The 2026 Subaru Forester is sold in the U.S. as a hybrid and gas compact SUV with 4 EPA-rated configurations. The most efficient version, the Forester Hybrid AWD, is EPA-rated at 35 mpg combined. NHTSA lists 4 recall campaigns for this model year, 1 rated critical, which gives it a Safety Signal grade of C. Owners have filed 30 complaints, most often about the forward collision avoidance. NHTSA crash-tested it at 5 stars overall. Manufacturer pricing runs from $29,995 to $41,595 across 10 trims.
MSRP excludes destination. Open a trim for the complete spec sheet and standard/optional equipment. Have the car in front of you? Decode its VIN to see which of these trims it is and what it was priced at.
Specs & fuel economy
Source: EPA fueleconomy.gov
Configuration
Powertrain
Drive
Engine / motor
City
Hwy
Comb
Annual fuel*
Forester Hybrid AWD
Hybrid
AWD
2.5L 4-cyl
35
34
35
$1,900
Forester AWD
Gas
AWD
2.5L 4-cyl
26
33
29
$2,300
Forester Sport/Touring AWD
Gas
AWD
2.5L 4-cyl
25
32
28
$2,400
Forester Wilderness AWD
Gas
AWD
2.5L 4-cyl
24
28
26
$2,600
*EPA estimate at 15,000 miles/year at EPA reference fuel and electricity prices. fueleconomy.gov record ids: 50131, 49530, 49532, 49537.
Insurers price the 2026 Forester very differently, and the gap between the best and worst quote on the same car and driver is usually larger than any option you are weighing on this page.
Affiliate disclosure: some links on this page are affiliate links. If you request a quote or buy through them we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. Nothing on this page changes because of it.
Recalls (4)
Source: NHTSA recall database
!critical
Suspension
WRI26
Do not drive8 vehiclesbuilt Aug 5, 2026 – Aug 13, 2026
ProblemSubaru of America, Inc. (Subaru) is recalling certain 2026 Crosstrek and Forester vehicles.The castle nut on the left-front lower control arm ball joint may be improperly fastened, which can lead to the ball joint separating from the lower control arm.RiskA ball joint that separates from the lower control arm can cause a loss of vehicle control, increasing the risk of a crash.FixOwners are advised not to drive their vehicle until the remedy is completed. Dealers will inspect and replace the left-front lower control arm ball joint assembly, as necessary, free of charge. Owner notification letters are expected to be mailed December 16, 2026. Owners may contact Subaru customer service at 1-844-373-6614. Subaru's number for this recall is WRI26.
ProblemSubaru of America, Inc. (Subaru) is recalling certain 2026 Crosstrek Hybrid, 2025-2026 Forester Hybrid, Forester, and 2019-2026 Ascent vehicles.These vehicles were manufactured with an incorrect Gross Axle Weight Rating (GAWR) on the certification label. As such, these vehicles fail to comply with the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) 110, "Tire selection and rims."RiskAn incorrect GAWR label may lead to an overloaded vehicle, increasing the risk of a crash.FixSubaru will mail a new certification label to owners, free of charge. Owners may also choose to have a dealer install the new label, free of charge. Letters informing owners of the safety risk were mailed August 27, 2026. Additional letters will be mailed once the remedy is available. Owners may contact Subaru customer service at 1-844-373-6614. Subaru's number for this recall is WRH-26.
69,663 vehicles80% reported repairedbuilt Jun 19, 2025 – Mar 13, 2026
ProblemSubaru of America, Inc. (Subaru) is recalling certain 2026 Forester and Forester Hybrid vehicles.The sliding glass panel of the power moonroof assembly may have been improperly bonded to the sliding frame, allowing the glass panel to detach from the vehicle.RiskA detached glass panel may become a road hazard, increasing the risk of a crash.FixDealers will inspect the power moonroof glass panel for proper adhesion and, if necessary, replace the glass panel assembly, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed July 6, 2026. Owners may contact Subaru customer service at 1-844-373-6614. Subaru's number for this recall is WRF-26. Vehicle Identification Numbers (VINs) involved in this recall became searchable on NHTSA.gov beginning May 29, 2026.
ProblemSubaru of America, Inc. (Subaru) is recalling certain 2026 Forester vehicles.These vehicles may have been manufactured with an incorrect and/or incorrectly oriented rear hatch support bracket which can detach without prior warning.RiskA rear hatch support bracket that detaches can allow the rear hatch to fall unexpectedly during use and increase the risk of injury.FixDealers will inspect the rear hatch support brackets and, if necessary, replace the stay and support bracket, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed January 29, 2026. Owners may contact Subaru customer service at 1-844-373-6614. Subaru's number for this recall is WRG-25. Vehicle Identification Numbers (VINs) involved in this recall became searchable on NHTSA.gov on December 20, 2025.
These are vehicle campaigns — the ones the automaker filed against this model. NHTSA also records equipment recalls, filed by a parts maker against a component (a tyre, a child seat, an aftermarket part), and those are not listed here or counted above. nhtsa.gov/recalls shows both for a VIN.
Whether any of this applies to one specific Forester
A campaign covers a build range, not a model year, so two identical-looking cars from 2026 can differ. Both of these check a VIN against the manufacturer’s own list, free, in about ten seconds. Subaru publishes its own lookup because federal rule 49 CFR 573.15 requires it to, and to keep it current to within seven days.
The manufacturer’s letter is the last step of a recall: it has up to 60 days after filing to mail owners, at the address on the registration. We email you the day NHTSA posts a recall on the 2026 Subaru Forester, with what to do next. Nothing else, ever — no newsletter, no marketing, one-click unsubscribe in every message.
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Parts & accessories for the 2026 Subaru Forester
Search by fitment on eBay Motors — OEM take-offs, aftermarket, and the trim pieces dealers no longer stock. The listing and the price are the seller's.
0 involved a crash · 0 a fire · 2 injuries · 0 deaths reported
3.1 per 10,000 built · Subaru reported 97,878 Forester built (its Early Warning production report to NHTSA)
Filed per year: 2026: 30
Most-cited components
Forward Collision Avoidance10
Visibility/Wiper7
Electrical System7
Unspecified6
Fuel/Propulsion System3
Power Train2
In owners' own words
Filed with NHTSA by the people who own these cars, one per problem area. Quoted as written, with anything identifying removed.
I opened the hood all the way to add washer fluid. While doing so, the hood came crashing down on my head
StructureOct 13, 2026NHTSA owner report · ODI 11770879
The pre-collision breaking system activated while I was driving 35mph on a straight road with no cars or obstacles present. There was enough force generated in the abrupt stop that the seatbelt locked and unsecured items were thrown to the floor
Forward Collision AvoidanceOct 12, 2026NHTSA owner report · ODI 11770721
The contact owns a 2026 Subaru Forester. The contact stated that while driving 25 MPH, the engine sputtered before the vehicle stalled. The vehicle was towed to the dealer and diagnosed with an inoperable fuel pump. The vehicle was repaired; however, the failure returned three weeks later. The vehicle was taken back to the same dealer.
I am experiencing a serious visibility defect in my 2026 Subaru Forester. When driving at night with headlights on, a dark curtain or shadow drops down over more than half of the windshield. This occurs consistently and severely reduces forward visibility.
Visibility/WiperOct 2, 2026NHTSA owner report · ODI 11768506
At approximately 500 miles from delivery, the vehicle experienced a catastrophic mechanical failure caused by a malfunctioning PCV (positive crankcase ventilation) valve, which resulted in oil fumes being expelled through the exhaust system.
EngineSep 25, 2026NHTSA owner report · ODI 11767052
I was pulling into a handicapped parking spot at the grocery store, turning right into it, and was almost stopped, with my right foot on the brake, when the vehicle suddenly accelerated at top speed, surging over the median strip, flattening the "Handicapped Parking" sign, and racing ahead into the street beyond.
Vehicle Speed ControlSep 13, 2026NHTSA owner report · ODI 11763914
Complaint counts are raw owner reports to NHTSA, not verified defects, and scale with how many were sold. Use them to spot patterns, not to rank.
Crash ratings
Source: NHTSA NCAP
Configuration
Overall
Frontal
Side
Rollover
Rollover risk
SUV AWD
★★★★★
★★★★★
★★★★★
★★★★☆
17%
SUV AWD
★★★★★
★★★★★
★★★★★
★★★★☆
17%
SUV AWD
not rated
★★★★★
★★★★★
not rated
17%
NHTSA New Car Assessment Program. Standard driver-assist: forward collision warning, lane departure warning, automatic emergency braking.
Service bulletins & campaigns
Source: NHTSA manufacturer communications
Communicationsfiled with NHTSA131
Most recentmanufacturer date2026-10-05
Kindsas classified by NHTSA88 service bulletins, 43 others
Most often about: Electrical System, Unknown Or Other, Structure, Engine, Power Train.
11037943Other
2026-10-05 · Electrical System
This announcement provides information on a new software update for the Midtronics Dss and DCA machines.
11037942Other
2026-09-28 · Power Train
This announcement provides information on an enhancement of the TechShare CVT diagnostic assitance application.
This bulletin contains illustrations of exchange components and their manufacturer as well as a description of the proper exchange procedure. This is an revised version of the original bulletin.
This bulletin has been developed to outline the steps for gathering basic but essential information during diagnosis of Infotainment concerns. This is an revised version of the original bulletin.
A service bulletin is the manufacturer telling its dealers how to diagnose or repair a known condition. It is not a recall, not a finding that the vehicle is defective, and the work is not automatically free — though a bulletin is often what a dealer works from when you describe a symptom, so quoting the document number can save a diagnosis. The count is every communication filed; the list shows the most recent, one entry per campaign, because a single campaign is usually filed as several documents on the same day. The summaries are NHTSA's; the full documents come from the manufacturer.
Diagnostic trouble codes on file
Source: NHTSA manufacturer communications and complaints
Codes documented against this model year in the federal record. A code appearing here does not mean this vehicle will set it — it means the code is part of this nameplate-year's documented history.
Code
What it means
Most often filed under
Where it appears
B2A20
Manufacturer-defined — the meaning is set by the automaker, not the standard.
Generic codes (the second character is 0 or 2) mean the same thing on every vehicle sold in the United States. Manufacturer-specific codes (1 or 3) mean whatever the automaker assigned, and no honest source can define them for you — which is why the ones here carry the evidence instead of a definition. A code is a link when enough separate federal documents name it across the catalogue to be worth a page of its own; the rest are listed here, where the vehicle is the context that makes them mean something.
Affiliate disclosure: some links on this page are affiliate links. If you request a quote or buy through them we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. Nothing on this page changes because of it.
Manufacturer pricing runs from $29,995 for the Base AWD to $41,595 for the Touring AWD, across 10 trims. Those are MSRPs from the manufacturer's own press material; they exclude destination, options, taxes and whatever the dealer adds. Every trim and price is listed above.
Does the 2026 Subaru Forester have any recalls?
NHTSA has posted 4 recall campaigns for the 2026 Subaru Forester, 1 of them rated critical. The most serious on file is 26V685000, covering Suspension. 1 of them was filed with no repair available at the time — NHTSA's file records what the manufacturer had in hand on the filing date, not what exists today. There is an active do not drive advisory — act on it before driving. Check your own VIN at nhtsa.gov/recalls; a recall applies to specific build ranges, not every car.
How safe is the 2026 Subaru Forester?
NHTSA gave the 2026 Subaru Forester 5 stars overall in its New Car Assessment Program tests — 5-star frontal crash, 5-star side crash, 4-star rollover. WhichTrim also grades it C (72/100) on its recall record, which is a different question from crash protection.
What is the fuel economy of the 2026 Subaru Forester?
Across the 4 EPA-rated configurations of the 2026 Subaru Forester, the best EPA combined figure is 35 mpg. Figures are the EPA's own, per configuration, and every one is listed above.
What do owners complain about on the 2026 Subaru Forester?
Owners have filed 30 complaints with NHTSA about the 2026 Subaru Forester, most often about forward collision avoidance, visibility/wiper, electrical system. Of those, 2 reported injuries. Complaints are unverified owner reports, so treat the pattern as a signal and the individual report as an anecdote.
Are there service bulletins for the 2026 Subaru Forester?
The manufacturer has filed 131 service bulletins and related communications with NHTSA for the 2026 Subaru Forester, most often covering electrical system, unknown or other, structure. The most recent is dated 2026-10-05. A bulletin is not a recall: it is the repair procedure a manufacturer sends its dealers for a condition it knows about, and the work is not automatically paid for. It is still worth knowing — if the symptom matches, quoting the bulletin number at the service desk can save a diagnosis. The document numbers and summaries are listed above.
Which 2026 Subaru Forester trim is the best value?
$11,600 separates the cheapest of the 10 trims from the most expensive, so the answer depends on which of the differences you would actually use. Every trim has its own page here with the manufacturer's full specification and equipment list, plus a short summary of exactly what it adds over the base trim — worth reading before a dealer frames the walk-up for you. The trim-by-trim ladder shows what every step up costs and what it makes standard.
Is the 2026 Subaru Forester better than the 2026 Toyota RAV4?
The Toyota RAV4 wins clearly, 94.2 to 84.6, on safety, fuel & range, performance. The Subaru Forester is ahead on tech & comfort and price. We publish a full side-by-side of the 2026 Subaru Forester against the 2026 Toyota RAV4 — specifications by family, equipment feature by feature, safety record and ownership costs. You can re-weight what matters to you and the verdict recalculates.
What we hold, and what an empty row means
Paid vehicle-history reports will not tell you the difference between “nothing happened to this car” and “we never received that record” — both of the big two say as much in their own help pages. Most of what is on this page comes from complete federal registers, so we can tell you which is which, row by row.
Data
Held
Source
What it covers — or what empty means
Fuel economy & configurations
4 configurations
EPA certification records
Every configuration the EPA certified for sale, with its own test figures.
Emission certificates
none
EPA emission certificates
The EPA published no certificate we could match to a configuration on this page.
Recalls
4
NHTSA recall campaigns
A complete federal register: every campaign covering this model year, with severity and advisory flags.
Owner complaints
30
NHTSA complaint database
Also complete, but unverified: these are reports owners filed, not findings. Counts scale with how many were sold.
Crash ratings
3 tested
NHTSA NCAP
Only the configurations NHTSA chose to crash-test, which is never all of them.
Service bulletins
131
NHTSA manufacturer communications
Everything the manufacturer told its dealers about a defect or malfunction, short of a recall.
Investigations
none
NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation
No defect investigation has been opened.
Driver-assist crash reports
none
NHTSA Standing General Order 2021-01
No report has been filed. Only entities named in the order report, and only crashes they hear of — so this is also what an unequipped car, or a manufacturer without telematics, looks like.
Specifications filed with NHTSA
none
NHTSA vPIC, decoded from VIN patterns
We had no VIN pattern to decode for this model year, or the manufacturer filed nothing usable.
Trims, pricing & equipment
10 trims
Manufacturer press kit
Transcribed from the manufacturer's own press material, every value carrying the document it came from.
Rebuilt nightly; this page was generated 2026-10-26. Every figure above is traceable to the source named beside it, and the JSON for this page carries the same values with their identifiers.
Safety Signal starts every model-year at 100 and subtracts points per open NHTSA recall campaign by severity: critical 15 (fire risk, park-outside or do-not-drive advisories), high 8 (brakes, steering, airbags, loss of drive power, structure, battery), moderate 6, minor 3 (software, labels, lighting fixed by an update). The most serious recall counts in full and each further one counts 85% of the one before, because a vehicle sold in millions is recalled more often than a rare one without being more dangerous — and because a flat subtraction bottomed the scale out, scoring a vehicle with 22 recalls within a point of one with six. A ≥ 90, B ≥ 80, C ≥ 70, D ≥ 60, otherwise F. Read it as what it counts: recall campaigns on the federal record, weighted by severity. The damping reduces the sales bias by roughly 40% but does not remove it: like our complaint counts, this is not normalized by how many were sold, so a best-seller still scores somewhat worse than an obscure model with the same real risk. NHTSA crash ratings, do-not-drive and park-outside advisories, and the crash, fire, injury and death counts in owner complaints are reported separately on every page and never blended into the letter — a vehicle can hold five stars and a poor letter at once, and where that happens we say so rather than leave you to notice. Because the scale subtracts from a clean sheet, a model year too new to have been recalled, complained about or bulletined scores full marks on an empty record; we label those grades provisional rather than present them as earned.
EPA figures come from fueleconomy.gov vehicle records. Recalls, complaints, investigations and crash ratings come from NHTSA's public flat files, refreshed nightly. Trim-level specifications and pricing are transcribed from the manufacturer's official press kit; every value carries its source in the data file.
