite, smaller individual seated in the front passenger’s seat. The dealer was notified of failure and referred the contact to the manufacturer. The manufacturer was notified, and the contact inquired about the weight requirement for the passenger occupant sensor, and the manufacturer did not answer the question. The vehicle was not repaired or diagnosed. The failure mileage was unknown.

NHTSA ODI #11571449

Mileage unknown · Feb 11, 2024
Visibility/wiper

Got a crack on the windshield after owning the vehicle for under 5 months. There was no apparent pebble/stone and one morning i just saw that there was a crack on the windshield. It was also active that means was growing with time. My dealer also said that it won't be covered under warranty. I used my insurance to get it fixe…

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Got a crack on the windshield after owning the vehicle for under 5 months. There was no apparent pebble/stone and one morning i just saw that there was a crack on the windshield. It was also active that means was growing with time. My dealer also said that it won't be covered under warranty. I used my insurance to get it fixed however it seems like this is a consistent problem with Subaru's and they are well aware of it. This is well known issue in the online Subaru groups however Subaru has done nothing to get it fixed.

NHTSA ODI #11571264

Official recalls

1

23V754000 · Power Train:driveline:driveshaft

Nov 9, 2023

Subaru of America, Inc. (Subaru) is recalling certain 2024 Crosstrek, Impreza, 2023-2024 Forester, and 2023 WRX vehicles. The front driveshaft assemblies' outer race may develop cracks and break.

Consequence & remedy

Consequence: A broken driveshaft can cause a loss of drive power while driving or vehicle rollaway when the vehicle is in park without the parking brake engaged. Either of these scenarios can increase the risk of a crash.

Remedy: Dealers will inspect and replace the left and right front driveshafts as necessary, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed January 8, 2024. Owners may contact Subaru's customer service at 1-844-373-6614. Subaru's number for this recall is WRP-23.

Model-level recall history does not show whether a particular VIN is affected or has received a repair. Check a VIN with NHTSA ↗

NHTSA investigations

0

No exact-year investigations in this snapshot.

Go deeper into Subaru Forester problems