2005 Subaru Forester
This year drew an ordinary 93 complaints for a Subaru Forester — the model's median is 147. What they were about is the unusual part: 11.8% of them mention forester driving, against 2.8% across the other years of this generation.
Generation 1 of the Subaru Forester, which began in 2003 and ran to 2008. Everything below compares this year against the others in that generation, not against a different car wearing the same name.
NHTSA opened a defect investigation into this model year.
| Complaints filed | 93 |
|---|---|
| Median for this model | 147 |
| Involving a crash | 15 |
| Involving a fire | 1 |
| Recalls | 1 |
| EPA combined | 20.5 mpg |
What the complaints were about
- forester driving — 11.8% of this year's complaints, against 2.8% across the other years of this generation (4.3×). Owners wrote it as: forester driving, parked vehicle, mph contact, idled.
- recalled — 9.7% of this year's complaints, against 2% across the other years of this generation (4.8×). Owners wrote it as: recalled, life, easily, brake lines.
- line — 9.7% of this year's complaints, against 2.3% across the other years of this generation (4.3×). Owners wrote it as: line, what going, pedal went.
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.
What owners wrote
IN COLD WEATHER, AROUND 20 DEGREES FAHRENHEIT AND BELOW, I AM EXPERIENCING A FUEL LEAK UNDER THE INTAKE MANIFOLD CAUSED BY CONTRACTED FUEL LINES. THIS IS A KNOWN ISSUE WITH 03-05 FORESTERS, ESPECIALLY THOSE WITH TURBOS. SUBARU SHOULD BE HELP ACCOUNTABLE FOR TH…
THERE IS A SEVERE GAS LINE LEAK WHERE THE VEHICLE IS VERY UNSAFE LEAKING GAS BY THE ENGINE SPRAYING THE SIDE OF THE PASSENGER COMPARTMENT. WHILE IN MOTION.
Verbatim from NHTSA complaint filings, with identifying details removed.
Recalls for this year
- 11V464000 SUSPENSION 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 2005 Subaru Forester? What happened to yours?
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