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What 578 owners told NHTSA about the 2017 Subaru Forester Wilderness

These are the actual owner complaints behind this car’s reliability verdict, filed with the federal government, unedited. They’re unverified reports, not confirmed defects: read them as leads for your pre-purchase inspection, not a diagnosis.

All (578)Crash / fire / injury (45)Airbags (160)Visibility & wipers (115)Electrical system (105)Engine (46)Transmission & drivetrain (44)Speed control (33)Seats (31)Steering (24)Body & structure (15)Brakes (14)

1 of 578 complaints match · Seats · crash/fire/injury only · clear filters

May 16, 2017AirbagsSeat beltsSeatsCrash1 injury

DRIVER'S SUBARU WAS STRUCK FROM BEHIND BY A BOX TRUCK WHILE STATIONARY ON A HIGHWAY (DRIVER HAD STOPPED JUST SHORT OF A MULTI-CAR COLLISION BUT THE BOX TRUCK BEHIND HER WAS UNABLE TO STOP); BOX TRUCK PUSHED THE SUBARU INTO THE CAR IN FRONT. DRIVER'S SEATBELT WAS ON, BUT DRIVER'S CHEST STRUCK THE STEERING WHEEL AND HER HEAD POSSIBLY HIT THE SIDE WINDOW. AIRBAGS DID NOT DEPLOY AND SEATBELT DID NOT STOP DRIVER FROM STRIKING STEERING WHEEL. ALSO, THE EMPTY FRONT PASSENGER SEAT ROCKETED FORWARD ON ITS RAILS ALL THE WAY TO THE FRONT, AND AT LEAST THREE HINGES FLEW OFF THE PASSENGER SEAT RAIL MECHANISM.

NHTSA ODI 10986045

Working with the data? Download all 578 complaints as CSV · fetched from NHTSA July 19, 2026

How to use these: a complaint is one owner’s report, filed voluntarily and published unverified. Patterns matter more than any single story. If several owners describe the same failure at similar mileage, put that system at the top of your pre-purchase inspection list. Back to the full 2017 Subaru Forester Wilderness verdict →