Subaru Forester

"The display screen and infotainment controls (volume, on/off, etc) would freeze after the car was in operation for 1 hour and 25 minutes, regardless of whether the system was in use or not or what features were in use. The only way to regain control was to shut the vehicle off (engine, etc.) and restart the vehicle."

"Within first yr of ownership required unit/radio be completely replaced and was replaced w/ a refurbished unit(I was specifically told it was not new. Sirius radio frequently spontaneously jumps from one station to another and touchscreen is unresponsive, usually until I turn off car and turn back on"

"Navigation screen periodically freezes up or switches from one screen distance level to another or from one direction orientation to another."

"The infotainment system is not very user friendly. Sometimes I can control it through voice activation, most of the time I can't. Sirius XM froze, screen unresponsive until I stopped and restarted the car."

"Same problem as with radio"

"Screen will freeze and become unresponsive. Often you have to restart the car. This is unfeasible when you're on the highway and puts the driver and passenger at risk because they suddenly won't have any navigation and will drive miles the wrong direction until they can pull over and restart the engine. I want to love this car so much but Subaru's glitches really make it difficult and I don't feel safe even commuting in it."

"The Subaru Forester top of the line full loaded expensive vehicle is excellent in general. The customer service is terrible. They do not return phone calls, send out recall notices and do not follow up. Their service department is incompetent. I have brought back five times for the same problem a never working voice system and a malfunctioning GPS system. Compared to Volvo or Toyota-previous top of the line vehicles-Subaru is inept."

"The infotainment system in this car is horrendous. The software is ugly, slow, and hard to use. It constantly freezes for seconds at a time after you input something on the screen. Bluetooth pairing is hit or miss and often we have to manually select "connect" on the car touchscreen. The companion smartphone app is basically unusable."

"I wasn’t going to mention anything, but you wanted some- thing in the Subaru column. It’s not that the screen freezes It is just hard for me to work with and figure it out. Too much time my eyes are away from the road."

"i did not have this problem before they replaced by nonfunctioning unit with a refurbished one, but now I do. Luckily, from what i can tell from online owners with same problem, mine always resolves if i turn off the car and turn it back on"

"4 or 5 times when brand new. Has not happened recently (last 6 months)."

"The display screen (and therefore the controls of the sound system) regularly freezes up. Sometimes restarting my iPhone clears the problem, but sometimes I have to stop the vehicle to turn off, and then turn back on the ignition to clear the problem. Dealer service manager reported problem was common but Subaru not addressing it."

"Hard to describe how flawed the entertainment screen is.. Barely touch the volume control and it randomally select another station and sometimes continually changes station. Randomally make calls from cell phones; often have to turn off cell phone to stop random dialing of numbers. Sometimes screen freezes without any user interaction. Want to change time; watch one of the many youtube videos produced by consumers to help with this problem. Dealer said they system is a proble which has redeisgned in the latest version"

"It is not really blank, one cannot read the MPH & RPM screen when it is very bright outside; i.e. one's speed is not available! The screen is shielded and has an inadequate light. The other screen (centered) is bright and clear."

"Takes forever to link, sometimes fails at start up"

"Same as before. The car does not have CarPlay which makes it USELESS and I wish I never bought it I should have bought a Toyota."

"The radio would not work at all. No music no phone etc. The only way to get it to work was to stop the car, turn off the motor and restart."

"Multitude of problems: * User interface is not intuitive - old fashioned, clunky * Apple Car play not available - it was on the 2018 Outback * Does not sync with my iPhone consistently - wants to keep playing same songs * Hard to find music on phone because the interface is too distracting when driving * Voice commands not always recognized * Bluetooth drops"

"When I start up the car, the bluetooth connects to my phone and plays random music, usually songs my kid loaded onto my phone in 2013 when he was in middle school. It also sometimes tries to connect to Pandora, which I don't have a subscription to. I've also had problems with the usb ports-- power goes in and out and I'm not able to charge my phone."

"in car audio is very bad overall. Speaker quality is so bad it will make you turnoff the sound system. (My base 2012 Camry has a better system) B/T pairing phone of more than 1 phone is confusing, full of interference and provides bad recption(at best). Phone software gets confused with more than 1 phone is paired- accepting phone calls on onedevice while playing music on speakers with the other-during phonr calls. So bad we purchased Bose phone device to use whilr driving(business vehicle)."

"After several trips to the auto dealer and months of waiting for a fix, Subaru finally replaced the head unit in an attempt to fix the problem with it freezing."

"Subaru tech tried to help, but said there is no update on 2018 model, for which the GPS navigation has been discontinued. The GPS does not correct for where you are but wants driver to continually go back to start. This is the only reason I have to turn in the car after lease. There is also a recall having to do with the front passenger airbag. Due to corona lockdown I have not been able to have it corrected yet, but it is not affecting the cars performance, which is overall excellent."

"Navigation system is often wrong. Has told me to turn right when my destination is visible on the left. Doesn't give freeway exit name, just exit numbers which aren't always visible. Doesn't give the shortest or most direct route. Worst nav system I've ever had in any car I owned. Waste of my money."

"The vehicle navigation system did not work properly from the first day I bought the car. It repeatedly lost the signal needed to navigate. After trying to correct the problem for months, I used my iPhone's navigation system, which was more reliable."

"Problem started about 1 month after buying it. It would lose contact with satellite, and locate the vehicle somewhere near where I was, and would continually recalculate the route to try to get me to my destination. It has been intermittent, working for several miles, then going crazy again. Took several tries before it acted up at the dealer's, so they didn't believe us for weeks. They are about to replace the radio, which they said would fix it. NOTE: Both our subarus do this, so we will have to go through this again with the other one."

"The GPS system provides many unreliable directions, at times is just completely stops functioning, the maps are out of date, the verbal warns of traffic jams are totally inept, the dealer and company's position is that many of these are up to either suplliers or me to correct."

"The GPS is the worst I've ever seen on a vehicle. An alarm blares if it thinks you're speeding-- unfortunately the data is so outdated, it doesn't know the actual speed limit. The map information is completely antiquated and I suspect they are using street information nearly a decade old. This street doesn't exist anymore, there's a street over there now, that's not the speed limit, you can't go that way down a one way street. Honestly had we any idea it would be this awful, we'd seriously have reconsidered. Bait and switch, it felt like. Did we really pay $35k for a car with non-functional GPS?"

"The Subaru Forester top of the line full loaded expensive vehicle is excellent in general. The customer service is terrible. They do not return phone calls, send out recall notices and do not follow up. Their service department is incompetent. I have brought back five times for the same problem a never working voice system and a malfunctioning GPS system. Compared to Volvo or Toyota-previous top of the line vehicles-Subaru is inept."

"The GPS shows the vehicle at least two streets west of the actual location of the vehicle. It is an intermittent problem which is caused by the Nav system not picking up two of the 5 satelites."

"The GPS system uses TOM TOM software and has been consistently wrong with location accuracy. Even locations that are established have been incorrectly mapped"

"The car is located about 150 feet behind its actual position. This results in instructions to turn after passing the intersection."

"It refused to book a route of more than about 150 miles, forcing me to book the trip in segments. For the most part it eventully resolved itself. However, in general I occasionally have problems programming it in that it won't recognize standard, well known streets or addresses. It's also difficult to select alternate routes if, for example, you want to drive around a city rather than through it."

"Starlink is horrible.. The GPS did not have names of streets, cannot be used in Canada, would direct me to incorrect/extensive routes, would black out in some areas. Subaru bought me a Garmin to replace the Starlink navigation system, and will no longer have Starlink in their vehicles"

"maps are not updated. GPS stops fiuncting from time to time. GPS gives wrong directions. inacurate traffic jam warnings. some inability to locate addresses"

"The accuracy of the GPS system is so unreliable I don’t use it. Instead I use Google Maps on my iPhone for directions."

"Excessively alerts Traffic Jam Ahead. Probably correct less than 20% of the time."

"Indash system was replaced FIVE times in this past year and STILL isn't working properly. One time, the dealer replaced it with a different broken system. Does not give accurate location, out of date maps, thinks the car is located elsewhere. Constant problems."

"When searching for a destination, the icon allowing one to find an address disappears. One has to stop the car, shut down the engine and all electrical systems, then reboot and restart the car to restore the icon. Very annoying on the highway (yes, there's a passenger using the NAV system)."

"We have been experiencing a malfunction in the GPS since we took possession of the vehicle. The GPS will intermittently show that we are travelling several streets west of our actual location The satellite continues to cycle to find our actual location. Sometimes it works, but most of the time it does not. It is an intermittent issue. It has been into the dealership on at least 6 or 7 occasions. They have replaced the antennae, wiring, and the entire unit, but they still can’t find the problem."

"Have only seen it once, by accident. Can't get to it, and dealership won't provide a tutorial."

"There is static in the connection. When the dealer paired a phone to it, they didn't replicate the static. Now, when I make calls, it partially drops to my phone, but if I tell it to do that and then transfer back to the vehicle, it resumes connectivity. Incoming calls have not flaked out that way, and are not nearly as static-y. Some of the static relates to direction of travel...I think. With staying home, it isn't pressing to get fixed right now. It is an irritant, not a major issue."

"Works intermittently and when it works, it is very slow to initiate, particularly voice commands."

"Once phone is paired, in many instances will not be paired next time I use car, causing me to have to go through unreasonably complex pairing process again."

"pairing is dropped unexpectedly. The problem will be checked by a dealer."

"For several months, I was not able to use the hands-free phone option"

"Sometimes you can't hear the other person on a call, or they can't hear you."

"Phone randomly connects and dials even when phone is not being used and put away. This is a safety issue when driving"

"Pandora comes on at random times even when not selected. Actually takes over all phone source options (wired and bluetooth). Phone calls distrupt the Starlink app, e.g., Magellan Navigation, and it cannot return to what it was doing."

"The pairing is inconsistent with respect to how long the pairing takes place."

"The microphone for picking up my voice is terrible. People have difficulty hearing me when I use the bluetooth connection,and trying to dictate text messages almost never gives an accurate transcription. I've asked the dealer twice about it with no resolution."

"Poor sound, difficulty pairing with iPhone, poor speaker quality....constant problems over the past year"

"For some reason, the Bluetooth pairing does not work on a continuous basis. When I answer a call I am unable to hear the party. I am able to call the party back using my Phone and bypass the Bluetooth."

"The system sometimes refuses to disconnect one of our two iPhones in order to connect with the other one"

"The ^%$# radio does not have CarPlay, it has some obsolete "Link" something that is useless and "not possible to update or exchange" the Subaru guys say. Basically, tough luck buddy. You bought a Forester without CarPlay and with the *&^( crappy useless one that will not work with any of today's smart phones."

"Failure to change stations. Have to turn off the radio, sometimes the ignition, to get it to respond"

"Built-in Harmon-Kardon radio and sound system began making deafening popping and static noises after about a year in use. Dealership reset, but I now notice unpleasant distortion in sound from the radio/Sirius part of this system."

"Display system overly complicated, super sensitive and prone to randomly change stations. This also applies to other items in electronic display. One should expect this since manfacturer provided 5 separate manuals which cover electronics. The also contradict each other on particular topic. Not sure who designed this system but it is a mess"

"The radio had an issue where it just stopped playing any sources. It was an issue with the firmware and required a replacement be put in."

"The radio screen would not display the backup cameraoutput"

"It cuts out intermittently on AM, FM & Satellite."

"Ongoing intermittent fluctuations in volume."

"radio would not change channels"

"Sometimes unable to switch between AM/FM and Satellite radio stations; radio sometimes freezes."

"The volume control self adjusts. It was explained that this was a feature but we had all the settings changed to NOT auto adjust and it still does it -- whether the car is running or not. Extremely annoying going from level chosen then can barely hear it and then loud again. Frustrating is understatement."

"syrius radio stopped working..entire system had to be replaced and I lost use of the car for 2 days"

"has sirius xm radio, stopped working, in the shop for several days, finally had to replace whole radio unit, and it became clear that it was not replace with a NEW unit, but rather a refurbished unit (was still logged into sirius under previous owner) and subaru repair corrected me when i said new radio. Still freezes but works"

"I can not tune more than 1 AM station and more than 1 FM station.. I can not turn the radio ON or OFF while the car was just turned on but is NOT moving--and once moving it becomes distracting. This is built into the system. My 2002 Subaru still works perfectly."

"HD radio very seldom get clear transmission from source. worse radio I have ever owned in any vehicle. I have owned 67 vehicles in my life!"

"The sirius radio needed a software update"

"Blue tooth and I phone did not connect to one another. Very poor user UNFRIENDLY"

"It is extremely difficult to adjust the clock setting. The rear hatch door would not open once. I have to go to the dealer to get the clock adjusted. The location of the hatchback switches is problematic."

"The actual fuel consumption is approx one litre per 100 kms greater that shown by the readouts. I have not bothered to have it fixed."

"subaru is either unable or unwilliong to prvide software updates"

"The front right door panel speaker began distortion or the emitted sound after about two days of ownership! Dealer ordered and replaced the defective speaker and that resolved the problem! Sound system sounds great ever since!"

"Complex safety features include vehicle steering itself back into the lane when crossing a line and/or applying brakes when approaching another vehicle on cruise control. These are at first alarming when they engage on smaller winding roads and we disengage the features when not on a major highway."

"Just bad, long, I use siri, it is twice as fast"

"Often doesn't recognize my voice. Commands are not always logical. Most take too many steps so I have to stop and do it manually."

"Inconsistent."

"They are terrible. Basically unusable so we don't use them at all. I was hoping for a software update but there apparently hasn't been on."

"You must repeat commands multiple times, and sometimes just give up..because the system can't decipher your instructions."

"Very seldom does it recognize the name I am asking to call."

"Car cannot understand wife or I very well. Have to repeat when calling hands free. Our 2015 Scion xB was perfect in this area."

"The voice recognition is so poor I’ve given up using it"

"It probably works just fine--but I can't get the dealership to show me how to use it."

"On a long distance trip from Virginia to Florida in January, we noted that we could not get any cooling in the vehicle cab. We called a dealer in our destination city (Orlando), took it in and it was repaired quickly and at no charge since the car was still in warranty. We were extremely happy with the Subaru dealer, and the prompt service. They even provided us with a car so we could enjoy our vacation in Orlando."

"Air compressor quit work, was under warranty and was fixed"

"Had three problems with A/C each time quit working. Subaru fixed each time. Should not have happened to a new car"

"Dealer fixed problem"

"Compressor failed. Warranty covered the repair. Even less confidence in the vehicle."

"The AC would not provide cool air even when on the lowest setting."

"AC compressor would intermittently stop causing AC to blow warm versus cool air. Dealer replaced compressor, problem solved."

"Same car, same question. I do not know why I am getting two questions, since I only own one 2018 Forester"

"The AC compressor died. When it died, both AC and the heater died too. The AC compressor was replaced by the dealer under warranty, no cost at all. The dealer told me the company that made the failed AC compressor is no longer a supplier to Subaru due to high failure rate. The dealer said the new AC compressor came from a different manufacturer."

"Subaru replaced the system at no cost to us, but we were disappointed and inconvenienced to have this happen. We've owned many Subarus and never had anything like this happen before."

"Some 2018 Foresters, including mine, were sold even though Subaru and dealers knew the compressor was defective! Of course, I only learned about this recently. Subaru offered free replacement. However, for Subaru to knowingly sell defective cars is qualitatively like Boeing knowingly selling defective planes. I no longer would choose a Subaru. I actually preferred my RAV4, but thought Subaru was a safer car. It wasn't. Just doesn't report defects."

"A/C stopped producing cold air. Dealer replaced compressor next day!"

"The Air Conditioner stopped working. It took the service people several days to figure out that there was a leak in the system and it was not retaining the necessary fluid. In the meantime it was miserable driving in 100 degree temps."

"Does not heat car efficiently in winter. Local dealer checked car and denies any problem"

"Air conditioning would not function. Heat was fine."

"Fan relay failed in minus 20 degrees weather."

"My air conditioning only blew out hot air. Was fixed in Aprilans world but this week again only hot so have an appointment"

"Started in 2019. Lakes out refrigerant and had to be replaced"

"AC stopped working ( blowing hot air) in middle of summer, while on vacation. Dealer change the part and recharged AC, under warranty."

"Started in March/April 2020. No cold air, only heat every time I turned on the air. I had to keep the windows rolled down w/ warm/hot air blowing into the SUV for circulation. In May, it was fixed for free under warranty. It has run perfectly since then."

"Condenser developed a leak and all refrigerant was lost. Subaru replace on warranty."

"AC just stopped working. Car is still under warranty. I brought into dealer and they diagnosed leak in condenser. Condenser is on order and they will schedule appointment to install when it arrives."

"Don't really have anything to say. We weren't even aware that it was bad, we just knew the car wasn't cooling."

"Same as condenser."

"In a very cold winter day the heater does not produce enough hot heat to keep the car warm. Compared to my other car it does not seem to do the job."

"Does not heat car in winter"

"very little heat when temperatures are below -15 deg. C"

"The warm air duct going to the front passenger feet does not deliver warm air. All the air goes to the face and it is very uncomfortable. My husand took it to Dunning Subaru in Ann Arbor, MI to have it check. They could not fix it. He asked: Is this a design defect? They said yes. In cold days we use our 15-year old Ford Ranger."

"Air conditioning began to lose cooling power, although I'm not sure how sudden it was because it began during cooler weather. Eventually, the air in A/C mode was the same temperature and humidity as the air outside. Brought it to the dealership and they fixed it under warranty. I believe they said that the refrigerant had leaked out, although I don't remember from where in the system it leaked. A/C has worked well since the repair and I now live in a region where I use it regularly."

"The air conditioner does not cool. I am assuming that it is due to a leak, but I have not had it checked out."

"cold air didn't come from the a/c. Dealer fixed it under warrantee."

"Started 3 weeks ago. Filled with refrigerant w/dye to trace leak. Taking it back to have checked again next week."

"2 bad o-rings in refrigerant line."

"This was just park of the condenser failure."

"everything the airbag warning light came on nobody was in seat. The recall part are now in to repair"

"The warning signal would not stop until I buckled the seatbelt on the passenger seat. Took the car in and they could not find anything wrong. They thought it might be because it may have gotten wet from a wet umbrella. There was an earlier incident when I had a watermelon on the seat and the warning sound continued, but went away once the watermelon was removed. The seatbelt warning happens periodically still, usually when it is very rainy, even when I am very careful not to get it wet. I just have to buckle the seatbelt. Of course, if someone is sitting in the chair and is buckled up there is not problem with the signal."

"Recall of passenger side airbag due to wiring harness problem beneath the seat."

"part of the airbag warning malfunction recall"

"Recall on passenger air bag light that would show "OFF" even when passenger was in seat."

"This is part of a Subaru recall. They are aware of it. My passenger seat belt alarm would chime even when no one or nothing was on the seat. It was an intermittent problem. Still waiting to hear from Subaru about a fix."

"Problem with airbag sensor in front passenger seat. Passenger airbag was disabled even with adult passenger in seat. Seat cushion and sensor replaced twice (Subaru recall / no cost). Subaru gave us a loaner vehicle for one month in Oct 2018 while waiting for replacement parts."

"Passenger airbag light would say it was off when someone was seated thete"

"front passenger sensor indicated error. Airbag may not be enable. Passenger may not have airbag."

"iSight cannot distinguish road ice treatment (chemical strips) from lane lines. Reacts to tar patch strips in road, when wet, like lane lines also. Reacts to narrow lanes on winding roads as if departing lanes."

"works some time, sometime not"

"some tim it works, some time no."

"A bird deposit caused the Eyesight system to malfunction. I WANT TO EMPHASIZE THAT MY SUBARU AGENCY HAS ALWAYS BEEN VERY HELPFUL AND ARE DOING THEIR BEST. This causes many of the driver-assist functions to malfunction or to signal problems. The problem has been recurring with increasing frequency. At present the car has been in the shop for three weeks while they try various software and hardware solutions."

"Airbag sensor in passenger front seat not working properly. Also had to do with seat heater sensor (front passenger seat not heating or would barely heat). Sensor replaced with new under warranty."

"SRS light came on intermittently indicating that passenger airbag was not operating properly. Sensor/seat cushion assembly was replaced under warranty. No problems since repair."

"The blind spot/rear cross-traffic sensors stopped operating after a car washing this winter. When they resumed working after a couple of weeks, they weren't working properly and eventually the dealer was able to fix the problem by resetting the system."

"The rear voew warmomg system failed to operate twice in the past 3 months. The first time, the mechanic could not replicate the problem. The second time, we have photo of the message light showing the system had failed."

"The passenger seat airbag sensor malfunctioned and I couldn't have passengers until it was replaced because it wasn't sensing passengers correctly. I was told that any electronic devices put in the seat could cause this. So you can't put purses with phones or bags with laptops or tablets and such in the seat."

"Faulty sensor in the passenger seat, Was provided a loaner car until the seat assembly could be replaced."

"In v very cold weather, Eyesight does not function at all. Once the car warms up. Eyesight functions normally"

"It does not work in rain, or snow, or cold, or heat. In other words, it does not work when one might actually need it."

"All the areas in the previous page were discussed in the prior response. We are so sorry to have purchased the Eyesight package. It was a mistake."

"The eyesight package is unacceptable. There are four buttons on the dash related to lane movement. The many manuals total 1,129 pages and include any and all car models. Impossible to utilize easily or at all.the car automatically has buttons for AHA, Sirius, call Subaru for mechanical questions, call for emergencies, cell phone usage - none of which we have or will use. A total waste of dash space and distractions. Also, the many buttons are beyond being a distraction. Oh, we also get irregular warning beeps when we are within the lanes and nobody is around our car. No idea what they mean. And the cruise control is impossible to adjust easily if you want to increase or decrease your set speed. Finally, we will never willingly purchase the Eyesight package again. I turn off all the beeping controls when I start driving the car. Summary, the Eyesight package is more distracting to adjust when driving than using a cell phone or pulling on lipstick!"

"About one month ago, when the car was eleven months old, the lane departure warning signal began to go off when I was not crossing a lane. Also, the dashboard light began to intermittently inform me that the system was not operating. I am going to the dealer soon and will ask that they check this on their computer."

"Stopped working."

"Sensor in front passenger seat failed, so passenger airbag was turned off when driving with passenger. Car was at the dealer for a month waiting for replacement seat cushion w/ sensor; Subaru provided a loaner car."

"not operational during bad weather when the car needed most. Visual sensor could not operate properly in incremental weather."

"swing the car from side to side abruptly instead of keeping the car in the middle of the lane."

"Sensor in passenger seat was faulty"