Other powertrain problem on the 2009 Subaru Forester
2 crashes 1 death 3 of the 9 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.
Only 6 reports for this mode came with an odometer reading, which is too few for percentiles to mean anything. The page is here because someone linked to it; treat the figures as anecdotes, and see the full report for this year instead.
When other powertrain problem gets reported
There are 9 reports of other powertrain problem on the 2009 Subaru Forester, 6 with a mileage attached. That is too few to place the failure on the odometer with any confidence.
A part like this is normally expected to survive 92,000 miles. It is the 8th most-reported problem on this model year.
The whole distribution
| 10th | 25th | Median | 75th | 90th |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| — | — | 4,600 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, 2 a crash and 1 a fatality 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 $400–$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 on other years
The same failure is reported on 21 model years of this car. It shows up earliest on the 2020, at a median of 500 miles, and latest on the 2000 at 75,000 miles.
By volume the 2015 carries the most reports, with 51; the 2009 has 9. 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.
Tl*the contact owns a 2009 subaru forester. When engaging the clutch, the manual transmission revved up to approximately 4000 RPM's and seemed as if it would surge. The failure occurred 85% of the time. The dealer also duplicated the failure. The manufacturer advised the dealer that they would write a computer program to remedy the issue; however, the dealer has not followed up with the contact. The current mileage was approximately 2200 and the failure mileage was approximately 100. Updated 09/24/08. *lj updated 09/30/08.*jb
Unexplained engine acceleration. Started vehicle in a parked position, was preparing to pull out, engine suddenly accelerated to top RPM and was surging. Still in neutral, wheels turned slightly to left. Could find nothing that may have caused this, placed foot on brake upon hearing the engine acceleration, floor mats were in proper position, etc. Shut engine off, restarted and things returned to normal. Still consider it a dangerous defect that needs immediate attention by subaru. *tr
Bought the 2009 forester in december 08. Drove fine for the first two months. Then it started to lag in its shifting. If I was about to stop at a light and the light changed, I put my foot back on the gas and car would not accelerate so I give it more gas and then it kicks in hard almost causing an accident to the car in front of me. It doesn't happen all the time. So I thought it was just me. Until I was driving on the highway about 16 miles from home got off the exit and it did it again. I have had the car in to the dealer 4 times this year for the same problem. The first time tech reset the computer and it drove fine for 3 days then started again. It happens in all types of situations when it wants to. My other mechanic felt the same thing had me take it back to dealer. I am frustrated with driving it. I am also now having the vehicle making loud noises and rough idling, mysterious acceleration that will adjust after car in turned off and on again and a burning smell coming from the engine after being driven. I drive locally a couple of days a week. Subaru dealer wants to take my vehicle home to evaluate transmission. I was…
Also reported on the 2009 Subaru Forester
Airbag inflator rupture
Other engine problem
Other speed control problem
Other body or interior problem
Other electrical problem
Other brake problem
How far this goes
This page is kept out of search results because 9 reports is not enough to publish percentiles from. It stays reachable because somebody looking at this exact car would rather see the reports than be told there are none.
Complaints are voluntary, so 9 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 powertrain problem happen on the 2009 Subaru Forester?
Across 6 owner reports that included an odometer reading, half were filed by 5,000 miles. A quarter were filed before — and a quarter after —. These are the mileages owners reported when they complained, not a prediction for any individual car.
How common is other powertrain problem on the 2009 Subaru Forester?
9 reports have been filed with NHTSA, about 0.1 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