IllustrationENGINE CHECK LIGHT KEEPS COMING ON ONCE STARTED AND WOULD STAY ON UNTIL VEHICLE IS SHUT DOWN. TAKING VEHICLE TO DEALERSHIP.*AK LIGHT IS COMING ON DUE TO GAS CAP NOT BEING TIGHT ENOUGH, CONSUMER STATES THE CAP WILL NOT CLICK WHEN TURNED. *SLC
2000 Subaru Forester
Owner reports · Recalls · Investigations
Similar to other model years
Owner complaints for the 2000 Subaru Forester do not stand out strongly from the model-year median of 131.
About this comparison →How this year compares
Owner complaints by model year
Compare all Forester years →Counts vary with age, sales and reporting. They are not failure rates.
What owners reported most
All reported categories
Tap a category to read its complaints. One report may name several components.
When problems were reported
Mileage at the reported incident
50–25K
825–50K
650–75K
1175–100K
8100–150K
1150K+
39 reports with mileage · 36 unknown
NHTSA’s mileage field refers to the reported incident, not necessarily the filing date. This shows report counts, not the likelihood of a failure.
What to inspect
Issues worth paying extra attention to based on owner reports.
- Power Train. Review the 21 owner reports in this category and discuss these concerns during a pre-purchase inspection. Read reports →
- Suspension. Review the 19 owner reports in this category and discuss these concerns during a pre-purchase inspection. Read reports →
- Engine And Engine Cooling. Review the 12 owner reports in this category and discuss these concerns during a pre-purchase inspection. Read reports →
NHTSA owner reports · September 18, 2026 snapshot.
7 crash reports0 fire reports3 injury reports
What owners actually said
75 reportsIN TWO SEPARATE INCIDENCES, ON 9/26/2000 AND 03/30/2001, AN ORIGINAL BRIDGESTONE TIRE SUPPLIED WITH A NEWLY LEASED SUBARU FORESTER HAD A BLOWOUT WHILE DRIVING AT HIGHWAY SPEEDS. WE REGULARLY CHECK TIRE PRESSURE, AND ALL PRESSURES WERE ON SPECIFICATIONS, 29PSI FRONT AND 36PSI REAR. YET THEY BLEW OUT. LUCKILY THE DRIVER HAD BOTH H…
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IN TWO SEPARATE INCIDENCES, ON 9/26/2000 AND 03/30/2001, AN ORIGINAL BRIDGESTONE TIRE SUPPLIED WITH A NEWLY LEASED SUBARU FORESTER HAD A BLOWOUT WHILE DRIVING AT HIGHWAY SPEEDS. WE REGULARLY CHECK TIRE PRESSURE, AND ALL PRESSURES WERE ON SPECIFICATIONS, 29PSI FRONT AND 36PSI REAR. YET THEY BLEW OUT. LUCKILY THE DRIVER HAD BOTH HANDS ON THE STEERING WHEEL, AND THE CAR COULD BE STOPPED SAFELY, WITHOUT HUMAN DAMAGES. IN THE BLOWOUT ON 03/30/2001, HOWEVER, THE RIM SUSTAINED DAMAGES AND HAD TO BE REPLACED AS WELL AS THE TIRE. IN BOTH CASES THE BLOWOUT WAS THROUGH THE SIDEWALL, AND NOT AS A RESULT OF ANY PUNCTURE. IN BOTH CASES THE TIRE SIMPLY EXPLODED FROM THE INSIDE, FROM WHAT APPEARS TO BE A BUBBLE, POSSIBLY FORMED BY A SEPARATION OF THE RADIAL WINDINGS.*AK (DOT NUMBER: 274 TIRESIZE: 205/R75/15)
CONSUMER HAD GONE TO DEALER TO HAVE TIRES CHECKED. DEALER VERIFIED REAR TIRES WERE WORN UNEVENLY, AND, SHOE ON REAR WHEELS WERE PUT ON TURNED IN AT FACTORY, CAUSING TIRE WEAR. SAID TO COME BACK IN A WEEK, AND DEALER WOULD REPLACE TIRES. BEFORE THAT DATE, CONSUMER HAD AN ACCIDENT DUE TO WORN REAR TIRES. SUBARU STATED THEY WERE …
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CONSUMER HAD GONE TO DEALER TO HAVE TIRES CHECKED. DEALER VERIFIED REAR TIRES WERE WORN UNEVENLY, AND, SHOE ON REAR WHEELS WERE PUT ON TURNED IN AT FACTORY, CAUSING TIRE WEAR. SAID TO COME BACK IN A WEEK, AND DEALER WOULD REPLACE TIRES. BEFORE THAT DATE, CONSUMER HAD AN ACCIDENT DUE TO WORN REAR TIRES. SUBARU STATED THEY WERE NOT RESPONSIBLE. DAMAGE TO VEHICLE $1700. *AK AFTER ACCIDENT, TIRES WERE REPLACED AT NO CHARGE, CONSUMER DID NOT GIVE TIRE INFORMATION. *SLC
OXYGEN SENSOR HAS BEEN REPLACED 3 TIMES. DEALER STATED THERE WAS A RECALL COMING, BUT NOT ENOUGH PARTS YET. *AK
PE-00-020; TIRES ARE ORIGINAL EQUIPMENT, BRIDGESTONE HT DUELER, TIRE SIZE 15 INCH, DOT NUMBER NOT AVAILABLE, TIRES HAVE SEVEN THOUSAND MILES ON THEM. WHEN DRIVING 50 MPH DRIVER'S SIDE TIRE TREAD SEPARATED WHICH CAUSED SLIGHT LOSS OF VEHICLE CONTROL. CONSUMER HAS CONTACTED DEALER. PLEASE PROVIDE ANY FURTHER DETAILS. *AK
WHILE APPROACHING A HIGHWAY TOLL BOOTH, I RAISED MY HIPS TO REMOVE MY WALLET FROM MY BACK POCKET. THIS OBVIOUSLY PLACED PRESSURE ON THE SEAT BACK, WHICH THEN SUDDENLY RELEASED AND RECLINED CAUSING ME TO NEARLY LOSE CONTROL OF THE CAR. AFTER RETURNING THE SEAT TO ITS UPRIGHT POSITION AND EXITING THE TOLL BOOTH, THE SEAT BACK AG…
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WHILE APPROACHING A HIGHWAY TOLL BOOTH, I RAISED MY HIPS TO REMOVE MY WALLET FROM MY BACK POCKET. THIS OBVIOUSLY PLACED PRESSURE ON THE SEAT BACK, WHICH THEN SUDDENLY RELEASED AND RECLINED CAUSING ME TO NEARLY LOSE CONTROL OF THE CAR. AFTER RETURNING THE SEAT TO ITS UPRIGHT POSITION AND EXITING THE TOLL BOOTH, THE SEAT BACK AGAIN SUDDENLY RECLINED WHILE I ATTEMPTED TO PLACE MY WALLET IN MY BACK POCKET. IN TRYING TO DETERMINE THE CAUSE, I DISCOVERED THAT THE SEAT BELT HAD BECOME LOOPED AROUND THE SEAT BACK RELEASE LEVER. IN RAISING MY HIPS TO RETRIEVE MY WALLET, I EXERTED TENSION ON THE LAP PORTION OF THE SAFETY BELT, WHICH IN TURN PULLED UP THE LEVER AND RELEASED THE SEAT BACK. I HAVE NOTICED THE BELT LOOPED AROUND THE RELEASE LEVER ON AT LEAST ONE OTHER OCCASION. IT APPEARS THAT IN THE NORMAL COURSE OF GETTING IN AND OUT OF THE CAR, THE BELT CAN BECOME LOOPED AROUND THE LEVER AND THEREBY CREATING A POTENTIALLY DANGEROUS SITUATION. *AK
FRONT DIFFERENTIAL UNIT FAILED FROM LACK OF LUBRICATION, SUBARU STATED THAT INDEPENDENT FACILITIES MISTAKENLY DRAINED THE DIFFERENTIAL FLUID INSTEAD OF ENGINE OIL DURING OIL CHANGE BECAUSE OF THE CLOSE PROXIMITY OF PLUGS, THE DIFFERENTIAL PAN AND OIL PAN NEES TO BE PROPERLY LABELED. NLM
FRONT, LEFT TIRE IS BALD AND THE OTHER THREE TIRES ARE VERY WORN. *AK( DOT NUMBER: )
THE FIRST INCIDENT OCCURRED WHEN I WAS ATTEMTING TO PARK BEHIND ANOTHER VEHICLE. WHEN I PUSHED THE BRAKE PEDAL, THERE WAS A SURGE OF ACCELERATION AND I COULD DO NOTHING BUT RUN INTO THE VEHICLE IN FRONT. THE SECOND OCCASION WAS SIMILAR, BUT, THIS TIME I WAS TRYING TO COME TO A STOP AT A BUSY INTERSECTION. WHEN THE BRAKE PEDAL WA…
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THE FIRST INCIDENT OCCURRED WHEN I WAS ATTEMTING TO PARK BEHIND ANOTHER VEHICLE. WHEN I PUSHED THE BRAKE PEDAL, THERE WAS A SURGE OF ACCELERATION AND I COULD DO NOTHING BUT RUN INTO THE VEHICLE IN FRONT. THE SECOND OCCASION WAS SIMILAR, BUT, THIS TIME I WAS TRYING TO COME TO A STOP AT A BUSY INTERSECTION. WHEN THE BRAKE PEDAL WAS PUSHED, THERE WAS A SURGE OF ACCELERATION AND I HAD TO FLOOR THE ACCELERATOR PEDAL TO AVOID STRIKING AN ONCOMING CAR. *AK
ENGINE HAD A POROUS BLOCK. SUBARU OF AMERICA HAS ACKNOWLEDGED THIS AS A MANUFACTURING DEFECT. EXPERIENCED CATASTROPHIC LOSS OF TRANSMISSION FLUID. CAUSE UNKNOWN. CAR CURRENTLY AT NEW MOTORS FOR REPAIR. MATTER HAS BEEN REFERRED TO AN ATTORNEY FOR POSSIBLE ACTION UNDER STATE LEMON LAWS.
Official recalls
0No recalls in this snapshot.
Model-level recall history does not show whether a particular VIN is affected or has received a repair. Check a VIN with NHTSA ↗
NHTSA investigations
0No exact-year investigations in this snapshot.