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Subaru · NHTSA safety record

2020 Subaru Forester

Every safety complaint, recall and defect investigation the US government holds on this vehicle.

595

Complaints

26

Crashes

8

Fires

16

Injuries

0

Deaths

Owners of the 2020 Subaru Forester have filed 595 safety complaints with NHTSA between October 2019 and August 2026. The most complained-about system is visibility and the wipers, named in 252 of them (42%). The typical failure was reported at 5,800 miles, the median across the 272 complaints that gave an odometer reading.

Complaints halved year on year: 20 in the twelve months to 2026-Q1, against 49 in the twelve before.

No recall campaign was matched to this year, make and model. That is not the same as a clean vehicle: recalls are issued against production ranges, and the only reliable check is your own VIN.

What owners report

Complaints naming each system. One complaint can name several, so these add up to more than 595.

VISIBILITY/WIPER 252 42%
UNKNOWN OR OTHER 107 18%
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 99 17%
ENGINE 74 12%
VISIBILITY 49 8%
FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE 43 7%
POWER TRAIN 30 5%
VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL 24 4%
LANE DEPARTURE 22 4%
STRUCTURE 15 3%
SERVICE BRAKES 13 2%
FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM 12 2%

When the complaints arrived

By the year NHTSA received them, which is not the year the failures happened. They peaked in 2021 at 171.

2019 2021 2026
2019 to 2026, the last of them a part year

In owners' own words

Quoted from NHTSA's complaint file. These are unverified accounts by the people who filed them, not findings of fault.

SERVICE BRAKES

3 injured · crash · towed

Eyesight pre-collision braking feature and pre-collision throttle management feature malfunctioned and caused the 2020 Forester to accelerate unexpectedly and lurch forward while I was manually braking and slowing to come to a complete stop behind two other vehicles stopped at a steady red light. See class action lawsuit Weston, et al. v. Subaru of America, Inc., et al. In US District Court Case No. [XXX] which alleges that the vehicle contains certain defects that caused sudden and unintended acceleration without driver input; acceleration while manually braking; and that these defects created a safety risk, because they severely affected the driver's ability to control the car's speed,

NHTSA complaint 11599272, quoted in part. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

AIR BAGS

2 injured · crash · towed · 5,200 miles

2/17/2021 - HONDA ACCORD GOING NORTH ON LYNCHBURG TURNPIKE RAN A STOPLIGHT (GOING ABOUT 30 IN A 25 MPG ZONE) TRYING TO TURN WEST ONTO EAST MAIN ST. IN SALEM, VA ... BOUNCED OPPOSITE CURB, CUT WEST AND SWERVED (OVERSTEER) AND CAME HEAD ON INTO MY STATIONARY 2020 FORESTER. OUR LIGHT HAD JUST TURNED GREEN AND WE WERE ABOUT TO MOVE FORWARD WHEN THE HONDA CAME OUT INTO THE INTERSECTION. MY WIFE WAS DRIVING AND I WAS A PASSENGER. I WAS TAKEN TO ER AND SEEN BY SEVERAL DOCTORS AND AM UNDERGOING PT FOR THE NEXT 5 WEEKS.

NHTSA complaint 11399587. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

SERVICE BRAKES

1 injured · fire · crash · towed

Automatic braking system failed and led to a front end collision immediately a fire broke out under the hood and accelerated into the car with in minutes using a tire iron the passenger door was forced opened Air bags deployed (3) and seat belt held

NHTSA complaint 11455557. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

SERVICE BRAKES

1 injured · crash · towed · 600 miles

I WAS DRIVING MY 2020 SUBARU FORESTER SPORT IN THE LEFT LANE ALONG AN ON-RAMP TO THE HIGHWAY, WHICH CONSISTS OF A ROAD THAT CURVES TO THE RIGHT. THERE WAS SNOW ON THE GROUND BUT THE ROADS WERE CLEAR AND DRY. SUDDENLY AND IN A MATTER OF A FEW SECONDS, THE CAR BEGAN TO BEEP CONTINUOUSLY WHILE THE STEERING WHEEL VEERED TO THE LEFT AND LOCKED, AND THE ANTI-LOCK BRAKE SYSTEM KICKED IN AS I TRIED TO CORRECT THE WHEEL AND BRAKE THE CAR. I WAS SUDDENLY COMPLETELY OUT OF CONTROL OF THE VEHICLE AS THE CAR DROVE ME OFF THE ROAD AND DOWN INTO THE SNOWY MEDIAN, WHERE IT ROLLED AT LEAST ONCE BEFORE LANDING UPRIGHT. I BELIEVE THE ERROR WITH THE CAR MAY HAVE OCCURRED WITH SUBARU'S BRAND-NEW LANE CENTERING

NHTSA complaint 11289740, quoted in part. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM

fire · crash · towed

While driving my girfriend's 2020 Subaru Forester on August 11, 2026 at approximately 65 to 70 mph, I struck a deer on a highway. The airbags deployed immediately, and I temporarily lost all forward visibility due to the airbag deploy, and smoke or steam coming from the front of the vehicle as it decelerated to a stop. Within moments of stopping, smoke transitioned to visible flames coming from the engine compartment. The fire spread extremely quickly, and the vehicle became fully engulfed in flames within minutes. The specific component or system that failed is UNKNOWN, but based on the sequence of events, it appears that a front‑end structural failure during the collision may have caused

NHTSA complaint 11756381, quoted in part. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

ENGINE
My 2020 Subaru Forester Sport suffered catastrophic engine failure on 6/19/2026 at 156,322 miles, 15 days and 1,031 miles after a thermo control valve (TCV) repair performed at an authorized Subaru dealer on 6/4/2026. The TCV is a known defect covered under Subaru TSB 09-119-24 (extended coverage to 150,000 miles/15 years). I never received mailed notification of this TSB and therefore did not seek repair within the covered window; Subaru approved the repair as a goodwill exception. While driving on I-70 westbound near Genesee, CO, on a sustained mountain grade with my family in the vehicle, I heard a loud noise. The oil temperature spiked to approximately 280°F, warning lights illuminated,

NHTSA complaint 11751083, quoted in part. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
My car is violently shaking and completely stalling out in intersections when attempting to restart from an Auto-Stop.

NHTSA complaint 11750109. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
**Component or System:** Subaru EyeSight Driver Assist System (specifically the Pre-Collision Throttle Management system). **Incident Description & Warning Messages:** There were no warning lamps, messages, or symptoms of any problem prior to this failure. The incident occurred while I was stopped at a red light at a busy intersection. When the light turned green, I removed my foot from the brake and pressed the gas pedal to proceed, but the vehicle would not accelerate. The system had engaged a false-positive throttle cut. At that exact moment, the car began beeping repeatedly and the EyeSight logo flashed on the dashboard, incorrectly indicating an obstacle or imminent collision, even

NHTSA complaint 11746796, quoted in part. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

UNKNOWN OR OTHER
The thermo control valve (TCV) failed on my Forester (2020 model year). The failure first manifested on 16 June, 2026, with two warning lights: Eyesight Off, and Check Engine. Next day a related failure occurred, described below. Based on my call to dealer, the service department told me the car could be driven if the check engine light was steady, not blinking. It was steady. I then attempted to drive 3 miles to a dental appointment, intending to take the Forester to the dealer next. During this trip, automatic front braking spontaneously began. I was able to cross one lane of city traffic and lurch into a parking lot. Tested around the parking lot the next day, the same automatic braking

NHTSA complaint 11746815, quoted in part. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

ENGINE
Vehicle entered limp mode at highway speed (approximately 70 mph) on [XXX] freeway in Washington State, it felt like I had rear ended a vehicle it shut down so hard. This was due to mis diagnosed inspection and service repair from a local Subaru Dealer. Vehicle lost power rapidly, creating a dangerous safety situation. Root cause traced to TCV/PCV system defects previously documented by authorized Subaru dealers. Previous Subaru authorized dealer replaced a torn PCV hose but did not diagnose the problem causing the tear. The dash warning lights were still illuminated after the diagnostic and repair when vehicle was picked up after service. I have attached a more detailed overview of the

NHTSA complaint 11741723, quoted in part. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

Compare

Other years of the Subaru Forester

Model year Complaints Recalls Deaths
2026 15 3 —
2025 88 3 1
2024 29 2 —
2023 73 1 —
2022 95 1 —
2021 207 0 —
2019 831 3 1
2018 491 3 —
2017 581 1 —
2016 409 3 —
2015 613 3 —
2014 403 2 —
2013 77 12 —
2012 105 15 —
2011 147 16 —
2010 262 17 —

Other 2020 Subaru models

Outback 895 Ascent 318 Legacy 121 Impreza 85 Crosstrek 68 WRX 17

Every Subaru on this site — 97 vehicles, 147 recall campaigns and 1 open investigation .

If this is your car and a dealer keeps failing to fix it, your state's lemon law may require the manufacturer to replace it or buy it back. What each state asks for , read from the statutes.

Where these numbers come from

A complaint is one owner's account and has not been verified by NHTSA or by us. A vehicle with more complaints is not necessarily worse: models that sold in larger numbers collect more of them. How this is counted.

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Independent developer and analyst