Other powertrain problem on the 2016 Subaru Forester
3 crashes 3 of the 29 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 2016 Subaru Forester report other powertrain problem at a median of 30,000 miles. A quarter of the reports come in before 10,000 miles and a quarter after 60,000 miles, from 20 reports that carried an odometer reading.
A part like this is normally expected to survive 92,000 miles. It is the 4th most-reported problem on this model year.
The mileage distribution
The reported range runs from 5,000 miles at the tenth percentile to 130,000 miles at the ninetieth, a spread of 126,500 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.
55% of the dated reports were filed under 36,000 miles.
The whole distribution
| 10th | 25th | Median | 75th | 90th |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3,700 miles | 9,300 miles | 27,500 miles | 58,039 miles | 130,200 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, 3 a crash 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 $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 2016 has 29. 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.
When you go from reverse to drive there is a lag time in the transmission. Or if you go from park to drive its the same. If your on an incline it makes you hit the gas to accelerate. And if you were to pull a trailer and you are on a small hill it feels like the car is in neutral which is very dangerous. We only have 3700 miles on the car. I have contacted subaru corp and they told me to go to the dealer, which I did. The service manager told me that they have had a lot of complaints about this problem but he also said it was one of the characteristics of the vehicle. This to me is very dangerous. I was told there is no fix. The dealer asked how come I hadn't noticed this when we first tried the vehicle. As I told him its my wifes car and I drive my own vehicle and I didn't notice it till she told me to try it out. I wouldn't recommend anyone to buy a 2016 subaru forester until they have tried it for a while.
When you go from reverse to drive there is a lag time in the transmission. Or if you go from park to drive its the same. This is very dangerous as you rely on your car moving when you shift from reverse to drive (e.g., when you back out of your driveway). We went to the dealer. The service manager told me that they have had a lot of complaints about this problem but he also said it was one of the characteristics of the vehicle. This to me is very dangerous.
While traveling at speeds above 25 MPH in mild to moderate winter conditions, the rear end is fishtailing and pushing the front of the vehicle in an unsafe manner. My family and I were nearly thrown into a ditch several times in a 2 mile excursion on the interstate on christmas day. Even at very low speeds, the steering is unresponsive to the force that feels like it is coming from the rear end. The maximum speed at which we could keep the vehicle somewhat under control was around 25-30 MPH which caused us to be another type hazard on the interstate. During city driving, this vehicle is unable to maintain single lane presence in mild to moderate winter conditions. Tire pressure was equal on all 4 wheels. Vehicle was within alignment specs. The dealer has acknowledged there is a problem (4 other cars in the same dealership with the same issue) and states that they are unable to make a diagnosis. They have had my car in their possession for 3 weeks as it is unsafe to operate. The subaru corporate representative has suggested that we "try" several proposed solutions (to a problem which they cannot identify) and continue to drive the…
Also reported on the 2016 Subaru Forester
Other electrical problem
Other engine problem
Airbag warning light or occupant sensor fault
Other speed control problem
Other body or interior problem
Other brake problem
How far this goes
Complaints are voluntary, so 29 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 2016 Subaru Forester?
Across 20 owner reports that included an odometer reading, half were filed by 30,000 miles. A quarter were filed before 10,000 miles and a quarter after 60,000 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 2016 Subaru Forester?
29 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