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2016 Subaru Forester Problems and Recalls
Owners filed 415 complaints with NHTSA about the 2016 Subaru Forester, most often about the air bags (24% of complaints, typically around 40,000 miles). It is 6th of 27 Forester model years by number of complaints and has 3 recalls.
Most common 2016 Subaru Forester problems
Air bags
99 complaints · 24%Half of these problems showed up before 40,000 miles. Parts named most often: sensor, frontal, srs malfunction warning lamp/light.
Subaru is knowingly building its cars with faulty passenger side air bag sensors which will randomly turn off the air bag while the passenger seat is occupied under normal life driving conditions. It is in the 2016 and 2017 owners manual that if there is a cell phone or electrical device in the front area of the car…
The contact owns a 2016 Subaru Forester. The contact stated that the air bar warning indicator illuminated. The vehicle was taken to brunswick Subaru (2992 center rd, brunswick, oh 44212, ([phone]) where it was diagnosed that the bottom seat sensor needed to be replaced. The repair would cost $1,200. The vehicle was…
Electrical
93 complaints · 22%Half of these problems showed up before 40,000 miles. Parts named most often: 12v/24v/48v battery, ignition, instrument panel.
The key will not come out of the ignition after car has been driven and car is parked. The first time was saturday,august 1. Since then, it has been happening about once every other day for five days. Now it is happening at least once every day.
Key often will not rotate to the lock position so the key may be removed after vehicle iis stopped. The transmission is set for park and the parking brake is also set at the time. This happens regularly now and has been for over a month. At times, I've been successful when rotating the key to start and turn off the…
Other or unspecified
69 complaints · 17%Half of these problems showed up before 39,500 miles.
Have been unable to get key out of ignition about 1/2 the time after I turned the car off and have it in park. And has happened off and on over the last few months.
The eyesight has turned off several times recently and won't turn back on until I stop and restart car. I have had the car for 3.5 years and this has never happened before. There was no sunlight and very light mist this last time. There was nothing blocking the eyesight camera at all. This is not the safety feature…
Engine
60 complaints · 14%Half of these problems showed up before 42,000 miles.
My 2016 Subaru Forester has twice experienced a sudden engine stall while cruising at approx. 70 MPH when the fuel was low. In both cases the low fuel warning light was not on and the vehicle showed fuel in the tank with fuel range of 70-100 miles. In both cases once the car was stopped it started again and ran…
I was driving down a highway going up a bridge over the mississippi river at about 65mph when a bunch of lights came on and my engine completely stopped. I could not accelerate at all and I had to switch from the left-hand lane to the right -hand lane to get onto the shoulder. This was an extremely unsafe condition.my…
Transmission
51 complaints · 12%Half of these problems showed up before 44,500 miles. Parts named most often: manual transmission.
On semi-slick patches of road, the 2016 Forester drivetrain wreaks havoc on the control systems and steering causing the vehicle to violently break right or left requiring hard steering to steer forward. Passengers suffer motion sickness; it is that bad. While other traffic (e.g., semi-trucks, gravel haulers, 20+ foot…
2 separate incidents of complete engine power loss while on highway at cruising speeds. First incident occurred while the vehicle was going about 70mph on a highway. We heard a loud bang then engine died and we lost all power to the car. There was a lot of smoke but we were able to coast it to the shoulder of the…
Speed control
37 complaints · 9%Half of these problems showed up before 17,500 miles. Parts named most often: accelerator pedal.
At low speed (under 15 MPH) a hesitation occurs causing the vehicle to loose acceleration power for as long as 3 or 4 seconds. It is an intermittent problem occurring only 8 times in three months. Problem almost caused a collision while turning left before oncoming traffic. Later recurrences produced the same problem…
I was preparing to park my car ,in the parking lot of the giant parking lot my foot was on the brake and the car was almost at a complete stop when the car suddenly accelerated . Upon acceleration, the car hit the steel construction unit that is built to store the customer shopping carts and dragged this forward…
Brakes
29 complaints · 7%Half of these problems showed up before 32,000 miles.
During periods of heavy rain, the vehicle appears to suffer major electrical issues. Since february of 2018, my vehicle has reported problems after a major storm with the eyesight camera system, ABS, hill assist, and fuel gauge. Fyi-eyesight includes the dynamic cruise control, crash avoidance, and lane monitoring…
While getting ready to slow for a traffic light red signal the ABS light came on including the need to tow the vehicle. I got the vehicle to a parking lot about 1 mile away with the warning light still on and the vehicle slowed to about 2 miles per hour until I stopped. I shut off the vehicle and restarted it, the ABS…
Fuel system
24 complaints · 6%Half of these problems showed up before 44,000 miles.
My 2016 Subaru Forester has twice experienced a sudden engine stall while cruising at approx. 70 MPH when the fuel was low. In both cases the low fuel warning light was not on and the vehicle showed fuel in the tank with fuel range of 70-100 miles. In both cases once the car was stopped it started again and ran…
While driving on the highway with cruise control on, 2016 Forester engine revved while also losing power and the lights on the dash lit up. I pulled over to the side of the highway with the car still running, I shut the car off. After a few minutes, the engine started fine but the car still had no power. Was towed to…
Complaints are owner reports to NHTSA, not verified defects. One complaint can name several components, so shares add up to more than 100%.
2016 Subaru Forester recalls
Air bags: occupant classification
Risk: If the connection loosens, the front passenger airbag may deactivate even though the seat is occupied, increasing the risk of injury to the front passenger in the event of a crash.
Fix: Subaru will notify owners, and dealers will inspect and, as necessary, replace the ods sensor mat harness, free of charge. The recall began february 11, 2020. Owners may contact subaru customer service at 1-844-373-6614. Subaru's number for this recall is wum-98.
Full defect summary
Subaru of america, inc. (subaru) is recalling certain 2015-2018 forester vehicles equipped with heated seats. An electrical connection in the front passenger seat for the occupant detection system (ods) may loosen.
Lights: switch
Risk: Brake lights that do not illuminate properly will not alert other drivers that the vehicle is slowing or stopping, increasing the risk of crash.
Fix: Subaru will notify owners, and dealers will replace the brake light switch, free of charge. The recall began april 15, 2019. Owners may contact subaru customer service at 1-844-373-6614. Subaru's number for this recall is wue-90.
Full defect summary
Subaru of america, inc. (subaru) is recalling certain 2014-2016 forester, 2008-2016 impreza sedans, 2012-2016 impreza station wagons, 2008-2014 wrx sedans (including sti), and 2013-2017 crosstrek vehicles. Exposure to certain contaminants may cause the brake light switch to malfunction, preventing the brake lights from illuminating and also preventing keyless ignition vehicles from starting and CVT/automatic transmissions from being able to be shifted out of park.
Engine: turbo/supercharger
Risk: An engine stall increases the risk of a crash.
Fix: Subaru will notify owners, and dealers will inspect the turbocharger air intake duct, and replace it as necessary, free of charge, depending on the lot number found on the duct. The recall began april 2016. Owners may contact subaru customer service at 1-800-782-2783. Subaru's number for this recall is wta-62.
Full defect summary
Subaru of america, inc. (subaru) is recalling certain model year 2015-2016 wrx vehicles manufactured april 10, 2015, to october 21, 2015, and forester 2.0xt vehicles manufactured april 10, 2015, to october 20, 2015. The turbocharger air intake duct may crack and possibly result in an engine stall.
Recall repairs are free at any franchised dealer. Enter your VIN at nhtsa.gov/recalls to see which recalls are still open on your car.
NHTSA defect investigations
Occupant detection system (ods) failure
Summary
The office of defects investigation (odi) opened pe19-009 to investigate 51 complaints and additional early warning report (ewr) data related to allegations of front passenger seat occupant detection system (ods) malfunctions in model year (my) 2016 through 2018 subaru forester vehicles. These vehicles use a capacitive type ods, which is intended to classify the occupant of the passenger seat as either full-sized, small stature, a child seat or other object. The complaints reported the ods failed to operate properly, the SRS (supplemental restraint system) warning light illuminated, and/or the ods incorrectly suppressed (turned off) the front passenger air bag when the seat was occupied by a
Questions about the 2016 Subaru Forester
- What are the most common problems with the 2016 Subaru Forester?
- By NHTSA owner complaints: air bags (99 complaints, typically around 40,000 miles); electrical (93 complaints, typically around 40,000 miles); other or unspecified (69 complaints, typically around 39,500 miles).
- How many recalls does the 2016 Subaru Forester have?
- 3 recalls listed by NHTSA, the latest from October 3, 2019 (air bags). Check your VIN at nhtsa.gov/recalls to see which ones are still open on your car.
- Is the 2016 a bad year for the Subaru Forester?
- It is 6th of 27 Forester model years by number of complaints, with 415 complaints. Complaint counts are not adjusted for how many cars were sold, so popular years collect more of them, and the newest years have had less time to.