The contact owned a 2015 Subaru Forester. The contact stated while driving 70-75 MPH, the vehicle started losing motive power. The engine revved and made an abnormally loud sound. Several unknown warning lights were illuminated. The contact engaged the hazard lights and veered to the side of the road. The vehicle then lost motive power and stalled. The contact was able to restart the vehicle after several attempts. The contact was able to continue driving. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, where the failure could not be duplicated; however, the dealer advised that the failure could be caused by condensation and moisture in the fuel lines. The contact stated that the failure recurred while driving. The vehicle failed to start and was towed to a second dealer West Herr Subaru (3559 Southwestern Blvd, Orchard Park, NY 14127). The dealer informed the contact that they had test-driven the vehicle for 80 miles; however, the mechanic could not duplicate the failure. The vehicle was not diagnosed nor repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and offered the contact a coupon for the purchase of another vehicle; however, the contact declined and traded the vehicle. The failure mileage was approximately 90,000.
2015 Subaru Forester engine complaints
Page 2 of 6: complaints 11 to 40 of 136, newest first, as owners wrote them.
My 2015 Suburb Forester accelerates by itself.
I have continually had the SRS airbag tell me that is not registering someone in the front seat as it turns off when someone is in the front seat. This has been reported to Subaru however they refuse to do anything about it as they say because I purchased it in 2014 it isn't covered under the recall due to the fact I have the same symptoms as the recall along with the heated seats. Also my original engine had 170k miles on it in July 2021 and blew a head gasket. I have purchased another used engine and this one only had 73k miles on it when it was put in and now at 117k miles on this engine I have another blown head gasket with less than 50k miles on the second engine. Something needs to be done as I am tired of replacing the same issue. I am a first time owner of a Subaru and a 1 owner I bought it brand new with 3 miles on the Subaru Forester.
We were driving at 75 mph in the left lane when our car suddenly dropped in speed to 40 mph as though the transmission had dropped into neutral. There were no warning lights or any indication about what was happening. We were in heavy traffic, with trucks and car hitting their brakes. This could have caused a very serious accident. We managed to move our car to the right shoulder. The car's transmission re-engaged and we picked up our speed. This happened 3 times in the space of a few hundred miles while we were on a road trip. I called Subaru. They had no idea what it was. We went to the nearest Subaru dealer and they ran a diagnostic test, even including a 12 mile test drive with the computer hooked up. Nothing showed up. They told us to continue our trip. Then it happened 2 more times! The last time, again, in the left lane, on cruise. The engine rpm clocked up at 7500 rpm before I was able to get the car off the road. The engine died and we had to be towed to a shop. Again, no warning dash lights. This is a serious flaw and very dangerous.
I parked my car in the Walgreens parking lot while shopping, less than 30 minutes. When I returned, the car would not start. I called AAA for what I thought was a battery jump. When the AAA technician arrived, checked the battery and said his equipment said to replace the battery. After several attempts he was able to finally get the car started. I drove my car to the dealer where I had just had the battery and terminal replaced five months earlier. The service person checked the battery and charged it for more than an hour after having me call a Subaru warranty line and tell them how many times the battery had to be jumped - once. Yesterday, 12/6/2022 I was attempting to leave my home to take my husband to a cancer treatment clinic for an appointment and the car would not start. I called the Subaru technician who told me to bring the car in before 5 pm, which I could not do. Today, 12/07/2022, after several attempts I was able to start the car and take it to the service center. The technician could not find evidence of the battery purchase June 22, 2022. I showed him my paid receipt and he was able to locate the purchase. He told me the service manager wanted him to test the battery before doing anything. This is my only vehicle and I can’t keep going back and forth to the repair center whenever the new battery and connector , still under warranty, do not work. Today the technician told me the recall for coil replacement needed to be done. I was told it was done in June, but the service center has no evidence in their system that it was done. I never received any notice from Subaru that it was recalled.
While driving 45mph on an icy road (approximately 25 degree(F) outside temp) the car suddenly lost power as if the CVT transmission was in neutral. However, it was still in drive. Pressing the accelerator only raised the RPMs but no power was sent to the wheels. There were cars behind me and my car was slowing down due to no power. I was fortunately able to pull off to the side of the road, stop, put in park. I put back into drive, power returned, and car drove normally for the remaining ~10miles of my trip. No warning lights from vehicle occurred during this event. This sudden loss of power could have been very dangerous especially given the road conditions. If drivers behind me were not following at a safe distance the sudden reduction in speed could have caused an accident due to the icy roads. I have not yet taken the car to be inspected, but will do so as soon as possible.
The engine on my 2015 Subaru Forester consumes oil at a very high rate. I use fully synthetic oil and within 1,000-2,000 miles, I have to top it off due to excessive "burn off". I have done on-line research, and this seems to be a common problem for this year/make/model. I have been unable to get any action but wanted to report the issue to support a general recall, if applicable. I recently took a road trip of just over 2,000 miles and changed the oil the day before we left. I checked the oil at every fuel-up and could watch the oil level fall. By the end of the trip, I had to top off the oil level to keep it within acceptable range.
Driving in merging four lane traffic 70mph when forward motion stopped due to power loss. Almost wrecked getting to shoulder of road. Stranded in 90+ heat. Vehicle would not crank.
We had driven up Mt Washington in NH (about 6000ft high) and were returning back. We had used the X mode (hill assist) intermittently on the way down. Had driven almost 150 miles back to home, when the car suddenly lost power and started to shudder. We were able to coast to the side. We tried to start again and again the same problem. We noticed that the brakes seemed quite warm. After about 5 minutes we tried again and were able to drive slowly to a gas station, but no one to help since it was late. Since fuel was low at 1 bar (60 miles distance to empty). We filled up the tank and made our way home driving slowly on the back roads. We are not sure if it could be a problem with the fuel, electrical system, brakes or the hill assist. While the car seems to run fine on short trips of a few miles, have not taken it out on any longer drives.
The vehicle engine revved higher and would not stop even while applying the brakes. I was stopped in a parking lot waiting to take a left. As I took the turn, a mother and her two children exited the store quickly in my path. I took my foot off the gas and pressed on the brakes. The engine continued to accelerate and did not slow with the brake being applied. I slipped it into neutral while pressing harder on the brakes to avoid striking the family in front of me. The problem was not able to be confirmed or duplicated by the dealer service center. No other inspections have been made. A similar incident happened two weeks prior. There were no warning lamps or messages.
Sudden, without any warning, complete engine failure. Luckily I was in the right hand lane while ascending a major mountain pass. We were in the midst of a "atmospheric river" with rain coming from all directions when the engine just stopped. I muscled the car onto a very narrow shoulder and called for help, I knew we were in a very dangerous situation as this was the Saturday after Thanksgiving 2021, and the highway was full of cars and semi trucks whizzing past our Forester, we stayed put in the car. The State Patrol eventually appeared behind my Subaru, we conversed, and the officer used his front push bumpers to move my car up the remaining 2.5 miles up the the pass summit and onto a parking lot away from the freeway. Eventually AAA tow truck driver arrived, loaded our Subaru onto the platform carrier, with my wife and me in the cab, he drove 157 miles to our dealership parking lot. When we arrived, he again checked the battery, it was dead. He then proceeded to use an external storage to charge up our battery, and after a short time he successfully started our Subaru. I chose to leave the car at the dealership lot so they could check the systems the next morning. They could find no problem whatsoever with the engine, drive train, fuel system, or electrical system. The told us to report any problem to them, but stated our Forrester was safe to drive. The next day our trusted mechanic confirmed they could find no problem in our car. We have been driving our Forester per normal since this incident happened, the problem has not repeated. In summary no warning lights appeared on our dashboard before the incident; we used our lights to warn other drivers while we waited for help and eventually all lights went off; the problem has not been reproduced by dealer, mechanic, or us. What I believed occurred is: Driving through the "atmospheric river" the volume and intensity of the rain caused an electrical short, that was removed during the tow
I was driving into the sunlight, and was slowing down due to utility pole work ahead. The car stalled, and engine shut off. The dash light indicated the eyesight was disabled. I was able to restart, but the incident was very concerning.
Cam carrier/front cover seal failed on our 2015 Forester with the 6 speed MT. This oil leak has ruined the O2 sensor, the drivers side VVT solenoid and according to the dealer has caused oil to run down the wiring harness which will cause further sensor failures if not corrected. All told the dealer wants over $3700 to fix the issues and will not warranty any parts unless the oil leak is fixed. The car currently has ~105k miles on it, out of warranty, but we had mentioned oil loss issues to our mechanic and local Subaru dealer when the car was serviced for the 2019 airbag sensor recall. The car was 4 yrs old, had ~65k miles and was "consuming" about 1 qt per 2500 miles at which time the low oil light would come on, but not the check engine. The concern was dismissed by the dealer as minor and likely oil consumption common on this engine. This is concerning as I now know that a service bulletin for this leak was issued in 2019. Now the car "consumes," leaks, about 1 qt every 1500 miles with no visible signs under when parked, but does have a distinct smell of burned oil in the car when idling in the driveway or stopped in traffic. The check engine light is no on constantly and cruise control does not function.
I have done research and noticed that the engine is a problem with the 2015 Subaru Forester. The engine consumes oil at a very high rate. I get my oil changed (fully synthetic) every 5,000 miles. However, at about 3,000 miles of use, my oil light comes on at the dash. I then have to take my vehicle to the dealership to get the oil "topped off" to hold me over until my oil change date. This engine burns off oil at a very high rate. Also, the vehicle has consistently smelled like a burning or burnt oil type smell in the cabin of the car after driving it. After I park the vehicle in the garage and get out, you can smell the "burning/hot" smell of the engine or oil. This has been an issue for over 2 years and I have notified the dealership where I bought the vehicle. They said there is nothing that they can do, because there is no recall and that these cars just burn oil fast. The dealership also stated they don't know what the "burning" smell is. I feel that this is an insufficient engine and can be dangerous. I'm not sure how toxic the fumes are from the engine to be smelling it on a consistent basis, but also burning oil at a fast rate could cause more expensive and dangerous issues with other parts of the vehicle.
At about 101,000 miles I took the car in to the dealership where I bought it for another issue. When the tech got it up on his lift he came in and notified the service manager that there was bubbles on my brake line. The service manager came to us and she said “I really shouldn’t let you drive out of here with those bubbles because I would be an unsafe condition”, the implication was that if they burst I would have no brakes. The road salt on the roads in the winter in Vermont was indicated as the cause of the problem. They installed all new brake lines behind the cabin. I had asked them to save a section of the brake lines showing the bubbles and that DID NOT happen. I do much of my own maintenance and to have steel brake lines bubble it’s hard to understand. Maybe the hose between the end of the steel brake line and the wheel could bubble but having the brake line bubble is nightmarish.The safety concern is if other Subarus in salty climates have that problem and the owner is not aware of it, the brakes are liable to fail. Scary. As to the engine, since the car was a new, putting pressure on the accelerator caused the car to lurch, Irritating and dangerous in tight settings. Notified the dealership on the day we got it and when mentioned, nothing could be done for the 5 years since it was new.
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
The 2015 Subaru Forester accelerated unexpectedly while slowly turning into a a Walgreens parking lot. The acceleration could not be stopped by stepping on the brake, and the car crashed into the brick building. The vehicle is at Phil's Auto Body Shop in Rosemount, MN. The estimate on the car is complete, and waiting on State Farm insurance to approve. The police were at the scene of the accident. Walgreens has video of the accident from their security cameras.
I was traveling on the freeway going 65mph, when with no warning my car's engine stop. I tough it was out of gas, but the computer was telling me I had 30 more miles of fuel. At the time of this accident there was no shoulder to park because of construction on the freeway. This unfortunate event cause 3 other cars to be involved in a car accident. Some how my car was ok, I drove the car back to my house praying that it would not happen again. My husband drove it for a little to see if it will be ok to drive. Same thing happen to hem, but this was in a much controlled way.
Pulling into parking spot, vehicle started to stall, gave a little more gas and vehicle launched forward and hit cement pole. No damage to pole car damage around 8k.air bags did not deploy. This has happened when pulling out into traffic also
Car burns oil. No leaks and oil light comes on every 2,000-3,000 miles when it shouldn't be changed but every 5000. Ac makes horrible noise and intermittently works but hardly ever. Will run for a couple min then not work the rest of the drive time
Vehicle had 82,401 miles when on january 19, 2021 the "engine low level warning light" illuminated. Oil level on dip-stick measured at very end of stick. Added 1qt 0-20w synthetic oil, scheduled a complete "leak-down test" at dan o'brien subaru in vermont. The service also performed a 2k mile "consolidated engine oil consumption test". The results measured no oil consumption but the "compression & leak-down test" measured: cylinder #1 = 160psi & 5%, #2 = 148psi & 25%, #3 = 165psi & 5%, #4 = 153psi & 20%. They reported most of "leakage was going into block past pistons and some was "leaking" by intake valves. Recommend replacing short-block". To date, due to the "oil consumption test" and not the "compression and leak-down test" results, the dealer is not willing to repair and/or remedy the problem, even though, the compression and leak-down test indicates a "severe" degradation to the engine with only 84,770 miles. This is well below subaru's advertised 100,000 mile drive-train warranty publicized. Note: this vehicle has been serviced regularly by only subaru dealerships since it was purchased in 2017, and the carfax report stated it was only used by subaru dealership as a corporate personnel rental before then. Additionally the current carfax report showed no incidents or accidents and all vehicle services maintained properly.
Tl* the contact owns a 2015 subaru forester. The contact stated that while driving, the vehicle experienced an unintended acceleration, causing the speed to increase to approximately 62 MPH after leaving from a stop light. On another occasion while driving, the failure recurred and the driver downshifted to slow the vehicle which caused damage to the transmission. The cause of the failure was not yet determined. The local dealer austin subaru located at 8100 burnet rd, austin, tx 78757 and the manufacturer were notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 134,000.
Engine using to much oil between oil changes. Transmission will not shift into final gear until driven for 10-15 miles
Car accelerates both when in motion and stationary. Sometimes when starting the car it shoots straight up to 2 on it's on. Car has accelerated when easing in and out of parking spaces, I have been very close to hitting other cars because of this.
Tl* the contact owns a 2015 subaru forester. The contact stated that while driving approximately 70 MPH, the speed suddenly decreased independently to approximately 20 MPH. During the sudden lose of power, no warning messages were displayed. The vehicle was towed the local dealer schomp subaru located at 580 s havana st, aurora, co 80012 who was unable to duplicate the failure. There was no repair performed on the vehicle. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 70,000.
This car was repaired under campaign 19v149000 on july 27 for the brake light switch issue. Since the repair of the recall, I have taken my car back to international subaru in tinley park, il for follow up service related to the replacement part. The problem I've encountered on a number of occasions is the car alerts that there is an issue stating "hill start assist system needs to be checked" while the car is in motion. The car then cuts all throttle capabilities for approximately 5 seconds and the car just coasts before resuming taking a throttle input. When this happens the car is just coasting and drops 15+ MPH in speed. This alert seems to be triggered randomly and it causes serious safety concerns when without warning my car suddenly loses any usage of the throttle. This problem has been traced back to the part replaced in the recall and the dealer found the records in the car's computer showing the switch was active when it wasn't being pressed. This issue first surfaced on 8/31/20 but has come back numerous times since then. Furthermore, I had issues where the brake lights were on on the car overnight with the switch active with no input causing a drained battery. This is a more serious issue than just lights because the car's throttle cuts out without warning and this has been traced back to the switch on my car. I would rather have the original recalled part replaced in my car compared to the recall replacement part.
Car surges at start up and low speeds. Neither the car dealership or subaru of america can fix it. I sent an email in about my complaint to you. This has been going on for a few years. It randomly happens. They refused to fix it many times due to no code even though they drove it and could see the issue. When it did code they fixed it but always a surge different codes. They have replace fuel sensors, values, electronic components, my key, fuel line, spark plugs, etc all for this same issues. There are several lawsuits in other states about this same issue. I just want them to purchase my vehicle back or replace it with one that works properly. Please help.
When applying the brakes at low speed and attempting to come to a stop the vehicle occasionally accelerates requiring a much harder brake pedal pressure to stop the vehicle. This has happened on city streets when pulling into a parking place or coming to a stop sign. While not a common occurrence I have experienced this more than a dozen times over the 5 years I have had the vehicle.
My vehicle lost power while driving today on the interstate. I had cruise control set and the car was accelerating up a hill. It was like my car shifted into neutral. I was able to safely get to the shoulder and initially my car would not restart. I did get it to restart after a couple of tries and drove it home. I see a recall for a similar issue: 19v‑856, but my car is not included. I have replaced the pcv already and this is the second time my car has done this toward the end of a long road trip (1000+ miles).
Driving on the highway at roughly 70 MPH, engine suddenly revved and then car essentially went into neutral. Engine didn't seem connected to the transmission. Coasted to the shoulder, then engine died. Shifted back to park and tried to restart, all lights on dashboard lit up and engine turned over, but would not start. Had to be towed to dealer. Found many similar experiences online. Some found fuel pump and pump relay failure. I have not received a diagnosis from the dealer yet. This was a potentially deadly failure.
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