2021 SUBARU FORESTER Engine Problems

The vehicle has experienced four separate engine shutdowns while stopped in traffic. Each time, the engine turned off unexpectedly, requiring a manual restart. One incident occurred near a railroad crossing with my child in the car. The vehicle also lurches forward at low speeds and hesitates when accelerating after being stopped. These issues persist despite service visits. I believe they may relate to Technical Service Bulletins regarding the Auto Start/Stop and battery systems (TSBs #16-147-24, #10232217, #07-218-23R, #10251098). Subaru service staff have acknowledged awareness of these problems. I’m submitting this complaint to ensure the safety risk is documented and investigated.

The contact owns a 2021 Subaru Forester. The contact stated that while stopped at a traffic signal, the vehicle stalled. No warning light was illuminated. The contact was able to restart the vehicle. The contact stated that on a separate occasion, while driving over railroad tracks, the vehicle stalled. No warning light was illuminated. The contact was able to restart the vehicle. The contact continued to drive, and two blocks later, the vehicle stalled. No warning light was illuminated. The contact was able to restart the vehicle. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, where it was diagnosed with battery failure. The battery was replaced. The contact picked up the vehicle, and on the drive back to the residence, the vehicle stalled. The contact stated that the vehicle was almost rear-ended by the vehicle behind. The vehicle was towed to the dealer. The dealer replaced the fuel injectors. The contact picked up the vehicle, and the following day, while driving to work, the vehicle jerked abnormally and the vehicle stalled. The vehicle was towed to the dealer; however, no cause for the failure was found. The vehicle was not repaired. The contact stated that the failure persisted. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 32,000.

Mileage: 32,000

driving on [XXX] in NJ on [XXX] at approximately [XXX] my car just stopped in traffic and steering locked up and all lights came on dashboard along with a constant beeping sound-I was in the middle of a four lane highway traveling south-I could not get out of my car and feared someone would hit me as I was a "sitting duck" while cars were swerving around me-my only saving grace was that my flashers worked after I turned them on-I called roadside assistance as I was starting to panic and was told they could not help me as I was on a private road-I saw a helicopter overhead and at the same time a police office weaving in and out of traffic behind me to slow and stop the traffic-he then proceeded to push my car off the road with his car to the shoulder and called a tow truck-car was towed to nearest Subaru dealer where they performed a diagnostic test and found NOTHING WRONG WITH MY CAR!! How could that BE?? I was then charged for the test and the tow-have called Subaru customer care several times but they say they cannot help me because the test result showed nothing-Please help me as I no longer have peace of mind driving this vehicle and I am [XXX] who needs to drive long distances several times a month- there were no previous warnings in my car it just stopped INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

Vehicle began surging during acceleration. Dealer stated that the Engine Intake Valves had carbon deposits that were causing performance issues including poor fuel economy, increased emissions and running concerns. The valves required a cleaning to correct the issue. This is a 4 year old vehicle with only 38,000 miles, this is unacceptable for issues like this so soon. Estimated cleaning cost is $300 and is mentioned no where in the scheduled maintenance information.

At signal/stop sign or in stop and go traffic, Engine shuts down. Car is in park. Engine (or Car) makes beeping noise when this happens. Eyesight disabled shows on the screen (however this has nothing to do with that) There's existing lawsuit for cars until 2020. This problem exists for some 2021 model as well. Similar problem: [XXX] This is a recurring intermittent issue. Can't reproduce consistently INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

The Auto-Stop/Start feature frequently fails to properly restart the car, often causing the car to stall during the restarting process, leaving me effectively disabled on a busy road. The battery has already been replaced once.

The automatic shutoff that occurs when the vehicle stops to prevent idling, disengaged two separate times in the span of 4 days. Both incidents occurred at very busy intersections and failed to restart both times. When attempting to restart the car, lights came up on the dash, along with beeping, and failed to restart the car after the light had turned green. To restart, the car had to be completely turned off for about 60 seconds and then could be restarted. To avoid having to experience this issue again, or worse - get into an accident - I took it to the shop where they could not recreate the issue.

2021 Subaru forester limited- Stop Start when stopping at a red light. Sometimes the engine does not restart when releasing the brake pedal. Message on dash put car in park and press start. Occurred. April 24 2025 and May 5 2025

Was stopped at traffic light. Start Stop system was engaged. Engine turned off as normal. When I took my foot off the brake the engine did not engage and the Eyesight warning light came on that the Eyesight system was not functioning. Put the car in park and engaged the ignition button and the engine started. Turned off the Start Stop system and the car functioned normally after that. Have read postings on Subaru forum that this has happened to others.

12/14/24-I was stopped at a red light at a VERY busy intersection. The engine was in stop mode by the start/stop feature. When the light turned green, the car failed to start. The entire car shut down, with alarms sounding and dash lights flashing. The entire system had to reboot before I could restart the car. It was a freighting experience. Fortunately, I wasn't killed by traffic zooming by or by some person with road rage. 12/16/24-Issue evaluated by local Subaru dealer. Their evaluation was that when the auto start feature was activated, my car battery was too low to work. There was zero warning about a low battery before this failure in traffic. I had to buy a new battery. The auto start/stop feature is not an enhancement, but a safety hazard. Owners should be able to permanently disable this unnecessary drain on batteries and starters. I did a search, and there are plenty of others that experienced similar issues with their Subarus.

At 40936 the valve body needed to be replaced. With such low milage vehicle is having problems.

Thermo control valve defective. Not informed one week ago when I purchased car at end of lease. Problem known to Subaru since 2019 or sooner. Would not have purchased if I had been notified about this major problem

Vehicle was parked and idling unoccupied for under 5 minutes when an extremely noxious, hot blast of fumes came from underneath the back. Black smoke immediately entered the passenger cabin through the vents and flames were visible in the engine compartment and running onto the ground. Entire vehicle was burned beyond recognition in a matter of minutes. Ten days earlier the TCV, a known problem, had been replaced at a dealership per TSB 09-80-21. The vehicle had been driven under 300 miles since the replacement. Afterwards, a manufacturer rep inspected the vehicle, indicated the fire started in right rear of the engine compartment, could have possibly been a fuel leak, but damage was too extensive to determine the exact cause. The referenced TSB explicitly requires a new fuel line for every TCV replacement.

The 2021 Subaru Forester had been functioning normally with no warning lights. About 25 minutes into the drive I had come to a stop light on an upward incline. When the light turned green I moved from the brake to the gas as usual. However the auto-start function on the car failed, causing the engine to stall. A loud clunking sound was heard and the dashboard lit up with multiple lights, although I do no recall which ones were illumined. I attempted to press the gas again and the car did not respond. During this short time my foot was pressing on the gas the car rolled backwards and collided with the vehicle behind me. I continued attempting to press the gas pedal and still no acceleration was made. After parking and restarting the car it has resumed normal function. I have not yet visited the dealership so this issue has not yet been reproduced, nor has the offending system been inspected. I'm summary, the automatic engine start failed at a critical location, putting myself and others in serious danger and ultimately caused a crash.

Once or twice a day my vehicle hesitates from a light and I have to almost floor it to get it going again.I have brought it to 2 different Subaru dealers 3 times and they say they can't fix the problem.

The contact owns a 2021 Subaru Forester. The contact stated while driving 10 MPH, the vehicle became inoperable. The vehicle stopped independently and failed to respond to the brake or accelerator pedal being depressed. The vehicle was turned off and restarted and returned to normal functionality. The contact stated that the Eyesight detection warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was diagnosed but the cause of the failure was not determined. The vehicle had not been repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and advised the contact to bring the vehicle in for an extended time. The failure mileage was approximately 34,000.

Mileage: 34,000

Vehicle auto start stop feature sporadically fails to start vehicle after stop feature stringers. Happened on multiple occasions, at red light, at stop sign, on freeway during traffic jams.

My vehicle stalls at stop signs and red lights at Least once or twice a day regularly I’ve taken to the dealer and they said I was the reason it does that but the car is barely 2 years old bought new it has been doing that since last year it needs to be fixed

Engine stalled 2x within 8 days at major intersections (both times), therefore blocking a lane in the intersections. Was told 1st time it was a gliche by dealership. Upon researching prior recalls for this make and model, engine stalls have been an issue. Dealership still can’t figure out issue.

On 08/23/2022 while driving on a four lane city street, light rain, moderate traffic, at about 35 mph, the car suddenly lost forward speed, depresssing the accelerator move rpm to over 3000, with continued loss of forward speed, until suddenly the drive train engaged and forward speed resumed. This is the fourth time this type of event has occured. A check at a Subaru dealer the next day revealed no codes in memory. Fortunately there was no heavy traffic on this road at the time because in another half hour there would have been very heavy traffic. This is very disconcerting and potentially dangerous to vehicles directly behind. Is there a problem with the Eye Sight system that triggers a sudden loss of speed when there is no vehicle close ahead?

on 7/9/22 @ 6:00p I was with my wife & 2 grandsons going into a diner parking lot. as I was slowly going into a spot the car suddenly and without warning accelerated causing the car to drive over a cement parking stop, over a 1foot high cement wall, through a chain linked fence which had privacy covering, down into a 12 deep ravine. after shutting off the car my grandsons, wife & myself had to crawl out through the rear hatch. when things quieted down we realized that none of the safety features were activated (anti-collision warning, anti-collision braking) I thank God no one was hurt. Subaru needs to look into this so in the future no one ever experiences this.

The contact owned a 2021 Subaru Forester Sport. The contact stated while driving at 75 MPH, the front end of the vehicle crashed into a small deer. The air bags did not deploy. The contact veered to the side of the road. The contact's friend who was occupying the front passenger seat exited the vehicle and inspected the front end of the vehicle. The contact's friend then advised her to immediately exit the vehicle as there were flames underneath the hood of the vehicle. The contact stated while she was exiting the vehicle and letting her three dogs who were occupying the rear seats out of the vehicle, the fire expanded to the entire front end of the vehicle. The contact stated that the vehicle burned significantly. The contact was able to extinguish the fire with the assistance of the fire department. A fire department report was filed. A police report was filed. The vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic, where it was totaled. The contact sustained a soreness on the right knee but did not seek medical assistance. The dealer was notified of the failure but did not provide any assistance. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 20,000. The VIN was unavailable.

Mileage: 20,000

This is in reference to tracking # 11462054, a third incident of sudden engine power loss/deceleration. On 04/27/2022 the 2021 Subaru Premium was returned to the selling Subaru dealer to try and fix the two previously reported problems . They found no codes in memory and no problems when road tested. I left the dealer to return home, and about 10 min. after, on a two lane city street, the engine suddenly lost power while I was going about 25mph, and decelerated to about 10mph before regaining power. I drove back to the dealer and a service rep came with me for a road test of several miles, where the car operated normally. At the dealer, there was no code in memory. The mileage was about 13,135. No paperwork was provided by the dealer. How to resolve this problem???

On 04/02/2022, several minutes after having filled the gas tank, I was driving at about 35 mph on a two lane road at constant throttle, when the engine suddenly lost power for several seconds before it regained acceleration. There was a pickup truck following me very closely and it swerved around me to avoid hitting me. On 04/13/2022 , several minutes after leaving my driveway, at about 27 mph on a two lane road, the engine again lost power for several seconds before resuming power. In the first case the engine was at operating temp., in the second case it was cold. I will take the vehicle to the Subaru dealer from whom I purchased it in a couple of days to evaluate the problem, which I consider to be serious. In both cases I was so surprised that I didn't look at the tach etc. 12,500 miles.

Mileage: 12,500

The vehicle gets a shudder at different speeds and it feels like it's either the transmission is slipping or its coming from the motor but it NEVER THROWS a Trouble Code so as the dealership says if its not throwing a trouble code they can't diagnose it until it does. So that's why I don't like these vehicles because no one know how to fix it old school by being a real mechanic and going old school to find the issue.