2018 Subaru Forester
Complaints about this year name windshield far more often than the other years of this generation — 36% of them, about 8× the usual rate of 4.6%.
Last year of its generation. This Subaru Forester ran from 2014 to 2018, so it had the whole run for its faults to be found and fixed. Last years are usually the most sorted of a generation.
NHTSA opened a defect investigation into this model year.
| Complaints filed | 491 |
|---|---|
| Median for this model | 105 |
| Involving a crash | 26 |
| Involving a fire | 1 |
| Recalls | 3 |
| NHTSA crash rating | 5/5 |
| EPA combined | 25 mpg |
What the complaints were about
- windshield — 36.3% of this year's complaints, against 4.6% across the other years of this generation (7.8×).
- crack — 30.1% of this year's complaints, against 9.6% across the other years of this generation (3.1×). Owners wrote it as: crack, small, glass, windshield crack.
- rock — 6.7% of this year's complaints, against 0.9% across the other years of this generation (7.5×).
Words owners used for the same problem are counted together, so a fault written four different ways is measured once. Grouped by which complaints they appear in, not by a list anyone wrote in advance.
Also unusual this year
- crack — 22% of complaints, 6× usual
- cracked — 16% of complaints, 7× usual
- windshield cracked — 10% of complaints, 9× usual
What owners wrote
I WAS DRIVING THROUGH A PARKING LOT AND THE WINDSHIELD CRACKED AS I WENT OVER A SPEED BUMP.
WINDSHIELD CRACKED IN ONE SPOT, THEN THE CRACK SPREAD THROUGHOUT THE ENTIRE WINDSHIELD. HAD TO GET THE ENTIRE WINDSHIELD REPLACED.
Verbatim from NHTSA complaint filings, with identifying details removed.
Recalls for this year
- 21V587000 FUEL SYSTEM, GASOLINE Fixed free of charge.
- 19V701000 AIR BAGS Fixed free of charge.
- 18V455000 TIRES Fixed free of charge.
How this was worked out
Every year of the Subaru Forester was compared against its own history rather than against other cars, which removes popularity and age from the answer — a common car draws more complaints at equal reliability, and an older one has had longer to accumulate them. A year is flagged when it drew at least 2.5× this model's median and at least 50 complaints.
This is a fault record, not a review. Nobody files a federal complaint to say the car was fine, so it shows what tends to go wrong — not whether owners liked it, and not whether it is a good car.
Source: NHTSA complaints, recalls and investigations, retrieved . Look this vehicle up directly on NHTSA's site to check anything here.
Own a 2018 Subaru Forester? What happened to yours?
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