Home · 2025 Subaru Forester Wilderness · Complaints

What 79 owners told NHTSA about the 2025 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 (79)Crash / fire / injury (12)Visibility & wipers (19)Fuel system (13)Driver assistance (9)Lights (8)Electrical system (6)Brakes (5)Airbags (4)Speed control (4)Transmission & drivetrain (4)Wheels (3)

Newest first · 79 complaints · page 4 of 4

Oct 21, 2024Visibility & wipers

I have noticed my new Suburu driver side mirror shakes during highway speeds and this causes cars and backgrounds to look blurry. I didn't notice this on my other mirrors. It makes it difficult to drive and is distracting.

NHTSA ODI 11621041

Sep 20, 2024Transmission & drivetrain

Paddle shifter does not work appropriately—when shifting rapidly using paddle shifters, right shifter (up-shift) occasionally commands transmission to shift down.

NHTSA ODI 11615548

Sep 19, 2024Lights

Low visibility and dark (shadowy) spots on road surface when low beam LED lights are on, and you’re driving on a dark rural road. The cutoff of the visual field is uneven, with a shorter visual field and dark spots on driver side. Got the car on August 17th. I didn’t drive it at night until the morning of September 5th. That’s when I noticed the problem with the lights. Took car to Subaru dealer on September 10th. According to the dealer the lights are level and working as designed. On September 11th I called Subaru and reported the problem, and the dealer comments to them. The customer advocate told me that a specialist will contact me within a couple of days. On September 16th I called and I was told that the specialist was not in the office, and the next day when he would come in he would contact me. Today is September 19th and I still have not been contacted by the Subaru specialist. I live in a rural township that doesn’t have street lights or sidewalks. Due to the low visibility and dark spots I don’t feel comfortable driving the car at night.

NHTSA ODI 11615460

Sep 2, 2024LightsVisibility & wipers

The head lights are seriously defective in low beam. In low beam the car is not road worthy. It is dangerous! It is available for inspection upon request. We did not drive the car after dark until a week after taking delivery. We were at risk as was any other vehicle on the road at that time. We have not driven the car after dark since. The dealer who sold the car to us has been made aware of the problem. No one has inspected the car. There were on warnings or symptoms.

NHTSA ODI 11612097

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Working with the data? Download all 79 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 2025 Subaru Forester Wilderness verdict →