2019 Subaru Forester

An electrical failure of the auto start/stop feature led to an unavoidable accident. I came to a stoplight, going slightly uphill, and the car shut off as designed. Releasing the brake re-engages the starter to continue driving, however when I released the brake, the car’s electrical system went haywire and the car immediately rolled BACKWARDS, damaging the car behind me. I took it to Subaru and the mechanic said the battery was low, but the car is designed NOT to initiate the start/stop feature, to prevent this from happening. They acknowledged that the accident was not my fault, but provided no further assistance. I was found at fault in the accident despite having no control over the scenario.

4/2/2024 at 5:30am my Eyesight system flashed a message in orange that the Eyesight system was off - not temporarily disabled. This is NOT due to an obstruction of the cameras by weather/glare/dirt etc. All functions controlled by Eyesight including lane departure, adaptive cruise control, and forward emergency braking, as well as reverse automatic braking are disabled by this malfunction. I removed the negative lead from my battery in an attempt to reset the system which did not clear the error. No check engine light accompanied this error and all other systems seem to be functioning normally.

Start / stop feature. Multiple incidents. Continuing issue. Stop at a light or in traffic. The car turns off. Let off the brake the car completely looses power sometimes or dies. Need to move shifter to park to restart. When the vehicle dies completely. Unable to move shifter of use hazards. This has happened on the highway at stop lights leaving me stranded in the middle of the road with no vehicle power. Or having to restart. Battery, starter and Alternator have been tested and are good. Safety issue.

My 2019 Suburu Forester battery will not hold a charge. Whenever I want to use it, my husband must jump the Forester with cables from his car's battery. I am careful not to park it for long and use it for trips to dentist, doctor, and other necessities. We bought the Suburu Forester brand new off the car lot in 2019. The car has under 3k miles of use--it looks in perfect condition. We've changed batteries but that did not solve the start up problem. It is a safety hazard depending upon where I have to stop the car. The "incident" is one of many recurrences. After 7 days of nonuse, parked in my garage, the car fails to start.

All of a sudden, the eyesight and collision prevention stopped working, the check engine light came on, the blue light thermostat indicator came on. We had no heat. The flashing "S" (sportsmode indicator) came on. We were driving on the highway and still over an hour from home. It was snowing, we could not adequately clear the windshield of fog so our visibility was severely compromised. We lost all Eye Sight capability which meant that we were vulnerable if there was ever a crash or an obstruction in the roadway.

The original battery does not support the CAN system and replacing the battery does resolve the issue. The system will shut off while stopped at a light to save fuel, and turn back on when you press on the brake or the gas. There is an error where the vehicle will try to start itself when you’re not even cranking it. This can be dangerous if the car shuts off at a light and won’t turn back on because the feature drains the battery. This needs to be a recall as Subaru is aware of the issue and implemented a new battery for the vehicles and want to charge double. Why should the consumer pay for something that the company is aware is a problem? And came up with a solution to the problem, but is trying to profit off of it instead of fixing their mistake?

On Friday, December 15, 2023 I started my car, Subaru Forester Touring 2019. After starting these lights came on the dashboard: check engine, flashing S drive, no eyesight, RAB off. I was reading online that there have been complaints to NHTSA similar to my problem ( NHTSA ID # 11490232, 12479843, 11511658, 11490977, 11479843, 11499756, 11480952, 11491752, 11474804) to name a few reports.This has never happenedbefore. The mileage on my car is about 54,400 miles at time of incident. It seems to me that there is a pattern here that needs to be resolved and the owners informed so they can get if fixed before it happens and causes safety problems for Subaru Forester owners. I am kindly asking your office to seriously look into this specific problem and help us, the consumers, to inform Subaru to fix these issues. I thank you for taking the time to read my letter.

On November 30th around 5:30 PM on [XXX] my wife struck and killed a 6 point buck. Thankfully a SC Highway officer was coming in the opposite direction saw the accident and aided my wife in getting out of the car as he had seen a fire in the engine compartment area. Shortly thereafter the car exploded and was engulfed in flames and totally destroyed. Neither the patrol officer nor the tow operator can remember an auto fire resulting from striking a deer. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

I own a 2019 Subaru Forester. Approximately 5 months ago, I experienced a failure in the auto start-stop feature. My car intermittently shuts down when stopped at traffic lights or in the middle of an intersection. Subaru conducted a diagnostic assessment to address the issue, but they couldn't identify any problems. This has happened about six times within the last five months. They claim to have never encountered this issue before. The temporary solution is to turn off the car and restart it, which is not safe when it occurs in the middle of an intersection. Following my dealership's recommendation, I replaced my battery with a standard EFB battery, However, the same issues persisted. Notably, the problem consistently occurs after driving on the highway for approximately 60-80 minutes and then coming to a stop at traffic lights. It is evident that the issue is not related to the battery. This issue raises significant safety concerns, especially when making left turns after coming to a stop at intersections. The sudden shutdown of the vehicle in the midst of an intersection can pose a substantial safety risk to both the driver and other road users. It not only creates a hazard in terms of traffic flow but also increases the likelihood of accidents and collisions. Given the critical nature of this safety concern, it is imperative that the problem be promptly addressed and resolved to ensure the safety of all road users.