The Used Car Index

2020 Subaru Forester problems

NHTSA lists 601 complaints for the 2020 Subaru Forester, 26 of them mention a crash and 9 mention a fire. 13 complaints mention an injury, with 16 injuries and 0 deaths reported.

Data build 2026-10-07.

NHTSA lists this vehicle as SUBARU FORESTER.

At a glance

Complaints
601
With crash
26
With fire
9
With injury (complaints)
13
Injuries
16
Deaths
0
Recalls
0
Do not drive recalls
0
Park outside recalls
0
Recall potential units (maximum)
Unavailable
Investigations
0
Open investigations
0
Manufacturer communications
481

Complaints per 100k sold unavailable. The available sales group does not match this vehicle variant.

Where the complaints are

Top systems
SystemComplaintsShare of this vehicle's complaints
VISIBILITY/WIPER25241.9%
UNKNOWN OR OTHER10717.8%
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM10217.0%
ENGINE8013.3%
VISIBILITY498.2%
FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE437.2%
POWER TRAIN325.3%
VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL244.0%
LANE DEPARTURE223.7%
STRUCTURE152.5%
Top subsystems
SystemSubsystemComplaints
VISIBILITYWINDSHIELD46
FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCEAUTOMATIC EMERGENCY BRAKING27
FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCEWARNINGS19
STRUCTUREBODY15
FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCEADAPTIVE CRUISE CONTROL10
LANE DEPARTUREASSIST10
LANE DEPARTUREWARNING10
LANE DEPARTUREBLIND SPOT DETECTION5
VEHICLE SPEED CONTROLACCELERATOR PEDAL3
AIR BAGSSENSOR1

One complaint can name several systems, so shares can add to more than 100 percent.

Model-generated complaint tags

These labels are model-generated, not NHTSA data.

Failure modes
LabelCountShare of taggedMean confidence
structural or corrosion21235.3%0.45
mechanical failure12721.1%0.58
electrical electronic10016.6%0.88
loss of control7111.8%0.84
visibility or lighting6711.1%0.54
restraint or airbag101.7%0.92
fire or overheating81.3%0.92
noise or comfort30.5%0.80
fluid or fuel leak20.3%0.41
unclear10.2%0.38
Severities
LabelCountShare of taggedMean confidence
moderate31251.9%0.80
low25742.8%0.72
high284.7%0.93
critical40.7%0.98

Model: typesafe/jev-1.13-20260917; schema version: tag-v1. 601 tagged complaints of 601 complaints (100.0%).

Confidence is the model's own probability for the label it chose (0 to 1), not accuracy.

Model-generated labels on tagged complaints only. Model years 2013 and newer are tagged in full; 2012 in part (see tagged_share); earlier model years have no tags. NHTSA's own flags remain separate in the complaints block.

Recalls

0 recalls.

Investigations

0 investigations; 0 open.

Manufacturer communications

481 manufacturer communications.

Communications by system
SystemCount
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM292
EQUIPMENT179
ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING43
POWER TRAIN41
ENGINE39
STRUCTURE33
UNKNOWN OR OTHER31
EQUIPMENT ADAPTIVE/MOBILITY22

11037943

Date: 2026-10-05. Type: Other. Systems: ELECTRICAL SYSTEM, UNKNOWN OR OTHER.

This announcement provides information on a new software update for the Midtronics Dss and DCA machines.

11037942

Date: 2026-09-28. Type: Other. Systems: ELECTRICAL SYSTEM, POWER TRAIN.

This announcement provides information on an enhancement of the TechShare CVT diagnostic assitance application.

11037938

Date: 2026-09-18. Type: Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions. Systems: ELECTRICAL SYSTEM.

"This Bulletin announces additional troubleshooting steps for the following DTCs: DTC C1956: RH Actuator Circuit DTC C1957: LH Actuator Circuit"

11037940

Date: 2026-09-18. Type: Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions. Systems: UNKNOWN OR OTHER.

This bulletin provides paint code information for 2027 model year vehicles.

11037930

Date: 2026-09-15. Type: Other. Systems: UNKNOWN OR OTHER.

This announcement provides an update to all 2027 model year Subaru warranty coverages for wear items and adjustments.

11037927

Date: 2026-09-14. Type: Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions. Systems: ELECTRICAL SYSTEM.

This bulletin has been developed to outline the steps for gathering basic but essential information during diagnosis of Infotainment concerns. This is an revised version of the original bulletin.

11037928

Date: 2026-09-14. Type: Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions. Systems: ELECTRICAL SYSTEM, UNKNOWN OR OTHER.

In the interest of customer satisfaction, Subaru of America, Inc. (SOA) is extending the New Car Limited Warranty coverage for the CP1 & Gen 3.1 Head Unit used in the listed models and model years to (8) eight years / 150,000 miles to cover certain qualifying repairs to the infotainment audio system

11037929

Date: 2026-09-14. Type: Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions. Systems: ELECTRICAL SYSTEM, UNKNOWN OR OTHER.

This bulletin contains illustrations of exchange components and their manufacturer as well as a description of the proper exchange procedure. This is an revised version of the original bulletin.

11037926

Date: 2026-09-10. Type: Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions. Systems: ELECTRICAL SYSTEM, UNKNOWN OR OTHER.

This bulletin announces the service procedures to be followed when encountering instances of water intrusion from the sunroof area.This is an revised version of the original bulletin.

11036824

Date: 2026-08-31. Type: Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions. Systems: ELECTRICAL SYSTEM, STRUCTURE.

This bulletin announces the service procedures to be followed when encountering instances of water intrusion from the sunroof area. This is an revised version of the original bulletin.

Notes on this record

  • Complaints from the API and bulk file are merged and deduplicated by ODI number; the API alone misses records.
  • System and subsystem counts are numbers of distinct complaints, recalls or communications that name them. One record can name several systems, so shares across systems can add to more than 100 percent; a single share never exceeds 100 percent.
  • Recalls are counted once per campaign, investigations once per action and manufacturer communications once per NHTSA id, even when NHTSA lists several model names for the same record.
  • A sales denominator is a calendar-year proxy, not the population of vehicles still in use. Rates are copied from verified pipeline output.

Other names NHTSA uses

None listed.

Matched NHTSA models

Matched labels and complaints
NHTSA model labelComplaints
FORESTER601

Same model, other years

All model years | All Subaru models

Other Subaru models, 2020

Sources

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