Subaru Plans Largest Ever Recall for Impreza, Forester: Report
By Patrick Masterson
March 1, 2019
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2016 Subaru Legacy | Cars.com photo by Angela Conners
Years of rapid growth may be a clear upside for Subaru, but with the good now comes the bad. According to a report from Reuters, the brand is planning its largest-ever recall for approximately 2 million model-year 2008-17 Impreza cars and Forester SUVs for an issue with a brakelight switch that can affect ignition.
If all of the identified vehicles from that bucket are recalled, Reuters said it would eclipse the Japanese automaker’s previous biggest recall that was part of the mammoth Takata airbag inflator crisis. In that case, some eight different models were affected in an 11-year model-year range. Though this recall will only affect the Impreza and Forester for now, the sheer number will be greater.
A separate story from The Wall Street Journal (subscription required) added that the issue stems from certain chemical compounds in common household products such as cosmetics, fabric softener and car polish that could cause the malfunction.
No recalls have officially been issued yet and the exact count is not currently known; we’ll have further details once more information is forthcoming.
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Chief Copy Editor
Patrick Masterson
Patrick Masterson is Chief Copy Editor at Cars.com. He joined the automotive industry in 2016 as a lifelong car enthusiast and has achieved the rare feat of applying his journalism and media arts degrees as a writer, fact-checker, proofreader and editor his entire professional career. He lives by an in-house version of the AP stylebook and knows where semicolons can go.