2020 Subaru Forester: True Cost to Own, Problems & Verdict

Owner complaints: 594 filed with NHTSA

Complaints per year on the road: 99.0

What owners say

Verbatim reports filed with the United States safety regulator (NHTSA) by owners of this exact model year. Public record.

I have owned this vehicle since 2019 and the auto start has ALWAYS stalled out when I stop at a light or stop sign. The vehicle needs to be put in park and restart the car. It is very dangerous

My Apple Car Play has never worked since I bought the car new in 2020. The dealership's solution each time I asked about it was for me to get a new plug in cord, update my iPhone settings, and then they can update the system manually. I have taken it in multiple times, and each time it has worked for 2-3 weeks before it no longer works again. This is dangerous because it usually happens mid-drive, and I no longer hav…

stalling/shutting down at stoplights with the auto start-stop feature has occurred continuously for the last 2 years I’ve taken to dealer, and multiple mechanics and they can’t find a problem

The conversation

What the community is saying right now.

Reddit owner threadsr/cars, r/whatcarshouldibuy and more Video reviewsYouTube, long-term and road tests Owner forumsmodel-specific communities

Recalls: 0 campaigns

Campaign	Component	Summary

True cost of ownership

Fuel (your region) $0

Maintenance band (your region) $2,018–$4,204

Estimated running cost this year (age 6) $4,204

Re-priced automatically from your country's retail fuel, electricity and parts indices — change country in the bar at the top. Estimates; see methodology.

fuel/energy + maintenance band (annual, USD, estimate)

Run your own numbers in the true-cost calculator →

Other Subaru Forester years

2011 2012 2013 2014 AVOID 2015 AVOID 2016 AVOID 2017 AVOID 2018 AVOID 2019 AVOID 2020 AVOID 2021 AVOID 2022 2023 20242025 AVOID

Best & worst Forester years — full table →

FAQ

What is the most common problem with the 2020 Subaru Forester?

The most-reported issue in NHTSA complaint data is Visibility/Wiper (252 complaints in our indexed sample).

Is the 2020 Subaru Forester a good used car to buy?

Our data verdict is AVOID with a reliability score of 40/100, computed from 594 NHTSA complaints and 0 recall campaigns. See the verdict card for the top reasons.

Compare with

2016 Acura ILXscore 59/100 · CAUTION 2015 Acura ILXscore 77/100 · BUY 2015 Acura MDXscore 65/100 · CAUTION 2014 Acura ILXscore 75/100 · BUY

What will a 2020 Subaru Forester really cost YOU per year?

Fuel, maintenance band and depreciation — computed from public data in 10 seconds.

Open the true-cost calculator

Data sources

Complaints & recalls: NHTSA · Fuel economy: EPA fueleconomy.gov · Scoring: our published methodology.
Maintenance bands are industry-average estimates (AAA Your Driving Costs, CarMD index) — labeled estimates, not measurements. Last updated: 2026-08-20.

AVOID

594 NHTSA complaints on record (99.0/yr of exposure)
0 recall campaigns, 0 touching safety-critical systems

How this score is computed →

2020 Subaru Forester: True Cost, Problems & Verdict