NHTSA Safety Recalls
2008 Subaru Forester Recalls
The 2008 Subaru Forester has 1 NHTSA safety recall on file, the newest reported on September 6, 2011.
A recall covers a range of VINs, not every 2008 Subaru Forester. Whether a recall on your own car is still open shows only on a VIN check; recall repairs are free.
- Recalls
- 1
- Owner complaints
- 50
- Crashes reported
- 5
- NHTSA crash test
- ★★★★★
NHTSA campaigns
filed with NHTSA
3 fires
frontal crash, no overall star before 2011
On a 2008 Subaru Forester, the 17-character VIN is on the driver-side dashboard, visible through the windshield, or on the door jamb sticker.
1 recall on the 2008 Subaru Forester
Suspension: front: control arm: lower arm
- Campaign
- 11V464000
- Reported
- September 6, 2011
- Vehicles affected
- up to 318,215
- Risk NHTSA names
- crash
- Same campaign
- also 2003–2007 Forester, 2 other models
2008 Subaru Forester complaints by year
NHTSA has received 50 owner complaints about the 2008 Subaru Forester, the newest on May 13, 2025. Of these, 5 describe a crash (10%) and 3 a fire; owners reported 5 injuries.
In complaints about the 2008 Subaru Forester, the component group named most often is the suspension (22%), followed by the engine (14%) and the air bags (12%).
The 2008 Subaru Forester's only recall also concerns the suspension.
Where 2008 Subaru Forester owners gave the mileage (39 complaints), the median was 88,900 miles.
Component groups named in complaints
- Suspension11
- Engine7
- Air Bags6
- Unknown Or Other6
- Vehicle Speed Control6
- Electrical System5
Complaints received, by year
| 2008 | 2 | |
|---|---|---|
| 2009 | 3 | |
| 2010 | 4 | |
| 2011 | 1 | |
| 2012 | 4 | |
| 2013 | 4 | |
| 2014 | 3 | |
| 2015 | 2 | |
| 2016 | 5 | |
| 2017 | 3 | |
| 2018 | 4 | |
| 2019 | 3 | |
| 2020 | 1 | |
| 2021 | 5 | |
| 2022 | 3 | |
| 2024 | 1 | |
| 2025 | 2 |
Complaints about the 2008 Subaru Forester peaked in 2016, when NHTSA received 5. 20% arrived between 2007 and 2011, the model year's first years on the road.
Adjusted for how many complaints NHTSA received about all 2008 vehicles, the 2008 Subaru Forester drew 0.2× the complaints of the median Subaru Forester year in the same window: 23rd highest of the 23 ranked years.
That makes 2008 one of the three best-measured Subaru Forester years.
NHTSA crash-test stars
- Overall: none before 2011
- Frontal: 5/5
- Side: 5/5
- Rollover: 4/5
The 50 complaints about the 2008 Subaru Forester are unverified owner reports, and a model sold in large numbers collects more of them.
Subaru Forester by model year
Other 2008 Subaru models
Newest record on this page: May 13, 2025. Data: NHTSA recall and owner-complaint files. How these figures are counted