In-car Electronics
CD or DVD players, radio, speakers, GPS, communication system (e.g., OnStar), display screen freezes or goes blank, phone pairing (e.g. Bluetooth), voice control commands, steering wheel controls, portable music device interface (e.g., iPod/MP3 player), backup or other camera/sensors.
What Owners Say
"Sometimes, CarPlay connection is dropped and cannot be added back in until the engine is shut off for several minutes. This occurs even if cell service is available."
Anonymous, CA (2020 Subaru Forester Sport 2.5-L 4 Cyl)"I have an iPhone 5 and was told online and by voice from Subaru that it would pair and work well with the 2020 Forester's Bluetooth, Apple CarPlay, and phone calling system. It has not, and after many hours of taking it back and forth to the dealer, being on the phone with Subaru, and troubleshooting online, I had to give up on my phone and purchase an iPhone 8 to make the electronics work in the car without problems. It's still not working well as the phone calls are staticky and unclear while driving and using both CarPlay or Bluetooth."
Anonymous, CA (2020 Subaru Forester Standard 2.5-L 4 Cyl)"Sometimes the screen doesn't display a change in radio station or a flip between different modes, like media"
Anonymous, VA (2020 Subaru Forester Limited 2.5-L 4 Cyl)"On a thumb drive, it sorts the mp3 tracks alphabetically and plays them in that order. You have to browse repeatedly to hear them in the order they appear on the drive. Repeated browsing is quite unsafe, because it takes your eyes off the road and one of your hands off the wheel. This problem has not been resolved. I contacted Subaru about it."
Anonymous, AZ (2020 Subaru Forester Premium 2.5-L 4 Cyl)"The car sometimes, but not always, turns on my phone's Pandora app when I have not asked it to. When I turn it off at that moment, the car turns it back on almost immediately. The only solution I found so far, that works only sometimes, is to turn the radio on and off."
Anonymous, OH (2020 Subaru Forester Premium 2.5-L 4 Cyl)"Bad head unit discovered weeks after purchase. Replacement covered under warranty. Screen flickered, showed weird colors and poor resolution. Main engine battery also went bad and was replaced under warranty."
Anonymous, (2020 Subaru Forester Limited 2.5-L 4 Cyl)"Two screens that switch automatically. One does not recognize me. The system keeps dropping the regular phone (not Android)."
Anonymous, (2020 Subaru Forester Touring 2.5-L 4 Cyl)"Faulty front USB port"
Anonymous, (2020 Subaru Forester Touring 2.5-L 4 Cyl)"Two problems. GPS had a blank screen, no map and frozen location. Second problem couldn't connect to Starlink. Started a week after we took delivery, and it took nearly a month, and 3 or 4 dealer visits to resolve. Ended up replacing GPS unit and another part relating to Starlink."
Anonymous, MA (2020 Subaru Forester Limited 2.5-L 4 Cyl)"While doing the map database update, the AC timed out and the firmware locked. The car was in the dealership service dept. three days to resolve."
Anonymous, CA (2020 Subaru Forester Limited 2.5-L 4 Cyl)"Was not able to control voice commands our phone would not pair up correctly"
Anonymous, MN (2020 Subaru Forester Premium 2.5-L 4 Cyl)"Same problems that I described with Apple CarPlay."
Anonymous, CA (2020 Subaru Forester Standard 2.5-L 4 Cyl)"The system keeps dropping the non-Android (non-plug-in) phone."
Anonymous, (2020 Subaru Forester Touring 2.5-L 4 Cyl)"Sometimes freezes or drops CarPlay when switching between sources (radio, CD player, CarPlay) using controls on the steering wheel."
Anonymous, CA (2020 Subaru Forester Sport 2.5-L 4 Cyl)"Radio unit was bad; no phone paring possible. Dealer replaced radio unit."
Anonymous, CA (2020 Subaru Forester Premium 2.5-L 4 Cyl)"Sometimes when I turn on the car the radio doesn't come on right away. I move among the channels until I hear one."
Anonymous, VA (2020 Subaru Forester Limited 2.5-L 4 Cyl)"New car was lacking software updates. Should have been checked before it was handed over."
Anonymous, NB (2020 Subaru Forester Sport 2.5-L 4 Cyl)
"Hard to pair to the car"
Anonymous, MN (2020 Subaru Forester Premium 2.5-L 4 Cyl)