2003 Subaru Forester Visibility (wipers, defrost, mirrors) Problems

“A rock hit my windshield and within 5 min there was a crack across the entire bottomof the glass, radiating down into the heating element. $975. Ne year later, another rock hit the windshield and another crack resulted in exactly the same position. Is there a flaw in the Subaru glass? I will have this one replaced with after market glass without the heating element. $632 .”

“My son was driving from new jersey. Suddenly the front hood opened and crashed into the windshield. He was able to move over three lanes to stop the car. The windshield was cracked. This was a hood replacement done last spring after a deer ran across the vehicle. The latch has not been a problem until this trip. On the way to new jersey, my son noticed that the hood partially opened. He stopped the car and made sure that the hood was tightly shut. The same repair shop is installing another hood and replacing the windshield. There is no collision insurance on the vehicle (Subaru Forester 2003). …”

“Rear view mirror (self-dimming with compass) became cloudy and discolored. Unable to clearly view activity behind vehicle. This is, according to internet research, a common defect in the Subaru rear view mirrors in the era of (approximately) 2003-2008. No recall has been received. An e-mail to Subaru last evening explaining this problem was answered by telling me to order a new mirror from a local dealer. They need to investigate the defect and provide new mirrors. It's an important safety issue and must be corrected by Subaru immediately.”

“This vehicle posed a serious safety problem because the vehicle only had one key hole, but had five doors, the consumer was able to access the vehicle through the drivers side door/key hole. Once the consumer was in the vehicle a lock pad on the door allowed for entry through the other doors, or a key remote. The consumer's lock pad also didn't work temporarily so the consumer couldn't open the hatch. The manufacturer and the dealer had not been notified of the problems. …”

“The consumer hit her garage door with the vehicle breaking the rear hatch window. However, when the glass broke, it broke into pieces and did not disintegrate. The glass company came out and explained to her that the glass had not gone through the proper processing, and that it was not safe. Please provide any further information.”