2015 Subaru Forester: ABS light or ABS activating

Filed Jul 7, 2026 · Brakes, Transmission · 108,000 miles · NC

The contact's spouse owns a 2015 Subaru Forester. The contact stated that while driving from a complete stop or at various speeds on several occasions, the vehicle hesitated and failed to accelerate as intended. The Hill Assist and Automatic Transmission Oil Temperature warning lights flashed, and the ABS, Traction Control, and VDC warning lights illuminated. The vehicle was steered to the side of the road and turned off to cool down on each occurrence. After approximately 45 minutes, the vehicle was restarted and was driven to the residence. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 108,000.

Filed Jan 24, 2026 · Lights, Transmission · TN

I bought a used 2015 subaru forester with 117,000 miles from an auto shop/used car dealer in March of 2024. In September of 2025, 11,000 miles of driving later, a bunch of lights came on my dash. Check engine, traction control, ABS, at oil temp, and incline assist. I took it to Autozone to get the codes read and the part it suggested was the transmission oil pressure sensor. I then took it to a trusted mechanic who said they weren’t able to get the lights to turn back on and told me to come back when the lights reappeared. In December of 2025, the lights came on and they were on long enough to take it back to the mechanic. The mechanic told me that it looked to be the transmission valve body and recommended a local transmission shop. I took it there and the mechanic told me there was a speed sensor that was failing and the transmission and valve body would need to be replaced. He said that they don’t sell the speed sensor anywhere and it is impossible to obtain. I got quoted 9,100 to fix my car (I originally paid around 8,500 for it). I was told it would not be worth my time or money to fix the transmission. The transmission guy told me that Subaru cvt transmissions are horrendous and to take this is a lesson to never buy a Subaru. I heeded to this advice and traded her in for $2000 towards a 2010 rav4. Additional info: It had a rebuilt title and had been in an accident before I got it. Lived its entire life between kentucky and tennessee. I replaced the engine oil and filter every 4,000-6,000 miles. Tire treads were very mismatched for the time I had it (almost two years) which I was told by a subaru dealership can damage the transmission. Back tires had significantly lower tread than front. I had front left lower control arm, rear spring coils, brake switch lamp, and one of the battery terminals replaced during the time I had it. My TPMS light was always on. My front right headlight went out frequently. My brake light assembly also broke and wasn’t worth fixing

Filed Dec 5, 2025 · Airbags, Electrical · MI

Passenger airbag sensor intermittently works and turns off when passenger is in the seat. Dashboard light for airbag is constantly on and passenger airbag is constantly off. Issues with seat sensor going off when no one is sitting in the passenger seat. Abs system error message. All identical to recall symptoms.

Filed Jan 24, 2025 · Airbags, Transmission · OR

The Vehicle was sold to me by a local dealership not SUBARU Manufacturer themselves with the conditions marked above and more, the wheels when purchased as i turned any corners it would sound like the underside of the vehicle would explode even when driving straight it was just less frequent and caused the ABS system to activate and would pull one way or another. the Transmission has never been inspected by the dealership that sold it to me and the manufacturer seal was broken so it had leaked and caused major lack of power resulting in many close calls due to lose of forward propulsion it is a closed transmission without a dip stick and the dealership refused to do anything about it. the Airbag system has never worked at all and the dealership knew this and same with the Reverse hazard warning detection system or the TPMS and again i was told that i just needed to drive it and it would work itself out by the owner of the dealership who test drove it 3 times and refused to do anything about the obvious issues and now it has been a little over a year i’m in debt and basically out of a vehicle and can man as well as personal money sunk into this vehicle that I would consider beyond a lemon

Filed Aug 11, 2022 · Brakes · 56,915 miles · OR

The contact owns a 2015 Subaru Forester. The contact stated while driving at an unknown speed, the antilock braking system (ABS), vehicle dynamic control (VDC), and the check engine warning lights illuminated. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic where it was diagnosed that the brake light switch needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired. The contact then stated that the vehicle was previously repaired at a local dealer under a manufacturer's recall code WUE-90 for Brake Lamp Switch. The dealer was not notified. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and informed the contact that they were not available. The failure mileage was 56,915

Filed Jul 25, 2022 · Transmission · CT

Car continues to have ongoing lack of response with acceleration. Car was at dealer for 3 weeks for inspection after I was nearly rear ended due to lack of response in acceleration at a stop light, as well as shifting gears. No lights came on to indicate issue, thus the car was returned to me with no repairs. 2 weeks after car obtained from dealer, car again started having issues with acceleration, and pulling into a lot, the AT oil temp light, hill assist, ABS, and check engine light came on. In the 2 prior attempted repair sessions at dealer, the team stated that they were unable to replicate the problem that has been occurring nearly daily for almost 2 months, and stated that they cannot figure it out without any lights coming on. Given the lack of responsiveness to accelerate, my safety is at-risk as well as others, as I am not able to clear traffic as quickly as I should.

Filed Oct 7, 2021 · Engine, Transmission · MI

The car regularly lurches or feels as it will stall. This occurs when trying to go from stops to starts both in a slow and faster manner. Has occurred while trying to turn left with oncoming traffic and I was concerned I may get hit. Dealership said “all 2015 Forrester do this. It drives like the others on the lot. There aren’t any issues and if there were we would see light”. Obviously this is a know issue and Subaru doesn’t want to address it. When it happens the rpms shutter abs the speed doesn’t change

Filed Mar 15, 2020 · Driver assistance, Fuel system · 129,735 miles · AZ

We were driving down the road approx 65 and the eye sight disabled, ABS disabled, traction control and hill assist stopped, cruise control stopped at transmission oil started flashing and then check engine light all came on we were driving down hwy 61 in az. Power to the vehicle slowed and we could not go faster than 40mph. The brake light switch was on recall and replaced 10/2019 and the 3xacr same thing happened except the check engine light didnt come on.

Filed Jan 7, 2020 · 50,000 miles · NY

Loss of power. It feels like there is simply no throttle response. It has happened after turning into traffic from a stop sign or red light at low speed ( 60 MPH). Pressing the gas pedal just results in continued vehicle deceleration. The engine is still running but no response to throttle. After several cycles of backing off throttle and pressing, the engine will just suddenly start responding. Sometimes the hill assist and ABS lights on the dash will illuminate, sometimes not. There is never been a check engine light when it happens. It has happened several times. Scary, especially on the highway.

Filed Oct 23, 2019 · Brakes · 45,000 miles · AR

Brake switch was replaced on 10/06/18 on 2015 subaru forester. When recall came out, dealer didnt refund for the $156.01 for the replaced brake switch, but replaced it again under recall 19v149000. Symptoms are that the car would lose power to wheels while driving (engine RPM would rise) & would have to release , then depress accelerator to get it to put power to wheels again. Happened multiple times on interstate. Abs and traction control warnings came on during issue as well until car restarted.

Filed May 17, 2019 · Brakes, Electrical · 50,199 miles · MN

Takara recall wue-90 safety issue with grand forks nd subaru has unreasonable two week wait time to replace brake lamp switch failure and rendering consumer at unreasonable safety risk or unusable car. Car locks in park or ABS lights and hill start electrical malfunctions during driving unpredictably. Car was serviced for exact same safety issue previously (7/22/2016 : service dept stated "found brake lamp switch faulty and not working") and grand forks nd subaru's failed to repair defect succussfully. Grand forks nd subaru disregards driver safety again by failing to service same defect in a timely manner, in regards to customer safety complaints and in accordance with consumer protection safety regulations and laws.

Filed Nov 7, 2018 · Brakes · 30,800 miles · DC

Similar complaints already logged. While driving at any speed warning lights for ABS, eye-sight, dynamic vehicle assitance, hill-start assistance come on. Took the vehicle to the dealership to get it checked out. They replaced the brake light switch and said the problem was fixed. Upon driving, the problem persisted, this time with the brakes being applied by the vehicle itself while in motion on a highway moving at highway speed despite my foot not being on either the brake or gas pedal. With the decrease in speed, I attempted to accelerate the vehicle to no avail. At this time I pulled the vehicle off to the shoulder, put it in park, and then back into drive to see if the problem had been corrected. I pressed the accelerator for a period of time before ultimately the drive reengaged. Online there appear to be numerous others who have had similar issues: https://www.carcomplaints.com/subaru/forester/2015/brakes/service_brakes.shtml