There are 50 owner-reported electrical system complaints for the 2015 Subaru Foresterin NHTSA's database. These are unverified consumer reports and may not reflect confirmed defects.
Passenger airbag sensor intermittently works and turns off when passenger is in the seat. Dashboard light for airbag is constantly on and passenger airbag is constantly off. Issues with seat sensor going off when no one is sitting in the passenger seat. Abs system error message. All identical to recall symptoms.
I had a problem. arming the remote control. with forester subaru 2014 -2015 model car w/n arm. with key or electronically. I had changed battery you can arm manually sometimes , alarm will go off if you use the key to open door and shut it off with key. in ignition. had a diagnostic test done. with CODE B1500. tpms lights stays on also. tires are good. pressure good. extra remote key is good batteries changed. any info concerning this. Thank you. this happen week and half ago nov 11,2024. have an appt will subaru dealer on dec 5 to toubleshoot. is there any recalls for this matter
The contact owns a 2015 Subaru Forester. The contact stated while driving at an undisclosed speed, the contact became aware that the horn was inoperable. There was no warning light illuminated. The dealer was not contacted. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 176,300.
Horn on steering wheel stopped working. Don't know when it stopped working, no lights, warnings on dash, nothing. You only use horn when you need it and when needed for safety concerns, it did not work. Almost got in an accident when needing horn which did not work and was first discovery of this safety defect. Same situation twice after first discovery of no horn while waiting for Dealership appointment day. But horn would work by pressing panic button on fob. Steering wheel, nothing. Dealer confirmed Steering Roll Connector causing horn to be inoperative on steering wheel. Very expensive basic safety component repair for Subaru customers. Best extended factory warranty back in 2015 was 7yr/100k mi. Our Subaru was only 8yrs 8mo old and with only 79k miles. Out of warranty, but Subaru of America did help with bill as a good faith jester being so close to being in warranty. Much appreciated. However, this basic safety feature should last much longer than 8yrs or almost 9yrs, especially with no prior or current warning it has failed. Everything else on steering wheel electrically functioned fine. This defect can cause an accident, possibly a serious accident. Glad my wife and I were not in that statistic. This is not the only complaint involving horn not working on this 2015 model here and elsewhere. Makes me wonder what other Subaru years and models experience this safety defect. I strongly believe this should be a safety recall before there's a fatality, if not already, from horn function on steering wheel becoming inoperative without warning.
The passenger side mirror started smoking and then the locks and interior lights no longer work.
power locks have failed in all 4 doors, must be manually unlocked from inside or key used in door. you can hear internal components trying to unlock latches but do not catch properly. especially dangerous with children in the backseat there is no quick way to unlock doors and get them out in an emergency
First Issue: Wheel lug studs and nuts have failed on two separate occasions. Second Issue: The C/S brake, hill assist and traction control emergency lights went on and off and usually stayed on after the lights went on. The O2 Oxygen sensor was replaced. Then after this didn't fix the problem with the emergency lights coming on, the hydraulic unit module was replaced. This fixed the problem.
The horn became intermittently functional and now is no longer working and it has been diagnosed as the roll connector. When the horn fails, it is very dangerous and it appears from Internet reports, it is quite prevalent in this model.
I parked my car in the Walgreens parking lot while shopping, less than 30 minutes. When I returned, the car would not start. I called AAA for what I thought was a battery jump. When the AAA technician arrived, checked the battery and said his equipment said to replace the battery. After several attempts he was able to finally get the car started. I drove my car to the dealer where I had just had the battery and terminal replaced five months earlier. The service person checked the battery and charged it for more than an hour after having me call a Subaru warranty line and tell them how many times the battery had to be jumped - once. Yesterday, 12/6/2022 I was attempting to leave my home to take my husband to a cancer treatment clinic for an appointment and the car would not start. I called the Subaru technician who told me to bring the car in before 5 pm, which I could not do. Today, 12/07/2022, after several attempts I was able to start the car and take it to the service center. The technician could not find evidence of the battery purchase June 22, 2022. I showed him my paid receipt and he was able to locate the purchase. He told me the service manager wanted him to test the battery before doing anything. This is my only vehicle and I can’t keep going back and forth to the repair center whenever the new battery and connector , still under warranty, do not work. Today the technician told me the recall for coil replacement needed to be done. I was told it was done in June, but the service center has no evidence in their system that it was done. I never received any notice from Subaru that it was recalled.
Unknown origin. Airbag issues started in September October 2022. 2015 Subaru Forester. Vehicle with Heated Seats similar to open recall. Warning notice display as to Airbag dysfunction. Airbag determined to not function by Dealer. But informed not within the specific airbag recall affecting other same era (2015) Foresters now under recall altho symptomatically the same issues as other Vehicles subject to recall. Quoted up to $2000 to fix the Vehicle. Subsequently, the driver side warning assistance sensors have stopped working on the Vehicle. Because the VIN # does not fit within the recall matching system, Subaru could not replace the airbag without payment. Even after offering some payment accommodation on the part, Subaru wanted $1000 or so to repair and could not give a final estimate in advance. This Vehicle has less than 40,000 miles on it.
I own a 2015 Suburu Forester with just under 60,000 miles. i have noticed the engine does not start right off, making me nervous. I drive a lot and don't want to get stranded. On 9/19/2022 I went to the Battery Outlet in Quakertown and they said i have a battery drain. They did not think the battery needed to be replaced but to me, the greater issue is WHY IS MY BATTERY DRAINING TO BEGIN WITH. Of course, the car would be available for inspection. No I am not at risk. I have to ask my mechanic to check it out. I bought the car in 9/2020 and due to covid I did not use it as much as I am now. No warning lights on this; I can hear the engine struggling to start.
We had driven up Mt Washington in NH (about 6000ft high) and were returning back. We had used the X mode (hill assist) intermittently on the way down. Had driven almost 150 miles back to home, when the car suddenly lost power and started to shudder. We were able to coast to the side. We tried to start again and again the same problem. We noticed that the brakes seemed quite warm. After about 5 minutes we tried again and were able to drive slowly to a gas station, but no one to help since it was late. Since fuel was low at 1 bar (60 miles distance to empty). We filled up the tank and made our way home driving slowly on the back roads. We are not sure if it could be a problem with the fuel, electrical system, brakes or the hill assist. While the car seems to run fine on short trips of a few miles, have not taken it out on any longer drives.
The contact owns a 2015 Subaru Forester. The contact stated that the fan switch failed to operate at high speed. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where it was diagnosed that the fan switch had burned and melted and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 37,000. The dealer stated they had seen these issues before on other customer's vehicles. It's a strong possibility of fire in the cockpit.
I hand washed my 2015 Subaru Forester using a garden hose with no pressure nozzle on the hose. While drying it I noticed a very strong burning smell. I then noticed smoke coming from the drivers side door mirror. It smoked for 30 to 40 seconds. Afterward my key fob door locking/unlocking functions do not work. Also the dome lights and clock do not work, as well as the TPMS. When I lock the car with a key, it only locks the drivers door. If I lock the car manually with the inside push button and close the door all doors are locked, but when I unlock it with the key the "Panic Horn" starts beeping. The car has not been repaired yet and is available for inspection. There were no warning lights or messages prior to the smoking mirror. This happened inside a washbay and I was definitely concerned about a major fire, luckily this did not happen. I googled this incident and there are other instances of this exact same incident occurring, as well as a recall of 630,000 Subaru vehicles in prior years, but not the 2015 model. My vehicle has never sustained any damage of any kind. No accidents, no fender benders, no weather related damage what so ever. This Forester, although being a 2015 model year, is in showroom condition with only 15,850 miles.
I have had to replace my battery about every 16 months. Seems like something is draining the battery prematurely. I shouldn't have to keep buying new batteries every year.
2015 Subaru Forester Horn stopped working at 80,000 miles. Replaced steering roll connector at considerable expense. 3rd Forester. Question of how frequent & whether Subaru is aware of problem.
1) OIL CONSUMPTION. My 2015 Subaru was purchased used in 2017 with approx 56k on engine. From the first oil change I had done one month later the car’s computer would say that the oil level was low. I would check the dip and it would be at least a quart low. From that point on the car would burn oil that I would keep the 5 gallon oil container in my car. 2) My Subaru is and has been driven consistently until one week I did not use it for a few days not more than 3. The battery completely drained water and all. Filled the battery with appropriate water and trickle charged it for about 5 days. I then was able to jump start the car just to drive to the auto parts store to buy a new one. Noticed the signal lights would not work but the car was driving fine. I thought it may be a fuse so I pulled the proper fuse out and replaced it with the proper fuse. I started the car and every single light on the dash board lit up. Oil temp, check engine light, the up hill etc. I drove the car back home from the auto parts store and it was jerking, revving, stumbling all over the place. Nearly drove into the car in front of me and just about made it home without it stalling. I was scheduled to have two recalls fixed but I had to have my insurance company tow it to the dealer. They said it could be a number of things. I paid them 149 to do a diagnostics check but said they needed an additional 500 to do a thorough check and it would not go towards any fix of any issue. He printed me a list of items that needed to be done but none would fix that issue. He said maybe the wire harness but not sure. I was just basically screwed. So I have a 2015 Subaru Forester that I have no idea what is wrong with the engine. 3) seat belt warning on the passenger side will not stop alerting to fasten seat belts even though no one is in the seat. I have to keep it buckled at all times. I have notified the dealer the day the recalls were done but he said he didn’t know why it was doing that.
I HAVE HAD A SUDDEN BATTERY DRAIN. I HAVE REPLACED THE BATTERY TWICE IN THE PAST YEAR. THE CAR HAD BEEN STATIONARY FOR A SHORT PERIOD OF TIME DURING THE PANDEMIC.
SUDDENLY IT STARTED TO ACCURATE AND THE OTHER WAS ALL IN BORD CONTROL SYSTEM DEFAULT ARE LIGHTING UP
There have been numerous instances of the battery being drained when nothing was left on or running. This has happened on at least four different occasions, with two of these leading to a need for calling for assistance. I am unsure of the cause of this problem.
Showing 1–20 of 50 complaints
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.
Data synced from NHTSA on Apr 26, 2026