NHTSA Complaint #11591422 — 2015 SUBARU FORESTER

Horn on steering wheel stopped working. Don't know when it stopped working, no lights, warnings on dash, nothing. You only use horn when you need it and when needed for safety concerns, it did not work. Almost got in an accident when needing horn which did not work and was first discovery of this safety defect. Same situation twice after first discovery of no horn while waiting for Dealership appointment day. But horn would work by pressing panic button on fob. Steering wheel, nothing. Dealer confirmed Steering Roll Connector causing horn to be inoperative on steering wheel. Very expensive basic safety component repair for Subaru customers. Best extended factory warranty back in 2015 was 7yr/100k mi. Our Subaru was only 8yrs 8mo old and with only 79k miles. Out of warranty, but Subaru of America did help with bill as a good faith jester being so close to being in warranty. Much appreciated. However, this basic safety feature should last much longer than 8yrs or almost 9yrs, especially with no prior or current warning it has failed. Everything else on steering wheel electrically functioned fine. This defect can cause an accident, possibly a serious accident. Glad my wife and I were not in that statistic. This is not the only complaint involving horn not working on this 2015 model here and elsewhere. Makes me wonder what other Subaru years and models experience this safety defect. I strongly believe this should be a safety recall before there's a fatality, if not already, from horn function on steering wheel becoming inoperative without warning.