Subaru
reviews and complaints

My 2018 outback air bag light kept coming on intermittently. I went to the dealership, they charged me for a diagnostic test. The service department could not guarantee that the issue would be fixed. So.. why should I keep paying for their guessing game?

The General Manager has yet to contact me.

This is a very feature. It's the main reason why I bought a Subaru.

I was in a car accident on 12/15/2023. My airbags did not deploy and I was badly injured. Someone pulled out in front of me and we collided. I was taken to the ER and ended up staying a couple days. I had my seatbelt on and my head hit the passenger door and I was the driver. My head was cut open and I have a concussion. I suffered a major hematoma on my leg and many other soft tissue injuries. I feel like the airbags should have deployed as the damages and injuries to myself were substantial. My car has been deemed a total loss also. Please call me for more information [protected]

Karen Gowdy

This is the second windshield I have replaced because the glass is too soft. A beetle (yes, a bug) hit the windshield and caused a crack - a beetle! I was on the highway with no other vehicles, and a beetle flew at the windshield right below the wipers, and a crack appeared within minutes. I honestly believe the manufacturer of the windshield has a faulty product if the glass is damaged by a bug. I purchased the Subaru Forester because of the safety ratings, but if I have to keep buying windshields, I'll never buy another Subaru.

On 11/18/23 I got a check engine light P2682. This is a failure of of the Thermo Control Valve, a $1700+ repair if your vehicle has over 60,000 miles. (Mine has 74000). My brother in law has the same vehicle, and his is in the shop today for the same thing. His service tech told him that he is doing a couple of these a week. Apparently ALL Subaru's with a 2.5 engine before 2022 WILL have this failure. Subaru has identified this problem and has changed the design of the Thermo Control Valve. The technician told my brother in law that Subaru should issue a recall on this because they know it will fail

Went on line to schedule service, was told they would get back to me, that was more than a week ago. Tried calling the financce department to get information about a maintenance program I signed up for when I bought my forester last year, no one answers an no voice mail either, smae with the business office, no answer no voice mail. This is the Lithia Subaru on 3rd avenue in SPokane WA.

IF this is how they are going to run a business they have lost mine, SO I want the maintenance program I signed up for canceled and any funds applied to it returned to me.

Krik P. Prasser

SSGT. USAF Retired

509.769.9607

e-mail: [protected]@cet.com

I purchased the 2019 Forester used with only 7740 miles on 06-26-2023. Now at 10,000 miles I started getting the engine light and eye sight faults. I took the car to be repaired and found that the issue is a Thermo Control Valve Assemble. After finding out about the issue I found out the part is being replace with a new improved part that has a steel shaft. I purchased this vehicle because Subaru had a reputation for safety and reliability. I find it hard to believe a part with less than 10,000 mile on it can already be worn out.

Hello, I own a Subaru 2017 Impreza sport and every single year so far, I have had my heat stop working in the winter! I bring it in and they fix it and then next winter same problem! and then I repeat the process for multiple years!

Within the last year i had to have my value cover gaskets replaced because the car was constantly overheating and losing a good amount of oil. Plus i would and still smell antifreeze coming through my vents. So once again my heat is currently no working, my warranty is up and i still have the same problems! every year! Can and will these problems ever be resolved or is my car a lemon!

SRS Airbag warning light Passenger Side Front side Detection Module error/failure. B1760 and B1650

See attached invoices from:

Bill Rapp Suburu 3446 Burnet Ave.

Syracuse, NY 13206

[protected]

Invoices# 73722 - customer # 187723 9/22/2023

Invoice # [protected]/5/2022

Dealer States not covered by warrenty or TSB.

$1009.26 to replace $310.00 labor.

This is absurd!

This is clearly a safety issue in my view...

This issue needs to be addressed and repaired at NO CHARGE to customer, which is me.

To start, we love Subaru Foresters. We have had them for years, and had no major issues. But now I am bit concerned. We had a 2006 Subaru Forester that was great until the Head Gasket blew with only 250,000 miles. Yes, we had all the recommended services performed. Now recently (last month while on an extended road trip), we had the head gasket blow on our 2016 Forester Touring with only 150,000 miles. And again, all the recommended services were performed. Due to the cost and time to repair at a Subaru dealer in Arizona, and we heading back to West Virginia, we ended up trading in our 2016 for a 2023 Subaru Forester Sport.

Much as we love Foresters, we are now a bit leery of taking extended road trips. The dealer in Arizona told us that there have been issues with head gaskets in earlier models, but they have been resolved. Somehow, that doesn't give me much comfort.

Has there been an issue in the past? Has it been resolved?

On June 15th I took my 2014 Forester to Cochran Subaru for transmission repair that was covered under warranty. I was then told that my vehicle would not pass inspection due to the control arm bushings needed replaced. I agreed to the repairs against my better judgement.I picked the vehicle up on June 16th. Upon driving home I kept hearing noises coming from the right side front end. It continued to get worse. I then decided to take the car to my local mechanic as he is less than five minutes from my home and Cochran is forty minutes away.Much to his and my dismay, no nut had ever ever been placed on the control arm! If that had broken loose while I was driving it could have been catastrophic! I also took the bill from Cochran for him to go over. Upon his inspection of the work he found discrepancies in the work that was supposedly done by Cochran. He also had to tighten everything down as it had not been done. I regret ever agreeing to Cochran to repair my vehicle.I was put in danger that was not at all necessary besides being overcharged for the work that supposedly done to my vehicle. I will never return to Cochran. I also attached photos and a letter from my mechanic along with a copy of the bill and mailed it to Brian Bates the service and parts manager of Cochran Subaru and have yet to hear from him regarding this matter. Very poor customer service! Where was the quality control? Did no one inspect the work before it was released to me?

With less than 10,000 miles on a brand new 2022 Subaru Crosstrek, the AC stopped working. The entire HVAC system seemed to die as the blower was unresponsive. About 30 minutes later, the AC started blowing cold air. This pattern of the AC inconsistently not working continued so on Friday 6/17/23, I brought the car to Bill Kolb Subaru who I purchased the car from. They said they couldn’t find anything wrong with the car. As soon as I left the dealer, the AC stopped working again so on Monday 6/19/23, I brought the car back to Bill Kolb Subaru who again, couldn’t find anything wrong with the car. Despite this problem occurring to some degree almost every time I drove the car, Bill Kolb Subaru said there was nothing they could do for me because their technicians could not reproduce the problem.

On 7/12/23, I called my service advisor from Bill Kolb Subaru who told me to bring the car back in and when I do, the technician will reach out to the Subaru tech line, and she will open an “Urgent Request for Customer Assistance” ticket. I brought the car back to Bill Kolb Subaru on 7/17/23 and produced 8 videos documenting the problem. 1) I produced a video showing the blower turned to the highest/strongest setting, and the temperature set to the coldest setting with no air blowing, and suddenly without touching any settings, the AC started blowing full blast. 2) I produced another video showing the viewing screen completely blank, 3) a video demonstrating that lowering the temperature setting caused the blower to increase, 4) a video demonstrating the defrost didn’t work and a windshield I couldn't see out of, 5) a video demonstrating that turning the “AC Max” off caused the blower to increase, 6) a video demonstrating that reducing the blower that was set to full by one notch caused the blower to shut down completely, and two more. Despite corresponding with Danielle throughout the week,

A week later on 7/24/23, my service advisor said her technicians were out sick last week so they didn’t have anyone to reach out to the Subaru tech line, and she didn’t have a reason for not starting an Urgent Request for Customer Assistance ticket, yet on 7/21/23, in an email she stated her shop foreman is going to drive the car home tonight. She offered to put her manager on the phone, before saying her manager was busy and would call me back.

Hi, I am writing from Brunei after trying to resolve the issue with the Subaru Agent in Brunei for the past 10 or so months. I had bought a Subaru XV 2.0 AWD Model year 2020. The touchscreen is not working since the COVID pandemic. I have asked for it to be looked and suggested replacement. For some reason, i am still waiting for the replacement part. I am pretty sure the ships that sail from japan to brunei are not using wind power, so it should not take long. Every time I ask from Subaru in Brunei, I get limited response.

I have asked my colleagues, family and friends and they tell me that one of the reasons they no longer use / buy Subaru is because of the POOR customer service. I have had previous issues, and only when i escalate - for example using social media with direct tagging of #subarubrunei do i get an immediate response or the part i am pending suddenly becomes available. This is my second Subaru car and i am expecting to get another before end of this year.

What is happening to the touchscreen replacement part ?

Dr. Aammton Alias

[protected]@aammton.com

Our 2015 Forester has 95,000 miles and the CVT transmission is slipping. Hendrix Subaru says replacement cost is $8,965 and it needs replacement because it was not serviced at 60,000 miles. However, it was in their shop around 60,000 miles and they didn't say anything about it. They did charge me over $1,000 to clean the injectors and change 4 spark plugs. Also, I had to replace the rear hub bearings at about 70,000 miles and according to other Subaru owners, that is normal. The CVT transmissions and hub bearings doesn't help Subaru's statement of long life and service.

I received a noticed in the mail for a 5 point inspection and oil change with filter for 69.95. It was very deceptive. This was on my 2017 Subaru Outback. I took it to the dealer expecting to get the work done for free. This is how it was written up. When the Subaru attendant showed me the charge, I was alarmed. I went ahead and payed the amount. I felt like I had no recourse. I would like to be taken off of any further promotions that Subaru has to offer through the mail other than warranty issues that may arise. Thank You! Andrew Sapp [protected]@yahoo.com [protected]

I Purchased a Pre-Owned Certified 2019 Forester in January 2023, with 64,000 miles from Ramsey Subaru. May 2023, the Foerster broke down, had it flat bedded to Wayne Subaru who fixed the thermal valve at no charge but said I needed the 60,000 mile maintenance at a costs of $800. The 60,000 mile maintenance should have been done by Ramsey Subaru before I purchased the vehicle. I called Ramsey Subaru and they insisted it was done in order to certify the vehicle for resale.

In the meantime Wayne Subaru did an oil change (from January to May 2023 I put 3,000 miles on the vehicle) so it did not need an oil change and they rotated the tires at a cost of $150.

I did not have the 60,000 mile service done by Wayne and took the Foerster to my personal mechanic who pulled a spark plug, cabin and engine filters and they were not replaced by Ramsey.

I called Ramsey Subaru who insisted it was done in order to certify the vehicle for sale, but said they would check the Foerster if I bought it in. I did bring the Foerster in and they did replace the spark plugs and filters at no cost to me. I waited for the vehicle for 2 hours. I also had them give me the spark plugs and take pictures of the brake pads to see what condition they were in.

I checked CarFax and it says the vehicle was serviced in January 2022 and sat on the lot until I purchased it. I have no idea who to believe, if the work was done or not. I have lost all trust in Ramsey Dealership, when work is done on the Foerster I will have to take it to my personal mechanic and have it verified. Not a good way to run a business.

Dear manager

I’m Dr Khaled Gamal Abueleinen from Egypt. I have purchased Impreza Subaru in 2007. My Sister had XV 2014. On 10th February 2022, I’ve reserved an XV for my mother DR Eglal Abdelaziz. This reservation was in Abou Ghali Motors Almohr company- Maadi branch. On 31st March 2022, I received a WhatsApp message from Ms Sara Mahmoud Askar (Tel: +[protected]) informing me she would be in contact with me about the car. On 14th December 2022, she sent another message asking me to reply about the car. I responded within 27 minutes asking her about any news about the car and price, but she did not respond. We contacted the company by phone, they told us to contact Mr Ziad (Tel: +[protected]) who said that our car is still in the port not yet released from the customs, and on its release they will call us. On 8th May 2022 and 17th December 2022, we sent him the reservation document. Since then, we are trying to get news from the company by phone till in early May 2023, they told us we have missed our reservation car and we have to wait another car in reservation with higher price in Egyptian currency.

Hereby I send you this complaint and screen shots of the WhatsApp messages with the employees. We have been bypassed by employees to pass our car to other customers who will benefit from the difference in price of dollar as compared to the Egyptian currency. By recent drop of the Egyptian pound this mistake from employee costs us 400, 000 Egyptian pounds extra. Hence, we claim our right in the car we reserved with the price of December 2022 in Egyptian currency.

Sincerely khaled Abueleinen

e-mail: [protected]@cu.edu.eg

Dear manager

I’m Dr Khaled Gamal Abueleinen from Egypt. I have purchased Impreza Subaru in 2007. My Sister had XV 2014. On 10th February 2022, I’ve reserved an XV for my mother DR Eglal Abdelaziz. This  reservation was in Abou Ghali Motors Almohr company - Maadi branch. On 31st March 2022, I received a WhatsApp message from Ms Sara Mahmoud Askar (Tel: +[protected]) informing me she would be in contact with me about the car. On 14th December 2022, she sent another message asking me to reply about the car. I responded within 27 minutes asking her about any news about the car and price, but she did not respond. We contacted the company by phone, they told us to contact Mr Ziad (Tel: +[protected]) who said that our car is still in the port not yet released from the customs, and on its release they will call us. On 8th May 2022 and 17th December 2022, we sent him the reservation document. Since then, we are trying to get news from the company by phone till in early May 2023, they told us we have missed our reservation car and we have to wait  another car in reservation with higher price in Egyptian currency.

Hereby I send you this complaint and screen shots of the WhatsApp messages with the employees. We have been bypassed by employees to pass our car to other customers who will benefit from the difference in price of dollar as compared to the Egyptian currency. By recent drop of the Egyptian pound this mistake from employee costs us 400, 000 Egyptian pounds extra. Hence, we claim our right in the car we reserved with the price of December 2022 in Egyptian currency.

Sincerely khaled Abueleinen