Subaru Outback Complaints

1,029 consumer complaints on file.

#11512862March 20, 2023
UNKNOWN OR OTHER
Defective windshield. I purchased my Subaru Outback XT from the Subaru dealership in Shoreline, Washington in October 2020. Since then, the windshield has cracked 4 times beyond repair. Each time, a small hairline fracture develops and quickly spreads across the windshield until the windshield has to be replaced. I have taken the car to the Subaru dealership each time to replace the windshield. The car remains under warranty. I reached out to Subaru of America after the windshield cracked for the 4th time, but I was told that the crack was a result of "outside influence". I have never had a car windshield crack until I purchased the Subaru, and 4 cracked windshields in about 2 years is beyond excessive. After doing additional research online, it appears that this is a frequent and ongoing issue with newer Subaru models possibly because the windshield used now is of a thinner material.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11512751March 20, 2023
VISIBILITY/WIPER
The car was parked in my driveway overnight and developed a cracked windshield without any viable impact from an outside object. The crack is midway up.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11512293March 16, 2023
VISIBILITY/WIPER
Windshield cracks from a very small pebble. The whole driver side. Windshield is defective. Has not been inspected yet.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11512114March 16, 2023
POWER TRAIN
I purchased a 2022 Subaru Outback Wilderness in August 2021. I've made several complaints to my dealership about issues of the vehicle jerking during deaccelartion, holding high RPM during acceleration, or rough acceleration. Everytime, I've taken the vehicle to the dealership to have to investigate the issue, I've been told the same response, "The technician was unable to replicate the issue." I know there is somethings wrong with my transmission, I've read several other Wilderness owners having the same issue, and their transmissions were replaced at 9,500 miles or less. My vehicle is currently at 15,000 miles, I've maintained it through the dealership in reference to servicing. I've owned a vehicle that previous had a similar issue, and the issue ended up being an issue with the transmission control unit and pressure mechanism inside. The transmission had to be rebuilt because of this issue. I would not recommend owning a 2022 Outback Wilderness to anyone.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11511921March 15, 2023
FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: SENSING SYSTEM: CAMERA
The contact owns a 2023 Subaru Outback. The contact stated while driving 35 MPH and coming to a green light with no vehicles nearby, the Eyesight Driver Assist camera malfunctioned and the vehicle came to an abrupt stop. The Collision Prevention braking system activated with the warning light displayed on the instrument panel. The contact immediately deactivated the fuel saving button and depressed the accelerator pedal for the vehicle to respond. The contact stated that the message displayed that the Eyesight camera had unintendedly become disabled. The contact took the vehicle to the dealer however, the mechanic was unable to determine the cause of the failure. The vehicle had not been repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 9,000.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11511562March 13, 2023
VISIBILITY/WIPER
Windshield started spontaneously cracking from bottom of glass without any sign of rock or glass strike. Dealers will not replace due to manufacturer defects. Vehicle only has 14K miles, less than one year from purchase. After researching outback social forum, this is a problem many other owners with exact model experienced glass spontaneously cracks. Also there was a class action lawsuit against subaru for previous subaru outback model year 2015-2019 for the same exact problem/
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11511110March 9, 2023
FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: ADAPTIVE CRUISE CONTROL, FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: AUTOMATIC EMERGENCY BRAKING, FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: WARNINGS
They EyeSight continuously disables. Dealership cannot find any codes or issues with it. They say it is the weather, dirty windshield, clouds. It has been happening since week 3 of ownership. I clean the windshield all the time, there is no clouds. I have another Subaru with EyeSight and it doesn’t disable like this one. 90% of the time the system disables itself as soon as I turn it on.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11511096March 9, 2023
VISIBILITY/WIPER
While sitting stationary on our driveway over the weekend, the windshield of our relatively brand new 2022 Subaru Outback developed a large crack starting from the center bottom and is slowly creeping up. There are no rock chips or any damage that would have caused this crack. Looking online and this is an incredibly common issue and frustration. I'm attempting to have Subaru replace it themselves but I worry the next one will crack in the same amount of time. In all my years of driving and owning cars, I have never experienced a cracked windshield before.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11510958March 9, 2023
POWER TRAIN:AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION
The contact owns a 2022 Subaru Outback. The contact stated that while reversing out of his garage, the vehicle made an abnormal sound, and while the transmission was shifted into reverse (R), the vehicle rapidly accelerated, crashing into a tree. The contact stated the vehicle made the abnormal sound again and rapidly accelerated forward, crashing into a fence. The contact sustained injuries to his head and received medical attention. A police report was filed. The vehicle was towed to a collision center. The vehicle was not diagnosed nor repaired by an independent mechanic or dealer. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 3,000. The VIN was not available. The contact stated the vehicle changed gears and right foot wasn't close to the accelerator during the crash. Medical attention was not required because the head injury was not severe.
Crash:
Yes
Fire:
No
Injuries:
1
Deaths:
0
#11510259March 5, 2023
VISIBILITY/WIPER
The problem is with the windshield. On 12/26/22 a crack about 8" long appeared spontaneously on the passenger side running from the edge straight towards the middle. I drove the car that day and noticed at dusk that another crack appeared, starting at the bottom edge in front of the driver and running upward towards the middle. Both of these occurred with no noticeable impacts from stones. Both cracks have continued to grow over time. I contacted the dealer on 12/31/22 , where they took pictures and notified Subaru. Three weeks later Subaru wanted more, better pictures so the dealer took more. After receiving no response, three weeks later I contacted Subaru through their website. Their response to contact me still has not been fulfilled. Given the nature of these cracks, the expense and safety issues of having extensive cracks, I decided to contact NHSTA.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11510218March 5, 2023
VISIBILITY/WIPER
Needing to replace windshield again due to smallest rock hitting windshield and cracking it. Wind shield has been replaced 3 separate occurrences due to the same issue.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11509554February 28, 2023
LATCHES/LOCKS/LINKAGES:HATCHBACK/LIFTGATE:LOCK
The contact owns a 2023 Subaru Outback. The contact stated while driving at an undisclosed speed, the liftgate would independently open without assistance. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired by an independent mechanic or dealer. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 1,700.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11509407February 27, 2023
VISIBILITY/WIPER
We had some cold weather in Minneapolis but we were told that Suburu had worked out its cracked windshield issues when we purchased the outback. Not true. A crack developed from the center of the base of windshield and continues a third of the way up
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11509224February 26, 2023
VISIBILITY/WIPER
I was driving, approximately 50 miles per hour, when my windshield cracked from top center down and across the driver's side obscuring my view and startling me. Nothing struck my windshield and there are no divets or marks other than a clean crack that looks like a stress fracture. There were no other vehicles near me and I was on a paved road. My car is 6 months old with 3300 miles on it.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11509086February 25, 2023
TIRES
The Outback Wilderness comes stock with Yokohama Geolandar A/T 225/65R17. There was 13,300 miles on it from factory new tires. At interstate speed of about 75mph, the tread appears to have fully separated from the sidewalls. The tread was closely inspected for any debris by myself, my dealer, and others and no tire punctures are present. We believe this tire has a manufacturers defect and would like to have it inspected if possible. We have kept the tread, despite asking dealer to save all part of tire, the still managed to lose the part from the rim, thought there as not much left from the accident, it was virtually destroyed. Very unusual in all my years of driving.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11508814February 23, 2023
VISIBILITY/WIPER
The windshield cracked without provocation of a rock or any impact, just cold weather. I don’t feel that the windshield of my “ski car” should just crack if the weather gets cold. I was up skiing at our local mountain before this occurred and heard concerning sounds from the windshield. Lo and behold a few weeks later it cracked on its own.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11508765February 23, 2023
SERVICE BRAKES
The contact owns a 2023 Subaru Outback. The contact stated that while parked with the brake pedal depressed when the vehicle suddenly lunged forward and jumped the curb onto the sidewalk. The vehicle ended up in the glass of the store in front of the parking space. The air bags did not deploy. The vehicle was towed to the dealer. There were no warning lights. A police report was filed. The front end, bumper, hood, side panels, and fog lights were all damaged. The storefront, a nearby pillar, and decorative stone were also damaged. There were no injuries. No medical attention was needed. The dealer had not been diagnosed and or repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 268,000.
Crash:
Yes
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11508205February 20, 2023
UNKNOWN OR OTHER
The front windshield of my vehicle cracked excessively after being hit by a pea sized piece of gravel while traveling less than 50 MPH. I felt that the safety of my family was put at risk as the crack quickly spread to over 8 inches in length by the end of that same day.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11507870February 17, 2023
VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
The contact owns a 2022 Subaru Outback. The contact stated that while driving approximately 1 to 2 mph on two occasions into a parking spot, the vehicle hesitated then accelerated and crashed into a pole. There were no warning lights illuminated. There were no reported injuries, air bag deployment, or fire. A police report was filed. The vehicle was taken to a collision shop. The contact called the local dealer but the vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was contacted and had an investigator inspect the vehicle but was unable to duplicate the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 700. The VIN was not available.
Crash:
Yes
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11507567February 16, 2023
UNKNOWN OR OTHER
Subaru has a known issue with windshields being easily cracked. I purchased a new 2021 Subaru Outback Onyx XT and had to replace the windshield 2 times within the first year of owning due to cracked windshield, both happened after having a small chip from likely a small rock hitting windshield. I currently have another cracked windshield after hearing a slight hit on my windshield , after a semi truck passed me going in the opposite direction. I have had other vehicles that have had small chips after taking a slight hit from rocks and never developed cracked that required windshield replacement. Truly think that Subaru could do better and correct this issue as windshields are very expensive to replace and those who can’t afford replacement will continue to drive with potentially impaired visibility.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0

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