Rapid acceleration from a stop. When the accelerator is pressed down even slightly the car lurches forward at a very fast rate. It can travel several feet before I am able to stop it by braking. This is a dangerous condition. In several instances I have almost crashed into a car ahead of me in accelerating after a stop light has turned green. This issue was noted shortly after I purchased the car (purchased new) and shortly contacted the dealership. They said it was inherit to the car and could not be fixed. They test drove the car and said everything is ok. In the last 2 months It has only gotten worst. Yesterday I did a search for this issue and discovered that this issue is quite frequent among 2017 Subaru Forester owners including law suits. Is there anything that I can do to fix this problem since this is an issue tied to Subaru and of my making. Date of issues is the first date noted. This issue has continued on almost a daily basis since the car was purchased.
The worst 2017 Subaru Forester problems
Ranked by number of owner complaints. Mileage and cost come from what owners wrote.
Problems by type
Tap a problem to see which part fails, at what mileage and in which other years.
- Airbags167
- Visibility116
- Electrical106
- Engine48
- Transmission46
- Seats34
- Acceleration33
- Steering25
- Driver assistance16
- Body15
- Brakes15
- Suspension13
- Wheels13
- Fuel system11
- Seat belts10
- Lights4
- Locks1
Specific symptoms reported on the 2017 Subaru Forester
Windshield crack 94Airbag light 80Battery drain 30No deployment 17Stalling 17Ball joint 14Sudden acceleration 14Adaptive cruise 10Check engine light 10Won't start 10Hesitation 8Loss of power 8CVT failure 7Collision warning 6Fuel smell 6Jerking 6
Trouble codes owners of the 2017 Subaru Forester mention
B1760 11B1650 7
Recalls 1
Air bags: sensor: occupant classification
- What is wrong
- Subaru of America, Inc. (Subaru) is recalling certain 2015-2018 Forester vehicles equipped with heated seats. An electrical connection in the front passenger seat for the Occupant Detection System (ODS) may loosen.
- Risk
- If the connection loosens, the front passenger airbag may deactivate even though the seat is occupied, increasing the risk of injury to the front passenger in the event of a crash.
- Remedy
- Subaru will notify owners, and dealers will inspect and, as necessary, replace the ODS sensor mat harness, free of charge. The recall began February 11, 2020. Owners may contact Subaru customer service at 1‑844‑373‑6614. Subaru's number for this recall is WUM-98.
Recall number 19V701000 · Recall details
See all 1 recalls for the 2017 Subaru Forester
Defect investigations
Occupant Detection System (ODS) Failure
The Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) opened PE19-009 to investigate 51 complaints and additional Early Warning Report (EWR) data related to allegations of front passenger seat Occupant Detection System (ODS) malfunctions in model year (MY) 2016 through 2018 Subaru Forester vehicles. These vehicles use a capacitive type ODS, which is intended to classify the occupant of the passenger seat as either full-sized, small stature, a child seat or other object. The complaints reported the ODS failed to operate properly, the SRS (Supplemental Restraint System) warning light illuminated, and/or the ODS incorrectly suppressed (turned off) the front passenger air bag when the seat was occupied by a full-sized passenger. In a frontal crash that is sufficient to warrant deployment, a suppressed air bag may increase the risk of injury to the occupant of the seat.On August 14, 2019 ODI sent an Information Request (IR) to Subaru requesting information on the subject vehicles and MY 2014-2015 Subaru Forester vehicles.On October 3, 2019, Subaru submitted a Defect Information Report (DIR) to the federal safety agency describing a safety defect in the passenger-side front airbag Occupant Detection System (ODS) harness of 366,282 MY 2015-2018 Subaru Forester vehicles equipped with seat heaters.The DIR stated that over time, due to a decrease in contact pressure between the terminals in the ODS sensor mat harness, a temporarily unstable electrical connection may be possible. If the connection is temporarily unstable, the ODS may not properly determine the status of the right front seat occupant. If the ODS is unable to correctly determine the status of the front occupant, the airbag warning light may illuminate, and the front passenger airbag may deactivate even though the seat is occupied, increasing the risk of injury to the front passenger in the event of a crash.Using vehicle production data and field occurrence frequency, Subaru determined the potentially affected vehicle production range to be between January 20, 2015 ?and August 1, 2017.In addition, Subaru indicated that over 99 percent of the related MY 2015-2018 field reports with vehicles in the production range involved vehicles with seat heaters.the federal safety agency's analysis of complaint and warranty claim data showed 1,440 of the complaints and 11,672 of the claims involve vehicles with seat heaters that were built within the production range covered by Subaru's recall.In addition, the federal safety agency's analysis showed a complaint rate of 393.1 per hundred thousand vehicles for the recalled population and 89.0 for MY 2014 through 2018 vehicles that are not included in the recall. Analysis of warranty claim data found a claim rate of 3.2 percent for the recalled population and 0.3 percent for MY 2014 through 2018 vehicles that are not included in the recall.Subaru will instruct owners with Subaru Forester vehicles produced in the affected vehicle production range, to bring their vehicles to a dealer to have the sensor mat harness, inspected and replaced with a new part, including the seat cushion assembly, if necessary.Based on ODI's analysis, the actions taken by Subaru mitigate any unreasonable risk to safety posed by ODS sensor mat failures in the subject vehicles. For subject and peer vehicles outside the recall population and those equipped without seat heaters, ODI's analysis indicates that there is currently no safety-related defect trend. Given these circumstances, further use of the agency resources in this matter does not appear to be warranted. Accordingly, this investigation is closed.
PE19009
Technical service bulletins for the 2017 Subaru Forester 458
Bulletins tell dealers how to fix known problems. A warranty extension means the manufacturer pays for that repair for longer.
- This bulletin announces diagnostic procedures and availability of new Engine Control Module (ECM)...
- This is an update announcement regarding the TechShare & NorthStar Integration
- This announcement provides information on the connected services platform for Subaru EVs.
- This bulletin provides a step-by-step diagnostic procedure for resolving Remote Engine Start (RES)...
- This Service Information Bulletin has been developed to outline the steps for gathering basic but...
- This announcement provides information on DCM replacememts due to a parasitic draw.
- This announcement provides information on an outage affecting the Subaru Select Monitor 5 application.
- This Service Information Bulletin announces the availability of ThreeBond 1216J (SOA868V9640) designed for...
- This announcement provides information on a new software update for the Midtronics Dss and DCA machines.
- This bulletin contains illustrations of exchange components and their manufacturer as well as a...
2017 Subaru Forester fuel economy
Official EPA estimates in miles per gallon (MPGe for electric). Ranges cover trims that share the same engine.
| Engine | Drive | City | Highway | Combined |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2.5L 4‑cyl | AWD | 22-26 | 28-32 | 24-28 |
| 2.0L 4‑cyl | AWD | 23 | 27 | 25 |
What 2017 Subaru Forester owners say
Most recent owner complaints, unedited.
The Occupant Detection Sensor had a recall in 2019 and we replaced under that recall in 2020, but the part has once again failed and in looking at other Subaru forums, many others with this model year of Subaru Forester have dealt with the same ODS replaced ODS sensor failing again. This sensor deactivates the passenger airbag.
After replacement of the passenger ODS harness under recall WUM-98, the system still fails to detect a passenger in the seat, making it impossible for me to safely drive with a passenger. Subaru will not fairly cover the defect and would have to install a new seat and recode the new seat to the airbag module. The repair would cost me at least $1500. The capacitive passenger sensor is a major engineering flaw in Subarus, and a very good reason to never buy from them again.
I am filing a formal complaint regarding repeated, costly, and premature failures on my 2017 Subaru Forester, as well as the outright refusal by Subaru Consumer Advocacy to provide financial relief or goodwill reimbursement. Between 2024 and 2026, reaching under 90,000 miles, I was forced to pay out-of-pocket for over $6,200 in major repairs: Rear Wheel Bearings (2024): $2,000+ for premature bearing failure. A/C Evaporator Repair (Feb 2025, ~87,000 miles): $2,000 A/C Compressor Replacement (March 2026): $2,200 following additional system breakdown. Subaru issued Service Program Bulletin WRB-21 / WRB-21R specifically acknowledging factory-defective A/C condensers in 2017 Foresters. When an A/C condenser leaks refrigerant and oil, it directly damages down-stream components, including the evaporator and compressor. Despite pointing out Service Program WRB-21 to the Subaru Consumer Advocacy group, my request for goodwill reimbursement was flatly denied.
Transmission light over heating comes on
Valve control assembly failure. A known TSB. Disables safety features of the car. Should be a recall.
the occupant detection system has failed for years, the subaru dealership keep temporarily fixing the problem and has finally quoted me 2,000 to completely replace the seat as that is where the sensor is located. If i get in a wreck with a passenger they will have no airbag, and i dont think the seatbelts would work either. This is a faulty part that came with the car. The ODS light is on always, the dealership confirmed this.
Within 30k miles, Front passinger control arm bushings required replacement due to bushing failure resulting in uneven tire ware. By 35k miles, the front driver lower control arm also had the same issue effecting steering and uneven tire ware.
the TGV valve metal flap screw came undone and came loose with the intake manifold. piece of metal about 1 in x 2 inch (flap) fell down to cylinder 2 intake and rubbed against the intake valve nipping pieces off and those pieces of metal along with loose screw fell chipping corner of cylinder 2 top edge. at my shop they had to replace cylinder 2 and TGV valve and rebuild the damaged cylinder head. REASON WHY I TOOK IT TO THE SHOP There was small vibrations at a idle at about 800 rpm (stationary) and already replaced the spark plug and fuel injector and it still shook little bit. since i couldn't figure out what was the issue decided to take it to a mechanic. about a week prior to dropping the car off at the mechanics I heard a metal clinking in the engine for a minute and went away. after that the Miles per gallon went from 27 down to 25 miles per gallon. before taking the car to the shop there was a warning light on cylinder 2 on my OBDII reader ( not a full check engine light). a screw shouldn't be loosening in a internal combustion engine part where if not taken care of it can detonate an engine and cost user thousands of dollars and it was not their fault. I researched on this same issue and I found few online where they were showing videos of them moving the loose part with a screw driver. Have not found any one where the part came off completely and went down into the intake valve.
On May 30, 2026, I was driving the freeway 2(Glendale Fwy) south, I was using the cruise control and driving 63 0r 68 miles. All of sudden, my car start to shaking violently, moving toward right lane, so I tried move my car back to my lane. My car was out of control and driving zig zag way then went up to hillside of the freeway and roll over end up crash on the concrete swale. I thought that was my last moment of my life. I could not move, severely injured and my car was totally damaged. The driver was driving who witnessed whole thing from behind my car, stopped and called 911. He was kindly came to me and gave me a drinking water. The mileage in my was about 68000 miles and I did maintenance as the manufacture recommended it.
Compare the 2017 Subaru Forester
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Other model years
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Questions about the 2017 Subaru Forester
Is the 2017 Subaru Forester reliable?
Owners have filed 594 complaints about the 2017 Subaru Forester, 3.3 times a typical Forester model year. It is one of the years we flag to avoid.
What is the 2017 Subaru Forester year score?
The 2017 Subaru Forester scores 32 out of 100 (poor). The score compares it with the other model years of the Subaru Forester: 75 is a typical year, 50 means twice the usual complaints, and serious complaints and recalls lower it.
What is the most common problem with the 2017 Subaru Forester?
Airbags, with 167 complaints, typically around 26,000 miles. Next is visibility (116).
How many recalls does the 2017 Subaru Forester have?
1 recall, covering air bags.
What gas mileage does the 2017 Subaru Forester get?
Official estimates for the 2017 Subaru Forester range from 24 to 28 mpg combined. The most efficient version (2.5L 4-cyl, AWD) gets 22-26 city and 28-32 highway.
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