How many miles will a 2003 Subaru Forester last?
Half of the 151 NHTSA owner complaints on the 2003 Subaru Forester that list mileage came after 89,000 miles, and 1 in 10 after 161,000 miles. NHTSA's complaints file of November 11, 2026 holds 189 complaints on this model year; each mileage is the odometer when an owner reported a safety problem, not how long the vehicle lasted.
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See what the paid report includes →Of the 151 complaints on the 2003 Subaru Forester that list mileage, the middle half came between 52,000 and 130,000 miles; 63 (42%) came after 100,000 miles, 22 (15%) after 150,000 and 3 (2%) after 200,000.
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How many miles will a 2003 Forester last?
The 151 mileages owners gave run from 221 to 240,000 miles. A quarter are at or under 52,047 miles, half at or under 90,000, three quarters at or under 130,000 and nine in ten at or under 162,000; 63 (42%) came after 100,000 miles, 22 (15%) after 150,000 and 3 (2%) after 200,000.
These mileages say when owners reported a problem, not when a 2003 Forester wears out. NHTSA's file holds only vehicles whose owners complained; one that ran without a problem never appears in it, so it gives no lifespan and no cutoff, and how a vehicle was maintained matters more than any one odometer reading.
| Measure | Value |
|---|---|
| Lowest mileage listed | 221 miles |
| 25th percentile | 52,047 miles |
| Median (50th percentile) | 90,000 miles |
| 75th percentile | 130,000 miles |
| 90th percentile | 162,000 miles |
| Highest mileage listed | 240,000 miles |
| Complaints after 100,000 miles | 63 (42%) |
| Complaints after 150,000 miles | 22 (15%) |
| Complaints after 200,000 miles | 3 (2%) |
Every model year together: Half of the 3,660 NHTSA owner complaints on the Subaru Forester that list mileage came after 34,000 miles (NHTSA complaints file of November 11, 2026). How many miles will a Subaru Forester last? →
Common problems with the 2003 Forester
NHTSA's file holds 189 owner complaints on the 2003 Subaru Forester. Owners named the fuel system most often: 31 complaints, and half of the 31 that list a mileage came after 90,000 miles. A complaint can name more than one component.
| Component (NHTSA category) | Complaints | Listing mileage | Median mileage |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fuel System, Gasoline | 31 | 31 | 91,000 |
| Fuel/propulsion System | 26 | 22 | 133,000 |
| Air Bags | 25 | 19 | 59,287 |
| Suspension | 22 | 19 | 122,000 |
| Engine And Engine Cooling | 19 | 16 | 59,165 |
Of the 189 complaints, 17 report a crash, none reports a fire and 9 report an injury (9 people reported injured). These are owners' reports to NHTSA, not findings.
Is the 2003 Forester a good year?
Complaint counts cannot say whether the 2003 is a good or a bad Forester: they rise with how many were sold and how long they have been on the road. They show how the 2003 compares with the other model years in NHTSA's file.
With 189 complaints, the 2003 ranks 11th of the 29 Subaru Forester model years from 1998 to 2026 with 10 or more complaints, counting from the most. The most: the 2019 (834). The fewest: the 2024 (31).
Recent model years have had less time to collect complaints, so their counts are still growing. No year is ranked by mileage here, because a year's median mileage mostly follows its age.
| Model year | Owner complaints | Listing mileage | Median mileage |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1998 Forester | 101 | 18 | 89,995 |
| 1999 Forester | 131 | 50 | 72,000 |
| 2000 Forester | 75 | 39 | 78,000 |
| 2001 Forester | 139 | 73 | 57,000 |
| 2002 Forester | 88 | 50 | 84,000 |
| 2003 (this page) | 189 | 151 | 90,000 |
| 2004 Forester | 219 | 188 | 96,000 |
| 2005 Forester | 93 | 79 | 80,000 |
| 2006 Forester | 88 | 69 | 51,000 |
| 2007 Forester | 74 | 56 | 56,500 |
| 2008 Forester | 50 | 39 | 88,900 |
| 2009 Forester | 178 | 121 | 57,000 |
| 2010 Forester | 262 | 200 | 64,000 |
| 2011 Forester | 147 | 96 | 60,000 |
| 2012 Forester | 107 | 69 | 48,000 |
| 2013 Forester | 78 | 55 | 50,000 |
| 2014 Forester | 403 | 298 | 53,000 |
| 2015 Forester | 617 | 412 | 44,000 |
| 2016 Forester | 416 | 218 | 39,000 |
| 2017 Forester | 594 | 321 | 30,000 |
| 2018 Forester | 499 | 241 | 16,000 |
| 2019 Forester | 834 | 468 | 8,500 |
| 2020 Forester | 604 | 272 | 5,700 |
| 2021 Forester | 215 | 38 | 8,000 |
| 2022 Forester | 100 | 14 | 5,000 |
| 2023 Forester | 76 | 8 | Under 10 mileages |
| 2024 Forester | 31 | 2 | Under 10 mileages |
| 2025 Forester | 102 | 12 | 2,800 |
| 2026 Forester | 35 | 3 | Under 10 mileages |
The linked 2015–2022 pages show NHTSA's September 15, 2026 collection, so their counts can differ from this table's.
Every Forester year compared on NHTSA’s complaints and recalls: Subaru Forester years to avoid →
2003 Subaru Forester recalls
NHTSA's recall files of November 11, 2026 list 3 recall campaigns that name the 2003 Subaru Forester. A campaign covers a production range, not every vehicle of the model year: check the VIN with NHTSA's free recall lookup.
What these figures can and cannot tell you
- Complaints are owners’ reports to NHTSA. NHTSA publishes them without verifying them: a complaint is an allegation, not a defect finding.
- The mileage is what the owner wrote on the complaint; NHTSA does not check it against the odometer.
- The make, model and model year are the ones on the complaint. NHTSA records them as filed, so a few complaints sit under a model year the name was not sold in.
- They are not a lifespan study. The file holds only vehicles whose owners reported a problem, so these figures do not say how long a typical 2003 Forester lasts.
- A complaint count rises with how many vehicles were sold and how long they have been on the road, so it is not a rating of the 2003 Forester.
- Nothing here describes one vehicle: its title brands, odometer readings, accidents and open recalls are in the records for its own VIN.
- 38 of the 189 complaints on the 2003 Subaru Forester give no usable mileage (blank, zero, a filler such as 999999, or over 500,000) and are left out of every mileage figure.
- NHTSA name counted: FORESTER. NHTSA files some vehicles under several names (a series name and a trim name, for example); this page counts only this one.
- Recall-file names matched: FORESTER and FORESTER HYBRID.
Primary sources behind this page
Open the underlying public source and verify that its scope matches the question you are asking.
- NHTSA complaints flat file (FLAT_CMPL.zip), downloaded November 11, 2026National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
- Complaints file field layout (CMPL.txt)National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
- NHTSA recalls flat file (FLAT_RCL_PRE_2010.zip), downloaded November 11, 2026National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
- NHTSA recalls flat file (FLAT_RCL_POST_2010.zip), downloaded November 11, 2026National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
- Recalls file field layout (RCL.txt)National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
- NHTSA recall and complaint datasets: scope and documentationNational Highway Traffic Safety Administration
- Recalls Lookup by VINNational Highway Traffic Safety Administration
NHTSA’s complaints file was downloaded on November 11, 2026 (FLAT_CMPL.txt, dated 2026-11-11 10:15, 2,265,416 rows), with its recall files (FLAT_RCL_PRE_2010.txt and FLAT_RCL_POST_2010.txt, dated 2026-11-11 08:02). Each complaint is counted once, by its NHTSA number, with the model year and mileage of its first row; a model year has a page only with 10 or more complaints. The collection script and its rules are in scripts/collect-nhtsa-model-year-longtail.mjs.
2003 Subaru Forester questions
How many miles will a 2003 Subaru Forester last?
Half of the 151 NHTSA owner complaints on the 2003 Subaru Forester that list mileage came after 89,000 miles, and 1 in 10 after 161,000 miles. Of the 151 complaints on the 2003 Subaru Forester that list mileage, the middle half came between 52,000 and 130,000 miles; 63 (42%) came after 100,000 miles, 22 (15%) after 150,000 and 3 (2%) after 200,000. These are mileages at a reported problem, not a lifespan: the file holds no 2003 Forester that never had one.
What are the most common 2003 Subaru Forester problems?
NHTSA's file holds 189 owner complaints on the 2003 Subaru Forester. Owners named the fuel system most often: 31 complaints, and half of the 31 that list a mileage came after 90,000 miles. A complaint can name more than one component. Of the 189 complaints, 17 report a crash, none reports a fire and 9 report an injury (9 people reported injured). These are owners' reports to NHTSA, not findings.
Is the 2003 Subaru Forester a good year?
Complaint counts cannot say whether the 2003 is a good or a bad Forester: they rise with how many were sold and how long they have been on the road. They show how the 2003 compares with the other model years in NHTSA's file. With 189 complaints, the 2003 ranks 11th of the 29 Subaru Forester model years from 1998 to 2026 with 10 or more complaints, counting from the most. The most: the 2019 (834). The fewest: the 2024 (31).
How many recalls does the 2003 Subaru Forester have?
NHTSA's recall files of November 11, 2026 list 3 recall campaigns that name the 2003 Subaru Forester. A campaign covers a production range, not every vehicle of the model year: check the VIN with NHTSA's free recall lookup.
How do I check a used 2003 Subaru Forester before buying?
Take the 17-character VIN from the vehicle and compare the odometer with the readings on file for it: title transfers, inspections and auction sales record the mileage on the day. VIN Lookup (free-vin-lookup.com) sells the original ClearVIN PDF for $14.99 (3 reports for $29.99, 5 for $44.99): odometer readings, title brands and auction records on file for the VIN. Check the VIN before buying a used 2003 Subaru Forester.