Subaru is recalling 541,237 vehicles in the United States because the gross axle weight rating printed on the certification label — the sticker riveted to the driver’s door jamb — is incorrect. The filing with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration does not say by how much the figure is wrong, nor whether it overstates or understates the true rating.
The Models and the Math
The recall covers the 2019 through 2026 Ascent, the 2025 and 2026 Forester and Forester Hybrid, and the 2026 Crosstrek Hybrid. The Ascent dominates the campaign, accounting for 384,407 units — roughly 71 percent of the total — with build dates spanning March 19, 2018, to June 11, 2026. The balance comprises 77,504 Forester Hybrids, 49,946 gasoline Foresters and 29,380 Crosstrek Hybrids.
Subaru’s Part 573 report contains a discrepancy: the headline totals add to 541,237, but the narrative section lists slightly lower counts for three models that sum to 540,450. The technical reality is that the certification label is a federal document. Under 49 CFR 567.4, it must list a gross axle weight rating (GAWR) in pounds for each axle, front to rear. Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard 110 then ties tire selection to that number: the sum of the maximum load ratings of the tires fitted to an axle cannot be less than the GAWR on the label. If the label figure is wrong, the arithmetic behind the tire fitment was made against the wrong number. That is the noncompliance.
Regulator Prompted the Review
Subaru’s chronology shows NHTSA notified the company on May 12 of a potential problem with the stated rear axle GAWR. Subaru met agency staff on June 4 and decided on June 30 to conduct a noncompliance recall. The cause field in the report is blank. Corrected labels entered production on June 9, while Subaru was still auditing its calculated GAWR ratings across the lineup back to 2003 — an audit the filing says covered all vehicles but does not detail findings for models outside this recall.
NHTSA’s acknowledgment letter frames the safety risk as potential overloading, which raises the chance of a crash. Subaru says it has received no U.S. technical reports and knows of no crashes or injuries tied to the condition. The filing does not say whether any factory-fitted tires fall short of the correct rating or whether the problem is confined to the sticker. As ever, the detail that matters is the remedy: nothing mechanical is being swapped.
A Familiar Pattern
Nissan filed a near-identical recall in July covering 168,149 Armada, Infiniti QX56 and QX80 models, in some cases dating to 2011. Together the two campaigns cover 709,386 vehicles. Both treat a wrong label as a safety noncompliance, not a paperwork slip, because the number feeds the tire rule.
What Owners Do Next
The fix is a replacement sticker mailed to owners or installed by a dealer at no charge under recall number WRH-26. Interim owner letters were scheduled for August 24 through 27; remedy letters are scheduled for January 7 through 14, 2027. Owners can check a VIN at NHTSA’s recall lookup or call Subaru customer service at 1-844-373-6614. Anyone replacing tires before the new label arrives should stay with the size listed on the vehicle’s tire placard. The corrected figure itself appears in neither of the NHTSA documents.
Sources
- Subaru Is Recalling 541,237 Vehicles Over the Axle Rating on the Door-Jamb Sticker
- Subaru Is Recalling 541,237 Vehicles Over the Axle Rating on the Door-Jamb Sticker
Photo: Winston Tjia / Unsplash (Unsplash License)
