2016 Subaru Forester

The defect

Subaru of America, Inc. (Subaru) is recalling certain 2015-2018 Forester vehicles equipped with heated seats. An electrical connection in the front passenger seat for the Occupant Detection System (ODS) may loosen.

The risk

If the connection loosens, the front passenger airbag may deactivate even though the seat is occupied, increasing the risk of injury to the front passenger in the event of a crash.

The remedy

Subaru will notify owners, and dealers will inspect and, as necessary, replace the ODS sensor mat harness, free of charge. The recall began February 11, 2020. Owners may contact Subaru customer service at 1-844-373-6614. Subaru's number for this recall is WUM-98.

Subaru of America, Inc. · up to 366,282 vehicles across all model years covered

The defect

Subaru of America, Inc. (Subaru) is recalling certain 2014-2016 Forester, 2008-2016 Impreza sedans, 2012-2016 Impreza station wagons, 2008-2014 WRX sedans (including STI), and 2013-2017 Crosstrek vehicles. Exposure to certain contaminants may cause the brake light switch to malfunction, preventing the brake lights from illuminating and also preventing keyless ignition vehicles from starting and CVT/automatic transmissions from being able to be shifted out of Park.

The risk

Brake lights that do not illuminate properly will not alert other drivers that the vehicle is slowing or stopping, increasing the risk of crash.

The remedy

Subaru will notify owners, and dealers will replace the brake light switch, free of charge. The recall began April 15, 2019. Owners may contact Subaru customer service at 1-844-373-6614. Subaru's number for this recall is WUE-90.

Subaru of America, Inc. · up to 1,303,530 vehicles across all model years covered

The defect

Subaru of America, Inc. (Subaru) is recalling certain model year 2015-2016 WRX vehicles manufactured April 10, 2015, to October 21, 2015, and Forester 2.0XT vehicles manufactured April 10, 2015, to October 20, 2015. The turbocharger air intake duct may crack and possibly result in an engine stall.

The risk

An engine stall increases the risk of a crash.

The remedy

Subaru will notify owners, and dealers will inspect the turbocharger air intake duct, and replace it as necessary, free of charge, depending on the lot number found on the duct. The recall began April 2016. Owners may contact Subaru customer service at 1-800-782-2783. Subaru's number for this recall is WTA-62.

Subaru of America, Inc. · up to 18,187 vehicles across all model years covered

Closed preliminary evaluation · opened August 6, 2019 · closed January 22, 2020 · led to recall 19V701000

the air bags

The Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) opened PE19-009 to investigate 51 complaints and additional Early Warning Report (EWR) data related to allegations of front passenger seat Occupant Detection System (ODS) malfunctions in model year (MY) 2016 through 2018 Subaru Forester vehicles. These vehicles use a capacitive type ODS, which is intended to classify the occupant of the passenger seat as either full-sized, small stature, a child seat or other object. The complaints reported the ODS failed to operate properly, the SRS (Supplemental Restraint System) warning light illuminated, and/or the ODS incorrectly suppressed (turned off) the front passenger air bag when the seat was occupied by a full-sized passenger. In a frontal crash that is sufficient to warrant deployment, a suppressed air bag may increase the risk of injury to the occupant of the seat.On August 14, 2019 ODI sent an Information Request (IR) to Subaru requesting information on the subject vehicles and MY 2014-2015 Subaru Forester vehicles.On October 3, 2019, Subaru submitted a Defect Information Report (DIR) to NHTSA describing a safety defect in the passenger-side front airbag Occupant Detection System (ODS) harness of 366,282 MY 2015-2018 Subaru Forester vehicles equipped with seat heaters.The DIR stated that over time, due to a decrease in contact pressure between the terminals in the ODS sensor mat harness, a temporarily unstable electrical connection may be possible. If the connection is temporarily unstable, the ODS may not properly determine the status of the right front seat occupant. If the ODS is unable to correctly determine the status of the front occupant, the airbag warning light may illuminate, and the front passenger airbag may deactivate even though the seat is occupied, increasing the risk of injury to the front passenger in the event of a crash.Using vehicle production data and field occurrence frequency, Subaru determined the potentially affected vehicle production range to be between January 20, 2015 ?and August 1, 2017.In addition, Subaru indicated that over 99 percent of the related MY 2015-2018 field reports with vehicles in the production range involved vehicles with seat heaters.NHTSA's analysis of complaint and warranty claim data showed 1,440 of the complaints and 11,672 of the claims involve vehicles with seat heaters that were built within the production range covered by Subaru's recall.In addition, NHTSA's analysis showed a complaint rate of 393.1 per hundred thousand vehicles for the recalled population and 89.0 for MY 2014 through 2018 vehicles that are not included in the recall. Analysis of warranty claim data found a claim rate of 3.2 percent for the recalled population and 0.3 percent for MY 2014 through 2018 vehicles that are not included in the recall.Subaru will instruct owners with Subaru Forester vehicles produced in the affected vehicle production range, to bring their vehicles to a dealer to have the sensor mat harness, inspected and replaced with a new part, including the seat cushion assembly, if necessary.Based on ODI's analysis, the actions taken by Subaru mitigate any unreasonable risk to safety posed by ODS sensor mat failures in the subject vehicles. For subject and peer vehicles outside the recall population and those equipped without seat heaters, ODI's analysis indicates that there is currently no safety-related defect trend. Given these circumstances, further use of the agency resources in this matter does not appear to be warranted. Accordingly, this investigation is closed.

Airbag light is now consistently lit, Has come on & off for some time. when it first happened, I went straight to the dealership & a technician placed a device under the dashboard on the driver's side & switched off the light. No mention of a recall was discussed. Because the light is on most of the time of late, I researched & discovered a recall WUM98. On further investigating I discovered that the dealership had logged the recall as COMPLETE this is not the case as the passenger seat was never checked & repairs never done. I have contacted Subaru Corporate Customer Advocacy & their email response was: "I am sorry to hear about your airbag concern for your 2016 Forester. Currently there …

NHTSA complaint 11756549, quoted in part. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

When I drove the car, All most all light on the dashboard are on onthe road, and when I stop and tried to go, the car is somewhat not controled. I immidieatly went to dealership and dignosed P2764 CVT balve problem. And they add wheel bearing is problem. Subaru noticed these problems but my 88,278 mile 2016 forester has all the lights on and it was very scared and it took 4400 dollars for fixing.

NHTSA complaint 11754563. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

2016 Subaru Forester – Replacement of Air-conditioning Condenser – July 2026 A/C was demonstrating signs of failure in early July. While researching for issues with the 2016 A/C failing, it was uncovered that the compressor on the vehicle would be subject to a replacement upon failure (Subaru Service Information Number 10-84-16). The vehicle was equipped with a compressor that reflected a recalled part number, but per Subaru the Vehicle Identification Number (VIN) was not included in the recall, The vehicle was brought in for service on July 2026. It was determined that the compressor was fine, that the issue was with the condenser. The vehicle was left for repair. More research was done on …

NHTSA complaint 11753608, quoted in part. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

SRS airbag error warning appears randomly when driving. It turns off passenger side airbags with a passenger in the seat and makes it unsafe to drive. Narrowing it down to the wiring harness seems to be an issue with a loose connection in the airbag seat sensor. Unplugging and re-plugging plus restarting the car seems to fix it at least temporarily. Others have posted about this issue online as well. No liquid has been spilled on the seat (some dealerships have accused others of this and causing the issue themselves).

NHTSA complaint 11752880. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

Problem: Recall for passenger side airbag malfunction in heated seats for my model year. Manufacturer has said they addressed the recall but they have not. My car and thousands of others are unsafe for passengers to ride in because the airbag system does not work. Warning light is the airbag symbol and message that alerts driver that SRS system is not working. Manufacturer and dealers want to charge $200 to look problem over and then tell you its off warranty. My car has 96000 miles and this has been a problem since they “did the recall”. Subaru tells owners that passenger should ride in back seat. How does that work with two car seats. Subaru needs to take responsibility for their …

NHTSA complaint 11740447, quoted in part. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

The driver's side air bags, and seatbelt restraint system deployed while the vehicle was stopped without a collision occurring. The doors had not been opened. This occurred February 10, 2026, and the vehicle was taken to the local Subaru dealership for troubleshooting. The local dealership did not find and fault and reported this to Subaru. Subaru sent a technician and reported that a gouge was present in the door jamb and that this caused the fault which reset. There was no object in the door at the time to cause a problem. This seems unlikely to me as a collision fault should have remained active according to professionals I have spoken with. The safety issue paramount to this event is as …

NHTSA complaint 11738855, quoted in part. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.