2020 Subaru Forester — reported problems

CarFaultIQ holds 1,059 evidence records for the 2020 Subaru Forester, drawn from official sources and owner complaints.

What owners report: issue areas

Owner complaints are classified by the system they concern: 809 classifications in all. One complaint can concern several systems, so these add up to more than the number of complaints.

  • Visibility (glass, wipers, mirrors)301 (37.2%)Official recall records for this system: 1, covering model years 2026.
  • Electrical system100 (12.4%)Official recall records for this system: 6, covering model years 2006–2013.
  • Driver-assistance systems84 (10.4%)
  • Engine80 (9.9%)Official recall records for this system: 7, covering model years 2004–2024.
  • Powertrain (transmission & drivetrain)31 (3.8%)Official recall records for this system: 6, covering model years 2002–2024.
  • Speed control & accelerator24 (3.0%)

Other / uncategorized: 107 classifications (13.2%) were not assigned to a specific system by the source. They are counted but not treated as an issue area.

These are counts of records held by CarFaultIQ, not a failure rate. More records can simply mean more vehicles were sold or more owners reported. No vehicles-in-service figure exists in this data, so no reliability or risk score can be derived from it.

What the records are about, by source

Each source is kept separate: owner complaints, recalls, manufacturer communications and investigations are different kinds of record and are never added together. All model years.

  • Owner complaints (12,922 records, model years 1998–2026) are most frequently classified under: visibility (glass, wipers, mirrors), engine and air bags (restraint system).
  • Safety recalls (160 records, model years 1998–2026) are most frequently classified under: air bags (restraint system), engine and equipment & accessories.
  • Transport Canada recalls (122 records, model years 1998–2026) are most frequently classified under: air bags (restraint system), brakes and electrical system.
  • Manufacturer communications (9,193 records, model years 1998–2026) are most frequently classified under: equipment & accessories, electrical system and engine.

"Most frequently classified under" reports how the records are filed by the source. It is not a finding about causes, and a record can be filed under more than one system. Read the individual records

Mileage reported when the issue occurred

  • 274reports included a mileage
  • 10,236average of those mileages

This is the mileage owners recorded at the time they reported, not an expected failure mileage and not a prediction for any individual vehicle. The lowest and highest figures on record are not shown: they are unverified odometer entries that include zeros and implausibly high readings, so they would not describe a real range. A median is not shown either, because the stored figures are group totals and a median cannot be recovered from them.

Evidence by model year

Records held per model year. Select a year to narrow this page to it.

  1. 1998 136 records for 1998
  2. 1999 177 records for 1999
  3. 2000 150 records for 2000
  4. 2001 250 records for 2001
  5. 2002 218 records for 2002
  6. 2003 338 records for 2003
  7. 2004 360 records for 2004
  8. 2005 232 records for 2005
  9. 2006 227 records for 2006
  10. 2007 207 records for 2007
  11. 2008 202 records for 2008
  12. 2009 424 records for 2009
  13. 2010 516 records for 2010
  14. 2011 520 records for 2011
  15. 2012 507 records for 2012
  16. 2013 469 records for 2013
  17. 2014 1,036 records for 2014
  18. 2015 1,113 records for 2015
  19. 2016 864 records for 2016
  20. 2017 1,026 records for 2017
  21. 2018 900 records for 2018
  22. 2019 1,395 records for 2019
  23. 2020 1,059 records for 2020
  24. 2021 559 records for 2021
  25. 2022 400 records for 2022
  26. 2023 315 records for 2023
  27. 2024 201 records for 2024
  28. 2025 263 records for 2025
  29. 2026 80 records for 2026

Counts are not adjusted for how many vehicles were sold in each year, so a taller year is not necessarily a worse year.

Reports mentioning outcomes

  • 26mention a crash
  • 8mention a fire
  • 16mention an injury

These are counts of records whose report mentioned the outcome. They are not a severity rating and not a safety assessment of this vehicle.

Official records held

  • Manufacturer communications NHTSA 461
  • Transport Canada recalls Transport Canada 1
  • Owner complaints NHTSA 597

Explore the underlying evidence records

Diagnostic codes found in evidence for this vehicle

These codes appear by explicit identifier in official records matched to this exact model and year.

A code appearing in a record means the code was named in that document. It is not a diagnosis of this vehicle, not a fault this vehicle has, and not an indication of urgency. Diagnosis requires reading live data from the vehicle.

Symptoms and warning lights in these systems

Where to go next