Other powertrain problem on the 2014 Subaru Forester
6 crashes 2 injuries 8 of the 16 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 powertrain problem gets reported
Owners of the 2014 Subaru Forester report other powertrain problem at a median of 10,000 miles. A quarter of the reports come in before 5,000 miles and a quarter after 70,000 miles, from 9 reports that carried an odometer reading.
A part like this is normally expected to survive 92,000 miles. It is the 11th most-reported problem on this model year.
The mileage distribution
The reported range runs from 2,000 miles at the tenth percentile to 75,000 miles at the ninetieth, a spread of 71,166 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.
67% of the dated reports were filed under 36,000 miles.
The whole distribution
| 10th | 25th | Median | 75th | 90th |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1,964 miles | 2,500 miles | 11,335 miles | 68,000 miles | 73,130 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, 6 a crash 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 $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 2014 has 16. 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.
While travelling at 50 miles per hour in heavy traffic, my car just stopped on the highway. It was during rush hour and it wouldn't move as I pressed the gas pedal. After about one minute the car started to move. Today, the 21st, my wife experienced the same issue while being on a highway. The car won't roll, it just stops dead. You don't have to start again, it will start itself. *tr
I started the vehicle, put it in reverse and nothing!! It didnt move. Stepped on the gas, nothing! Tried this 4 times. After about one hour it started and went in gear. Took it to the dealer, they tested it , said nothing wrong. Second time, which was later that night, I had the car out. Started up, put it in reverse, nothing happened. Car was on a slight incline, car then rolled forward and almost hit a car in front of us. Tried 3 times before the car would back up third time, which occured on december 31st, 2013. I was driving to work. Stopped at red light. Light turned, I stepped on the gas and the car didnt move, it then jumped into the intersection of a major highway! Lucky I wasnt hit from behind or head on! I could not get the car to go. Called the dealership. After about 5 minutes I was able to get the car going. The car is at the dealership now and I have a loaner car. They called and said again that they could not find anything wrong!!! I could have been killed!!! I do not want this car back until it is fixed or I get a new one to replace it. I am not very happy with the new 2014 forester! *tr
My 2014 forester has a problem with the rpms of the engine. In cold weather & after the engine warms up (dash blue light turns off) & while city driving, the engine RPM goes up 300 to 400 rpms when the climate control (heater) is turned on. Then if I stop for a traffic light or a stop sign or adjust the heater fan speed, the engine rpms will go up another 500 to 600 rpms with the cv transmission going into a lower range (transmission whines quite loud at this time). I am now driving with the engine RPM at 1000+ over normal rpms (normal rpms is considered the RPM with the climate control off). This condition will continue for close about 20 minutes of continued driving and then stop. If I turn off the heater while driving the rpms revert to normal. If I again turn on the heater, the rpms again will go up 300 to 400 rpms and not go up the additional 500 to 600 rpms until I would stop again. The 1000 RPM plus condition appears to be dangerous on slippery roads. *tr
Also reported on the 2014 Subaru Forester
Strut, shock or spring failure
Excessive oil consumption
Other suspension problem
Airbag warning light or occupant sensor fault
Other speed control problem
Seat belt or retractor failure
How far this goes
Complaints are voluntary, so 16 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 2014 Subaru Forester?
Across 9 owner reports that included an odometer reading, half were filed by 10,000 miles. A quarter were filed before 5,000 miles and a quarter after 70,000 miles. These are the mileages owners reported when they complained, not a prediction for any individual car.
How common is other powertrain problem on the 2014 Subaru Forester?
16 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