Other engine problem on the 2009 Subaru Forester
1 crash 3 fires 2 injuries 6 of the 21 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 other engine problem gets reported
Owners of the 2009 Subaru Forester report other engine problem at a median of 35,000 miles. A quarter of the reports come in before 10,000 miles and a quarter after 100,000 miles, from 16 reports that carried an odometer reading.
A part like this is normally expected to survive 95,000 miles. It is the 2nd most-reported problem on this model year.
The mileage distribution
The reported range runs from 5,000 miles at the tenth percentile to 185,000 miles at the ninetieth, a spread of 178,865 miles across the middle 80% of reports.
When the reports scatter this far, the mileage is telling you about how these cars were driven more than about the part itself.
50% of the dated reports were filed under 36,000 miles.
The whole distribution
| 10th | 25th | Median | 75th | 90th |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4,500 miles | 8,740 miles | 34,694 miles | 100,250 miles | 183,365 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 crash, 3 a fire and 2 an injury are 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 $300–$4,000 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 on other years
The same failure is reported on 25 model years of this car. It shows up earliest on the 2022, at a median of 5,000 miles, and latest on the 1998 at 135,000 miles.
By volume the 2019 carries the most reports, with 74; the 2009 has 21. A mode that appears across most years of a model is usually a design choice rather than a bad batch.
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.
At 9610 miles my 2009 subaru foresters engine failed. The failure came; as best I could tell; in about 20miles of operation. Engine started to sound louder from cabin. If I was parked with the engine running and the door open the noise was very load multi tone metal banging emanating from engine bay. Burning smell also occurred. As I drove the last 20 miles engine would barely stay running at low rpms; engine banging became worse; engine power appeared to decrease and a loud metallic grinding noise increased until check engine light went on. Approx 10-15 seconds latter. Engine completely stopped and never turned over again. Dealer told me today that car needs new engine. *tr
1. Greasy film on windshield, could not see well to drive, film cannot be wiped off. Cannot be cleaned off with normal household cleaners only industrial cleaners. Film expands to get on all the glass & materials in the car, including the rear hatch. Film is more visible at night & when the ambient temperature is below freezing. Chemical poisoning. Breathing the substance(s) has caused me to be sick since the end of december. Breathing issues, cough, lungs, nose problems. 2. Being poisoned by chemicals in the car that may be leaking out of some area as yet unknown. Unable to see well to drive. This happens whenever the defrost is run. Also, heater. Not sure about A/C. Have been sick now with just running the air. There may have been enough buildup of this substance that it is on all surfaces of the car interior and/or in the ducts of the vehicle. 2a. Symptoms: coughing, sometimes uncontrollably with long rides in the car. Shortness of breath, unable to breath, congested, lung tightness, nose congestion, etc. Have been to national jewish hospital. They recommend getting rid of car. 3. For the first 4 times I brought it in, they…
Engine failure at 4,000 miles on forester turbo. Loud engine banging on road trip lead to the need for a complete engine replacement. Dealer said that contaminated metal forging lead to weak engine components. *tr
Also reported on the 2009 Subaru Forester
Airbag inflator rupture
Other speed control problem
Other body or interior problem
Other electrical problem
Other brake problem
Cruise control failure
How far this goes
Complaints are voluntary, so 21 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 other engine problem happen on the 2009 Subaru Forester?
Across 16 owner reports that included an odometer reading, half were filed by 35,000 miles. A quarter were filed before 10,000 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 other engine problem on the 2009 Subaru Forester?
21 reports have been filed with NHTSA, about 0.3 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