The 2019 Subaru Forester has owner-reported concerns involving its display and infotainment system, windscreen, wheel bearings, power mirrors, speakers, door weather stripping and seat fabric. These reports identify items worth checking, but they do not establish that the problems are widespread or that every Forester will have them. Safety recalls are a separate matter: check the specific vehicle’s VIN for applicable campaigns before buying or relying on it for regular use.
How reliable is the 2019 Subaru Forester, and what problems do owners report?
The available 2019-specific evidence includes individual owner comments collected by Consumer Reports. Reported concerns include a computer or display that sometimes goes blank, difficulty playing iPhone music or podcasts when connected, and garage-door-opener buttons that may not work in cold weather. One owner also said the windscreen cracked easily.
Other Consumer Reports comments describe stuck power mirrors, stereo speakers cutting out, rear-door weather stripping coming loose, and a tear in the driver’s seat fabric. One Sport owner reported a front wheel-bearing failure at 65,000 miles. The extract also includes a separate reference to “bearings”, but gives too little detail to identify the component or judge how often it is affected. These are owner experiences, not proof of a defect rate or a pattern affecting all 2019 Foresters.
The Weekly Driver reports 306 electrical-system complaints and 247 engine complaints for 2019–2025 Foresters collectively. Those multi-year totals do not show how many complaints concerned the 2019 model specifically, and they cannot be used to calculate its individual failure rate. The evidence supplied here does not establish head-gasket failure or excessive oil consumption as common problems with the 2019 Forester; concerns associated with older model years should not automatically be applied to this one.
What to check when viewing a used 2019 Forester
- Start the vehicle and test the display, phone-audio connection, speakers, power mirrors, garage-door-opener buttons and other switches or electrical equipment.
- Inspect the windscreen for cracks and the rear-door weather stripping for loose or damaged sections.
- Check the seat fabric for tears, particularly around the driver’s seat.
- Ask whether wheel bearings or other items mentioned in the vehicle’s repair history have been inspected or replaced. A reported failure at 65,000 miles is one owner’s experience, not a service-life prediction.
- Review maintenance and repair records, and check for open recalls separately from ordinary repairs or owner complaints.
What Consumer Reports owners reported about the 2019 Forester
The Consumer Reports material available for this article is a collection of owner comments. It includes the electronics and phone-audio complaints, cold-weather garage-door-opener button trouble, a report of easy windscreen cracking, a front wheel-bearing failure at 65,000 miles, stuck power mirrors, speakers cutting out, loose rear-door weather stripping and a seat-fabric tear.
In the seat-fabric comment, the owner said Subaru covered the cost of replacement fabric beyond the 36-month warranty. That is an account of one owner’s experience, not a guarantee that a similar repair will be covered for another vehicle. The supplied extract does not provide an overall Consumer Reports reliability score, rating or complete problem-frequency analysis, so it would not be sound to infer one from these comments.
2019 Forester pros and cons: is it a good used SUV?
A 2019 Forester may suit a buyer who values the vehicle’s overall capability, provided the particular example has a sound history and passes a careful inspection. Its reported concerns are reasons to check specific items, not enough evidence on their own to reject every vehicle of this model year.
There is also a performance consideration that should not be confused with reliability. A Business Insider road test criticised the naturally aspirated engine and CVT for feeling underpowered and somewhat unrefined, particularly during motorway acceleration or when carrying people and cargo. That is a driving assessment, not evidence of a mechanical failure.
In short, is a 2019 Subaru Forester a good vehicle? It can be a reasonable used-SUV choice if its condition, maintenance and repair history are satisfactory, applicable recalls are completed, and its acceleration meets your expectations. Test-drive the vehicle in the situations in which you expect to use it, and complete the electrical, glass and trim checks above before committing.
How many miles can a 2019 Subaru Forester last?
The supplied evidence does not establish a guaranteed lifespan or mileage figure for a 2019 Forester. A Subaru dealer blog says Forester owners report reaching 200,000 miles or more with proper care. This is a broad owner-longevity claim, not a verified survival rate for 2019 vehicles or a promise that a particular car will reach that mileage.
For a used Forester, the odometer alone cannot show how much life remains. Consider its maintenance and repair records, current condition, use and recall status. A well-documented vehicle with more miles may be a better prospect than a lower-mileage example with an uncertain history; have a qualified professional inspect any areas of concern before purchase.
Are there Subaru Forester years to avoid?
The supplied evidence does not justify declaring an entire Forester model year universally unsafe or one that every buyer should avoid. CarBuzz identifies 2019 and 2020 among the fifth-generation Forester years with the most complaints and associates those years with windscreen cracking. That secondary-source summary is a signal to inspect the glass, not a measure of the chance that an individual vehicle will develop a problem.
Model-year reputation is not a substitute for checking the specific Forester’s condition, service and repair history, and VIN-specific recall status. The evidence here also does not provide a reliable like-for-like comparison of the 2019 and 2022 Forester’s reliability or complaint rates, so it cannot establish which year has the better issue profile.
Do reliability issues differ on the 2019 Forester Sport or by trim?
The Consumer Reports extract includes one Sport owner’s report of a front wheel-bearing failure at 65,000 miles. That is an individual report, not evidence of a Sport-wide defect or a higher failure rate for that trim. The supplied sources do not establish meaningful reliability differences among 2019 Forester trims or provide enough trim-by-trim information to compare their failure patterns.
Rather than assuming the Sport has a distinct reliability profile, assess the actual vehicle, its equipment and its service records. The same applies if you are asking about a particular specification: the available evidence does not support a detailed specification-based reliability comparison.
2019 Forester recalls: what to verify before buying
Recalls concern identified safety or compliance defects and should be considered separately from owner-reported issues such as a screen that blanks or weather stripping that comes loose. The Weekly Driver summarises three recall-related concerns for 2019 Foresters: a PCV valve that may separate, potentially allowing parts to enter the engine and creating a risk of engine damage or fire; an electronic power-steering connector that may short and cause a loss of power assistance; and rear stabiliser-bracket bolts that may allow a suspension component to loosen. These are potential consequences described in a secondary-source summary, not a diagnosis of any particular vehicle.
CarBuzz also discusses the rear stabiliser-bracket-bolt recall and notes that the campaign population included other vehicles; it should not be read as a count of Foresters alone. Because the steering and suspension concerns can affect vehicle safety, this summary cannot establish whether a particular Forester is affected, whether its campaign work has been completed or whether it is safe to drive.
Before buying, or if you own a 2019 Forester, check the VIN through the appropriate official recall database or ask a Subaru dealer to confirm which campaigns apply and whether they have been completed. Have any unresolved safety recall addressed by an authorised repair provider. Do not rely on the model year alone—or on the absence of an obvious symptom—to determine recall status.