Problems with 2015 Subaru Forester ELECTRICAL SYSTEM

I was driving on city streets (speed limit 45mph) to run simple errands when the check engine light came on. i immediately turned around to go home which was just a minute or two away. as i sat at a traffic light, i realized the engine was idling a bit rough. the check engine light remained on. i parked the car in the garage and spoke with subaru as well as our mechanic at new dimensions automotive. apparently, subaru had issued a mechanics notice to be aware that alternator problems existed. we ultimately had the repair completed at new dimensions on 8/6/19 in the amount of $877.53. our mechanic suggested that this mechanical issue may well become a recall, and to keep our receipt for just that reason.

Tl* the contact owns a 2015 subaru forester. while driving out of the driveway, the horn failed to operate when pressed. the contact called colonial subaru (761 e chester st, kingston, ny 12401, 845-339-3330) and was informed that if he were to turn the steering wheel to either the extreme left or right, the horn would work. the manufacturer was not notified of the failure. the vehicle was not repaired. the failure mileage was 70,000.

While stationary, horn quit working. fuse under hood replaced twice at $16 each. fuse blows after blowing horn once. when you hit the panic button on the key fob the horn blows fine. likely a short in the steering roll connector. other subaru's have been recalled for this problem. this one should be also.

When driving normally (vehicle in motion) and attempting to accelerate, vehicle would not accelerate when accelerator is depressed. happened twice in 24 hours. both times, vehicle did not respond and accelerate when accelerator was depressed, forcing the driver to pull over (vehicle stationary). vehicle then responds normally when resuming driving after pulling over for 3-5 seconds.

Takara recall wue-90 safety issue with grand forks nd subaru has unreasonable two week wait time to replace brake lamp switch failure and rendering consumer at unreasonable safety risk or unusable car. car locks in park or abs lights and hill start electrical malfunctions during driving unpredictably. car was serviced for exact same safety issue previously (7/22/2016 : service dept stated "found brake lamp switch faulty and not working") and grand forks nd subaru's failed to repair defect succussfully. grand forks nd subaru disregards driver safety again by failing to service same defect in a timely manner, in regards to customer safety complaints and in accordance with consumer protection safety regulations and laws.

Car was traveling at 75mph for 2 hours when going up and small grade incline. engine started revving and car started slowing down very quickly. was in traffic, so had to turn on hazard lights on, and get over to the shoulder. the vehicle felt as if though it was braking. the hill descent control light lit up, but no other lights. car did not stall. i then turned it off, opened the hood and everything looked normal. car was at normal operational temperature and had 1/4 tank if fuel left. car was info for service within 500 miles at subaru. after checking the engine, i started the car again and took off. 30 minutes later, the exact same issue occured.

Drivers are not seeing my brake lights off and on and pulling me over to telling us to get our lights fixed. i just looked up recalls to find out that we have a recall that no one notified us of for the brake lights. we always have our grand kids and everyone elses in the car on a daily basis which can be a deadly situation... please assist.

Cruise control stopped working while i was driving at high speed, 70mph, on interstate. car speed immediately started dropping. cruise control would no longer engage.

The horn on my 2015 subaru forester failed to function at approximately 55,000 miles. i do not know specifics about the horn failure as i don't routinely use it. approximately 10 days after i learned about the horn, the radio, clock, and door lock remote feature also failed to function. the subaru dealership service department diagnosed the horn problem as a faulty steering roll connector (src) and replaced the connector. the horn now functions. the subaru service department stated that a misplaced fuse (#8 - backup) caused failure of the other systems. they implied that i had misplaced the fuse - i did not - i checked only the horn and radio fuses. no one else has access to my vehicle. i have learned that subaru recalled tens of thousands of other models of their vehicles in 2010 due to faulty srcs. suspiciously, the symptoms they blamed on my supposedly misplaced fuse coincide with some of the symptoms associated with the faulty srcs in the 2010 recall. i am filing this complaint for the following reasons: a car horn is an extremely important safety component and should not be prone to failure due to a faulty connector within the steering wheel. subaru service stated they rarely encounter src failure, yet just 4 years before my vehicle was manufactured, their srcs were recalled by the tens of thousands. secondly, blaming me for failure of other systems that are directly connected to the steering wheel (radio volume and tuning) or horn (horn beeps if you push the lock remote 3 times) appears (in my opinion) like an attempt to cover up a problem with the src that involves more than just the horn - which is already enough to cause major safety issues in itself. thank you for the opportunity to file this safety complaint - i hope you will be able to determine if subaru srcs are still causing major issues.

Twice in the last four months vehicle has run out of gas while traveling on a level highway despite gas gauge indicating that there was 70 miles still to travel and the gas gauge reading one bar. low fuel warning indicator did not display.

We have had this vehicle for almost 4 years and have had to get 2 new batteries with less than 2500 miles on this vehicle. we are seniors and have been in please where we had to have the battery charged at least twice not including the times it failed on us. we were told that this was a very safe vehile for seniors. our warranty will be up in a year. is this normal for a vehicle with so many electronics, they should have a stronger battery if it is used so much. we have not used it for long trips, as we are unsure of our safety.. is there any fix that subaru is working on. we now keep all our light switches in the off position.

I was trapped inside my vehicle when the battery died. while sitting in my car using the accessories to charge my phone, the car battery died and i was unable to unlock the doors to get out. the key fob did not work either. there is no inside handle on the rear hatch. the dashboard lights flickered a couple times and after about three minutes the door did unlock. what if the battery was completely dead? what if i did not have access to a cell phone and it was cold temperatures? i do not think i would be strong enough to kick out the windows. i am concerned and hope you will investigate. thank you.

Drivers side door un/lock function doesn't operate . all other locks work correctly from key fob. manual operation of driver door lock works.

The electrical keeps having problems. this problem is all over the internet for several years of the forester. i don't know why there hasn't already been a recall. there will be a be a beep, usually when driving - sometimes when trying to start the car or move out of park, and about any "safety" feature that this car has exhibits a light and/or warning. while this happens over days, sometimes the gears stick in park. i have to take a tool and press beside the gear stick to get out of park. the lights will stay like this for days or weeks and then it just stops. i have had it checked, but it is just reset until the next time it happens. just the other night, my husband was driving behind me and told me that my brake lights were not working consistently. this is dangerous!!! who knows what else is not working when this electrical issue occurs.

This vehicle has shut down mid-driving on the expressway 4 times. the battery, fuel sensors, fuel pump, and 'cluster' have been replaced. i received the vehicle back from subaru service on a wednesday afternoon, and on thursday morning as i was pulling out of my garage the fuel gauge was again displaying blank even though there was more than a half tank of gas in the car. i turned the car off and back on and then every warning light on the instrument panel lighted up. there have been 5 repair attempts on this vehicle and it has not corrected the issues. this vehicle is defective and dangerous.

This vehicle has already shut off while driving on the expressway 4 times. the last time they said it was a bad fuel pump and replaced. i turned the car on in the parking lot after a grocery store trip (with my baby in the backseat) and the vehicle said it could not establish the remaining fuel level and the gauge was blank. turned vehicle off and back on and fuel gauge reappeared, but while driving down city street, all indicator lights on the instrument panel lit up. i drove directly to dealership. they say that the cluster (odometer, speedometer, tachometer) needs to be replaced. still waiting for part to come in and for vehicle to be returned to me. i am not confident this will fix my vehicle since they said they were 99% sure of the fix the last two times. this vehicle is faulty and is endangering my family. it is by sheer luck that we haven't gotten into an accident and injured so far.

Power door locks have failed in three of four doors, starting immediately after three year warranty expired.

The car lost all power in the middle of interstate 95 heading south approx 17 miles north of the ga fl state line. the fuel indicator showed 30 miles until i had to refuel. this was on 12/3/2017. i was at speed(75 mph) and managed to go through traffic and go to shoulder. there was no power and the engine had quit. i waited a couple of minutes and the car restarted. i drove to the second exit and refueled. a few days later on 12/06/2017 on the way back to atlanta on i-95 south of savannah and the fuel gage reading 30 miles until i had to refuel, the very same thing happened. except, this time it would not restart. i called aaa and continued to try to restart. after 45 minutes, the car restarted. i drove approx 10 miles and refueled. i have had no incident since but, i have not driven the car with low fuel. this could have had a very different result if i had not been able to get through the traffic on a busy interstate. both me and my wife could be dead. i believe there is a flaw in the low fuel warning software and something shuts the power. i have driven this car with lower fuel levels. the instrument panel shows miles to you have to refuel, i.e., 50 miles, 40 miles, 30 miles, 20 miles then ------. you have access to data on these cars, i don't. please have some advise me what is your thinking on this matter.

I bought the car and less than a month later the engine light came on. i took it into the dealership that i bought it from and they told me to take it to the subaru dealership if the engine light came back on. it never came back on. four days later i was driving and the gas pedal quit working. i looked down to see if any lights were on and they weren't. i pulled over to the side of the highway to turn the car off. before i could turn the car off i saw flames coming out of the front passenger side of the hood near the lights. then all of the warming lights came on. i quickly turned off the vehicle. before i could get out of the vehicle the whole front end of the vehicle was in flames.

I started driving and found that my hill holder, my vehicle dynamics control system, my abs, my subaru eyesight and multiple other warning lights were all lite up. i pulled over and turned off the car and when i restarted the car i couldn't put my car into gear. it was stuck in park on the side of the highway. after a few more tries i was able to get it into gear and continued driving with all the warning lights on. this problem occurred multiple times yesterday as i attempted to get it to the dealership.

I have a 2015 subaru forester (less than 32k miles) and my car has not started on 3 different occasions this last year. this last time i was with a friend and we parked on a somewhat darker city street late at night where i turned off the engine to not waste gas and talk. the only thing i remember doing was turning on the upper car light for 60 seconds to find my friend's phone and adjusting the driver window with key in accessory mode i believe (engine was not running). we did not use the radio because embarrassingly, the same friend had waited with me the time before when i played my radio for 10 minutes one time. so again, my car didn't start, and she had to wait with me once again 30-45 minutes until help came to give the battery a jump. it seems to happen either when i sit in the car with the key out and use the internal light (even for only 60 seconds like this last time) or if keys are in, listen to the radio for a few minutes only without engine running. anything turned on after the car has stopped running seems to mess with the battery and i'm afraid it won't start. this last time when it wouldn't start the engine, i noticed that my drivers window did not roll up (even though the other windows did) and then it started to grind when i tried to start it multiple times, waiting a little time in between before trying to start it ...then it seems to slowly drain until no lights at all in car. the tow company tested the battery and said it is still good, there was no problem with it, but mentioned maybe it's not getting both cells to charge equally or has something to do with starter, not sure. when i first bought my car, i remember dealership mentioning the electrical and not holding them responsible (?) i think if they knew about this, they need to recall and fix, or give us a portable car jumper. sad because i love my suv otherwise. :(

While driving, the electronic stability control, the hill assist brake and the abs lights randomly deploy. happened 3 times in 24 hours. turning the car off and back on seems to clear the issue. however, after that, now two times while traveling at a regular speed, the braking system automatically applied itself, including the cvt engaging into low speed and forcing the car to drive only at 10-20 mph. as well, when this occurs the braking system does not work. other reads sound like a faulty brake light sensor or sensing system, but this is a potentially fatal malfunction as one traveling 60 mph on the highway was suddenly stopped with no warning. then when trying to get to safety, the brakes would not work while attempting to come to a stop at a light. the vehicle seems to "reset" and be fine for a few miles, only to either go to the all lights on system (abs/hill assist/stability control) or go into the braking/cvt error as well. will have the car towed to the dealership, but this is a serious safety concern that is electronic in nature as the default fall back is not a manual working brake system but seems to be a non-working brake system.

Since buying it new, the car several times has failed to start and had to be jump-started. twice towed to dealer, checked several times there, no problem could be found. this has happened a number of times (sporadically, with no indication as to why). the first time at 4,000 miles, several times since and again this month.

Problem is with the subaru "eyesight" system on this vehicle. the system has been sutting itself off more and more over the past few weeks until now, it shuts down the system and cruise control multiple times daily even at night.daytime or whenever it wants to. the local dealer checked it and found no problem that he could see for it.

When i stop my car, put it in park and shut off the engine i can not open the driver's side door using the in-door silver door latch. the door stays locked and will not open. the door will not open even when i try to unlock it using the unlock rocker switch on the driver's door arm rest. the door can only be unlocked and opened when i unlock it using the black in-door locking latch. there is an apparent electrical or software problem which can cause someone to get trapped inside the car. this needs to be corrected before someone is killed. thank you.

Vehicle was purchased new on october 31, 2014 at a maryland dealer. the following are dates, miles and the issues that have arised since taking ownership. all issues related to vehicle have occurred while driving. no specific roads, vehicle maneuvering or weather condition, changed or caused the the following issues. 12/09/14 6680 miles, issue with steering & alignment 12/20/14 8524 miles, issue with steering & alignment april 2015 replaced battery 06/20/15 41,700 miles, issue with electrical system 07/23/15 47672 miles, issue with driveability 08/26/15 53037 miles, issue with body electrical system 08/2015 all rotors and brake pads replaced 09/23/15 57923 miles, issues with check engine light & stop light lamp switch 10/08/15 60428 miles, issue with power windows 12/03/15 68762 miles, automatic transmission replaced, electrical system june 2016 issues with starting vehicle begins, undetermined cause july 2016 issues began with hvac blower fan intermittent failure 09/25/16 110839 miles, unknown a/t possible failure subaru of america still has an open ticket for electrical issues that still plague the vehicle; including power windows, hill start assistant, low oil pressure, audio speaker, vehicle stability control, abs, brake system failure lights. dealer has stated that failure can only be duplicated when an on-board diagnostic system code is present. thus the reason for outstanding issues. furthermore, not all repeated issues or communications with dealer are listed due to lack of records.

I leased this vehicle on june 2015. back on 8/26/2017 while driving on freeway and going 70 mile and hour, car suddenly died in the middle of freeway. i almost got killed by a truck that was behind my vehicle. they towed this car to glendale subaru and after two days, they said they could not find anything. since that incident i have taken the vehicle back to dealer for performance and transmission issue. in addition, some major electrical issue with the isite system. the dealer charged me over $2000.00 for unrelated repairs. the car has a major issue in cold and hot ideal. many complaints were filed to subaru customer service and they did not assist me at all.

Our 2015 subaru forest will randomly while driving have all of it warning lights come one. eyesight, hill assist, abs, lane departure, ect. if you stop and put it in park then it will not come out of park unless over ridden. i called in to subaru and they said "2015 subaru forester right? it probably has a bad brake light switch or brake light sensor, which means your brakes will not light up while driving. this seems to be a known issue to subaru as i have seen many examples of this happening to other people on subaru boards. i was out of warranty and they want me to pay 170 dollars just to diagnose the issue when they clearly know what the issue is. this is a critical safety hazard, if my brake lights fail to light up while driving due to a known defect, i or someone else could be injured or killed due to them not being able to recognize my braking.

Forester sat for 2 weeks and battery was drained completely though no lights or accessories were left on. recharged battery, drove it for two days then car sat for two days. again battery was. completely dead. very disappointed and concerned over lack of reliability

Tl* the contact owns a 2015 subaru forester. while driving approximately 70 mph, the instrument panel illuminated and the engine failed. the vehicle was able to restart; however, the failure recurred. the vehicle was taken to the dealer but the failure could not be duplicated. the manufacturer was made aware of the failure the approximate failure mileage was 27,000. the vin was not available. updated 02/16/17*lj updated 7/3/18*jb *tr

My wife was driving to work, about 35mph on a paved road. several electrical items suddenly failed, all at the same time - wipers, windshield washer, heater fan, turn signals all would not work. when she stopped the car, turned off the ignition, and turned it back on, the electrical system worked again. i am taking it in for warranty service at ganley subaru, wickliffe, ohio.

While starting the car with only 2.2k miles the check engine light came on and disabled the vehicle dynamics control, the cruise control and the incline start assist leaving the vehicle without important safety features in bad weather conditions.

While driving eastbound on i-80 in iowa just east of exit 220 (williamsburg) our car lost power but, because it has a manual transmission, i was able to depress the clutch and coast to the left road margin. the low fuel indicator had come on a few miles before but the display indicator showed that we had sufficient fuel to drive 60 miles at the displayed average of 30.5 miles per gallon. this should have been correct as the manual states that when the low fuel indicator comes there are 2.6 gallons remaining. i tried to restart the car as the indicator continued to show one increment in the gas gauge and a range of 60 miles on the display. after several attempts it was apparent that the engine was not getting fuel. we eventually were assisted by an iowa state patrol officer who took me back to the casey's station in williamsburg where i bought a gasoline can and about 3.5 gallons of fuel. with his assistance i was able to fuel my car (the traffic at that time and place was very heavy and fast), and the car started immediately. it is be important to note that the low fuel indicator did not come on after i started the car. i had not put all of the gas in the can into my car, and the manual states that the indicator will not come on when the tank is holding 4.5 gallons of fuel, so there was clearly a gallon or more of fuel in the tank when it died. also, that section of eastbound i-80 is slightly uphill. it seems then that either the electronics associated with the reading fuel levels are very inaccurate, or the gas tank is built in such a way that when the tank is lower on fuel and going uphill gas is not getting to the engine. had i not been driving a manual transmission and able to roll onto the margin uphill but simply slowed to a sudden stop in that traffic when the engine died, i believe it would have caused a very serious series if collisions.

Tl* the contact owns a 2015 subaru forester. while driving the vehicle during the daytime at 25 mph, the speedometer was not as visible and failed to illuminate properly. the vehicle was to taken the dealer where it was diagnosed that it was standard for those models of vehicles. the manufacturer was not notified of the failure. the approximate failure mileage was 1,200.

This is not exactly a safety problem, but could be a critical issue. we left the brand new subaru 1015 forester for two weeks while we were on vacation. when we came back the battery was dead. aaa tech told us this is not an uncommon problem in 2015 cars with full complement of features, and typing "subaru battery drainage problem" into google brings up a litany of complaints. apparently all the electronics in the car drain the battery even when the car isn't running. subaru implied it was our fault for not starting the car. that's absurd. we have a 2010 honda civic that was under the snow for 6 wks. and it started right up. subaru checked our battery, pronounced it healthy, suggested we buy a trickle charger (which we have done), and sent us $100 for our loyalty. nowhere in the subaru literature does it say that the car must be started every few days or warn about battery drainage. if we'd had an emergency that required us to use the car when we first got home, we'd have been pout of luck. this technology is not ready for prime time, and at the very least consumers should be warned.

This model vehicle has a safety defect. the speedometer is located under a visor which limits the amount of light falling on the instrument, and the instrument panel does not have any back lighting under daylight driving conditions. the result is that under most daytime driving conditions is impossible to read the speedometer and determine the speed that the vehicle is traveling at. this is a universal problem as dealer staff has told me that they have has numerous customers complain about this safety defect. i have contacted subaru of america to discuss this defect, and was told they do not have any solution.

2015 subaru forester. consumer writes in regards to vehicle hesitation/acceleration issues. *smd the consumer stated at low speeds, the vehicle would buck slightly as she/he accelerated. in stop and go traffic, the vehicle would lurch forward unexpectedly, or when she removed his/her foot from the accelerator pedal, the vehicle seemed to slow down abruptly. when the consumer attempted to accelerate, the vehicle would often hesitate before revving up. subaru informed the consumer they were aware of the problem and there was a fix. however, within three to four weeks of the fix, the problem returned. there was an odd hesitation as if the vehicle did not want to go forward at idle after braking. when the accelerated was pressed, there was a delayed reaction and a lurch. also, several lights including the engine light illuminated on the dashboard. the consumer went to another dealer and soon after the repair, the previous problems returned. *jb

I had a remote starter installed by some one other than subaru. the starter failed repeatedly so i took it in. was told and given a print out reflecting a low battery. i took it to north towne subaru on sheridan dr. it is a 20 mile trip one way, they said "no problem, charged the battery any way and sent me home. i purchased the forester in sept.2014, got the starter for christmas,and after the visit to subaru it worked sometimes. this winter again it failed to start. now that the winter has become extremely cold i returned to the installer who replaced it and it still failed due to a low battery. this, as i understand it, is a continuing problem with this model, and the fix is a stronger battery. i am not about to take another trip to subaru in erie co. as i am in pain most of the time and driving long distances increases the problem. i told the starter store to order me a battery to fix the problem as i can't see subaru in amherst doing anything for me. but i do think subaru should reimburse me. of course i will not hold my breath. also i will never go to that dealership again.!!!!!!

Within one hour of getting this new vehicle, the eyesight warning and braking system turned itself on and off repeatedly. this continues after two dealers have made repeated attempts to fix the system. subaru headquarters forced me to pay for a new windshield, because they said i had put a nick in the windshield. after replacing the windshield the eyesight system still continues to turn itself on and off approximately 3 times per hour of travel. this is a serious safety issue, because you are expecting the eyesight system to warn you of unusual lane changes and your proximity to the vehicle in front of you. also when you are using the eyesight system with cruise control at highway speeds the vehicle slows down whenever the system turns itself off. since no brake lights are activated, the vehicles behind you do not get a signal that you have reduced your speed. this is also a serious safety issue. it is also impossible to reactivate the eyesight system yourself, unless you stop, turn of the engine and restart the car. subaru headquarters cannot make the eyesight system function correctly and therefore it should be removed from the market. *js

Tl*the contact owns a 2015 subaru forester. the contact stated that the speedometer was inoperable. the vehicle was not taken to a dealer or independent mechanic to be diagnosed or repaired. the manufacturer was notified of the issue. the failure mileage was 1,500. updated 03/30/15*lj updated 6/23/2015*js

Tl* the contact owns a 2015 subaru forester. the contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, several warning lights became illuminated with alarms and several beeping sounds. the vehicle was driven home where the vehicle stalled once and the vehicle was stopped. the contact lifted the hood and became aware of an abnormal burning electrical odor coming from under the hood. additionally, the battery lost its charge and was replaced. flemington subaru located at 167 nj-31, flemington, nj 08822, (908) 824-2334, was contacted and an arrangement was made to have the vehicle picked up and towed to the dealer to be diagnosed. the contact was informed that the mechanic was unable to duplicate the issue with the vehicle. after approximately 14 days the vehicle was returned to the contact. the contact stated that she was offered a repurchase price of the vehicle at the blue book value plus an additional $400. the contact stated that a decision was not made as whether or not to accept the repurchase order. the vehicle was not repaired. the failure was intermittent. the manufacturer was contacted and informed of the failure. the approximate failure was 900.

I just purchased this car and cannot believe the dash board lights. they praise this car for reliability, so that is why i purchased this car. however the speedometer and all the other lights are so small you can't read them. also, with the running lights on the lights on dashboard turn pink on black. without the running lights the numbers are a pale gray on black. with the dial to brighten...that is a joke. i am worried about the safety of this oversight. i wish i had realized this before i purchased this car. i am a senior citizen, but i have pretty good eyesight. *tr

The electronic screen on the 2015 subaru forester that includes the back-up display reflects a solid black bar down the middle if you are wearing polarized sunglasses. i've almost backed over walkers in parking lots who were in the obscured area of the screen because of this. i checked at the dealer, and other 2015 foresters have the same problem, but the outback does not. since i first noticed the problem i have driven a number of cars, including toyotas and bmws that do not have the problem. subaru's suggested solution is that i don't wear polarized sunglasses. i wear corrective lenses, and it is virtually impossible to buy corrective sunglasses that aren't polarized. the alternative is to wear non-corrective lenses that are not particularly good for my eyes, and through which the world is blurred. i don't think i should have to go spend $300+ to buy sunglasses to correct a problem that subaru could have corrected by putting a different display screen in the car, since based on other subarus i've been in and cars from other manufacturers, they had the option to do so. thank you.