2005 Subaru Forester

AFTER PURCHASING THE VEHICLE WE DROVE IT ON A 3 HOUR ROAD TRIP ON THE HIGHWAY TO VISIT OUR DAUGHTER AT COLLEGE. AFTER PARKING I ATTEMPTED TO DRIVE THE CAR OUT OF THE PARKING LOT. I MISTAKENLY PASSED THE EXIT AND AS I ATTEMPTED TO REVERSE BACK TO THE EXIT THE VEHICLE WOULD NOT TRAVEL IN REVERSE EVEN THOUGH IT WAS SECURELY IN GEAR. I WAS ABLE TO SLOWLY DRIVE IT AROUND A CORNER OF THE PARKING LOT AND PARK IT WHERE IT THEN WOULD NOT MOVE IN REVERSE OR FORWARD. I EXITED THE VEHICLE AND NOTICED THAT THE LEFT FRONT PASSENGER SIDE TIRE WAS SLIGHTLY BENT IN TOWARDS THE VEHICLE. I THEN CALLED A TOW TRUCK AND HAD THE VEHICLE TOWED TO A MECHANIC. THE NEXT DAY THE MECHANIC WAS NOT YET ABLE TO MOVE THE CAR INTO THE GARAGE TO LIFT IT BUT WAS ABLE TO SEE THAT THE FRONT PASSENGER SIDE CONTROL ARM NEEDED TO BE REPLACED. HE HAD TO ORDER THE PARTS WHICH WOULD NOT ARRIVE FOR THREE DAYS. WE WERE PREPARED TO PAY FOR THE COST OF REPAIRS WHEN THE MECHANIC CALLED BACK AND AFTER HAVING ANOTHER TECHNICIAN LOOK AT THE VEHICLE THEY NOTICED A HAND SIZED HOLE IN THE SUB FRAME CAUSED BY SEVERE RUST DAMAGE THAT THEY COULD NOT FIX AND WOULD NOT ALLOW THEM TO FIX THE CONTROL ARM PROBLEM. THE MECHANIC STATED THAT WE WERE LUCKY TO MAKE IT AS FAR AS WE DID, AND WE WERE LUCKY TO BE ALIVE AND AFTER I ASKED EVEN IF THE CONTROL ARM WAS BRAND NEW WOULD WE HAVE HAD THIS PROBLEM? HE IMMEDIATELY ANSWERED YES. WE THEN HAD THE VEHICLE TOWED TO A FRAME SPECIALIST WHO TOLD ME THAT THE OPPOSITE SIDE OF THE SUB FRAME HAS THE SAME PROBLEM AND IS NOT CONFIDENT THAT BOLT WILL NOT SIMPLE FALL OFF IF ANYTHING IS ATTACHED TO IT. THE FRAME SPECIALIST STATED HE MOST LIKELY WILL HAVE TO CUT INTO THE MAIN FRAME TO FIX THE PROBLEMS. UPON SPEAKING TO THE GM OF THE DEALERSHIP HE STATED THAT YOU BOUGHT AN AS-IS VEHICLE, AND THEIR DEALERSHIP WOULD NOT BE PUTTING ANY MORE MONEY INTO THAT CAR

THERE'S A KNOWN UNDERCARRIAGE RECALL ISSUE ON THE 2005 FORESTER FOR WHICH I NEVER RECEIVED NOTIFICATION. UPON DISCOVERY OF THE PROBLEM ON MY VEHICLE WHICH INCLUDED EXTENSIVE CORROSION ON THE LOWER CONTROL ARM AND THE SUPPORTING FRAME (SEE PHOTO). I CONTACTED A NEARBY SUBARU DEALER WHO INFORMED ME THAT MOST OF THE NEEDED REPAIRS WERE NOT COVERED UNDER THE RECALL. THIS SITUATION PUT MY FAMILY AND ME AT GREAT RISK AS WE WERE DRIVING THE CAR AROUND WITHOUT KNOWING. WE FEEL THAT SUBARU SHOULD HAVE GONE TO GREATER LENGTHS TO MAKE SURE I GOT THE NOTICE REGARDING THIS STRUCTURAL DEFECT. SUBARU SHOULD COVER THIS REPAIR IN FULL. I WANTED TO ALERT OTHERS TO THIS DANGEROUS SITUATION.

WHEN IT IS BELOW 30 DEGREES OUT AND HEATER OR DEFROSTER IS ON AND THE VEHICLE IS MOVING BETWEEN 25-65 MPH, THE ACCELERATOR STICKS AND DOES NOT DECELERATE. WHEN THE CLUTCH IS APPLIED TO DISENGAGE THE ENGINE THE RPMS ADVANCE 1,000 TO 1,500 RPMS(SOMETIME TAKING THE RPMS TO 4,500 RPMS). VEHICLE HAS NO ENGINE WARNING LIGHTS ON THE DASHBOARD AND NO ERROR CODES ON THE ECU. THE MAF, MAP AND PCV SENSORS ARE ALL FUNCTION CORRECTLY. THE THROTTLE BODY IS ALSO PERFECTLY CLEANED. VEHICLE IDOLS FINE AND PASSES ALL EMISSIONS TESTS. I HAVE BEEN INFORMED THAT THE DRIVE-BY-WIRE (DBW) MECHANISM IS MOST LIKELY THE PROBLEM AND THIS COMPONENT SHOULD BE REPLACED.

THIS IS A 1 OWNER CAR WITH ONLY 65400 MILES ON IT. I DROVE DOWN A 30MPH ROAD AND THERE WAS SUCH A LOUD SCREECHING SOUND . NO LIGHT CAME ON, I WENT TO STOP THERE WAS LOUD GRINDING . AND 0 BRAKES OUT OF THE BLUE. THE CAR WOULDN'T STOP. I WENT THREW THE STOP SIGN AND INTO TRAFFIC BEFORE GRINDING TO A STOP..THIS CAR HAS BEEN MAINTAINED REGULAR. I TOOK IT RIGHT AWAY TO A LOCAL REPAIR SHOP.. THEY SAID THE BRAKES ARE CARRODED AND FROZEN. REQUIRING CALIPERS ,ROTORS,PADS ON EACH FRONT WHEEL. JUST FOR THE FRONT THE COST WAS OVER $950.00 . I DID SHOW A RECALL FOR THIS BUT BEFORE I GO TO THE SABARU DEALER I NEED TO MAKE SURE THAT THIS IS COVERED. I AM A DISABLED WIDOW I DRIVE VERY FEW MILES . I HAVE NEVER HAD ANY VEHICLE REQUIRE ANY THING OTHER THAN PADS.RHIS IS A REPLACEMENT OF A DEFECTIVE BRAKING SYSTEM. STILL THE BRAKES LIGHT HAS NOT EVEN COME ON.

I WAS BACKING UP MY 2005 SUBARU FORESTER IN A DOWNTOWN, STREET-LEVEL CORNER PARKING LOT. WHEN I PUT MY VEHICLE INTO REVERSE, A SUDDEN UNINTENDED ACCELERATION PROPELLED MY VEHICLE BACKWARDS ACROSS THE PARKING LOT, ACROSS A TWO-LANE DOWNTOWN STREET, UP ONTO THE OPPOSITE SIDEWALK AND CULMINATED IN MY VEHICLE CRASHING INTO A CITY LIGHT POLE, WHICH STOPPED THE VEHICLE. I ESTIMATE I WAS TRAVELING AT 25-30 MPH WHEN I HIT THE LIGHT POLE. I MISSED TWO PEDESTRIANS BY MERE INCHES AND FORTUNATELY MISSED HITTING ANY OTHER CARS. I HAD MY FOOT HARD ON THE BRAKE THE ENTIRE 4-5 SECONDS OF THE INCIDENT, AND ALMOST BROKE THE GEAR SHIFT, MADLY TRYING TO SHIFT INTO PARK. MY VEHICLE IS TOTALED AND I AM TOTALLY FREAKED OUT BY THE ENTIRE NIGHTMARISH EXPERIENCE! THIS WAS A DEADLY SEQUENCE OF EVENTS WHICH EASILY COULD HAVE CHANGED MY LIFE AND OTHERS' LIVES. I WILL NEVER OWN ANOTHER SUBARU. THIS OCCURRED ON THURSDAY, APRIL 26, 2018.

FRONT RIGHT LOWER CONTROL ARM AND AXLE BROKE WITH NO WARNING WHILE IN MOTION. MY SIGNIFICANT OTHER BOUGHT THIS CAR BRAND NEW FROM THE SHOWROOM FLOOR AND RETURNED IT IN 2011 FOR A RECALL "WVX34" NHTSA CAMPAIGN 11V464000 FOR 03-08 FORESTER FRONT LOWER CONTROL ARM RECALL-FOR THIS SAME ISSUE. HOWEVER, THE BOWSER SUBARU GARAGE FAILED TO FULFILL THEIR OBLIGATION CAUSE THEY FAILED TO REPLACE THE RUSTED OUT PARTS AND THEY ARGUED IT WAS FINE AFTER THEY DID A SPRING TENSION TEST BY HITTING ONLY ONE AREA- THE THICKEST PART OF THE METAL AND THEY REFUSED TO CHECK ANY OTHER SPOT. MY SIGNIFICANT OTHER, WHO HAS EXPERIENCE IN AUTO MECHANICS AFTER HAVING BEEN A MECHANIC IN THE SERVICE, KNEW THIS BOWSER SUBARU WAS WRONG SO HE WENT ACROSS THE STREET TO FIRESTONE, OBTAINED EVIDENCE/PROOF WITH DOCUMENTATION FROM FIRESTONE AFTER THEY CHECKED THE FRONT LOWER CONTROL ARMS AND THEY NOTED "BOTH" LOWER FRONT CONTROL ARMS NEEDED REPLACED BUT "AGAIN" EVEN WITH THIS PROOF, THIS BOWSER SUBARU GARAGE IGNORED THIS "SAFETY" RECALL ISSUE AND THEY SAID THEY WANTED $2,000 TO FIX IT WHEN IT WAS STILL UNDER THIS RECALL IN 2011. SUBARU HEADQUARTERS CUSTOMER SERVICE SAID THE RECALL WAS COMPLETED ON THIS VEHICLE IN 2011 AND THEY REFUSE TO FIX THIS RECALL. HOWEVER, THIS CAR STILL HAS THE ORIGINAL PARTS THAT SUBARU NEVER CORRECTED AND FORTUNATELY IT LASTED THIS LONG HOWEVER, THEY FINALLY BROKE FROM THE RUST. FORTUNATELY, WE GOT OFF THE INTERSTATE HIGHWAY SAFELY-ONLY 2 MILES AWAY AND ALSO MADE IT TO THE BOTTOM OF A STEEP HILL SAFELY BEFORE HAVING IT TOWED. SUBARU NEVER FULFILLED THEIR OBLIGATION AND DENIED THIS RECALL BY COVERING IT UP THAT THEY COMPLETED THE WORK WHEN THEY NEVER DID ANYTHING. I WILL SUBMIT ANY DOCUMENTATION THAT YOU REQUEST.