2017 Subaru Forester Complaints

I was driving around the city at about 25mph and the hood flew open, almost entirely blocking my view out the front of the car. I was able to pull off into a parking lot and reclose the hood and get home. A couple of days later, I set out on a longer road trip and I carefully checked that the hood was closed securely, even texting my partner about it when I checked. 3 or 4 hours into the drive, while going 65mph on the interstate, the hood flew open again, shattering through the windshield. Thankfully I was able to avoid any collisions and pull over to the side of the road, but the windshield, hood, fenders, sunroof, and some interior pieces (rearview mirror, console on the roof) were dislodged. My passenger and I could easily have been killed.

The driver’s seat in my 2017 Subaru Forester suddenly became loose and moves left to right while driving. The vehicle has only 27,000 miles, has never been in an accident, and has been meticulously maintained. The Subaru dealer diagnosed failed seat frame rail guides and replaced the entire seat undercarriage at a cost of $1,742 because the guides cannot be replaced individually. The dealer stated they had never seen this failure before. Because the seat moves laterally while driving, I believe this represents a potential safety defect.

My 2017 Subaru Forester [Touring] (VIN: [VIN]) has a recurring front passenger airbag deactivation problem even when an adult is seated and belted. The console shows “Passenger Airbag OFF” with an adult occupant. The seatbelt chime recognizes a passenger, but the airbag remains OFF. In many cases, the airbag will only enable if the passenger sits after engine start—classic Occupant Detection System (ODS) misclassification behavior. The ODS recall WUM‑98 (NHTSA 19V‑701) for 2015–2018 Forester was completed before I purchased the vehicle in April 2020, but the same safety condition has returned. On 02/25/2025 at Subaru of Sterling (VA), the dealer wrote: “Seats: occupant detection sensor mat circuit code. passenger side seat sensor mat has failed causing air bag light. recommend replacing passenger side seat bottom in the amount of 2,276.51.” I was also told the recall was “voided” because it had been completed before my ownership, and I must pay 2,276.51 to restore airbag function. I op...

My 2017 Subaru Forester Touring (VIN: [XXX] , 118,200 mi) has a recurring EyeSight failure where the system becomes disabled and will not complete camera registration or calibration. Subaru of Sterling (VA) diagnosed active code B28A0 “Vehicle Model Judgment” and noted that the EyeSight stereo camera would not accept vehicle model registration. The technician documented: “Error for camera adjustment incomplete. When attempting to relearn UI for Eyesight camera, system is not taking vehicle registration; suggests camera replacement and perform recalibration.” This occurred after a confirmed DCM/STARLINK parasitic draw had caused repeated low‑voltage conditions until the dealer reset the DCM to factory mode (per the RO: “No further draw present at this time”), suggesting EyeSight registration may have failed due to prior voltage instability rather than true hardware failure. Subaru's service flow for B28A0 indicates this code can occur when the model write/registration is incomplete, int...

There is intermittent failure of the passenger air bag occupancy detection system (ODS). This shows up as aporadic display of the passenger air bag failure code in the car, and became more frequent until the code rained on. This was previously an issue, but a couple years ago I performed the Subaru issued recall related to this sensor and it went away for a time. Now the same issue has come back. It is pretty clear that the issue has persisted and the recall did not adequately address the issue, but Subaru refuses to address the issue, citing the completed recall. In searching online, it seems that many others have this same experience. \n\nIf the passenger air bag fails to deploy in a crash this is clearly a major safety issue that Subaru should take steps to resolve, even if it means replacing the sensor multiple times.