September 6, 2011, subaru recall 11v464000 or wyx-34, fron lower control arms may break due rust and corrosion from road salt. Corrective action was to punch test, and rustproof if ok; replace at no cost if test failed. My dealer on dec 19, 2011 performed punch test, and reported to subaru it passed and was rustproofed, according to subaru records. Mileage was97,158. On march 27, 2017, my forester failed safety inspection because of rusted through front control arms. Mileage was 128,056. Subaru refused any support, saying they did what was necessary in recall by rustproofing. Rustproofing obviously did not work. The forester failed on the lift inspection, fortunately, not by killing the driver, passengers, or other innocents on the road.
2005 Subaru Forester suspension complaints
Page 2 of 2: complaints 11 to 21 of 21, newest first, as owners wrote them.
Tl* the contact owns a 2005 subaru forester. The contact stated that the front lower control arm was rusted out. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic where it was diagnosed that the front lower control arm needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The contact stated that the vehicle was serviced per the federal safety agency campaign number: 11v464000 (suspension), but the remedy failed to repair the vehicle. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was unknown.
Tl* the contact owns a 2005 subaru forester. While driving at an unknown highway speed, a burning rubber odor emitted into the interior of the vehicle. The vehicle was driven to the contact's residence and parked. The vehicle was towed to a dealer where it was diagnosed that the bucket suspension plate under the shock absorber failed, which impacted the suspension assembly on the rear passenger side and caused the strut to fracture on the tire. The dealer replaced the struts, shock assemblies, and both rear tires. The manufacturer was notified of the failures. The approximate failure mileage was 89,000. Updated 02/03/17*lj updated 7/11/18*jb
Tl* the contact owns a 2005 subaru forester. While driving at 10 MPH, the contact heard an abnormally loud noise emit from the vehicle. The contact was able to stop and inspect the vehicle. The contact noticed that the drivers side front wheel had lodged up into the wheel well. The vehicle was taken to a dealer where it was diagnosed that the control arm fractured and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was 80,000.
Tl* the contact owns a 2005 subaru forester. While driving at 25 MPH, the vehicle veered to the left into a ditch. Upon further inspection, the contact noticed that the front passenger side control arm fractured. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure who stated that the vehicle was previously repaired under the federal safety agency campaign number: 11v464000 (suspension) . The failure mileage was 132,400.
After a scratchy, metallic noise that appeared suddenly in the lower front, while vehicle was in motion,steering was ceased. The steering wheel was locked and the vehicle could not be controlled. This resulted in a crash. The vehicle hit a tree. Substantial damage was done to the vehicle and it was declared as a total loss.
My car was at my mechanics getting looked at. He noticed the lower front control arm brackets were corroded (the passenger side is severely corroded), told me about it and stressed that I needed to take it to a dealership asap to have it replaced. When I contacted the dealership, they confirmed the recall for my car, mentioned the service had already been performed (by the previous owner) and scheduled an appointment. The dealer ended up taking pictures of the lower front control arms and sending them to subaru of america for approval to repair/replace the affected parts. The recall service was performed, however, the problem came back.
Lower control arm separated at weld due to rust through and caused car to loose control and crash. Both front airbags deployed. Minor injuries were sustained. The control arms were inspected by dealer approximately six months before the accident due to the recall for this component. They were deemed to be safe after a "punch test" and rustproofing applied. The recall also provided for replacement, however my car was not determined to need replacement as a result of the punch test. It appears that the testing procedure for this recall may be too subjective and/or ineffective and that continued failures will be forthcoming.
Tl*the contact owns a 2005 subaru forester. While driving approximately 65 MPH, the contact heard a loud noise outside of the vehicle. The noise was heard whenever the vehicle was in operation. The vehicle was taken to an authorized dealer for inspection and they stated that the wheel bearings failed. The rear driver's side wheel bearings were replaced on two separate occasions. The failure mileage was 81,000 and current mileage was 81,500.
Tl*the contact owns a 2005 subaru forester. While driving approximately 25 MPH, the contact felt as if she struck a bump in the road. The steering wheel felt unusual and when she began to pull away from a stop sign at the bottom of the ramp, she noticed that the steering became difficult to move and to put into first gear. In addition, the vehicle began to shake. The contact pulled into her driveway and noticed that the driver's side front tire was hanging off from the bottom and the top was pointed outwards. Furthermore, the coil that she believed to be the strut was hanging out as well. Her mechanic inspected the vehicle and stated that the strut had pulled completely out. The dealer and manufacturer were not notified and the vehicle has not been repaired. The current and failure mileages were approximately 100,000. Updated 02/19/10. *lj updated 02/19/10 the consumer also stated it was difficult to the vehicle in 1st gear. Updated evoq 09/13/10
Dt: the consumer stated that 2006 subaru was not driving correctly. Vehicle was all over the road, it did not drive straight and it went to the left or to the right. It was more noticeable when going fast. It was doing this all the time. The consumer took vehicle to the dealership, and they said that there was no problem. The consumer insisted vehicle did have enough caster. The dealer told the consumer that all of the subaru did that and could not fix the car, the consumer did not want the car. He paid cash for vehicle, and was upset. The consumer had not called subaru, but planned doing so. The consumer owned this vehicle for 3 weeks. The first 800 miles the car did not do this. It was a 2006 model. The consumer insisted that it was a suspension failure.
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