There are 13 owner-reported body & structure complaints for the 2020 Subaru Foresterin NHTSA's database. These are unverified consumer reports and may not reflect confirmed defects.
The contact owns a 2020 Subaru Forester. The contact stated that while driving at 60 MPH, the hood was independently unlatched and opened. The light indicating that the hood was opened illuminated. The contact stated that he pulled to the shoulder of the road and closed the hood. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired by an independent mechanic or dealer. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 36,000.
There is a crack on the left lower part of the windshield. It’s the 3rd crack requiring a windshield replacement and it only has 21,110 miles on it
Automated lift gate opened fully, and then immediately closed without warning upon a person who was trying to access the back, nearly causing injury. It is unknown what precisely is failing within the lift gate and it is available for review. The automated lift gate can close on a person unexpectedly potentially causing injury. This has been reproduced as was "fixed" by the dealer but then reappeared only a month later with the same issue. The vehicle was not inspected by anyone but the dealer's service representatives. There was a soft beep emitted as it came down but the behavior was completely unexpected. There were no warning lamps or other information as to something was non-functional, only the soft beep as the lift-gate fully opened, then automatically fully shut right after.
Our windshield spontaneously cracked and the crack has grown very quickly. I looked online only to see that this has happened to several others.
THE LINKAGE CABLE BETWEEN THE DRIVERS' FRONT INTERIOR DOOR HANDLE AND THE DOOR LATCHING MECHANISM BECAME UNHOOKED SOMEHOW DURING NORMAL USAGE, RENDERING THE DOOR INOPERABLE FROM THE INTERIOR. SIMPLY REMOVING THE INTERIOR TRIM FROM THE DOOR AND REATTACHING THE LINKAGE FIXED THE PROBLEM, BUT UNTIL THEN THE DOOR WAS ONLY USEABLE FROM THE EXTERIOR OF THE VEHICLE.
A LARGE FRACTURE ON THE WINDSHIELD APPEARED (ROUGHLY 16 INCHES LONG) WITH, IN MY OPINION, NO OBVIOUS IMPACT. I ONLY NOTICED THE FRACTURE AFTER THE VEHICLE HAD BEEN PARKED FOR A PERIOD OF TIME. I TOOK THE CAR TO THE SUBARU DEALERSHIP TO GET THE FRACTURE INSPECTED. THE SERVICE MANAGER RAN A BALL-POINT PEN ALONG THE FRACTURE AND FOUND A SMALL INDENTATION (LESS THAN 1/32 INCH DEEP) NEAR THE A PILLAR. THE DEALERSHIP CLAIMED THAT THIS INDICATED THE FRACTURE WAS DUE TO AN IMPACT AND NOT A DEFECTIVE WINDSHIELD. CONSEQUENTLY, THE DEALERSHIP REFUSED TO REPLACE THE WINDSHIELD. I HAVE SINCE FILED A CLAIM WITH MY INSURANCE AND I AM IN THE PROCESS OF GETTING THE WINDSHIELD REPLACED.
HELLO, I OWN A SUBARU FORESTER SPORT 2020 AND I HAVE THE DRIVER SIDE REAR WINDOW IMPLODE WITHOUT ANY REASON. THE CAR WAS PARKED ALONE FOR LESS THAN ONE HOUR AND I CAME OUT OF THE HOUSE TO USE IT AND THE WINDOW WAS IN A MILLION LITTLE PIECES WITH NO SIGN OF ENTRY OR ANY OBJECT TO SUGGEST THAT IT WAS AN ACT OF VANDALISM. THE POLICE CAME AND DID A THROUGH-ROUGH INVESTIGATION AND COULD NOT FIND A MOTIVE OR REASON. AT THE END IT WAS ASSIGNED AS VANDALISM. HOWEVER, AFTER FURTHER SEARCHING ONLINE, THERE IS A PENDING LAWSUIT CHRISTINE POWELL VS. SUBARU OF AMERICA DUE TO THIS REASON WHICH IS WINDOWS AND WINDSHIELDS CRACKING OR IMPLODING WITHOUT ANY REASON. SUBARU IS NOT TAKING RESPONSIBILITY AND EVEN ASKED THE LAWSUIT TO BE DISMISSED. THE NUMBER OF COMPLAINS KEEPS INCREASING AND INSURANCE COMPANIES AND OWNERS HAVE TO FOOT THE BILL TO GET EQUALLY BAD REPLACEMENT WINDOWS. I AM DEEPLY CONCERN FOR THE INTEGRITY OF THE CAR AND ALSO MY SAFETY AND THAT OF MY PASSENGERS.*DT CONSUMER STATED MANUFACTURER AGREED TO PAY $100.00 DEDUCTABLE.*JB
VEHICLE WAS DRIVING NEXT TO AN RV ON THE FREEWAY. RV KICKED UP SMALL DEBRIS ONTO WINDSHIELD. WINDSHIELD IMMEDIATELY HAD ABOUT 16 INCH CRACK.
TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2020 SUBARU FORESTER. THE CONTACT STATED WHILE DRIVING APPROXIMATELY 80 MPH, THE HOOD STARTED TO SHAKE AND VIBRATE ABNORMALLY. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO OCEAN SUBARU OF FULLERTON (1100 S EUCLID ST, FULLERTON, CA 92832, (888) 428-2419) HOWEVER, WAS NOT DIAGNOSED. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT REPAIRED. THE MANUFACTURER WAS NOT INFORMED OF THE FAILURE. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS APPROXIMATELY 6,874. CONSUMER STATED THERE WAS A STRONG INTERMITTENT WIND WHILE DRIVING.
WINDSHIELD CRACKING: I HAVE 7K MILES ON MY 2020 FORESTER AND HAVE HAD TO REPLACE THE WINDSHIELD TWICE ALREADY WITHIN 2 MONTHS OF EACH OTHER. THE FIRST TIME I'M NOT EVEN SURE IF I WAS HIT BY ANYTHING. I HAD BEEN DRIVING ON THE HIGHWAY FOR A COUPLE HOURS AND I PARKED IT IN MY DRIVEWAY. WHEN I CAME OUT AN HOUR LATER THE ENTIRE WINDSHIELD WAS CRACKED LEFT TO RIGHT. THE SECOND TIME WHILE DRIVING ON THE HIGHWAY, I WAS HIT BY A VERY SMALL PEBBLE THAT LEFT THE TINIEST OF NICKS - INITIALLY BARELY EVEN VISIBLE. WITHIN AN HOUR IT STRETCHED ACROSS THE ENTIRE WINDSHIELD. I LIVE IN AZ - IT'S GOING TO HAPPEN OCCASIONALLY. BUT ALL MY OTHER CARS OVER THE YEARS HAD LOTS OF TINY AND NOT-SO-TINY NICKS FROM SMALL ROCKS THAT NEVER SPREAD OUT AT ALL. THE WINDSHIELD ON MY PRIOR 2014 FORESTER WITH 90K MILES ON IT ONLY HAD TO BE REPLACED TWICE IN 6 YEARS. IN BOTH CASES I WAS HIT BY LARGER PEPPLES THAT LEFT SIGNIFICANT (LIKE 1/2 INCH) SPIDER NICKS. I AM CONVINCED THERE IS SOMETHING GOING ON WITH THE 2020 FORESTER WINDSHIELD - MAYBE THE PITCH OR A MANUFACTURING/DESIGN ISSUE. BUT THIS IS POTENTIALLY DANGEROUS AND A REAL INCONVENIENCE. IF IT HAPPENS AGAIN SOON, I WILL TRADE IT IN. IT'S A SHAME BECAUSE I LOVE THIS VEHICLE OTHERWISE. MY COUSIN IN CA BTW HAS HAD TO REPLACE THE WINDSHIELD IN HIS 2019 FORESTER FOUR TIMES IN 17K MILES.
ON JUNE 16TH, 2020 MY VEHICLE WAS STRAIGHT IN MOTION ON A CITY STREET. RANDOMLY, A CRACK APPEARED ON THE DRIVER SIDE PART OF THE WINDSHIELD. I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT CAUSED THIS, BUT THE DEALERSHIP DID NOT GIVE ME COVERAGE FOR THIS INCIDENT. *TR
THE LIFT GATE MOTOR ON MY 2020 FORESTER DOES NOT SHUT OFF WHEN THE LIFT GATE IS OPEN, IT CONTINUES TO CYCLE UNTIL THE BATTERY IS DEAD. SUBARU DEALER SAYS THEY'RE UNAWARE OF THE PROBLEM EVEN THOUGH A SIMPLE COMPUTER SEARCH FOUND DOZENS OF COMPLAINTS FOR THE SAME ISSUE. *TR
I WENT ON AN EXTENDED ROAD TRIP AND RECEIVED TWO CRACKS IN MY WINDSHIELD IN A SINGLE DAY. I HAVE OWNED SEVERAL CARS IN MY LIFE, AND NEVER HAVE HAD A CAR WITH SUCH A SENSITIVE WINDSHIELD. I WOULD NOT EXPECT THE WINDSHIELD TO CRACK SO EASILY. I KNOW THIS IS AN ISSUE FOR OTHER SIMILAR YEAR SUBARU MODELS, SO I'M THINKING IT WASN'T A COINCIDENCE. BOTH CRACKS WERE RECEIVED ON A FREEWAY, MOVING AT 70MPH. BOTH OBJECTS WERE VERY SMALL IN SIZE, AND SHOULD HAVE RESULTED IN ONLY MINIMAL DAMAGE.
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 25, 2026