2016 Subaru Forester: jerking or lurching

Filed Mar 25, 2025 · Brakes · OK

I own a 2016 Subaru Forester. Approximately eight months ago, I began noticing some concerning issues with the vehicle. When applying the brakes from higher speeds, the car experiences significant shaking. Additionally, when coming to a stop, the vehicle shifts down hard, causing a jarring lunge forward. This abrupt transition is quite noticeable and uncomfortable. Moreover, when accelerating from a complete stop, the car tends to lunge forward and exhibits a stuttering sensation accompanied by jerking. These issues have raised concerns about the vehicle's performance and safety.

Filed Jul 1, 2024 · Transmission · NJ

Subaru is aware of issues with their transmission system and previously offered an extension but my car is outside the 100k limit. The transmission started to fail and each time i stopped at an intersection, it would start to idle roughly and try and lurch foreward even with the brake fully depressed. I had to shift to neutral to avoid being pushed into oncoming cross traffice each time for a few weeks and then all my warning lights came on and my usual safety features were shut down

Filed May 4, 2024 · Acceleration · OH

I bought a new 2016 Subaru Forester in March of 2016 from Subaru of Dayton. I have been hearing reports of unexpected acceleration. I have had two cases of this problem. Both times I was turning right. The first time I was pulling into a parking spot in a shopping center. As I turned right the car surged and I almost hit a light pole. Luckily when I jammed on the brakes, it stopped in time. The second time I was slowly pulling out of a parking lot. As I turned right the car lurched and quickly caused the car to hit the curb very hard. This was 8/5/2021and I took my car to Dayton Tire Sales to see if there was any damage that needed to be fixed. They just checked the tire and said that there was no major damage to the tire. I have a copy of the invoice (could not attach) from that incident but never went to the dealer thinking it was just some fluke. Now I am concerned and feel that Subaru needs to address this problem before more people get hurt. Now that I have heard these other complaints I am very concerned about this problem. Has Subaru looked into this problem? Is there something that I should be doing? Is there a fix? Is it safe to drive my Forester?

Filed Jan 22, 2024 · Brakes · 73,000 miles · AZ

The contact owns a 2016 Subaru Forester. The contact stated that while parking the vehicle and shifting into park with the brake pedal depressed, the vehicle suddenly jerked forward and drove over the curb. The vehicle came to a stop after striking a fence. The contact stated that there were no warning lights illuminated. No injuries were reported. The vehicle was driven to the residence. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The local dealer was not made aware of the failure. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 73,000.

Filed Feb 12, 2023 · Transmission · OR · crash

When accelerator is slightly pushed after the vehicle has come to stop it accelerates in a jack rabbit manner. The driver stopped at beginning of driveway parking area, and decided to move slightly forward. A slight push on accelerator pedal caused vehicle to lurch forward and do $8,700 damage to the closed 2 car garage door, and $1,000+ to vehicle. Date of accident 02/10/2023

Filed Oct 13, 2022 · Transmission · 200,000 miles · WA

The contact owns a 2016 Subaru Forester. The contact stated that after starting the vehicle, various warning lights were illuminated. After using a personal diagnostic reader, he retrieved two unknown failure codes. The vehicle was taken to an independent where it was diagnosed that the transmission and an unknown sensor needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired; however, the failure persisted and the contact stated that the various warning lights remained illuminated and that when coming to a stop at a stop signal, the vehicle was jerking and lost motive power. The vehicle was able to restart after shifting the gear into park(P) to turn off the vehicle and then restart. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 200,000.

Filed Aug 20, 2022 · Acceleration, Electrical · OH

I pulled into a parking space with a friend and as I turned the wheel to pull in and had the foot on the break, as soon as I let up on the brake the car lurched forward. Luckily, I slammed back on the brake since my foot has just come off it. This was very scary as I came close to ramming into the car parked in front of me. There is no way that I hit the gas and made it lurch like it did. The car is only a 4 cyl. Now I am scared to drive it. There were no warning lights at all. I have not taken the car in to the dealer as I suspect they will say there is nothing wrong and charge me for diagnostics. I saw there were 200 complaints about this, mostly with 2017 models, but there should be a recall. I had another problem where the power steering quit working after parking the car in the garage overnight. Again, no recall and when I called Subaru they said they could run diagnostics but if nothing is found, I have to pay. Nice racket they have going.

Filed Jun 28, 2022 · Electrical, Transmission · 126,000 miles · TX

The contact owns a 2016 Subaru Forester. The contact stated while driving at various speeds, the vehicle started jerking and hesitating while attempting to accelerate. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer and the transmission fluid was flushed; however, after retrieving the vehicle the failure persisted. The contact stated that several unknown warning messages were displayed. The vehicle was taken back to the dealer who diagnosed that the transmission was faulty and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not yet repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure but no assistance was offered. The failure mileage was 126,000.

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 Sep 1, 2018 · Electrical, Transmission · 31,000 miles · NJ

I drove from nj to me (bought in 2017). I noticed difficulty when trying to accelerate/pass cars from the left lane. I thought nothing of it. After 5 hrs I got off the highway & made a right onto a main st when I heard a loud noise, felt it pull back & my wheels lock up. I thought I hit something or got a flat & was riding on my rims. From the right lane I moved onto the shoulder-it jerked roughly but remained stuck. I walked around it & noticed nothing wrong on the outside. I waited 2.5 hrs for a tow truck to take me 6 mins away to our hotel. I called a few local repair shops. None could see me for a week so my plan was to bring it to the hotel. The tow truck driver said my caliper was sticking & recommended I have it towed to subaru since no one would be able to service it at the hotel. Subaru called/said someone pulled my rear differential plug & it would need to be replaced with possible transmission damage. They blamed the oil change guy, saying he made an error (the differential was near the oil drain plug) & the repair was not covered under warranty. The diff they meant was the front diff-they are close. There are 2 diffs & the rear diff is where my issue was-10 ft away from oil drain. I've only had oil/brake pad changes & neither had a reason to touch any diff. That work is recommended between 30-50k miles & I had 31k. I drove a rental to nj while my car waits in nh. I talked to corporate/service all week but they won't listen to me even though I make a valid point. They asked who did those routine services. I shared the info & asked why it was relevant. He "hinted" that it could void the warranty. I asked if that was why my claim was denied but he said he didn't say that was the reason. It's illegal to tell customers only subaru can service their cars. Experienced mechanics say if anyone pulled the diff plug in nj I wouldn't have made it to me-5 hrs away.

Filed May 3, 2018 · Engine · 500 miles · CA

Car accelerates quickly and lurches forward when slightly touching the gas pedal. This happens at all times from start of car and during general driving conditions.

Filed Feb 27, 2017 · Acceleration, Brakes · 4,000 miles · FL · crash

Driver was parking front first into a parking spot, traveling straight forward at less than 5 MPH. When the 2016 subaru forester reached the proper parking location, the driver, with his foot on the brake, attempted to move the gear shifter from d to p. Suddenly the engine rev'd and the car lurched forward, over the parking concrete block, over a small bush and into the window wall of the adjacent condo. Damage was sustained to the wall, and right hand side front of vehicle. Driver stated that he could not do anything else because his foot was already on the brake. Neither airbag deployed.