2007 Subaru Forester
This year drew an ordinary 72 complaints for a Subaru Forester — the model's median is 147. What they were about is the unusual part: 8.3% of them mention approx, against 0% 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 | 72 |
|---|---|
| Median for this model | 147 |
| Involving a crash | 11 |
| Involving a fire | 1 |
| Recalls | 1 |
| EPA combined | 21.5 mpg |
What the complaints were about
- approx — 8.3% of this year's complaints, against 0% across the other years of this generation (41.7×).
- believe — 16.7% of this year's complaints, against 4.3% across the other years of this generation (3.9×). Owners wrote it as: believe, snow, traveling, forth.
- advised — 16.7% of this year's complaints, against 6.5% across the other years of this generation (2.6×). Owners wrote it as: advised, correct, him, dealer advised.
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
WHILE DRIVING APPROXIMATELY 25 MPH, THE FRONT DRIVER'S SEAT SEPARATED FROM THE BASE OF THE VEHICLE WITHOUT WARNING. THE DEALER ADVISED THAT THE WELD CONNECTING THE SEAT FRAME TO ITS BASE HAD FRACTURED. THE VEHICLE WAS REPAIRED AT THE [VIN]'S EXPENSE. WITHIN TW…
THE SPECIFICATION OF THE ALIGNMENT ON THE VEHICLE WAS CAUSING HIS TIRES TO WEAR [VIN]. THE VEHICLE WAS INSPECTED BY AN INDEPENDENT MECHANIC AND THEY INFORMED HIM OF THE SAME SPECIFICATIONS AND THERE WAS NO REMEDY. THE CONTACT STATED THAT HE HAD TO REPLACE TIRE…
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 2007 Subaru Forester? What happened to yours?
Loading comments…