Every safety complaint, recall and defect investigation the US government
holds on this vehicle.
73
Complaints
8
Crashes
4
Fires
5
Injuries
0
Deaths
Owners of the 2023 Subaru Forester have filed 73
safety complaints with NHTSA
between March 2023 and August 2026.
The most complained-about system is forward collision avoidance,
named in 13 of them
(18%). The typical failure was reported at 6,750 miles, the median
across the 8 complaints that gave an
odometer reading.
NHTSA has issued 1 recall covering this
vehicle.
Recalls (1)
POWER TRAIN:DRIVELINE:DRIVESHAFT
23V754000 · November 9, 2023
The defect
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.
The risk
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.
The 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.
Subaru of America, Inc. · up to 4,701 vehicles across all model years covered
What owners report
Complaints naming each system. One complaint can name several, so these add
up to more than 73.
UNKNOWN OR OTHER 20 27%
FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE 13 18%
VISIBILITY/WIPER 11 15%
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 7 10%
AIR BAGS 6 8%
VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL 6 8%
ENGINE 5 7%
LANE DEPARTURE 5 7%
SERVICE BRAKES 5 7%
EXTERIOR LIGHTING 4 5%
POWER TRAIN 4 5%
SEATS 3 4%
When the complaints arrived
By the year NHTSA received them, which is not the year the failures
happened. They peaked in 2024 at 28.
2023 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.
STEERING
2 injured · crash · towed · 15,000 miles
The contact owns a 2023 Subaru Forester. The contact stated that while driving at 15-20 MPH and attempting to make a right turn into the right lane, the steering wheel failed to respond as needed and pulled to the left direction, causing the vehicle to drive over the dividing lane concrete and hit an unknown object. The contact was able to pull into a driveway partially. The air bags did not deploy. A police officer later informed the contact that the vehicle had hit another vehicle, but the other driver did not sustain injury. Triple A transported both the contact and the contact's sister, who was occupying the front passenger's seat, to the residence, and the vehicle was towed to the …
NHTSA complaint 11696075, quoted in part. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.
VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
1 injured · crash · towed · 4,500 miles
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 …
NHTSA complaint 11590008, quoted in part. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.
AIR BAGS
1 injured · crash · towed · 9,000 miles
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 …
NHTSA complaint 11600803, quoted in part. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.
LANE DEPARTURE: ASSIST
1 injured · crash · towed
I was driving on a two lane highway in the mountains and came around a small right-veering turn in the road. I straightened out the wheel to resume traveling straight, and my car’s auto-steer kicked in and pulled left into the center divider, and then right across two lanes and crashed into the side of the mountain. The auto-steer has pulled me out of lanes prior to this incident as well.
NHTSA complaint 11625984. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.
SERVICE BRAKES
I am writing to formally report a critical safety defect regarding the driver-side footwell design in my 2023 Subaru Forester Sport, which poses an immediate and severe risk of a crash. A hard plastic lower extension for the HVAC air duct sits dangerously low directly above the brake and accelerator pedals. For drivers with larger or longer feet, this duct extension acts as a physical obstruction that interferes with safe pedal operation in two specific, highly dangerous ways: Delayed Braking: When attempting to transition from the accelerator to the brake pedal, the toe of the driver's shoe frequently catches on the lip of the air duct extension, delaying the ability to depress the brake …
NHTSA complaint 11754950, quoted in part. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.
SERVICE BRAKES
Eyesight collision braking system engaged as I was rolling up my driveway to go into garage. Garage door was rolling up and was about 5 feet off the ground when Anti Collision system engaged and slammed the brakes on. I was going under 1 mph and would not have hit the door. It beeped right before brakes engaged. This is the second time it has engaged when it shouldn't have. The first time was in a right lane, a car about 6 car lengths in front of me was and did turn right as I was driving down the road. It almost caused an accident with the car behind me. The brakes slammed on so hard my back and neck are now sore and it bent my fingernail backwards somehow on the steering wheel.
NHTSA complaint 11753115. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.
POWER TRAIN
Tires are wearing badly on the inside edge only. Suspension and drive train components make noise during normal operation.
NHTSA complaint 11751388. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.
FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE
crash · towed · 15,000 miles
The contact owned a 2023 Subaru Forester. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle independently accelerated, and the Forward Collision Avoidance system was inoperative, causing the front center of the vehicle to crash into five other vehicles while trying to stop the vehicle. The air bags deployed as needed. No warning lights were illuminated. The vehicle was deemed a total loss at the scene. A Police report was filed. No injuries were sustained, and medical attention was not needed. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 15,000.
NHTSA complaint 11749571. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.
ENGINE
fire
Vehicle caught fire after oil change. Oil leaked from engine onto catalytic converter and causes catastrophic engine fire
NHTSA complaint 11743185. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.
UNKNOWN OR OTHER
This 2023 windshield can easily be chipped. It has more than 10 visible chips/cracks.
NHTSA complaint 11735674. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.
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
Complaints: NHTSA's ODI
complaint file
, published August 20, 2026. One
complaint is one ODI number, which is how NHTSA counts them.
Recalls: NHTSA's recall
campaign API
, most recent campaign filed August 12, 2026.
Investigations: NHTSA's ODI
investigation file
, published 2026-08-19.
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.
G
Compiled and maintained by guarledes Independent developer and analyst