Subaru Ascent Complaints (2021)

104 consumer complaints on file.

#11675148July 21, 2025
POWER TRAIN:AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION
The contact owns a 2021 Subaru Ascent. The contact stated while driving 65 MPH and attempting to accelerate, the vehicle inadvertently lost motive and failed to accelerate at intended. The vehicle returned to normal functionality, but the failure became a regular occurrence. No warning lights were illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, who diagnosed a failure with the transmission, and informed the contact that the transmission was slipping. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure, a case was opened, and the contact was referred to the NHTSA Hotline for assistance. The failure mileage was 75,000. The VIN was not available.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11672030July 8, 2025
POWER TRAIN
On Friday, June 13, 2025, while (thankfully) in my driveway, the transmission broke on my 2021 Subaru Ascent in my driveway. I simply started my car, put it in reverse, and my car jerked and stopped. NO prior warning. I was on a slight slope. I thank my lucky stars I did not have my kids out on the road when it happened. I had to have it towed to the closest Subaru dealership (a $395 charge). Upon inspection, my transmission (the CVT model) was no longer working. My car was bought in December 2021 and it has around 80,000 miles on it. In researching, I saw that the 2019 and 2020 models with the CVT had been recalled (or had their warranties extended to 100,000 miles coverage) for the EXACT thing that happened to my car. If I am correct, my car was manufactured in November of 2020 from what I was told. I find it so hard to imagine that a transmission should fail due to "no reason" at this point, my car is not even 5 years old! The fact that this has happened on cars right in the timeframe of when mine was made, it's hard to imagine I should have to pay almost $10,000 for a new transmission when the history of these transmissions failing have been quite newsworthy! It was not fixable, the only choice I was given was to buy a new transmission. In today's economy, I just find this unacceptable.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11665581June 8, 2025
UNKNOWN OR OTHER, LANE DEPARTURE: ASSIST
The lane assist failed by over correcting while I have my hands on the steering wheel. It over corrects to the center lane when you are driving with normal behavior. This can cause a collision if it were to over correct while a car was there, this is also easily reproducible in my car.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11665178June 5, 2025
VISIBILITY/WIPER, FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: WARNINGS, LANE DEPARTURE: WARNING
I have a 2021 Subaru Ascent that falls under an extended warranty regarding the windshield due to a faulty windshield. My windshield has cracked, reduce visibility, and does not allow the forward collision warning to work properly. Subaru recognizes the faulty windshield and refuses to remedy the issue. I question the safety and integrity of this windshield to protect from normal road debris strikes, allow normal visibility, and the integrity of the lamination of the from windshield in the event of a collision.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11658723May 3, 2025
POWER TRAIN
Every time I go out of park there is a massive clubking noise from under the car. It's actually a super common item with these cars I am seeing as well in other forums. I believe this could lead to sheared parking brakes in the future.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11654864April 15, 2025
POWER TRAIN
Transmission needed to replaced at around 50k miles. Sister in law has the same year and her transmission went about the same mileage
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11652894April 4, 2025
STRUCTURE:BODY
The windshield on the 2021 Subaru Ascent is dangerous because it chips extremely easily. I purchased the car new in 2021 and since then I have had 7 rock chips (in all different states (TX, CA, WA) and driving conditions/speeds/roads). In the 4 years since I have owned it I have had the windshield replaced twice so I am on my 3rd windshield. Each time the rock hits, it causes a large chip to form which distracts the driver momentarily. It also creates defects in the windshield which could lead to safety issues of the windshield shattering.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11617822October 3, 2024
ENGINE, UNKNOWN OR OTHER
Transmission needed a full replacement
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11616364September 25, 2024
SERVICE BRAKES
Brakes shudder and fade when slowing down from highway speeds. Subaru has issued many "fixes" but it keeps happening. See most recent "Ascent Front Brake Warranty Extension Coverage" it still has not fixed the problem!
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11610464August 23, 2024
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
Battery draining. Bought car from dealership preowned with 25k miles. Owned it for 3 weeks and so far -Battery dead, jumped it, good for a day then dead again. -took back to dealership, said bad battery, replaced it, good for a week and a half then dead again -scheduling to go to a subaru dealership for diagnoses Ive read about the DCM on these vehicles trying to connect to 3g towers continously even when the car is off. The 3g towers are no longer in use in the USA. Subaru should have a software update to remedy this issue but have not found that thus far. Just a lawsuit over this issue.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11608140August 13, 2024
SERVICE BRAKES, FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: AUTOMATIC EMERGENCY BRAKING, FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: WARNINGS
I was driving along with no traffic in front of me and no oncoming traffic when the automatic braking system engaged with no vehicles in front of me, this was at 7:42 AM on Monday August 12, 2024. This was not the first time it had done this, but the first time I had the time and no traffic anywhere around to confuse the system. My concern is that if another car was following too closely they would have hit me since there was no reason for the emergency breaking system to engage.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11607255August 8, 2024
VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL, FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: AUTOMATIC EMERGENCY BRAKING
The driver was driving into a parking lot preparing to park, when the vehicle accelerated and started going forward at a higher speed. The vehicle struck a parked vehicle, then travelled across the parking lot, over curbs, a grass median, landscaping, and struck a rock building at a high rate of speed, causing a partial collapse of the wall. The vehicle is available for inspection through the insurance company. No analysis of data was done and nothing was inspected. There were no symptoms of the problem beforehand. The vehicle has automatic emergency braking, but it evidently didn't operate. It is unknown if this was caused by driver error in accelerating and never braking.
Crash:
Yes
Fire:
No
Injuries:
1
Deaths:
0
#11597256June 27, 2024
SERVICE BRAKES
Brake rotors, front and back warp. Rotors have been replaced and resurfaced multiple times. The vehicle is over-sized for the braking hardware included with the vehicle. I have spoken to the dealer multiple times and they are aware of the undersized brake component issue across this model line. Although promised, Subaru has not addressed the issue and it is a safety hazard in hilly terrain.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11594745June 17, 2024
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM, UNKNOWN OR OTHER, STRUCTURE:BODY:HATCHBACK/LIFTGATE
Lift gate began malfunctioning going up and down on its ownthen dropped suddenly onto spouse's head. Now the lift gate does not open properly.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11588273May 11, 2024
SERVICE BRAKES
Started having problems with the brand new car shaking and brakes making grinding noises when stopping around 20K miles. Brought the car to the dealership and they ended up replacing the brake pads and rotors. It’s been just over a year and less than 15K miles since the replacement and the car started shaking and brakes are making a grinding noise again. Again took the car to the dealership and the rotors are bad. After further research, this is a constant and known issue and has yet to be resolved by Subaru. Instead they wait for the new car warranty to wear off and let their customers pay out of pocket to have this fixed. Some owners have had to replace up to 4 times in less than 40K miles.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11587744May 8, 2024
VISIBILITY/WIPER
Second time windshield has cracked, not due to rock or debris chip, but from edge of windshield and either out or up. Crack continues to spread until replaced. It is dangerous to drive 1st Incident - December 2022 , crack in middle of windshield, spreading two directions 2nd Incident - May 3, 2024, crack from left side and out, contiunes to spead Pictures attached
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11581308April 5, 2024
SERVICE BRAKES
Front brakes (pads and rotors) had to replaced 2 times. The dealer said that Subaru used undersized pads and rotors on the bigger Ascent model. The brakes were not designed for such a big vehicle, and it has been a known issue. The brakes were replaced under warranty, but my warranty will expire soon. I'm stuck replacing and poorly designed braking system, that is a known issue.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11581306April 5, 2024
LANE DEPARTURE: ASSIST, LANE DEPARTURE: WARNING
Vehicle drifts on the highway and pulls hard to the left, which is a very concerning safety issue. I have already taken the vehicle to the dealer; they did a calibration of the eyesight. The problem still persists, especially when driving the vehicle on the highway. This has almost pulled me into traffic on a few occasions!
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11580921April 3, 2024
AIR BAGS
The contact owns a 2021 Subaru Ascent. The contact stated that while making a left turn at approximately 5-10 MPH, another vehicle ran a red light and crashed into the front passenger's side bumper. The air bags did not deploy. The contact's chest struck the steering wheel, resulting in a fractured sternum. Medical attention was received. A police report was filed. The vehicle was first towed to the police impound lot, then to a body shop. The dealer was made aware of the failure and referred the contact to the manufacturer. The vehicle was not repaired and was not deemed totaled by the insurance company. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 19,000.
Crash:
Yes
Fire:
No
Injuries:
1
Deaths:
0
#11572800February 19, 2024
UNKNOWN OR OTHER
After 3 years the battery died completely and the car was unable to start, I replaced the battery with AAA and the next the day, it also died again. I was able to jump start the battery the next day and continued to use the vehicle. I have the battery for about a month and again the battery on the vehicle had drained where I was unable to start the car but I was able to jump start the car with a battery jump starter. There has been 3 occasions of battery just draining and I have a new battery installed. I called Subaru and they mentioned that there could be an issue with the back latch no closing which could drain the battery, however, the have confirmed that the back door does completely close and lock or it will just automatically come back up. I feel there is something wrong with the electrical system and AAA has confirmed with me the the alternator or the battery is functional.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0

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