2014 SUBARU FORESTER — Complaint #1081830
Open-data reference.
NHTSA Complaint about VISIBILITY:DEFROSTER/DEFOGGER/HVAC SYSTEM:WINDSHIELD:ELECTRICAL HEATING ELEMENT filed July 1, 2014
NHTSA complaint #1081830 (ODI reference 10607504) concerns a 2014 SUBARU FORESTER and was filed on July 1, 2014. The owner reports the failure occurred on July 1, 2014. The report was geocoded to Colorado based on the filer's self-reported location. The affected component is categorized as visibility:defroster/defogger/hvac system:windshield:electrical heating element, one of NHTSA's standardized taxonomy codes used to group defect patterns across make, model, and year.
The filer flagged the following severity indicators: crash: no, fire: no, injuries: 0, fatalities: 0. No crash, fire, or fatality was associated with this report, which places it in the early-warning stream rather than the priority-review stream. Because a VIN was supplied, this complaint is tied to a specific vehicle and not just a model-year cohort.
Individual complaints are consumer-submitted and unverified by NHTSA engineers — the agency's role at this stage is to collect, index, and make them searchable. What matters for federal action is the pattern: when many owners of the same SUBARU FORESTER cohort independently describe similar visibility:defroster/defogger/hvac system:windshield:electrical heating element failures, defect investigators have grounds to open a PE and request manufacturer data. Related filings for the same vehicle and component appear below, and the detail page for the full 2014 SUBARU FORESTER shows the complete component-level complaint distribution alongside any active investigations or recalls.
Complaint Description
I PURCHASED MY 2014 FORESTER IN JULY 2013. I LOVE THE VEHICLE EXCEPT FOR THE DESIGN OF THE CLIMATE CONTROL DIALS WHICH I CONSIDER TO BE A SAFETY HAZARD BECAUSE IT IS SO DIFFICULT TO ASCERTAIN AT A GLANCE WHAT THE CURRENT SETTING IS FOR EACH FUNCTION (HEAT/AC TEMP, FAN SPEED, FAN DIRECTION.) STARING AT THE DIAL(S) OR REPEATED GLANCES TAKES THE DRIVER'S ATTENTION OFF THE ROAD FOR TOO LONG, AND THEREFORE IS ABSOLUTELY A SAFETY ISSUE: EACH ROUND DIAL HAS A RUBBER GRIP SURFACE THAT THE USER CONTACTS. ON THE FRONT FACE OF THE DIAL IS A SHINY CHROME BEZEL RING. THIS RING IS QUITE NARROW AND HAS 7 SMALL, EQUIDISTANT INDENTATIONS AROUND THE RADIUS. ONE OF THE INDENTATIONS IS YELLOW PLASTIC, WHICH INDICATES THE SETTING. AT A GLANCE, THE SMALL YELLOW PLASTIC INDICATOR IS VERY DIFFICULT TO LOCATE AMONG THE OTHER SIX INDENTATIONS. WHAT THE PURPOSE IS OF THE INDENTATIONS IS A MYSTERY (SOME MARKETER WANTED SPARKLE?) AND WHY SUBARU CHOSE PALE YELLOW AGAINST SHINY CHROME MAKES NO SENSE. I HAVE S
Complaint Details
| NHTSA Complaint ID | 1081830 |
| ODI Number | 10607504 |
| Date Filed | July 1, 2014 |
| Failure Date | July 1, 2014 |
| VIN | JF2SJACC7EG |
Source: NHTSA Vehicle Complaints Database. Component taxonomy and severity codes are standardized by NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation.
Read our methodology — how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.