This data is from the NHTSA — the US gov't agency tasked with vehicle safety. Complaints are spread across multiple & redundant categories, & are not organized by problem.
So how do you find out what problems are occurring? For this NHTSA complaint data, the only way is to read through the comments below. Any duplicates or errors? It's not us.
Driver's seat started peeling off approximately a year after purchase. Notified dealer, they said to contact Subaru of America via social media. Now almost all peeled off, have to cover with towel possibly interfering with airbags. Steering column lock will not lock in top position. Dealer repaired once under warranty, now out of warranty. Unsafe when column moves when driving. Transmission started slipping or behaving strangely around 90,000 miles. Never received notice of extended warranty I read about on Subaru forums (https://www.subaruoutback.org/threads/cvt-warranty-extension-2010-15.429481/) Paid $531.43 for fluid change at dealership because of the problem on 7/27/23 and no mention was made about extended warranty. It has not solved the problem. If transmission fails, that is a safety problem.
Automatic front seats. When wife opens the passenger door first (before the driver) the driver seat adjusts to her set position. An D if I don't pay attention the driver seat will push/crush me into the steering wheel. I have a bad back and drop foot, so I don't have the strength of a younger person. My only salvation is to squeeze out or hit the position button on the door panel. Also, the presets go out all the time. I have asked if they could disable the passenger side door sensor. Nothing. Rear gate opening: It has happened so many times. I have complained directly to Subaru about the seat and gate problem. No results. The rear gate has opened while raining outside during the night. It has opened while in the garage jamming the overhead garage door. I am afraid on trips to have stuff stolen out of my car is such an incident. Happened once. Also... they have a cute preset so you can set the max height of the gate opening. Twice my wife has walked into the rear gate and literally flipped backwards to the pavement! Subaru denies any problems about the gate. Funny, one day I was helping a friend and her mom was there. As they helped me unload my Subaru we discovered that mom had also a similar model. The first question she asked me "have you any problem with your rear gate"!!! it's not just me. Subaru needs to step up and fix these problems before someone really gets hurt or have loss of items from the car.
Substantial rust has developed at the attach point of the driver's seat-belt to the driver's seat and of the attach-point of the driver's seat to the car. We're the original owner and the car was never flooded or exposed to water in any other way. I took it to the dealer two weeks ago and they didn't know what to make of it or do about it. They reached out to Subaru and (as of 4/24) the dealer hasn't received a response. The passenger side doesn't have this problem, but the design is entirely different -- no exposed metal. Interestingly, when the service advisor checked other later-year gen 5 Outbacks the design had changed: There was no longer any exposed metal in the equivalent location. The newer design for the driver-side attach-point mimics the passenger side - no exposed metal. A 2016 Outback in for service had the same exposed metal design on the driver-side seat. It also had rusting at the same location (although not nearly as severe as on mine). It does not seem safe to have this kind of rust at such a key attach-point for the seat and a critical safety device like a seatbelt. We live in a warm/temperate part of California and the car has always been "homed" in part of California, so it has not been exposed to harsh weather.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Whiting, IN, USA