Home · 2021 Subaru Forester Wilderness · Complaints

What 207 owners told NHTSA about the 2021 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 (207)Crash / fire / injury (19)Visibility & wipers (90)Electrical system (33)Engine (32)Driver assistance (17)Transmission & drivetrain (14)Speed control (12)Lane Departure (8)Brakes (7)Fuel system (6)Suspension (4)

3 of 207 complaints match · Brakes · crash/fire/injury only · clear filters

Feb 18, 2025Electrical systemBrakesCrash1 injury

1. The car shut off several times, with the steering wheel locking up and becoming stiff, the brakes failing to respond, and loud, erratic sounds emanating from the vehicle. The car is available for inspection. 2. Yes, the car crashed resulting in damage to the car, driver, and other driver (e.g. car in front). 3. This is the second time the car has been brought to the dealership (the second time being Subaru South Hill in Pennsylvania) and they cannot identify the problem. 4. The vehicle was not inspected by police, or insurance, as far as I am aware. 5. There were no warning signs before the failure.

NHTSA ODI 11643583

Dec 8, 2022Transmission & drivetrainBrakesCrash

The contact owns a 2021 Subaru Forester. The contact stated while depressing the brake pedal and attempting to park in the driveway, the vehicle excessively independently accelerated in speed. The brake pedal failed to stop the vehicle and the vehicle was shifted into Park in order to come to a stop. The vehicle caused damage to the door and garage. There were no injuries reported. The vehicle was not diagnosed. The dealer was contacted, and they stated they were not aware of any recalls or complaints for the failure. The manufacturer was not contacted. The failure mileage was 10,000.

NHTSA ODI 11496649

Jul 13, 2022Speed controlBrakesEngineCrash1 injury

on 7/9/22 @ 6:00p I was with my wife & 2 grandsons going into a diner parking lot. as I was slowly going into a spot the car suddenly and without warning accelerated causing the car to drive over a cement parking stop, over a 1foot high cement wall, through a chain linked fence which had privacy covering, down into a 12 deep ravine. after shutting off the car my grandsons, wife & myself had to crawl out through the rear hatch. when things quieted down we realized that none of the safety features were activated (anti-collision warning, anti-collision braking) I thank God no one was hurt. Subaru needs to look into this so in the future no one ever experiences this.

NHTSA ODI 11473641

Working with the data? Download all 207 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 2021 Subaru Forester Wilderness verdict →