2000 Subaru Forester problems
Owners have filed 95 complaints with NHTSA about the 2000 Subaru Forester. Suspension is the most reported problem area, at 21% of complaints. After that come engine (20%) and transmission (15%).
At a glance
- Complaints
- 95 filed with NHTSA
- Most reported
- Suspension 21% of complaints
- Crashes and fires
- 7 and 0
- Injuries and deaths
- 3 and 0
- Typical mileage
- 80,000 miles 44 complaints with mileage
Source: NHTSA owner complaints
Where the complaints are
Share of this model year's complaints by the part of the car involved. One complaint can name more than one part, so the shares can add up to more than 100%.
When problems show up
View the numbers
| Mileage | Complaints |
|---|---|
| 0k to 20k miles | 5 |
| 20k to 40k miles | 3 |
| 40k to 60k miles | 8 |
| 60k to 80k miles | 6 |
| 80k to 100k miles | 10 |
| 100k to 120k miles | 6 |
| 120k to 140k miles | 4 |
| 140k to 160k miles | 0 |
| 160k to 180k miles | 2 |
| 180k to 200k miles | 0 |
| 200k+ miles | 0 |
What the data shows
Among the 44 complaints that report mileage, the typical (median) problem appeared at about 80,000 miles. For suspension specifically, the median reported mileage is about 67,000 miles (11 complaints with mileage).
Safety-related details: 7 complaints mention a crash; 3 injuries reported.
Looking only at complaints filed within five years of the model year (so older and newer years are comparable), the 2000 ranks 20th most-complained-about out of 29 model years of the Subaru Forester with enough data (64 complaints in that window).
What owners wrote
A few complaints as filed, shortened and with personal details removed. The first ones are among the most serious reports for this model year; the rest are typical.
On september 12, 2010, our 2000 subaru forrester went into unintended acceleration while backing out of a parking space causing the car to be totaled, damage to a ford f350 truck and injury to the owner of the truck. Similar incident occurred in 2008 when going forward and coming to a stop before entering a highway. Car accelerated and had to press both feet on the brake until the brake met the floor. The car was taken to our regular mechanic, who examined it and could not diagnose the problem.
Repeat premature failure of rear axle bearing. Rear axle bearing on both sides became noisy when car was 35k mi (12-09-02) dealer replaced both under warranty with same oem subaru 28016fc001. Rear axle on left became very noisy again around 57k mi, especially on freeway and high speed. Took it to dealer again (06-22-04).
This complaint is regarding goodyear assurance comfort tires. I purchased these tires for my 2000 forester on may 5, 2005. Since that time one tire has developed a lump on the sidewall. This tire was replaced, and the replacement tire blew out 500 miles later while traveling on I-25 at 55 miles per hour.
Chattering clutch on 2000 subaru forester. This constantly happens when the car is cold and continues all the way through the four forward gears. I have driven manual transmissions for over 35 years and I know it is not my driving/shifting skills. A check of a message board shows that other subaru owners are experiencing the same problem. The dealership will not acknowledge a problem outside of driver error. This could be a safety issue and/or design defect.
Tl-the contact owns a 2000 subaru forrester. The contact stated while driving 50 MPH the vehicle started over heating. He pull to the side of the road and notice coolant coming from underneath of the vehicle. He notices the vehicle has a blown head gasket and leaking radiator coolant. The vehicle was towed to a mechanic shop who repaired the vehicle. The dealer was not contacted. The manufacturer was not contacted. The failure mileage was 85,000...mw