Subaru Engine Problems

Engine issues make up roughly 27% of all Subaru owner complaints. The majority of the issues have been reported by Forester owners.

The complaint we hear about most often is high oil consumption in the 2014 Forester.

Common Subaru Engine Problems

  1. Unintended Acceleration

    An increasing number of Subaru owners say their vehicles will inexplicably surge forward when the vehicle is stopped and their foot is on the brake. The unintended acceleration incidents often happen as the driver tries to shift the trans…

    Continue reading article "Unintended Acceleration" Smashed front hood of a gray Subaru

  2. Brake Light Switch Defect

    A build-up of chemicals from scented cleaning products containing silicone can disable the brake light switch in millions of Subaru vehicles. This can prevent the brake lights from turning on when pressing the pedal, among other things, and…

    Continue reading article "Brake Light Switch Defect" Close-up of a brake light with a red lens on top, clear lens on bottom.

  3. Excessive Oil Consumption

    Subaru is one of a handful of automakers accused of making new engines that excessively burn through oil. And they'll tell you that adding a quart (or two) between scheduled changes is totally normal. It's not.

    Continue reading article "Excessive Oil Consumption" Top view of a Subaru engine."

  4. Leaky Head Gaskets

    Why can't Subaru build a decent head gasket? The automaker has had issues with leaky gaskets in their 4-cylinder engines since the 1980's. And repairing the issue is expensive as it requires the engine to be removed.

    Continue reading article "Leaky Head Gaskets" A close-up of a clean black head gasket above two silver pistons.

Where Engine Complaints Happen

Sometimes it helps just to tally up the complaints and see where the biggest stacks are. Use this information to learn about troublespots or to run for the hills.

Worst Issues

Worst Models

Recent Engine News

There's a lot of news out there, but not all of it matters. We try to boil down it to the most important bits about things that actually help you with your car problem. Interested in getting these stories in an email? Signup for free email alerts over at CarComplaints.com.

  2. Cheryl Sauer says her 2014 Forester XT was never the same after it came back from a 2016 emissions recall.

    The engine would surge and stall. So naturally, Subaru must have installed some secret software under the guise of an emissions fix to de-tune the engine in an effort to address a long-running ignition timing issue.

    Naturally.…

    keep reading article "Conspiracy About Subaru's 'Secret Software Update' to Turbocharged Engines Gets Mostly Dismissed in Court"

  3. Subaru vehicles are accelerating on their own and the automaker's claim that owners are to blame isn't going over well.

    A new class-action lawsuit has been filed on behalf of owners with cars that may have unintended acceleration problems. This includes the 2012-2018 Forester, 2015-2019 Legacy, and 2015-2019 Outback.

    One of the lead plaintiffs says they were driving slowly with the foot on the brake pedal, and as they were about to shift into PARK the vehicle surged forward causing a collision.…

    keep reading article "Owners File a Class-Action Lawsuit Over Subaru's Unintended Acceleration Problems"

  6. A new lawsuit accuses Subaru of using a 2016 emissions recall as a cover to secretly update engine software meant to prevent surging and stalling issues.

    If true, that’s both devious and cunning because ”by calling it an official emissions recall, an owner wouldn't be able to renew their vehicle registration until the recall work was complete.”

    The lawsuit only names 2014-2016 vehicles with turbocharged engines, including the Forester XT, WRX and WRX STI.

    keep reading article "Did Subaru Use an Emissions Recall to Secretly Install Engine Software?"

  7. A class-action lawsuit alleges that Subaru’s high-performance engines, found in WRX and WRX STI vehicles, can’t create enough lubrication to properly protect the engines from failing.

    _…the engines allegedly have severe problems with oil lubrication to the bearings and crankshafts which doesn't create enough lubrication to properly protect the engines from problems.…

    keep reading article "Does the WRX Have a High Performance Engine Without High Performance Protection?"