Subaru of America, Inc. (Subaru) is recalling certain 2014-2016 Forester, 2008-2016 Impreza sedans, 2012-2016 Impreza station wagons, 2008-2014 WRX sedans (including STI), and 2013-2017 Crosstrek vehicles. Exposure to certain contaminants may cause the brake...
Lights
Subaru Forester Lighting problems by year
96 complaints filed with NHTSA about the Subaru Forester's lights. Headlights, tail lights, brake lights, turn signals and interior lighting failures.
Lighting complaints by model year
Lighting recalls
Subaru is recalling certain model year 2010 and 2011 Legacy and Outback vehicles, certain model year 2006 through 2012 Tribeca vehicles sold before January 2012, and certain model year 2009 through 2012 Forester vehicles sold before January 2012. Up to...
Latest Forester lighting complaints
The contact owns a 2026 Subaru Forester. The contact stated that while driving at 70 MPH, the headlights activated but failed to illuminate beyond 80 ft. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, where it was determined that the headlight aim adjustment was low, and that an auto-headlight leveling beam computer system reinitialization was required. The vehicle was repaired. The contact stated that while driving 65 MPH in a construction zone, the vehicle was pulling toward the construction cones. The vehicle was taken to...
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the dealer, where it was diagnosed and determined that the EyeSight computer programming was unfinished. The dealer performed an EyeSight calibration A-DC ratio from 0 percent to 99 percent. The computer system then displayed "Finished". The vehicle was repaired. The contact stated that the failure was a factory defect. The failure mileage was approximately 7,000.
Significant issues with adaptive headlights having a large shadow in middle of beam as well as two smaller dark shadows at end of beam that are very distracting. It also dims very low at times severely reducing my visibility especially at different grades of the road. The headlights were so bad from the first week I tried to get the sales manager at Ciocca Subaru in Allentown to take this car back and to return my old car with no luck. I fear for safety driving this forester and I see it is a common complaint...
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online for the 2025. Oncoming cars it shrinks the headlights significantly impairing my visibility for my side of road especially since in Pennsylvania we have a significant amount of deer that get hit and need clear visibility ahead of us. My coworker drove with me the one night and said how difficult it was for her to see at times and said I had to log a complaint because she was concerned for my safety. No car should have such significant shadows or adjusting the beam so significantly. I am afraid I will get into an accident because of the visibility of these headlights.
The electrical system fails, and the battery is not charging sufficiently. When the auto start/stop engages, the car does not restart in traffic. Requested a battery test at the dealership in May 2025; was told it could not be done that day because it would require leaving the dealer service shop. Eventually, the electrical system became unstable, and the car stopped in traffic on 11/07/2025. Replaced battery following OEM specs. In February 2026, symptoms reappeared with a new battery failing on 02/15/2026, resulting in all saftey systems failing in traffic when auto start/stop enages.
I bought a used 2015 subaru forester with 117,000 miles from an auto shop/used car dealer in March of 2024. In September of 2025, 11,000 miles of driving later, a bunch of lights came on my dash. Check engine, traction control, ABS, at oil temp, and incline assist. I took it to Autozone to get the codes read and the part it suggested was the transmission oil pressure sensor. I then took it to a trusted mechanic who said they weren't able to get the lights to turn back on and told me to come back when the lights...
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reappeared. In December of 2025, the lights came on and they were on long enough to take it back to the mechanic. The mechanic told me that it looked to be the transmission valve body and recommended a local transmission shop. I took it there and the mechanic told me there was a speed sensor that was failing and the transmission and valve body would need to be replaced. He said that they don't sell the speed sensor anywhere and it is impossible to obtain. I got quoted 9,100 to fix my car (I originally paid around 8,500 for it). I was told it would not be worth my time or money to fix the transmission. The transmission guy told me that Subaru cvt transmissions are horrendous and to take this is a lesson to never buy a Subaru. I heeded to this advice and traded her in for $2000 towards a 2010 rav4. Additional info: It had a rebuilt title and had been in an accident before I got it. Lived its entire life between kentucky and tennessee. I replaced the engine oil and filter every 4,000-6,000 miles. Tire treads were very mismatched for the time I had it (almost two years) which I was told by a subaru dealership can damage the transmission. Back tires had significantly lower tread than front. I had front left lower control arm, rear spring coils, brake switch lamp, and one of the battery terminals replaced during the time I had it. My TPMS light was always on. My front right headlight went out frequently. My brake light assembly also broke and wasn't worth fixing
Since I purchased my Subaru Forester new in 2020, people regularly flash their high beams at me at night when my low beams are on, because they think I have my high beams on. I also flash my high beams at cars when I think they have their high beams on then they do the same, to show me they have their low beams on. It needs to be illegal for manufacturers of cars and/or headlights to manufacture low beams with these dangerous settings. I didn't know I could file a complaint with this department until a week ago otherwise I would have done it in 2020
After my purchase of my 2025 Subaru Forester, I finally drove it for the first time at night. I was driving on local roads which have no street lights and is very hilly and dark. My headlights were on and I was shocked to see how poorly they were operating compared to my former 2016 Subaru Forester which I never had a problem with. My headlights even had strange dark marks projected onto the road surface. My headlights in the low beam settings, appears to be too low on the road surface especially if there's a hill...
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up ahead. There is a very dark area above the lit road surface and you can not see if there is a road hazard there or not. It's very scary, especially when there are many deer in my area. This leaves me to have to keep my high beams on which I never had to do on my 2016. But my vehicle has a feature where my high beams automatically go on and off during night driving. At first, I did not realize I had this feature until I saw it operating on its own one night while driving on a dark lever road surface. The high beams would go on automatically and then go off when another vehicle was approaching from the opposite direction. But when I turned off to drive on hilly local roads, that feature stopped working and I didn't understand why. That's when I had to use the high beams manually. Being frustrated by this, on October 15, I took my vehicle to the dealership and had one of the salesman explain to me why my high beams do not always work. He then looked at the vehicles settings and everything was in proper order. He told me that the service department could possibly raise the headlights, but he said that doesn't always work. All in all, I feel that these headlights are a hazard when driving at night on dark hilly road surfaces. I try not to drive at night because of this, but now that it's getting darker earlier, that's going to be difficult.
I find that the headlights on my 2025 Subaru Forester pose a safety concern. When on dims there is a distinct black line above which you have no light and cannot see. There is also some black shadows in the line of sight that bounce up and down as the car moves causing a major distraction. I complained to the dealer who said there wasn't much they could do, however they adjusted the lights on August 26, 2025. There is little improvement and now I get flashed on the dim setting all of the time. I called Subaru...
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and registered a complaint on October 3, 2025. Subaru contacted me on October 13, 2025 and took down my information and said they would check further into the problem. They said they wanted to do some research and contact the dealer to see what can be done. They are supposed to call me back on October 20, 2025. I also have read hundreds of complaints the same as mine online. One person even said he almost hit some deer as they were not seen in the black area. I will not drive this car at night as I am afraid because of the horrible visibility issue. The car was purchased new this past February and has about 7000 miles on it. I cannot trade the car as I would lose so much money, yet I don't feel safe driving at night.
Driving at night , headlights low beam were weak and did not project far enough for me to see objects, the headlights cut off with complete darkness above a certain height I feel the car is unsafe to drive at night in low light situations , also raining conditions make the weak headlights worse
Both headlights have a shadow of the light bulb at the top center of both headlights causing a distraction/confusion under certain conditions at night. I have never had a shadow show up in my line of sight in all the many vehicles I have owned in the past from my headlights. I previously owned a 2019 Subaru Forester and there was no shadow appear from the headlights beam of light. I talked to the local Subaru dealer, where I purchased the 2025 Forester, and they told me it is working as designed. .
Factory installed headlights are dangerous as the low beam has a black line approximately halfway in the field of vision. Subaru states this is to keep from blinding oncoming vehicles. Driving in town not too bad, however in rural mountain areas with winding roads the headlights do not provide necessary lighting causing driving to be extremely dangerous. Low beams should not blind oncoming traffic. Dealer states these "projection" headlights cannot be replaced with traditional headlights. Complaint filed with...
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Subaru who inform they can't take any action; however state in voice mail that "although not recommended" after market headlights could be installed when available. Dealer has previously informed that installation of standard headlights may void warranty. Mechanics consulted recommend driving with high beams, oncoming traffic will see why when low beams activated. Another recommendation has been to always drive with fog lights on and possibly install LED lamps in fog lights, to add additional brightness. This type of headlights should be investigated to prevent unnecessary accidents. (Another horrible idea with the Subaru headlights is that they "Swing" as the car goes around curves, this feature can be turned off though.)
The low beam lighting on my 2025 Subaru Forester is dangerous. The beam is set so that it is flat on top and too low. When the car dips at all the beam does not allow you see straight ahead. This is very dangerous when you cannot use the high beam as with oncoming traffic. I have taken it to the dealer and they state that the low beam is set according to Subaru specifications. Contact with Subaru America offered no correction.This is a dangerous condition and needs to be corrected.
I had a problem. arming the remote control. with forester subaru 2014 -2015 model car w/n arm. with key or electronically. I had changed battery you can arm manually sometimes , alarm will go off if you use the key to open door and shut it off with key. in ignition. had a diagnostic test done. with CODE B1500. tpms lights stays on also. tires are good. pressure good. extra remote key is good batteries changed. any info concerning this. Thank you. this happen week and half ago nov 11,2024. have an appt will subaru dealer on dec 5 to toubleshoot. is there any recalls for this matter
Low visibility and dark (shadowy) spots on road surface when low beam LED lights are on, and you're driving on a dark rural road. The cutoff of the visual field is uneven, with a shorter visual field and dark spots on driver side. Got the car on August 17th. I didn't drive it at night until the morning of September 5th. That's when I noticed the problem with the lights. Took car to Subaru dealer on September 10th. According to the dealer the lights are level and working as designed. On September 11th I called...
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Subaru and reported the problem, and the dealer comments to them. The customer advocate told me that a specialist will contact me within a couple of days. On September 16th I called and I was told that the specialist was not in the office, and the next day when he would come in he would contact me. Today is September 19th and I still have not been contacted by the Subaru specialist. I live in a rural township that doesn't have street lights or sidewalks. Due to the low visibility and dark spots I don't feel comfortable driving the car at night.
When the daytime running lights are on in normal conditions, the instrument panel little green headlight indicator does not illuminate. But in low light conditions such as the thunderstorms we get here in Florida very often, or at dusk as the ambient light starts to lessen, the instrument panel headlight indicator will illuminate if the daytime running lights are on and only they are on. So, I have witnessed drivers many times past dusk, in nighttime conditions driving with no taillights, no side running lights,...
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and no headlights, just low intensity daytime running lights apparently thinking their headlights were turned on. I dismissed it as forgetful drivers or "old age" until it happened to me! The scenario was my headlights were not on automatic setting, it was late in the afternoon but decent light so I did not turn on my headlights on manually. Then on the 20-30 minute drive home clouds rolled in and it darkened substantially. The headlight indicator illuminated because the daytime running lights were on, leading me to think I had turned my headlights on as well. I had not, and I had driven almost 20 minutes with no tail lights or running lights in full darkness. I have witnessed this happen to at least three other vehicles on my route home from my work and they were a variety of SUV newer models likely with the same headlight control system. The solution is easy, I think. The instrument panel headlight indicator should never illuminate based on daytime running lights regardless of conditions. I have not taken this to the dealer yet to check it out but I plan to, although I fear it will be difficult to reproduce for them.
The head lights are seriously defective in low beam. In low beam the car is not road worthy. It is dangerous! It is available for inspection upon request. We did not drive the car after dark until a week after taking delivery. We were at risk as was any other vehicle on the road at that time. We have not driven the car after dark since. The dealer who sold the car to us has been made aware of the problem. No one has inspected the car. There were on warnings or symptoms.
Source: U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) complaints and recalls, checked daily. Complaints are owners' own reports and are not verified. How we use the data