2019 Subaru Forester driver assistance & safety tech problems

Related recalls

No recalls on file.

What owners say

1. Filed Aug 21, 202680,000 miNYCrashTowedBrakesDriver Assistance & Safety TechAcceleration & Cruise Control

   The contact owns a 2019 Subaru Forester. The contact stated that while driving at 30 MPH with the adaptive cruise control engaged, the vehicle accelerated independently. The contact depressed the brake pedal; however, the engine revved loudly, the vehicle continued to accelerate and collided with the rear of a minivan. The contact was able to steer the vehicle to the side of the bridge and stopped the vehicle. The side air bags deployed after the crash. No injuries were…

   NHTSA complaint #11758532 · source
2. Filed Jan 8, 2026VADriver Assistance & Safety TechEngine

   Engine lost power and was misfiring while many warning symbols appeared on the dash. There was a divider separating the lanes. The car coasted to almost to a stop, but the engine chugged enough to slowly turn left at the first opening in the divider and just barely made it off the main road. The engine stopped. I restarted it several times. The engine was misfiring barely running. The electric brake was applied on its own. The car did not respond to moving the shift selector…

   NHTSA complaint #11709593 · source
3. Filed Nov 21, 2025FLDriver Assistance & Safety Tech

   The contact owns a 2019 Subaru Forester. The contact stated that while driving approximately 70 MPH, the Forward Collision Avoidance system activated, and the vehicle immediately decelerated to 56 MPH. The failure was intermittent but had occurred several times over 5 years. The contact had to manually turn off the Forward Collision Avoidance system to avoid the failure. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, who was unable to determine the cause of the failure. The vehicle…

   NHTSA complaint #11700763 · source
4. Filed Oct 20, 2025VADriver Assistance & Safety Tech

   While I was driving on a major road, the car appeared to sense an issue and automatically started to brake. While I was a road with 55mph drivers, my car was forcing me to stop. May warning light appeared; Eyesight Issue, Check Engine, Brake and many others. I was able to disengage the crash prevention manually and continue to drive. When I took it to my mechanic, he told me all the codes went to a Technical Service Bulletin for the Thermo Control Valve. He reset the codes…

   NHTSA complaint #11694543 · source
5. Filed May 25, 2025PADriver Assistance & Safety TechElectrical SystemEngine

   During severe stop/go, thick, holiday traffic on I-495 (DC Beltway), during daylight hours, once AGAIN (this has happened several times before), the auto engine shutoff feature catastrophically malfunctioned, turning the car off, and simultaneously, activated the entirety of the dashboard to flash on/off, causing nearly every indicator light to come on, and then had difficulty restarting. This has been brought to Subaru's attention multiple times and they essentially have…

   NHTSA complaint #11663006 · source
6. Filed Apr 4, 2025CADriver Assistance & Safety TechEngine

   Auto start/stop shut off engine at drive thru line. Locked up brakes and could not get it to unlock and restart car. It has happened on a number of occasions. After multiple attempts trying and letting it sit for a couple of hours, somehow got it to unlock and start. Thank goodness we haven’t gotten into an accident

   NHTSA complaint #11652823 · source
7. Filed Mar 31, 2025ILDriver Assistance & Safety TechSeats & Seat Belts

   1) The seat is cracking on the drivers seat. The vehicle only has 64,000 miles on it. No word from Subaru. 2) Parking collision warning system works part of the time. Dangerous when the system does not detect a person or vehicle in the blind spot.

   NHTSA complaint #11651759 · source
8. Filed Mar 7, 2025OKAirbagsDriver Assistance & Safety Tech

   I got in my vehicle after getting gas. I was on my way to Neosho, MO, hundreds of miles from home. Thes lights were all on and I couldn't get them to go off. I figured it was because my windshield was dirty. I turned my wipers on to find out one needed replaced. I paid $30 for 1 since I have an odd type of wipers and I had been to 3 auto stores to find it. The Eye Sight, brake, check engine, air bag, and lane assist lights never went off. Now they come on randomly and go off…

   NHTSA complaint #11647079 · source
9. Filed Apr 14, 2024TXDriver Assistance & Safety TechEngine

   The check engine light went on and the diagnostic code read was P26A3, Engine Coolant Bypass Valve is failing in my 2019 Forester, which only has 46,000 miles on it. Subaru was aware that this part was defective in the 2019-2021 models, because in Feb of 2022 the part was replaced and a service bulletin 09-80-21 was issued with instruction for replacing the part, but did not issue a recall, despite this problem causing the advanced safety features to stop working and…

   NHTSA complaint #11582861 · source
10. Filed Apr 2, 2024RIDriver Assistance & Safety TechElectrical System

    4/2/2024 at 5:30am my Eyesight system flashed a message in orange that the Eyesight system was off - not temporarily disabled. This is NOT due to an obstruction of the cameras by weather/glare/dirt etc. All functions controlled by Eyesight including lane departure, adaptive cruise control, and forward emergency braking, as well as reverse automatic braking are disabled by this malfunction. I removed the negative lead from my battery in an attempt to reset the system which…

    NHTSA complaint #11580717 · source
11. Filed Mar 24, 2024CADriver Assistance & Safety TechEngine

    Thermo control valve failure, P26A3 code, eyesight safety assistance warning light ,check engine light, pre collision braking light, lane assist light.

    NHTSA complaint #11579121 · source
12. Filed Jan 11, 2024NYDriver Assistance & Safety TechEngineOther / Unknown

    I am concerned as my car was safely parked, once I started it and it said eyesight off, flashing S symbol, the heat thermo Stat changes back and forth from hot and cold, car is not warming up and check engine light came on. I am very concerned as it is the winter, and I have my baby in the car. Please advise. This seems very unusual and never happened before. The vehicle have around 23K miles.

    NHTSA complaint #11564786 · source

Source: U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) Office of Defects Investigation public data. Complaints are submitted by owners and are not verified by NHTSA or by us; a complaint does not prove a defect exists. View this vehicle on NHTSA.gov Methodology