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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)

1 of 207 complaints match · Driver assistance · crash/fire/injury only · clear filters

Aug 20, 2025Electrical systemDriver assistanceFire

After arriving home from a short drive to the grocery store I parked my car in the drive way and went inside. On the drive home I could hear a low humming coming from the speakers and the car was decelerating when the accelerator was not being pressed, no warning lights or sounds came on. About 10 minutes after I parked a neighbor knocked on the door letting me know my car was smoking from inside the hood. Within a minute or 2 the entire hood of the car was engulfed in flames. The entire front half of the car burned to a crisp, the fire also burned half a tree. The car was burning so hot that it melted the hood of the car, had I parked it with the hood facing my house my house would have caught fire. The problem has not been reduced or confirmed by dealer or independent service. The vehicle is being stored by the insurance and for the time being is accessible for investigation. Because I was having trouble with the infotainment system, the humming coming from the speakers, and a recent warranty extension by from Subaru for the infotainment system due to known issues I suspect that the fire was caused by electrical issues.

NHTSA ODI 11681870

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 →