IllustrationWHEN STOPPING/STOPPED IT WILL SUDDENLY ACCELERATE/SURGE FORWARD AND I NEED TO SLAM ON BRAKES
2016 Subaru Forester
Owner reports · Recalls · Investigations
More warning signs than most Forester years
Owner complaints for the 2016 Subaru Forester are substantially higher than 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
690–25K
7825–50K
4350–75K
1175–100K
9100–150K
7150K+
217 reports with mileage · 196 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.
- Air Bags. Review the 99 owner reports in this category and discuss these concerns during a pre-purchase inspection. Read reports →
- Electrical System. Review the 93 owner reports in this category and discuss these concerns during a pre-purchase inspection. Read reports →
- Engine. Review the 60 owner reports in this category and discuss these concerns during a pre-purchase inspection. Read reports →
NHTSA owner reports · September 18, 2026 snapshot.
39 crash reports3 fire reports14 injury reports
Power Train complaints
50 reportsWHEN VEHICLE IS PLACED IN PARK AFTER A TRIP, THE KEY BECOMES STUCK IN THE IGNITION. THE VEHICLE IS ABLE TO BE TURNED OFF BUT THE KEY IS UNABLE TO BE REMOVED FROM THE IGNITION. CYCLING THE KEY IN THE IGNITION AND PLACING THE CAR BACK IN PARK MULTIPLE TIMES ALLOWS THE KEY TO EVENTUALLY BE REMOVED FROM THE IGNITION. ONLINE SEARCH S…
Read full complaint
WHEN VEHICLE IS PLACED IN PARK AFTER A TRIP, THE KEY BECOMES STUCK IN THE IGNITION. THE VEHICLE IS ABLE TO BE TURNED OFF BUT THE KEY IS UNABLE TO BE REMOVED FROM THE IGNITION. CYCLING THE KEY IN THE IGNITION AND PLACING THE CAR BACK IN PARK MULTIPLE TIMES ALLOWS THE KEY TO EVENTUALLY BE REMOVED FROM THE IGNITION. ONLINE SEARCH SHOWED MANY COMPLAINTS FROM THE SAME YEAR VEHICLE.
TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2016 SUBARU FORESTER. THE CONTACT STATED THAT THE KEY WAS STUCK IN THE IGNITION. THE CONTACT STATED THAT SEVERAL ATTEMPTS WERE MADE BEFORE THE KEY RELEASED AND WAS REMOVED FROM THE IGNITION. COLONIAL SUBARU (761 E CHESTER ST, KINGSTON, NY 12401, (845) 339-3330) ACKNOWLEDGED THE THAT FAILURE HAD OCCURRED IN…
Read full complaint
TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2016 SUBARU FORESTER. THE CONTACT STATED THAT THE KEY WAS STUCK IN THE IGNITION. THE CONTACT STATED THAT SEVERAL ATTEMPTS WERE MADE BEFORE THE KEY RELEASED AND WAS REMOVED FROM THE IGNITION. COLONIAL SUBARU (761 E CHESTER ST, KINGSTON, NY 12401, (845) 339-3330) ACKNOWLEDGED THE THAT FAILURE HAD OCCURRED IN OTHER VEHICLES. THE MECHANIC ATTEMPTED TO TAP THE SHIFT COLUMN TO DISLODGE THE KEY HOWEVER, THE KEY REMAINED STUCK IN THE IGNITION. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT REPAIRED. THE MANUFACTURER WAS NOTIFIED OF THE FAILURE AND REFERRED THE CONTACT TO THE NHTSA FOR ASSISTANCE. THE APPROXIMATE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 25,000. THE VIN WAS NOT AVAILABLE.*DT THE CONSUMER STATED THE REPAIRS WERE MADE AT THE OWNERS EXPENSE BUT CONSUMER COMPLAINED TO SUBARU ABOUT HAVING TO COVER THE COSTS AND SUBARU REIMBURSE THE CONSUMER FOR THE REPAIRS. *TR
2016 SUBARU FORESTER. KEY GETS STUCK IN IGNITION. CAN NOT BE REMOVED. ALL ELECTRICAL POWER STILL ON. THIS HAPPENED AFTER I PULLED MY SUV INTO A PARKING SPOT. PLACE IN PARK. TURNED OFF AND KEY WAS STUCK IN IGNITION. THIS IS THE 5TH TIME IN 2 WEEKS THIS HAS HAPPENED.
VEHICLE WAS TRAVELING ON HIGHWAY AROUND 70 MPH. LOST POWER TO WHEELS/VEHICLE STALLED WITH NO WARNING. ENGINE REVVED TO HIGH RPM'S WHEN I HIT GAS, AS I COASTED INTO THE GRASSY MEDIAN. I TURNED OFF ENGINE, WAITED FOR A FEW MINUTES. TRIED TO START AGAIN, STARTER WOULD CRANK, BUT ENGINE WOULD NOT START. TOWED VEHICLE TO DEALER …
Read full complaint
VEHICLE WAS TRAVELING ON HIGHWAY AROUND 70 MPH. LOST POWER TO WHEELS/VEHICLE STALLED WITH NO WARNING. ENGINE REVVED TO HIGH RPM'S WHEN I HIT GAS, AS I COASTED INTO THE GRASSY MEDIAN. I TURNED OFF ENGINE, WAITED FOR A FEW MINUTES. TRIED TO START AGAIN, STARTER WOULD CRANK, BUT ENGINE WOULD NOT START. TOWED VEHICLE TO DEALER THEY WERE ABLE TO START CAR NEXT DAY. NO ERROR CODES IN COMPUTER. HAVE NOTICED THIS ISSUE ON THE SUBARU MESSAGE BOARDS, DEALERSHIP UNABLE TO DIAGNOSE ISSUE NOW. VERY SERIOUS PROBLEM, COULD HAVE BEEN A FATAL ACCIDENT ON HIGHWAY.
THERE IS A LEAK IN THE HEAD GASKET WHICH RUINED A TEMPERATURE GAUGE ($700 TO REPLACE). THE MECHANICS SAY IT IS A DESIGN FLAW AND THERE IS NOTHING I COULD DO TO AVOID THE ISSUE AND IT WILL KEEP HAPPENING UNTIL I FIX THE LEAK.
TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2016 SUBARU FORESTER. THE CONTACT STATED THAT THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO CAMELBACK SUBARU LOCATED AT 1521 E CAMELBACK RD, PHOENIX, AZ 85014, (602) 680-2495 FOR THE 120,000 MILES VEHICLE INSPECTION. THE CONTACT STATED THAT AFTER PICKING UP THE VEHICLE AND DRIVING AT AN UNDISCLOSED, THE TRANSMISSION OVERHEAT W…
Read full complaint
TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2016 SUBARU FORESTER. THE CONTACT STATED THAT THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO CAMELBACK SUBARU LOCATED AT 1521 E CAMELBACK RD, PHOENIX, AZ 85014, (602) 680-2495 FOR THE 120,000 MILES VEHICLE INSPECTION. THE CONTACT STATED THAT AFTER PICKING UP THE VEHICLE AND DRIVING AT AN UNDISCLOSED, THE TRANSMISSION OVERHEAT WARNING LIGHT ILLUMINATED. THE SAME DEALER WAS CONTACTED AND THE CONTACT WAS INFORMED THAT THE TRANSMISSION SOLENOID NEEDED TO BE REPLACED. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT REPAIRED. THE MANUFACTURER WAS NOT NOTIFIED OF THE FAILURE. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 119,953.
THE KEY HAS STARTED GETTING STUCK IN THE IGNITION INTERMITTENTLY AFTER TURNING THE MOTOR OFF. SOMETIMES IT TAKES SEVERAL ATTEMPTS INVOLVING TURNING THE MOTOR BACK ON AND PULLING THE KEY OUT AS I'M TURNING THE MOTOR OFF. IT MAY GO A COUPLE OF DAYS AND BE FINE THEN DO IT SEVERAL TIMES IN A ROW. *TR
AROUND 75K MILES, THE "AT TEMP" LIGHT BEGAN TO APPEAR WHEN DRIVING THE CAR FOR MORE THAN 35-40 MINUTES ON THE HIGHWAY AT CONTINUOUS SPEEDS. NO CODE WAS STORED WHEN IT WAS BROUGHT TO THE DEALERSHIP. I HAVE PICTURES OF THIS LIGHT BEING ON NUMEROUS TIMES. THIS HAPPENED BETWEEN MAY 2019-AUGUST 2019 THEN THE VEHICLE BEGAN TO SHUDD…
Read full complaint
AROUND 75K MILES, THE "AT TEMP" LIGHT BEGAN TO APPEAR WHEN DRIVING THE CAR FOR MORE THAN 35-40 MINUTES ON THE HIGHWAY AT CONTINUOUS SPEEDS. NO CODE WAS STORED WHEN IT WAS BROUGHT TO THE DEALERSHIP. I HAVE PICTURES OF THIS LIGHT BEING ON NUMEROUS TIMES. THIS HAPPENED BETWEEN MAY 2019-AUGUST 2019 THEN THE VEHICLE BEGAN TO SHUDDER WHEN COMING TO A COMPLETE STOP, WITH OCCASIONAL STALLS/SHUTDOWNS. NO LIGHTS WOULD COME OUT DURING SHUDDER OR STALL. THIS HAPPENED BETWEEN MAY 2019-FEBRUARY 2020 AT 98K, VEHICLE BEGAN TO JERK AND SHUDDER DURING SHIFTING, AROUND 2500RPM UPON ACCELERATION. I HAD A TRANSMISSION SERVICE/ CVT FLUID CHANGE DONE AT 90K AT JOHNSTON'S SUBARU IN MIDDLETOWN, NY. TRANSMISSION SERVICE WAS DONE 2/3/2020
CVT CODES P0700 AND P2764 CAME ON. THE DEALERSHIP SAID THAT IT NEEDS A WHOLE NEW TRANSMISSION AS FIXING JUST THE TORQUE CONVERTER WILL NOT FIX THE ISSUE. ALL WARNING LIGHTS CAME ON AND NONE OF THE SAFETY FEATURES WILL WORK. THE CAR WAS DOING THIS FROM A STARTING POINT AND STAYED ON NO MATTER SPEED. SEEMS TO BE A KNOWN ISSUE WITH…
Read full complaint
CVT CODES P0700 AND P2764 CAME ON. THE DEALERSHIP SAID THAT IT NEEDS A WHOLE NEW TRANSMISSION AS FIXING JUST THE TORQUE CONVERTER WILL NOT FIX THE ISSUE. ALL WARNING LIGHTS CAME ON AND NONE OF THE SAFETY FEATURES WILL WORK. THE CAR WAS DOING THIS FROM A STARTING POINT AND STAYED ON NO MATTER SPEED. SEEMS TO BE A KNOWN ISSUE WITH CVT...$7,731.00 TO REPLACE
Official recalls
319V701000 · Air Bags:sensor:occupant Classification
Oct 3, 2019
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.
Consequence & remedy
Consequence: 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.
19V149000 · Exterior Lighting:brake Lights:switch
Feb 28, 2019
Subaru of America, Inc. (Subaru) is recalling certain 2014-2016 Forester, 2008-2016 Impreza sedans, 2012-2016 Impreza station wagons, 2008-2014 WRX sedans (including STI), and 2013-2017 Crosstrek vehicles. Exposure to certain contaminants may cause the brake light switch to malfunction, preventing the brake lights from illuminating and also preventing keyless ignition vehicles from starting and CVT/automatic transmissions from being able to be shifted out of Park.
Consequence & remedy
Consequence: Brake lights that do not illuminate properly will not alert other drivers that the vehicle is slowing or stopping, increasing the risk of crash.
Remedy: Subaru will notify owners, and dealers will replace the brake light switch, free of charge. The recall began April 15, 2019. Owners may contact Subaru customer service at 1-844-373-6614. Subaru's number for this recall is WUE-90.
16V162000 · Engine And Engine Cooling:engine:gasoline:turbo/supercharger
Mar 21, 2016
Subaru of America, Inc. (Subaru) is recalling certain model year 2015-2016 WRX vehicles manufactured April 10, 2015, to October 21, 2015, and Forester 2.0XT vehicles manufactured April 10, 2015, to October 20, 2015. The turbocharger air intake duct may crack and possibly result in an engine stall.
Consequence & remedy
Consequence: An engine stall increases the risk of a crash.
Remedy: Subaru will notify owners, and dealers will inspect the turbocharger air intake duct, and replace it as necessary, free of charge, depending on the lot number found on the duct. The recall began April 2016. Owners may contact Subaru customer service at 1-800-782-2783. Subaru's number for this recall is WTA-62.
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
1PE19009 · Occupant Detection System (ods) Failure
Opened Aug 6, 2019 · Closed Jan 22, 2020
Status: closed (inferred from source dates) · Air Bags; Air Bags:frontal; Air Bags:frontal:passenger Side:inflator Module; Air Bags:sensor:occupant Classification
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 NHTSA 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.NHTSA'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, NHTSA'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.
Additional source detail variants (4)
Air Bags:frontal:passenger Side:inflator Module
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 NHTSA 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.NHTSA'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, NHTSA'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.
Air Bags:frontal
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 NHTSA 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.NHTSA'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, NHTSA'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.
Air Bags:sensor:occupant Classification
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 NHTSA 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.NHTSA'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, NHTSA'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.
Air Bags
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 NHTSA 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.NHTSA'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, NHTSA'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.