Audi A4 vs Subaru Forester

Both cars' complete complaint records, side by side.

Read the totals carefully. NHTSA publishes no sales figures, so the car that sold more collects more complaints regardless of quality. The rows worth weighing are the proportions — the share of complaints that involved harm, and which part dominates.

Measure	Audi A4	Subaru Forester
Complaints on file	3,681	8,735
Model years covered	1995–2024	1998–2026
Worst model year	2002	2016
Best model year	2022	2026
Crashes reported	146	898
Fires reported	76	157
Injuries reported	84	380
Deaths reported	0	9
Most complained-about part	Airbags	Windows, Mirrors & Wipers
Share of complaints involving harm	8.3%	16.5%

Audi A4 by year

1 133 119 321 242 115 153 218 282 225 267 343 226 204 150 77 17 23 28 41 24 18 76 80 16 230 19 10 19 4

95 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24

Complaints filed with NHTSA, by model year. Bar colour is the FaultScore grade: A B C D F ungraded

What breaks

Airbags 520 14.1%

Engine & Cooling 491 13.3%

Electrical System 483 13.1%

Brakes 403 10.9%

Lights 375 10.2%

Fuel & Propulsion 217 5.9%

Transmission & Drivetrain 205 5.6%

Other & Unspecified 162 4.4%

Subaru Forester by year

138 156 95 169 109 238 270 105 121 89 67 228 307 195 140 94 576 897 622 801 679 1,088 813 285 144 111 41 129 28

98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26

Complaints filed with NHTSA, by model year. Bar colour is the FaultScore grade: A B C D F ungraded

What breaks

Windows, Mirrors & Wipers 1,267 14.5%

Engine & Cooling 1,019 11.7%

Airbags 911 10.4%

Other & Unspecified 815 9.3%

Electrical System 794 9.1%

Transmission & Drivetrain 566 6.5%

Acceleration & Cruise Control 533 6.1%

Fuel & Propulsion 512 5.9%