all vehicles · every Forester year · method

Subaru Forester 2017

Safety complaints filed by owners in the first three years, per 1,000 sold.

1.12 per 1,000

2.1 times this nameplate’s own median · from 200 complaints filed in the first three years, of 590 ever. 95% lower bound 0.97.

Against its own model years

The model year carries far more information than the badge, so this is the comparison that matters.

Model year	Per 1,000	Complaints
2008	0.15	9
2009	0.48	33
2010	0.53	43
2011	0.24	19
2012	0.34	27
2013	0.21	21
2014	0.56	80
2015	0.83	140
2016	0.50	89
2017	1.12	200
2018	1.12	195
2019	2.98	525
2020	2.29	408
2021	0.79	131
2022	0.52	70
2023	0.46	61

What owners describe

Phrases over-represented in these complaints compared with the same component on every other vehicle. Counts are complaints containing the phrase.

Air Bags 165 complaints

srs airbag	33	17%
detection	29	15%
occupant detection	27	14%
detection system	26	13%
ods	24	12%
wet	20	10%

Electrical System 106 complaints

remove	15	14%
drain	13	13%
remove key	11	11%
battery drain	10	10%

Visibility/Wiper 104 complaints

windshield	100	96%
crack	58	56%
cracked	48	46%
chips	13	13%

When it breaks

46% of reported failures happened before 30,000 miles (median 30,000 miles, from 321 complaints that recorded one).

No clear early or late pattern.

What NHTSA did

1 investigation covering this model year, 1 of which list a recall campaign. Owners had filed 119 complaints about this component over roughly 18 months before an investigation opened.

Occupant Detection System (ODS) Failure

What owners and forums say

Not built yet. This panel is meant to carry community sentiment beside the filed-complaint data, so the two can be compared. Showing something weaker here would defeat its purpose.

Check this yourself

Example records behind this page:

10906899 · 10916632 · 10917994 · 10919275 · 10923928 · 10927374

Limits of this figure. It counts safety complaints filed with the federal government, which is a floor on failures and not a census: problems that only cost money are under-reported. Complaint rates also reflect how likely a brand’s owners are to file, which cannot be separated from how often the car fails. Sales are calendar-year and the denominator for this nameplate is automated checks only, not verified against an external source.