Subaru Forester: recalls and complaints by model year

NHTSA lists 43 recall campaigns for the Subaru Forester, model years 1998 to 2026. NHTSA has 6,487 complaints on file for this model line. 29 of the 29 model years have a page on this register.

Select a model year NHTSA VIN lookup

Complaint information entered into NHTSA’s Office of Defects Investigation vehicle owner's complaint database is used with other data sources to identify safety issues that warrant investigation and to determine if a safety-related defect trend exists.
NHTSA publishes these words. Source: NHTSA Datasets and APIs, section Complaints, read on 1 Oct 2026. Complaint file through 30 Sep 2026. Recall file through 30 Sep 2026.

Model years

The number under each year is the number of recall campaigns.

Subaru Forester: recall campaigns and complaints for each model year, newest first
Model year	Recall campaigns	Complaints	Share of the line average	Units in the campaigns
2026 Subaru Forester	3	22	10%	616,503
2025 Subaru Forester	3	95	42%	564,541
2024 Subaru Forester	2	29	13%	4,750
2023 Subaru Forester	1	73	33%	4,701
2022 Subaru Forester	1	98	44%	95,830
2021 Subaru Forester	0	207	93%
2020 Subaru Forester	0	601	269%
2019 Subaru Forester	3	833	372%	470,301
2018 Subaru Forester	3	495	221%	545,904
2017 Subaru Forester	1	587	262%	366,282
2016 Subaru Forester	3	414	185%	1,687,999
2015 Subaru Forester	3	614	274%	1,687,999
2014 Subaru Forester	2	403	180%	1,313,667
2013 Subaru Forester	12	77	34%	2,150,301
2012 Subaru Forester	15	105	47%	3,163,637
2011 Subaru Forester	16	147	66%	3,465,764
2010 Subaru Forester	17	262	117%	3,558,973
2009 Subaru Forester	17	178	80%	2,891,223
2008 Subaru Forester	1	50	22%	318,215
2007 Subaru Forester	1	74	33%	318,215
2006 Subaru Forester	2	88	39%	325,219
2005 Subaru Forester	1	93	42%	318,215
2004 Subaru Forester	2	219	98%	318,241
2003 Subaru Forester	3	189	84%	491,105
2002 Subaru Forester	1	88	39%	172,564
2001 Subaru Forester	0	139	62%
2000 Subaru Forester	0	75	34%
1999 Subaru Forester	1	131	59%	221,987
1998 Subaru Forester	1	101	45%	221,987

The share is the complaints of the model year divided by the average of the line for one model year. A campaign that names 3 model years is in the count of each of the 3.

A model year with fewer than 2 campaigns and fewer than 25 complaints has no page here. The link in its row opens its NHTSA page.

Recall campaign: One recall in the NHTSA recall file, with one campaign number. A campaign can name many makes, models and model years.

Complaint: A report about a possible safety problem that a person sends to NHTSA. This site shows the number of complaints and not their text.

Units: The number of vehicles or products that a recall can include. The manufacturer or the firm reports the number to the agency.

Components in the complaints

8,756 component mentions.

A complaint can name more than one component. Each component that a complaint names is one component mention. The figure per 1,000 component mentions shows how many of each 1,000 mentions name the component.

Subaru Forester: complaints by component, per 1,000 component mentions
Component	Per 1,000	Mentions
Visibility/Wiper	121.1	1,060
Air Bags	104.4	914
Engine	94.1	824
Unknown or Other	93.5	819
Electrical System	90.9	796
Power Train	64.8	567
Vehicle Speed Control	61	534
Suspension	48	420
Fuel/Propulsion System	39.7	348
Service Brakes	31.1	272

Counts by year

Recall campaigns that name the Subaru Forester, by the year NHTSA received the report. The largest year is 2019, with 8 campaigns.

Complaints about the Subaru Forester, by the year NHTSA received them. The largest year is 2019, with 819 complaints.

Other model lines of the make

Outback71 campaigns
Legacy81 campaigns
Impreza53 campaigns
Crosstrek13 campaigns
Ascent13 campaigns
WRX23 campaigns
SVX0 campaigns
XV Crosstrek3 campaigns
B9 Tribeca7 campaigns
Baja15 campaigns
BRZ5 campaigns
GL5 campaigns
Solterra5 campaigns
Loyale4 campaigns
Subaru10 campaigns
Justy4 campaigns
Tribeca17 campaigns
Uncharted0 campaigns
Impreza STI0 campaigns
Trailseeker0 campaigns
WRX STI2 campaigns
DL5 campaigns
XT4 campaigns
Crosstrek Hybrid3 campaigns
222 campaigns
Forester Hybrid3 campaigns
232 campaigns
622 campaigns
632 campaigns
FF-12 campaigns

Subaru: all 31 model lines

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Official channels

NHTSA VIN lookupNHTSA shows the unrepaired recalls of one vehicle from its VIN or its license plate.
NHTSA: report a safety problemThe NHTSA form for a complaint about a vehicle, a tire, a child seat or equipment.

Cite this page

Recall Register. Subaru Forester: recalls and complaints by model year. https://recallregister.com/vehicle/subaru/forester/. Source: NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation, recall, complaint and investigation files. Data through 30 Sep 2026.

Sources

Source: NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation
Licence: US government work, public domain
Recall file through: 30 Sep 2026
Complaint file through: 30 Sep 2026
Manufacturer in the recall file: SUBARU OF AMERICA, INC.

The model name is the name in the NHTSA files. NHTSA keeps a variant of a model as a different line. How the register is made. Report an error.

Questions

Which Subaru Forester model years have the most recall campaigns?: 2010 with 17, 2009 with 17, 2011 with 16. A campaign that names 3 model years is in the count of each of the 3.
Which Subaru Forester model year has the most complaints?: The 2019 model year, with 833 of the 6,487 complaints for the line. A newer model year has had less time to get complaints.
Which components do the complaints about the Subaru Forester name?: Visibility/Wiper: 121.1 per 1,000 component mentions. Air Bags: 104.4 per 1,000 component mentions. Engine: 94.1 per 1,000 component mentions.
How many NHTSA investigations name the Subaru Forester?: 3 investigations name one or more model years of the line. The page of each model year lists its investigations.