2017 Subaru Forester

I am filing a formal complaint regarding repeated, costly, and premature failures on my 2017 Subaru Forester, as well as the outright refusal by Subaru Consumer Advocacy to provide financial relief or goodwill reimbursement. Between 2024 and 2026, reaching under 90,000 miles, I was forced to pay out-of-pocket for over $6,200 in major repairs: Rear Wheel Bearings (2024): $2,000+ for premature bearing failure. A/C Evaporator Repair (Feb 2025, ~87,000 miles): $2,000 A/C Compressor Replacement (March 2026): $2,200 following additional system breakdown. Subaru issued Service Program Bulletin WRB-21 / WRB-21R specifically acknowledging factory-defective A/C condensers in 2017 Foresters. When an A/C condenser leaks refrigerant and oil, it directly damages down-stream components, including the evaporator and compressor. Despite pointing out Service Program WRB-21 to the Subaru Consumer Advocacy group, my request for goodwill reimbursement was flatly denied.

Valve control assembly failure. A known TSB. Disables safety features of the car. Should be a recall.

TRANSMISSION LIGHT OVER HEATING COMES ON

the occupant detection system has failed for years, the subaru dealership keep temporarily fixing the problem and has finally quoted me 2,000 to completely replace the seat as that is where the sensor is located. If i get in a wreck with a passenger they will have no airbag, and i dont think the seatbelts would work either. This is a faulty part that came with the car. The ODS light is on always, the dealership confirmed this.

Within 30k miles, Front passinger control arm bushings required replacement due to bushing failure resulting in uneven tire ware. By 35k miles, the front driver lower control arm also had the same issue effecting steering and uneven tire ware.

the TGV valve metal flap screw came undone and came loose with the intake manifold. piece of metal about 1 in x 2 inch (flap) fell down to cylinder 2 intake and rubbed against the intake valve nipping pieces off and those pieces of metal along with loose screw fell chipping corner of cylinder 2 top edge. at my shop they had to replace cylinder 2 and TGV valve and rebuild the damaged cylinder head. REASON WHY I TOOK IT TO THE SHOP There was small vibrations at a idle at about 800 rpm (stationary) and already replaced the spark plug and fuel injector and it still shook little bit. since i couldn't figure out what was the issue decided to take it to a mechanic. about a week prior to dropping the car off at the mechanics I heard a metal clinking in the engine for a minute and went away. after that the Miles per gallon went from 27 down to 25 miles per gallon. before taking the car to the shop there was a warning light on cylinder 2 on my OBDII reader ( not a full check engine light). a screw shouldn't be loosening in a internal combustion engine part where if not taken care of it can detonate an engine and cost user thousands of dollars and it was not their fault. I researched on this same issue and I found few online where they were showing videos of them moving the loose part with a screw driver. Have not found any one where the part came off completely and went down into the intake valve.

On May 30, 2026, I was driving the freeway 2(Glendale Fwy) south, I was using the cruise control and driving 63 0r 68 miles. All of sudden, my car start to shaking violently, moving toward right lane, so I tried move my car back to my lane. My car was out of control and driving zig zag way then went up to hillside of the freeway and roll over end up crash on the concrete swale. I thought that was my last moment of my life. I could not move, severely injured and my car was totally damaged. The driver was driving who witnessed whole thing from behind my car, stopped and called 911. He was kindly came to me and gave me a drinking water. The mileage in my was about 68000 miles and I did maintenance as the manufacture recommended it.

I was leaving home and driving in the neighborhood when I noticed that it was a crack on my windshield and there was no damaged or debris at the time. I didn’t hear anything nor there any trees or cars that will kick up rocks or bad weather It was strange to have happened and I thought it had to be a defective windshield. I looked to see if there were a recall and it was but not for the year but it was advised to submit a complaint with NHTSA. I had a windshield inspect from Safelite and the windshield company that I used to replace the windshield and calibrate it. I spent a total of $620 in repairs

The airbag sensor in the passenger front seat has malfunctioned and it is indicating that the passenger airbag will not deploy. This is after the recall that was completed on the ODS from service campaign 19V701000.

The airbag warning light for the front passenger seat has been intermittently lighting. Both when the passenger seat is occupied and vacant. The light sometimes indicates the passenger airbag is off when there is a passenger in the seat. I took the car to the Subaru dealer where I purchased the vehicle.. Per the dealership service report: “SCANNED CODES AND FOUND CODE B1760 STORED IN BODY CONTROL MODULE REGARDING THE PASSENGER FRONT SEAT BOTTOM. RECOMMEND REPLACEMENT DUE TO A FAULTY OCCUPANT DETECTION SENSOR.” This car was recalled several years ago regarding the passenger seat airbag sensor issue. The car was serviced per the recall. This car has not been in an accident. The car has approximately 70,000 miles which were driven primarily by me. The front passenger seat was occupied less than 25 percent of the time. There was never anything spilled on the seat. The seat was not used to transport anything other than a passenger. The dealer service department now wants $1566.79 to fix this issue. I contend that recall did not fix the issue correctly and I should not be charged for a faulty part or design that was not properly remedied the first time. The dealer will not resolve the issue and has referred me to corporate Subaru. I have contacted Subaru and am awaiting a response. Case # 260818-1700931. This is a safety issue that Subaru needs to address immediately.

Airbag sensor does not work. It is not activated when someone sits in the passenger seat. This was recalled in other Subaru Foresters but for some reason our specific vin number is not eligible for repair.

My 2017 Subaru Forester is experiencing the exact component failure and severe safety hazard outlined in NHTSA Recall 19V-701 (Subaru Campaign WUM-98R). The front passenger seat Occupant Detection System (ODS) is failing continuously, which illuminates the "Passenger Airbag Off" indicator and completely deactivates the front passenger airbag safety restraint system even when an adult is securely seated. Because my specific VIN was omitted from the recall population list, my local Subaru dealership refused to perform the recall repair, stating no active campaign exists for my vehicle. As a result, I have driven this vehicle for over a year with a completely disabled, non-functioning passenger airbag system. Upon researching the technical service bulletins for WUM-98R, my vehicle perfectly matches all manufacturing, model year, and component criteria for the defective occupant detection wiring harness. The omission of my VIN from this safety campaign is an error that has left a severe, life-threatening manufacturing defect unaddressed. I am filing this complaint to urge the NHTSA to investigate VIN exclusions for this campaign and force an expansion of Recall 19V-701 to protect impacted consumers.