There are 1 stored owner reports matching the lighting leading-label group for the 2008 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 1 of 1 matching reports.
Open the full vehicle complaint log (all categories)WE PURCHASED A SUBARU FORESTER 2008 IN THE FALL OF 2007. AT ABOUT 4 YEARS, OR 40,000 MILES THE PLASTIC HEADLIGHT LENSES FOGGED OVER, REDUCING LIGHT OUTPUT AND DISPERSING, NOT FOCUSING THE HEADLIGHT BEAM MAKING IT DIFFICULT TO SEE THE ROAD AT NIGHT. MY HUSBAND SPENT TIME USING PLASTIC POLISH TO REMOVE THE APPARENT FOG ON THE PLASTIC-HEADLIGHT COVER. AT THIS POINT THE LENSES WERE CLEAR AND UN-FOGGED. AFTER LESS THAN TWO MONTHS THE FOG ON THE PLASTIC-HEADLIGHT LENS REAPPEARED. I BELIEVE THIS TO BE A MANUFACTURER'S DEFECT. SUBARU USES SOME SORT OF PLASTIC THAT IS EXTREMELY SENSITIVE TO ROAD-DUST ABRASION. THIS CREATES AN UNSAFE DRIVING CONDITION WHEN THE HEAD-LIGHT BEAM IS DISPERSED RATHER THAN FOCUSED ON THE ROAD-NECESSARY FOR NIGHT TIME VISIBILITY. SUBARU HAS DENIED THIS IS A MANUFACTURER'S DEFECT. THEY WOULD BE THE LAST TO ADMIT THIS. THEY HAVE SAID I COULD REPLACE THE HEADLIGHT LENSES AT A COST OF $750 WITH NO GUARANTEE THAT IT WOULD NOT HAPPEN AGAIN OR THEY COULD REFER ME TO A PLASTIC-LENS POLISHING SHOP. THIS CONDITION CREATES A POTENTIAL HAZARD. THE HEADLIGHT SHOULD NOT FOG OVER WITHIN A TWO MONTH PERIOD OF BEING FIXED. MOREOVER, IT SHOULD NEVER HAVE FOGGED OVER AT ALL IN A FOUR-YEAR OLD VEHICLE. *TR
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.