There are 2 stored owner reports matching the steering leading-label group for the 2001 Subaru Forester in our NHTSA-sourced dataset. These are unverified consumer reports and may not reflect confirmed defects.
This group counts stored reports whose component label starts with one of this site's matching prefixes, ignoring case. Each matching report counts once within the group. Components mentioned later in the label or only in the narrative are not searched. How component counts work
Loaded 2 of 2 matching reports.
Open the full vehicle complaint log (all categories)I WAS DRIVING DOWN THE FREEWAY AT NIGHT WHEN I HEARD A LOUD BANG NOISE AND LOOKED BEHIND ME AND SAW BLACK SMOKE AND HAD LOST ALL POWER, NO POWER STEERING, NO BRAKES AND NO LIGHTS I HAD TO TRY TO CROSS 2 LANES OF TRAFFIC TO GET MY CAR TO THE SHOULDER WHILE IT WAS DECELERATING. I GOT THE CAR TO THE SHOULDER AND NOTICED SMOKE COMING FROM THE ENGINE COMPARTMENT, AND WAS WORRIED OF A POSSIBLE FIRE. I GOT OUT AND CALLED A TOW TRUCK AND HAD IT TOWED. THE RESULT WAS A BLOWN HEAD GASKET THAT HAD BLOWN THE ROD THROUGH THE BACK PILLAR AND SPRAYED OIL OVER EVERYTHING CAUSING THE BATTERY TO SHORT OUT WHICH LED TO THE POWER LOSS. THE WHOLE ENGINE ON THE CAR NEEDED TO BE REPLACED FOR THE SECOND TIME. BOUGHT CAR WITH A REBUILT ENGINE FROM SAME PROBLEM AT 141,000 MILES. *TR
ALARM SYSTEM REENGAGES BY ITSELF AFTER BEING DISENGAGED BY DEALER, VEHICLE WOULD NOT ALLOW CONSUMER TO GAIN ENTRANCE WHEN THIS OCCURS. *AK CONSUMER STATED THAT HER BABY WAS LOCKED IN THE VEHICLE AND HAD TO BE RESCUED OUT BY THE FIRE DEPARTMENT, CONSUMER STATED SHE PAID SUBARU TO HAVE THEM REMOVE THE ALARM SYSTEM AT THE TIME OF LEASING THE VEHICLE, SUBARU STATED THAT THE PANIC BUTTON WAS SOMEHOW DEPRESSED AND CAUSED DOORS TO LOCK AND LIGHTS TO FLASH, CONSUMER STATED THERE WAS NO WAY THE PANIC BUTTON WAS DEPRESSED BECAUSE THE KEYS WERE LYING ON THE FRONT SEAT WHEN SHE HAD EXITED THE VEHICLE. *SLC
Complaints are unverified consumer reports submitted to NHTSA. A high complaint count may reflect vehicle popularity, not defect severity. Data sourced from NHTSA public records.
NHTSA source checks for this vehicle year
Checks are recorded separately for each dataset, not for the whole page. Dates use UTC. A missing check date does not mean no records exist.
Vehicle import recorded: Apr 28, 2026. This is the stored import date, not confirmation that every source was successfully refreshed.