CarComplaints.com Notes: The 2014 Outback is showing an early trend of problems with hesitation when accelerating.

The vast majority of owners experiencing this problem have reported that Subaru has not been able to find the cause of the engine hesitation, or fix the problem.

Especially because this is a potential safety defect, we are flagging the 2014 Outback as a model year to watch out for.

5.3

fairly significant
Typical Repair Cost:
No data
Average Mileage:
36,350 miles
Total Complaints:
3 complaints

Most Common Solutions:

  1. not sure (3 reports)
2014 Subaru Outback engine problems

engine problem

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2014 Subaru Outback Owner Comments

problem #3

Dec 012017

Outback Limited 2.5L

  • CVT transmission
  • 40,000 miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

When engine is cold at any temperature outside it might hesitate starting up. At times it feels like it will not start but then it fires up. When the engine is warm it does not happen.

- mikeg62, Buffalo Grove, US

problem #2

Feb 012015

Outback Limited 2.5L

  • CVT transmission
  • 24,000 miles

Car started like new up to 24,000 mile mark , then to take started taking longer to start and sounded noisy. HAS BEEN TO SHOP SEVERAL TIMES and they can't repro the problem,> Car now has 50K and still is happening on daily basis, now turns over for almost 5 secs sometimes and studders then starts. Video of problems recorded and played back to dealer but if it does'nt do it when they have it, it's useless to argue. Happens in all temps, if it was starter it would of crapped out by now so I think it sound like low fuel pressure. Las time in, 49k miles they said battery showed fault! For 25k miles? So I replaced it and of course that was not the issue. Changed gas stations, happens on all levels of gas in tank, winter mix, summer mix no difference , NO FAULTS IN COMPUTER EITHER. Car going in for inspection April and gonna leave it there for couple days to repro the problem, will update

Update from Sep 1, 2017: OK then, 60k miles and still not starting right up, takes several seconds to start and sounds like it almost wont start. Every time it is at dealer for other stuff they cant dupe the problem. Tranny jingle noise now, cvt tranny still hesitates once n a while and erratic acceleration. The only reason I still have it is that I have 100k warranty on it. Now got letter about the tranny issue a warranty extention, cars less than 10 yrs old with 100k miles or less now have tranny covered to 10 years or 100k miles! 2010-15 outback, 2012-15 impreza,13-15 crosstrek, 14-15 forester and 15 WRX, at least they are stepping up to the plate....tranny still sucks, I basically use the paddle shifting to accelerate the way I want!

- Dennis H., Massapequa, NY, US

problem #1

Dec 112016

Outback Pzev 2.5L 4 cyl

  • Automatic transmission
  • 45,000 miles

I have a 2014 Subaru Outback that I bought new. Until now, I loved my car. A few weeks ago, I noticed it having difficulty starting. This happens both when I use the key to start it and when I use my auto start. When it began, it wasn't cold out (I live in Minnesota). It was almost 50 degrees. The car would take longer to start and keep turning over before firing up. Other people even noticed it. I took it in for service and they tried doing a computer reset and told me that should do it. It didn't work, so I took it back. Meanwhile, I had done some research and found that some Subarus can start doing "hard starts", which is exactly what this seemed to be. Unfortunately, the dealership I took it to did not take me seriously and tried to tell me that it was normal for my car to start that way in the cold weather (by this time it was in the teens outside for temps). They were unwilling to see it as an engine issue and told me that all cars do this, which was completely ridiculous. Prior to bringing it in, it almost would not start one night and I thought I might have to call a tow truck. If this is what my car is going to do at 3 years old, it needs to go. A Subaru dealership is telling me this is "normal" for the car and it cannot be fixed, and apparently it isn't that uncommon for this car. I need a reliable vehicle. I plan to get rid of it and get a vehicle I can trust to start. It's disappointing because I really liked this car.

- needanewcar, Anoka, MN, US

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