NHTSA Complaint #11208096 — 2015 SUBARU FORESTER

THE HORN ON MY 2015 SUBARU FORESTER FAILED TO FUNCTION AT APPROXIMATELY 55,000 MILES. I DO NOT KNOW SPECIFICS ABOUT THE HORN FAILURE AS I DON'T ROUTINELY USE IT. APPROXIMATELY 10 DAYS AFTER I LEARNED ABOUT THE HORN, THE RADIO, CLOCK, AND DOOR LOCK REMOTE FEATURE ALSO FAILED TO FUNCTION. THE SUBARU DEALERSHIP SERVICE DEPARTMENT DIAGNOSED THE HORN PROBLEM AS A FAULTY STEERING ROLL CONNECTOR (SRC) AND REPLACED THE CONNECTOR. THE HORN NOW FUNCTIONS. THE SUBARU SERVICE DEPARTMENT STATED THAT A MISPLACED FUSE (#8 - BACKUP) CAUSED FAILURE OF THE OTHER SYSTEMS. THEY IMPLIED THAT I HAD MISPLACED THE FUSE - I DID NOT - I CHECKED ONLY THE HORN AND RADIO FUSES. NO ONE ELSE HAS ACCESS TO MY VEHICLE. I HAVE LEARNED THAT SUBARU RECALLED TENS OF THOUSANDS OF OTHER MODELS OF THEIR VEHICLES IN 2010 DUE TO FAULTY SRCS. SUSPICIOUSLY, THE SYMPTOMS THEY BLAMED ON MY SUPPOSEDLY MISPLACED FUSE COINCIDE WITH SOME OF THE SYMPTOMS ASSOCIATED WITH THE FAULTY SRCS IN THE 2010 RECALL. I AM FILING THIS COMPLAINT FOR THE FOLLOWING REASONS: A CAR HORN IS AN EXTREMELY IMPORTANT SAFETY COMPONENT AND SHOULD NOT BE PRONE TO FAILURE DUE TO A FAULTY CONNECTOR WITHIN THE STEERING WHEEL. SUBARU SERVICE STATED THEY RARELY ENCOUNTER SRC FAILURE, YET JUST 4 YEARS BEFORE MY VEHICLE WAS MANUFACTURED, THEIR SRCS WERE RECALLED BY THE TENS OF THOUSANDS. SECONDLY, BLAMING ME FOR FAILURE OF OTHER SYSTEMS THAT ARE DIRECTLY CONNECTED TO THE STEERING WHEEL (RADIO VOLUME AND TUNING) OR HORN (HORN BEEPS IF YOU PUSH THE LOCK REMOTE 3 TIMES) APPEARS (IN MY OPINION) LIKE AN ATTEMPT TO COVER UP A PROBLEM WITH THE SRC THAT INVOLVES MORE THAN JUST THE HORN - WHICH IS ALREADY ENOUGH TO CAUSE MAJOR SAFETY ISSUES IN ITSELF. THANK YOU FOR THE OPPORTUNITY TO FILE THIS SAFETY COMPLAINT - I HOPE YOU WILL BE ABLE TO DETERMINE IF SUBARU SRCS ARE STILL CAUSING MAJOR ISSUES.