2015 Subaru Forester

MY WIFE AND I WERE LOOKING SPECIFICALLY FOR THE 2014-2018 SUBARU FORESTER. WE LOOKED OVER 25 OF THE SAME CAR AND MOST OF THEM HAD THIS NOISE COMING FROM THE AC COMPRESSOR. THE ONE WE BOUGHT WAS 27000 MILES ONLY AND DID NOT HAVE THE LOUD NOISE ON THE AC COMPRESSOR WHEN WE BOUGHT IT, BUT ABOUT 2000 MILES LATER THE NOISE STARTED, AND AFTER A LITTLE RESEARCH WE FOUND THAT IS SUPER COMMON ON THOSE YEARS MODELS TO HAVE THE ISSUE, AND EVENTUALLY IT CAUSES AC COMPRESSOR TO FAILURE. I WOULD ATTACH A VIDEO IF POSSIBLE.

AFTER 4HRS OF DRIVING WITH 2 PIT STOPS IN BETWEEN, I WAS IN 3 LANE TRAFFIC AND DOWN TO 1 BAR ON FUEL GAUGE STATING I HAD 50MI LEFT OF DRIVING REMAINING IN TANK.. LOW FUEL LIGHT HADN'T EVEN TURNED ON YET, ONLY TO FIND THAT THE CAR HAD LOST POWER AND REDUCED SPEED AND WOULDN'T ACCELERATE WHEN I USED HAS PEDAL. HOWEVER THE INTERIOR LIGHTS AND POWER WINDOWS STILL WORKED. I WAS ABLE TO PULL OFF TO THE SIDE OF ROAD AND SHUT THE CAR OFF. I LOOKED UNDER THE HOOD AND FOUND NOTHING TO BE OUT OF SORTS. NO DASH LIGHTS WENT OFF EITHER SUCH AS BATTERY OR CHECK ENGINE. I STARTED THE CAR BACK UP IN 5MINS AND FUELED MY CAR UP. ALSO, DURING THE TRIP MY FUEL MILEAGE WAS CONSISTENTLY GOING DOWN WHICH THE LOWEST READING DAYS 17MPG WHEN NORMALLY 30MPG. THIS HAPPENED THE DAY AFTER TAKING MY VEHICLE IN FOR NEW TIRES AT A CORPORATE TIRE COMPANY. 2 WEEKS LATER CAR HAVING TROUBLES STARTING. BATTERY AND ALTERNATOR CHECKED OUT GOOD, SO SUSPECTED FUEL PUMP. CAR DEALERSHIP STATES FUEL FILTER INSIDE THE PUMP AND EVEN IF THERE WAS A WAY TO TEST THE PRESSURE IT MAY NOT BE ACCURATE BECAUSE IT COULD BE INTERMITTENT FAILURE AND DOESN'T RECOMMEND ME REPLACING IT. THEY WANTED ME TO WAIT UNTIL IT HAPPENS AGAIN BEFORE LOOKING INTO IT ANY FURTHER. THEY CHECKED FOR DTC CODES AND FOUND NONE. ALSO SUGGESTED I JUST UPGRADE TO A NEWER VEHICLE AND I STATED THAT AT 138,000 THE CAR SHOULD STILL BE REPAIRABLE AND DRIVEABILITY OTHERWISE WHAT'S THE POINT OF PURCHASING TO OWN THE VEHICLE. OBVIOUSLY THE SITUATION WAS DANGEROUS AND COULD LEAD TO A SLEW OF PROBLEMS SUCH AS STANDING, ACCIDENT OR EVEN DEATH.

I HAVE EXPERIENCED ON OCCASION TO WHAT I BELIEVE TO BE SPONTANEOUS ACCELERATION. I WILL BE DRIVING DOWN HILL, MY FOOT IS ALREADY ON THE BRAKE THE WHOLE WAY BUT BEFORE MY VEHICLE REACHES THE STOP SIGN, IT WILL STOP BRAKING AND GO. MY FOOT NEVER LEFT THE BRAKE PEDAL. NEVER CHANGED THE PRESSURE ON THE PEDAL. WHEN THIS HAPPENS IT ALMOST FEELS LIKE MY VEHICLE IS RELEASING SOME SORT OF PRESSURE. IT HAS HAPPENED NUMEROUS TIMES, FORTUNATELY I HAVE BEEN ABLE TO COME TO A COMPLETE STOP BEFORE ONCOMING TRAFFIC.

I HAD TWO INSTANCES WHERE MY CAR STALLED ON THE HIGHWAY WHILE DOING 50-60 MILES AN HOUR. THE ENGINE RUNS FINE AND REVS GO UP WHEN I PUSH THE ACCELERATOR, HOWEVER THE CAR DOES NOT SPEED UP. BOTH THE TIMES I WAS ABLE TO MOVE THE CAR TO THE SIDE OF THE HIGHWAY, NARROWLY AVOIDING ACCIDENTS. THE ENGINE DIED BOTH TIMES AND AFTER A PERIOD OF TIME STRANDED ON THE SIDE OF THE HIGHWAY I WAS ABLE TO START THE CAR AND DRIVE TO MY DESTINATION. I TOOK IT TO A LOCAL DEALERSHIP TO GET IT CHECKED OUT. THE DEALERSHIP CLAIMS THEY COULD NOT FIND WHAT THE ISSUE IS WITH THE CAR. ACCORDING TO THEM, THEY IDLED THE CAR FOR ABOUT AN HOUR TO WARM IT UP AND DROVE IT FOR AN HOUR. THEY REPEATED THIS ONE MORE TIME. HOWEVER, THEY COULD NOT REPLICATE THE ISSUE AND CANNOT FIX IT. APPARENTLY THEY PERFORMED A THROTTLE BODY SERVICE ON THE CAR AND CHARGED ME FOR IT. LOOKING AT THE MILEAGES ON THE INVOICE, THE CAR WENT INTO THE DEALERSHIP AT 91223 MILES AND WENT OUT OF THE DEALERSHIP AT 91255 MILES. HOWEVER WHEN I PICKED UP THE CAR, THE MILEAGE ON IT WAS 91241 MILES. SO BASICALLY THEY DROVE THE CAR FOR A TOTAL OF 18 MILES IN 2 HOURS? I HAVE TWO ISSUES HERE. 1. I HAVE A CAR THAT HAS A POTENTIAL TO PUT THE SAFETY OF MY FAMILY AND I AT RISK IN THE MIDDLE OF THE HIGHWAY. 2. THE DEALERSHIP CLAIMED THEY TRIED TO DIAGNOSE IT BUT EVIDENTLY HAVE NOT EVEN TRIED, IF YOU LOOK AT THE MILEAGE. I WOULD LIKE TO KNOW HOW I CAN GET THIS ISSUE FIXED AND FEEL SAFE IN THE CAR.

ALWAYS THE DRAINS ON THE MOON ROOF GET CLOGGED AND IN A HEAVY RAIN, THE BACK OF THE CAR ROOF SERIOUSLY LEAKS INTO THE CAR. WE DO NOT USE THE ROOF. THIS IS A DESIGN FLAW. NOW THE ELECTRONICS BOX (CONTROLS REMOTE KEY LOCKS, TIRE PRESSURE GAUGE, ETC) NEEDS TO BE REPLACED BECAUSE IT HAS BEEN WET. THIS IS A $500+ REPAIR THAT HAS HAPPENED BECAUSE THE ROOF LEAKS IN SERIOUS RAIN. WE BELIEVE SUBARU SHOULD REIMBURSE US FOR THE COST OF THE ELECTRONIC BOX REPLACEMENT.WE ALSO HAVE TO PAY TO GET THE ROOF DRAIN UNGLOGGED.

ON TWO OCCASIONS WHILE DRIVING ROUGHLY 65 MPH THE ACCELERATION COMPLETELY GAVE OUT IN MY CAR, AS THOUGH THE CAR WENT INTO NEUTRAL. I COULD PRESS DOWN ON THE ACCELERATOR AND THE RPM'S WOULD SHOOT UP IN THE GAUGE CLUSTER, BUT THE CAR SIMPLY CONTINUED TO SLOW DOWN. I DRIFTED INTO THE SHOULDER, TURNED OFF THE CAR, WAITED A FEW MINUTES, AND TURNED THE IGNITION. BOTH TIMES, THE CAR RESUMED DRIVING NORMALLY. BOTH TIMES I BROUGHT THE CAR INTO A SUBARU DEALERSHIP, AND BOTH TIMES THEY KEPT THE CAR FOR A FEW DAYS BEFORE SAYING THEY COULDN'T REPLICATE THE PROBLEM, AND THAT THERE WAS NOTHING THEY COULD DO. THIS HAS HAPPENED TO OTHER OWNERS OF SUBARU FORESTERS FROM THIS PERIOD (~2015), AND WE HAVE CONNECTED ONLINE TO TRY AND SOLVE THIS DANGEROUS DEFECT. A LINK TO OUR DISCUSSION IS HERE: HTTPS://WWW.SUBARUFORESTER.ORG/THREADS/2015-2016-LOSE-POWER-AS-IF-TRANSMISSION-GOES-INTO-NEUTRAL-MERGED-THREAD.627562/

AIR CONDITIONING CONDENSER DOES NOT OPERATE PROPERLY DUE TO A PROBLEM WITH WIRING IN THE CLUTCH, AS ACKNOWLEDGED BY SUBARU. BLOWS COOL AIR ONLY SOMETIMES, BECAUSE THE CONDENSER DOES NOT FUNCTION PROPERLY. EVERY CONDENSER BEFORE A CERTAIN DATE IS DESTINED TO FAIL, LEAVING THE DRIVER TO PAY FOR AN EXPENSIVE REPAIR DESPITE THE FACT THAT SUBARU HAS ACKNOWLEDGED THIS ISSUE IS DUE TO BAD WIRING AND HAS CORRECTED IT. PER NHTSA ID NUMBER 10120975. *TR

LOSS OF ENGINE POWER/ACCELERATION. TRAVELING HOME IN OUR 2015 FORESTER, VIN [XXX], 93K MILES, WHEN WE ENCOUNTERED A PROBLEM. ON THE INTERSTATE, TRAVELING APPROXIMATELY 70MPH, OUR FORESTER SEEMED TO COME OUT OF GEAR, ALL THE DASH LIGHTS ILLUMINATED & THE GAS PEDAL WOULD NOT WORK AS FAR AS ACTUALLY ACCELERATING THE CAR (THE GAS PEDAL WOULD ?REV UP? WHEN PRESSED, BUT THERE WAS NO ACTUAL ACCELERATION HAPPENING WITH THE ENGINE). THERE WAS NO WARNING; NO ENGINE ISSUES; NO WARNING LIGHTS ON THE DASH PRIOR TO THIS EVENT. WE WERE LUCKILY ABLE TO PULL SAFELY OFF THE INTERSTATE. WE DID SHUT THE CAR OFF IN HOPES OF ?RESETTING? SOMETHING BUT COULD NOT GET THE CAR TO RESTART (IT WOULD JUST CRANK). THEREFORE, WE HAD TO HAVE IT TOWED. THIS IS THE THIRD TIME THIS HAS HAPPENED IN THE PAST YEAR ON THIS VEHICLE. WE HAVE TAKEN IT TO OUR TRUSTED LOCAL MECHANIC. NO ISSUES WERE FOUND, AND NO CODES WERE IDENTIFIED. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6). *TR