2020 Subaru Forester
Problems, recalls and owner-reported issues
Visibility/wiper is the leading concern among 600 owner complaints filed for this model year. This is the 3rd highest complaint count among 26 Forester model years with reports.
Of the 2020 reports, 26 involved a crash and 9 involved a fire. 16 people were injured.
What owners report most often
Recalls and investigations
No safety recalls on file.
Representative owner complaints
600 reports, newest first.
Steering, Power train, Forward collision avoidance, Aug 24, 2022
Subaru has a known issue with a Thermo Control Valve in Foresters. Apparently the part is failing all over the place and they redesigned the part and are replacing it. The problem is the part is backordered and the dealerships are telling people it is safe to drive the car. Our car completely shut off at highway speed. I have since learned this is happening to a number of other owners who were also told it was safe to drive it while the part is back ordered. This vehicle has a lot of advanced driver features and some or all of them are shut off when this happens. Very dangerous for them to tell people to keep driving it and the vehicle should be recalled to replace the defective part that is failing.
Visibility/wiper, Aug 21, 2022
We discovered a crack in the windshield this morning across the lower half of the passenger side. There was no sign of any impact, just the crack. The crack was not there when the vehicle was parked yesterday afternoon.
Other or unspecified, Vehicle speed control, Aug 18, 2022, crash
The contact owns a 2020 Subaru Forester. The contact stated that while attempting to park her vehicle, the vehicle independently accelerated without warning. The vehicle ran through both the parking lot fence and a fence located on private property. The contact made multiple attempts to stop the vehicle by depressing the brake pedal; however, the vehicle failed to stop. The vehicle continued accelerating down a driveway as she attempted to avoid hitting a house, a tree, and another parked vehicle. The contact was able to shift the vehicle into park which stopped the acceleration. The air bags did not deploy upon impact. The contact suffered a headache but did not seek any medical assistance. A police report was filed. Both the parking lot and private property fences were damaged. The contact was able to drive the vehicle back to the parking lot where she called the dealer and was instructed to leave the vehicle at the scene until the vehicle was inspected. The contact was informed that the dealer filed a claim with the manufacturer. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The failure mileage was 14,865.
Electrical system, Aug 18, 2022
BATTERY DRAINS constantly and car will not start. This has happened several times the past month. I understand that it is an ongoing issue with other Subaru's. This is dangerous and must be fixed. This issue has happened 3 times in 2 weeks. 8/1, 8/13, 8/15/2022
Electrical system, Engine, Aug 17, 2022
There are various lights on on the dash of the vehicle when nothing is seemingly inherently wrong with the vehicle. I notified the dealership about this issue, the dealership claimed that special parts were ordered but I still have not been notifed of their arrival. This puts my safety at risk due to the fact that I am not sure wether the car actually has an issue, or if it is a mere malfunction. The vechicle is now shaking.
Visibility, Aug 15, 2022
The contact owns a 2020 Subaru Forester. The contact stated that while driving at approximately 45 MPH, a small rock hit the bottom, driver side of the windshield. The next day, the contact stated that the crack had formed and spread vertically along the driver-side windshield. The crack had obstructed the contact's vision while driving at various speeds. The dealer was notified of the failure and informed her that approval for the repair under warranty would come from the manufacturer. The vehicle had yet to be repaired. The failure mileage was approximately 10,000.
Steering, Vehicle speed control, Lane departure, Aug 14, 2022
I drive this V little, but the steering wheel has repeatedly tried to jerk me into the left lane when tuning right and right when turning left! I stopped using cruise, but it still does it. I am an advanced driver, but don't low, if I could overcome this if it acted like some other 2020 Foresters I've read owners state have gone off the road and rolled over! Also the auto stop - start often shuts engine off when power is needed - is totally unpredictable! This is my wife's car, but she got it as the seat works with my V bad back! Had I known the Eyesight system would malfunction (I did not trust it, but hoped it would be ok!), I'd have insisted on getting a good older car without unproven so called driver aids! We really don't have the $ to replace the car!
Other or unspecified, Aug 14, 2022
Windshield cracked, what appears to be originated from the inside near the heating coil. Has spread horizontal about two-thirds of the windshield. Available for inspection upon request. Has not had any inspections yet. Can inhibit the eyesight if continues to spread.
Other or unspecified, Aug 5, 2022
Windshield cracked with minor strikes. There are two cracks, one small crack, one large crack in windshield and some chips. The windshield seems to be prone to cracking and when I discussed this with the Subaru dealer on 08/05/2022 about the 2020 Forester, he stated that the windshields are thinner to reduce weight for improved fuel efficiency and are not as durable as older windshields. The representative said it would cost $1415.80 plus tax to replace with original windshield. Why would I want an original windshield if it not durable and prone to breaking? This is a defective product and I would think it would be replaced by the dealer at no charge with a more durable product.
Parking brake, Vehicle speed control, Aug 5, 2022, crash
The contact owns a 2020 Subaru Forester. The contact stated as she pulled into a parking space, the vehicle inadvertently accelerated forward causing the vehicle to drive into the bank building. The contact stated she depressed the brake pedal, but the vehicle would not stop. The air bags did not deploy. One of the employees suffered minor injuries and a police report was filed. The vehicle was towed to a collision center. The vehicle was not diagnosed. The dealer was contacted, and they stated that the vehicle did not have any recalls. The manufacturer was not contacted. The failure mileage was 29,000.
Electrical system, Jul 29, 2022
Battery drained, towed to dealership twice within a month battery replaced then failed within 2 weeks everything checked out ok but battery still drained very frustrating
Visibility/wiper, Jul 29, 2022
The windshield on the 2020 Subaru Forester, as reported by many other owners, is extremely brittle and prone to frequent chips/rapidly spreading cracks. Since purchasing new, I have had two chips that resulted in small cracks and one that resulted in a larger spiderweb crack. None of these were caused by stone/pebble impacts I would have expected to cause windshield damage. (I have lived in the same area with a Ford Ranger, Jeep Wrangler, Ford Escape, VW Sportwagen, and 2016 Forester, and never experienced any windshield chips needing repair with any of the others.) While getting my third crack repaired today, the technician stated that a disproportionate amount of his work in the last two years has been on late-model Subarus. The technician who completed the second chip repair around four months ago stayed the same — a high number of late-model Subarus with chips and cracks. My experience seems reflective of a high number of other Subaru owners, and is reflected in an ongoing class action case involving the increased fragility of recent Subaru’s windshields.
Other or unspecified, Jul 24, 2022
I was driving down the highway & noticed a crack was growing insanely large due to the heat & while I had other cracks on my windshield that were little dings it looked like a grain of sand/very small pebble hit the side of my windshield and nearly cracked in down the middle. I have heard of other people with Subaru foresters complaining about this issue & it makes the safety of the driver at risk when just about anything can crack your windhshield making it unsafe to drive/hard to see.
Visibility/wiper, Jul 24, 2022
I believe the SUBARU FORESTER 2020 WINDSHIELD is dangerous and is a system failure. In April, 2022 a piece of gravel hit the windshield--smaller than the size of a quarter. Within hours, the windshield had fractured so much that there was no way that I could continue to drive safely as the windshield flowered and split the driver's eye view. I reported the claim to insurance (USAA) and took the car on May 12, 2022 to Safelight to be repaired. After working on it for three hours, they couldn't get the EYESIGHT to calibrate. I drove for two weeks without those safety features until I could get to Safelight again. After 3 more hrs I was finally told to take it to the dealership to finalize repairs and again the EYESIGHT was not calibrated. Those safety features were not available until on June 6, 2022 the delearship calibrated EYESIGHT. Driving on July 20, 2022 a small piece of gravel hit the passenger corner and within 2 hrs, split the windshield again. I have NEVER had a windshield perform like this--it is very dangerous and I believe in a crash, the windshield would INJURE me rather than prevent impact. I am worried about my safety. I cannot afford to repair the windshield when it may happen again. In 44 years of driving, I have NEVER had a windshield that was so weak.
Other or unspecified, Jul 19, 2022
DTC P26A3 thermo control valve ? All my safety features are disabled until the part becomes available- it is apparently on back order and/ or not part of an active recall or both ? Having difficulty getting information from my dealer/service dept
Visibility/wiper, Jul 18, 2022
UNKNOWN - the windshield seems to have spontaneously cracked. It was parked overnight in an uncovered driveway, and now there is a large crack down the middle. There is no particular pattern to suggest impact (and regardless the driveway is not underneath any nearby trees or other structures).
Other or unspecified, Jul 18, 2022
My windshield cracked overnight, in my driveway, with no possibility of a person or animal being the cause. The nearest neighbor is 2 miles away. Subaru warranty denied my claim and said they saw a rock chip in the pics. The glass repair shop that submitted the claim said their was no sign of force (rock) to the windshield being the cause of the crack.
Electrical system, Jul 14, 2022
The contact owns a 2020 Subaru Forester. The contact stated that the battery was continually being drained and needed to be recharged frequently. There were no warning lights illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer however, a cause for the failure was not determined. The dealer recharged the battery. The vehicle was not repaired. The contact related the failure with electrical system defects which consistently drained the battery. The contact recharged the battery after each time the vehicle was driven. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 2,000.
Other or unspecified, Visibility/wiper, Jul 11, 2022
The vehicle has 27000 miles and the windshield shows multiple small chips and voids. The windshield is really thin and can’t take any wear and tear.
Visibility, Jun 29, 2022
The contact owns a 2020 Subaru Forester. The contact stated that there was a crack the size of a quarter at the lower center bottom of the windshield The contact had the windshield repaired by a glass specialist. The failure recurred close to the location of the repair. The windshield was repaired a second time. The failure recurred a third time however, on the top passenger’s side of the windshield. The dealer was notified of the failure by voicemail however, the contact had not received a call back. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 500.
Visibility/wiper, Jun 22, 2022
While driving one day on the road I heard a pop noise and noticed a huge thin line crack in my windshield. This was directly in front of my line of vision while driving. It made it extremely difficult and dangerous to see while driving and light would reflect off the crack causing a glare. Yes, the problem has been confirmed by an independent service center and has been inspected by an independent party. There was no warning prior to this incident.
Visibility/wiper, Jun 21, 2022
FRONT WINDSHIELD CRACKED STARTING AT PASSENGER SIDE TO MIDDLE OF WINDSHIELD. CAR WAS SITTING IN A PARKING LOT WHEN THIS HAPPENED. SUBARU SAID THEY WONT PAY FOR IT EVEN THOUGH THE ORIGINAL WARRANTY IS STILL CURRENT. HAD TO REPLACE WINDSHIELD, $1750.00.
Visibility/wiper, Jun 16, 2022
While driving, a small pebble was believed to strike the front windshield (lower passenger side) because we heard a loud pop then noticed the windshield cracked immediately spanning the lower center of the windshield at least 18 inches from end to end. This crack negatively impacts driver visibility, distorting the view during both day and night driving. Insurance has not yet inspected the windshield.
Other or unspecified, Jun 16, 2022
Windshield Glass Cracked.
Other or unspecified, Jun 8, 2022
The Windshield broke for no apparent reason. It’s a big crack that affects visibility. I know there is an ongoing problem with other similar suburu vehicles and is currently under a lawsuit process.