2020 Subaru Forester: fire, smoke or burning smell

Filed Aug 11, 2026 · Fuel system · IL · crash · fire

While driving my girfriend's 2020 Subaru Forester on August 11, 2026 at approximately 65 to 70 mph, I struck a deer on a highway. The airbags deployed immediately, and I temporarily lost all forward visibility due to the airbag deploy, and smoke or steam coming from the front of the vehicle as it decelerated to a stop. Within moments of stopping, smoke transitioned to visible flames coming from the engine compartment. The fire spread extremely quickly, and the vehicle became fully engulfed in flames within minutes. The specific component or system that failed is UNKNOWN, but based on the sequence of events, it appears that a front‑end structural failure during the collision may have caused a rupture of one or more engine‑bay components (oil system, coolant system, or other fluid lines), leading to a rapid fire. The vehicle was completely destroyed and is not available for inspection, but the incident was documented by emergency responders and my insurance company. This fire created a severe safety risk, as the vehicle ignited shortly after coming to rest and burned intensely. I had no warning lights, messages, or symptoms prior to the collision. The problem has not been reproduced, but I have since learned of multiple similar fires involving Subaru Foresters after front‑end animal impacts, which raises concern about a potential design vulnerability.

Filed Jun 8, 2024 · OR · crash · fire

Collided with a deer that was running across the freeway. Driving legal speed. Impact to front driver's side. Impact seemed relatively minor. No passenger injury. Odd that the airbags didn't deploy. Able to coast to the shoulder. Steam coming from radiator. That dissipated quickly. Had my sister call 911. Took pics of the front as well as the deer fur stuck to the car. About 2 minutes went by and I returned to the front to assess the extent of the damage. Car totaled. As I was assessing, I noted flames starting at the engine compartment firewall, almost directly centered between right and left sides. Vehicle eventually became fully engulfed. Seems like that fire shouldn't have started a full 5 minutes after the engine had been shut off. Advised to report by State Farm as the loss prevention person also thought it was unusual, as did OSP and fire. Said they'd never seen a car burst into flames after a deer strike.

Filed Oct 9, 2023 · Electrical, Engine · SC · fire

Daughter was driving vehicle on the morning of September 15, 2023, when smoke came from under hood. Immediately pulled over and engine was engulfed in flames. Got out of vehicle and moved a safe distance away as glass started to break and fire department arrived on scene. Picked up vehicle on September 12, 2023, after having the thermal control valve replaced (warranty) but after doing research there are other components that also had to be replaced (fuel line, etc) as part of this repair. Noticed there have been other vehicles with recall due to thermal control valve just nothing on the Subaru Forester. Completely traumatized as the vehicle was gone in a little over 3 minutes. Have been in contact with Subaru but no resolution on what they believe caused the car to catch on fire. Did authorize them to get “black box” on September 29, 2023.

Filed May 31, 2023 · Electrical · NE

This vehicle has approx. 45,000 miles and the electrical has failed. We have replaced the battery and tested all components in which they then operate fine. However overnight the battery fully drains, leaving us with no vehicle again. This vehicle has no accidents, maintained every 3 months and the health report even shows no issues/errors. No other symptoms have been noted. this car works and runs 100% like it did day 1 up until 3 days ago. Where it has died overnight every day. Luckily my husband is a mechanic as he indicated the last instance of a new battery going in, the dashboard was flashing and going haywire to the point that it wouldnt stop until he removed the battery. He indicated that its likely this would have been an electrical fire if the battery was not removed therefore could have caught on fire with myself and our 14 month old inside. There were no warnings, no alerts, no vehcile safety alerts, the mysubaru app in fact still says we have a 100% healthy vehicle.

Filed May 11, 2023 · IL · crash · fire

We hit a deer, front-end impact, then our Forester started on fire and completely burned up. The airbags did not deploy, we were not injured but the car is a complete loss.

Filed Sep 24, 2021 · Engine, Fuel system · WI · crash · fire

At one year old this vehicle was involved in a frontal collision with a deer and immediately upon impact burst into flames. The fire breached the firewall between the engine compartment and passenger compartment within less then a minute. Within 2 minutes the engine compartment and front seat area was completely engulfed in flames and within 3 minutes the entire vehicle was engulfed. It appears the fire started as the fuel shut-off system that is supposed to stop the fuel from flowing once the airbags are deployed failed. This put the occupants of this vehicle and any others had this been a collision with another vehicle in extreme danger of serious injury if not even death. Had the driver been incapacitated, not been able to open the door or had a child to remove from a car seat there would have been certain death due to the extremely rapid spread of the fire throughout the entire vehicle. This has been reported to Subaru of America. The vehicle is currently being inspected by the insurance carrier. There were no prior warnings that there were any concerns with the safety features of this vehicle. It was just serviced by the dealer one month prior to the accident. In reviewing other complaints on the federal safety agency website there is a complaint of a 2019 Subaru Forester that experienced this same complete and total destruction due to a fire erupting upon impact in what should have been a minor frontal collision.