Turbocharger or supercharger failure on the 2004 Subaru Forester
1 fire 1 of the 10 reports for this failure mention a crash, a fire, an injury or a death. Those are the owner's words on the complaint form, not a verified finding, and one report can mention more than one.
When turbocharger or supercharger failure gets reported
Owners of the 2004 Subaru Forester report turbocharger or supercharger failure at a median of 70,000 miles. A quarter of the reports come in before 70,000 miles and a quarter after 100,000 miles, from 9 reports that carried an odometer reading.
A part like this is normally expected to survive 95,000 miles. It is the 5th most-reported problem on this model year.
The mileage distribution
The reported range runs from 65,000 miles at the tenth percentile to 115,000 miles at the ninetieth, a spread of 49,458 miles across the middle 80% of reports.
A window that narrow is the signature of a part that fails on its own schedule rather than on how the car is driven — which is usually a design or supplier problem rather than wear and tear.
0% of the dated reports were filed under 36,000 miles.
The whole distribution
| 10th | 25th | Median | 75th | 90th |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 66,400 miles | 68,000 miles | 69,968 miles | 102,323 miles | 115,858 miles |
Read the 10th percentile as “one report in ten arrived this early”. Exact figures are shown in this table because it is the table of record; everywhere else on the site they are rounded to the precision the sample can carry.
What a percentile can and cannot tell you here
These five numbers describe the readings owners gave, in order. The median is the middle one: half the reports arrived below it. The 10th and 90th are the edges of the bulk of the distribution, and the distance between them is the part worth reading. A tight spread — say 70,000 to 95,000 miles — points at something that wears out on a schedule, and the schedule is knowable. A wide one, 20,000 to 190,000, points at a fault that hits some cars and never troubles others, which means the mileage on the listing in front of you tells you very little about your odds.
What these figures are not is a survival curve. Every reading here comes from a car whose owner filed a complaint, so the sample contains only failures: it cannot say what share of the fleet made it past 150,000 miles untouched, because those owners had nothing to report. Nor is the mileage the moment of failure — it is the odometer reading as recalled at the time of filing, which may be weeks later and is sometimes rounded to the nearest ten thousand by the person typing it.
Percentiles are shown at all only once 8 readings exist for the vehicle and mode. Below that the middle of a handful of numbers is noise wearing a decimal point, so the figures are withheld rather than dressed up.
What happens, and what it costs
Of these reports, 1 a fire is mentioned. Owners write their own complaints and the agency does not verify them, so read this as what the reports say happened rather than as a confirmed count.
Putting it right typically runs $1,500–$4,500 at an independent US shop. That range is an editorial estimate held in this site's failure-mode catalogue, not a figure from NHTSA, and it is a repair cost rather than a diagnosis cost.
The same failure, every year of the Subaru Forester
If one year stands out to the left, that is the year to avoid; if the whole line sits at a similar mileage, this is wear rather than a defect in one production run.
Tick median reported mileage Solid middle half of reports Faint 10th to 90th percentile Colour how bad the failure is when it happens
What owners wrote
Verbatim from NHTSA complaint narratives, trimmed for length. The mileage is the one the owner gave.
I purchased a 2004 subaru forrester xt in february of '09 with 93,008 miles on it. The dealership had all service records relating to the vehicles history, and all guidelines were followed according to the manufacturer's specifications. The current mileage on the vehicle is 102,323 and I was just informed that the turbocharger is coming apart and needs replaced or the vehicle will be non-operational. I contacted subaru of north america and they informed me that there was nothing that they could do, which I understand. My main problem is that the representative that I talked to informed me that the manufacturer changed its guidelines for later models of the vehicle to a shorter recommended interval between services. These models have the same engine and turbocharger as my vehicle and they changed the scheduled maintenance from 7,500 miles to 3,500 miles. I understand the power train coverage expired at 5 years or 60,000 miles but my main concern is that they had changed their service requirement for a reason. The mechanic shop that I have taken the vehicle to has had service bulletins on this problem concerning the turbochargers…
I purchased a 2004 subaru forrester xt in february of '09 with 93,008 miles on it. The dealership had all service records relating to the vehicles history, and all guidelines were followed according to the manufacturer's specifications. The current mileage on the vehicle is 102,323 and I was just informed that the turbocharger is coming apart and needs replaced or the vehicle will be non-operational. I contacted subaru of north america and they informed me that there was nothing that they could do, which I understand. My main problem is that the representative that I talked to informed me that the manufacturer changed its guidelines for later models of the vehicle to a shorter recommended interval between services. These models have the same engine and turbocharger as my vehicle and they changed the scheduled maintenance from 7,500 miles to 3,500 miles. I understand the power train coverage expired at 5 years or 60,000 miles but my main concern is that they had changed their service requirement for a reason. The mechanic shop that I have taken the vehicle to has had service bulletins on this problem concerning the turbochargers…
Tl* the contact owns 2004 subaru forster. The contact stated that while driving 70 MPH the turbo charger failed and the vehicle lost all power and the contact was unable to drive the vehicle. The vehicle was towed to a local repair facility where it was diagnosed that due to a lack of oil going to the turbo charger. The vehicle was repaired. In addition, the contact stated that the failure recurred after repairs due to a leak in the oil intake resulting in the turbo charger failing. The failure mileage was 69,968 and the current mileage was 84,500.
Also reported on the 2004 Subaru Forester
Other fuel system problem
Fuel leak or fuel odor
Control arm, ball joint or bushing failure
Other engine problem
Airbag warning light or occupant sensor fault
Other speed control problem
How far this goes
Complaints are voluntary, so 10 is a floor and not a count of affected cars. Mileages are typed in by owners and cluster on round numbers. And the mode itself is assigned by software reading the complaint text, which is reliable in bulk and fallible one report at a time.
Questions this page answers
At what mileage does turbocharger or supercharger failure happen on the 2004 Subaru Forester?
Across 9 owner reports that included an odometer reading, half were filed by 70,000 miles. A quarter were filed before 70,000 miles and a quarter after 100,000 miles. These are the mileages owners reported when they complained, not a prediction for any individual car.
How common is turbocharger or supercharger failure on the 2004 Subaru Forester?
10 reports have been filed with NHTSA, about 0.4 per 1,000 vehicles. Complaints are voluntary, so this is a floor rather than a count of affected cars.
What this is and is not. These are the mileages at which owners chose to complain to a federal agency, which is not the same as the mileage at which the part fails on every car. It skews toward failures that happened outside warranty, cost real money, or frightened someone. It is still the only public dataset that carries failure mileage at all, and the shape of a few hundred readings is informative even when a single one is not. Methodology · JSON · this failure on other cars
Source Owner complaints and recall records published by the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, model years 1996–2027 Figures rebuilt Published by AtWhatMileage How every figure is computed