2020 Subaru Forester

My thermo value went bad on my 2020 Forrester with no symptoms or warning causing me to become stranded in the middle of an extremely busy road. This is seemingly known problem and I'm unsure why Subaru has not been more proactive with this knowledge, not allowing others to end up in the same dangerous situation I was left in. Also, even after having the thermo value replaced, I have no way of knowing if any permanent damage was caused to my engine.

Driving my 2020 Subaru Forrester on 1/26/24, at night. Stopped at traffic light. Car started shaking, dash lights system lights came on. Turned off car and restarted. Car would not accelerate. Had towed to mechanic. Diagnosed as probable thermo regulator. Could not repair because part only available from Subaru. Called dealer who was not sympathetic or helpful. Told to bring in and leave. Would get to it when they could.

The contact owns a 2020 Subaru Forester. The contact stated while driving 75 MPH, the Forward Collision Avoidance Automatic Emergency Braking system activated and applied the brakes. The contact was able to pull to the shoulder of the roadway, where he smelled a burnt smell in the interior of the vehicle. The vehicle returned to normal functionality, but the failure became a regular occurrence. The check engine and brake warning lights were illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, who diagnosed a failure with the throttle body. The vehicle was repaired, but the failure reoccurred. The manufacturer was notified of the failure, and a case was opened. The failure mileage was 35,600.

When I am idling at a stop sign or sitting in traffic and I have come to a full stop, the car's engine shuts down as a gas-saving feature. This is not the problem! The problem is that sometimes when this feature engages, when I lift my foot off the brake to start driving again, a shrill constant ringing sound starts and the engine won't power back on. There is an error message that comes on that says "eyesight disabled." When this happens, none of these factors (the ringing, the error message, the dead engine) stop until I put the car in park and power it down completely, then restart the engine. Then none of the symptoms are there anymore and the car drives normally. I have not noticed any consistency about when this problem does or does not happen - it occurs in all weather types, temperatures, times of day, slopes/flat roads. I sometimes go months without it happening, and other times it happens twice in several days. The only consistent thing is that it only happens when the car is at a full stop and the engine has shuddered off to save gas. I live in Chicago and almost exclusively drive short distances in the city, I hardly do any highway driving. This has happened maybe 20 times since I bought the car in February, 2023.

My vehicle has repeatedly required being jump-started after sitting for a period of time. Recently it has become a safety issue because the engine is designed to turn off at times in order to traffic to improve fuel efficiency. After research, Subaru has a known issue with the DCM system used to power the optional (subscription based) Starlink system. This system uses 3G signals to provide emergency assistance; however 3G signal has been decommissioned and the system is unable to connect to a tower and never stops trying. This creates a parasitic drain on the battery that can (and has) prevents the car from being able to restart from a stopped position.

Check engine light came on, low temp light stays on, Eyesight disabled, lane departure, emergency breaking, etc have all been disabled due to the issue. I took it to the local autobody shop and they found code p0128 | Coolant Thermostat Issue. This has caused all safety features to become disabled as mentioned above. I was told by the local shop that I need to go to the dealership. I have not brought it to the dealership yet however, after looking online I found that this is a common issue with this make and model vehicle however, nothing has been done by Subaru to recall the component. I am going to bring the car to a dealership however, I'm upset that Subaru hasn't acted on the information that they have a faulty component in this vehicle. I am very concerned with cost of repairs since I am being forced to go to the dealer.