2016 Subaru Forester: CVT failure

7 of the 416 complaints about the 2016 Subaru Forester describe CVT failure.

owner complaints: 7
of this car's complaints: 2%
typical mileage: 60,000
recalls: 0

Is there a fix? 32 service bulletins cover this area of the car. See below

CVT failure by model year

2022
1
2021
2
2019
3
2018
10
2017
7
2016
7
2015
19
2014
14

What owners say

Filed Aug 3, 2026 · Suspension, Transmission · VA

When I drove the car, All most all light on the dashboard are on onthe road, and when I stop and tried to go, the car is somewhat not controled. I immidieatly went to dealership and dignosed P2764 CVT balve problem. And they add wheel bearing is problem. Subaru noticed these problems but my 88,278 mile 2016 forester has all the lights on and it was very scared and it took 4400 dollars for fixing.

Filed Aug 14, 2025 · Transmission · CA

THIS VEHICLE IS NOT SAFE TO DRIVE SINCE SUBARU COULD NOT REPLICATE THE ORIGINAL OVERHEATING PROBLEM IN THE TRANSMISSION. THEY MADE AN EDUCATED GUESS REPAIR TO SEE IF IT FIXES THE OVERHEATING PROBLEMS IN THE TRANSMISSION WHICH MAY MALFUNCTION DURING DRIVING THE VEHICLE,SLIPPAGE, TO LOCKINGUP. This afternoon, while my daughter was driving through the Mojave Desert on her way back home to Mammoth Lakes, Ca.; her dash light came on- AT OIL TEMP Warning, forcing multiple stops to cool the vehicle. The trip back to Hacienda Heights took over four hours (4) in extreme heat. I’ve attached a photo of the dash warning for your reference. After she called me from the road, I instructed her to turn around and wait for the warning light to turn off. (Google’s guidance emphasized cooling the transmission before resuming travel). Thankfully, the route [XXX] from Mojave was mostly downhill, which helped reduce strain on the vehicle—but it was still a stressful and exhausting experience. MY LETTER SUBARU I need to be candid: my time and patience are wearing thin. I’ve remained cooperative throughout this process and paid about $644 out-of-pocket for repairs specifically recommended by Ocean Subaru—including the initial solenoid replacement, CVT oil cooler, and thermostat. While I appreciate that the remaining repairs were performed under goodwill, the original overheating issue remains unresolved, and its root cause is still uncertain. SUBARU HASN'T REPAIRED THE PROBLEM. S Regarding future repairs or services, we cannot guarantee coverage until the details of any needed repairs are identified and thoroughly reviewed. If there are any updates or if further repairs are recommended, please feel free to let me know in a direct reply, and I will do my best to assist you. Thank you again for your understanding and patience. Sincerely, Michael Subaru of America, Inc. Customer Advocacy Department 1-800-SUBARU3 (1‑800‑782‑2783) ext. 119949 Case Number: 250725-1500342 INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMA

Filed Jul 6, 2020 · Electrical · 53,000 miles · MI

Ignition key will not disengage after the vehicle is parked and the engine turned off; vehicle has a CVT transmission.

Filed Mar 5, 2020 · Engine, Transmission · 75,000 miles · NY

Around 75k miles, the "at temp" light began to appear when driving the car for more than 35-40 minutes on the highway at continuous speeds. No code was stored when it was brought to the dealership. I have pictures of this light being on numerous times. This happened between may 2019-august 2019 then the vehicle began to shudder when coming to a complete stop, with occasional stalls/shutdowns. No lights would come out during shudder or stall. This happened between may 2019-february 2020 at 98k, vehicle began to jerk and shudder during shifting, around 2500rpm upon acceleration. I had a transmission service/ CVT fluid change done at 90k at johnston's subaru in middletown, ny. Transmission service was done 2/3/2020

Filed Oct 1, 2019 · Transmission · 157,161 miles · FL

Cvt codes p0700 and p2764 came on. The dealership said that it needs a whole new transmission as fixing just the torque converter will not fix the issue. All warning lights came on and none of the safety features will work. The car was doing this from a starting point and stayed on no matter speed. Seems to be a known issue with CVT...$7,731.00 to replace

Filed Aug 24, 2019 · Transmission · 60,000 miles · TX

My car is slowing down drastically while my foot is on the gas and RPM is increasing. I suspect that the CVT is slipping and causing the car to engine brake. This is the reason subaru extended the CVT warranty, but they have refused to replace my transmission because the dealer has not been able to duplicate the problem. There needs to be a recall on these cvts.

Filed Nov 29, 2016 · Transmission · 6,000 miles · TX

When shifting from reverse to drive, there is a 3 to 4 second lag time in the transmission between shifting and getting power to the wheels. This is very dangerous when you back out of your driveway, especially if you live on a busy street (as we do). I took it to the dealer today and they said this is normal for the type of transmission (CVT) and they wouldn't even look at it. This is irresponsible and needs to be corrected.