9.4

really awful
Crashes / Fires:
0 / 0
Injuries / Deaths:
0 / 0
Average Mileage:
1,302 miles

About These NHTSA Complaints:

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.

2020 Subaru Legacy electrical problems

electrical problem

Find something helpful? Spread the word.
Get notified about new defects, investigations, recalls & lawsuits for the 2020 Subaru Legacy:

Unsubscribe any time. We don't sell/share your email.

2020 Subaru Legacy Owner Comments

problem #12

Nov 052023

Legacy

  • miles

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

The front door window regulator of our 2020 Subaru Legacy is not working properly. It fails to raise and lower correctly and reliably which can be a safety issue especially in an emergency. The problem occurred without any prior warnings or messages. I am told by the dealership (Bob Moore Subaru of Oklahoma City) that it is part #61041AN00A that requires replacement.

- Edmond, OK, USA

problem #11

Oct 072023

Legacy

  • miles
Thermo Control Valve failed. Caused a short which affected all electrical components on its circuit. The car became inoperable in traffic.

- Swarthmore, PA, USA

problem #10

Sep 132023

Legacy

  • miles
Thermo Control Valve has malfunctioned. It disables all driver assistance, like lane assist, blind spot, RAB, collision braking, etc. I have seen on many forums that this is a known issue, across multiple vehicles from Subaru from 2019 to about 2021. The was a TSB put out about a new and improved part to fix this known issue.

- Princeton , WV, USA

problem #9

Apr 232022

Legacy

  • miles

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

The battery discharged to the point where I was unable to start the car. I had been driving all day and was waiting for my wife for half an hour with the radio on. This left us stranded about 15 miles from home. I had to call to have someone take my wife home while I waited for a tow truck. My battery also discharged to the point where I couldn't start my car after the car sat overnight. I needed to take my son to a doctor's appointment, and I had to cancel the appointment. And no, I didn't leave the lights on or a door open.

- Ida, MI, USA

problem #8

Feb 092022

Legacy

  • miles
At a stop, the vehicle shut off, which required a jump start. The vehicle is fairly new, so a discharged battery shouldnt have been an issue.

- El Monte, CA, USA

problem #7

Dec 172021

Legacy 4-cyl

  • miles
In a class action lawsuit filed against Subaru of America, it is alleged that several models have defective Controller Area Network (CAN) modules that cause premature battery drainage. New Jersey Judge [XXX] arbitrarily dismissed two models, Forester and Legacy, from the lawsuit even though they have the same problem because none of the plaintiffs owned either of those model vehicles. I own a 2020 Legacy that has stranded me and my wife on two separate occasions due to a low battery. Once the car died in the middle of a major intersection when I stopped to allow oncoming traffic to pass and the auto start/stop turned the car off. When I attempted to restart the car the battery was dead. This left me in a very unsafe condition. I had to exit my car, dodge traffic and physically move my car from the middle of the intersection. I have had my car inspected by a Subaru Service Dept. and told nothing is wrong. I want Subaru to fix their mistake. What is my recourse? Sincerely, [XXX] INFORMATION Redacted PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6).

- Waynesville, OH, USA

problem #6

Nov 302021

Legacy

  • miles

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

This vehicle is equipped with the Subaru "Eyesight" system which is a number of safety features like automatic cruise control, lane keep assist, and others. About once a week on average while driving the entire system will shut down and the screen will go dark. You lose the radio, bluetooth, navigation, and all the Eyesight systems. After about 30 seconds it will reboot and things will come back online but this is a major safety issue because you loose systems that help with safety. The dealership said it's a known software issue and there's nothing they can do until an update is available. I called Subaru USA customer support in September and they said an update would be available by the end of October and nothing was released. I called in early November and they said they were still working on it but had no release date.

- Gettysburg, PA, USA

problem #5

Oct 152021

Legacy

  • miles
BATTERY ISSUES. maybe stemming from internal components (unsure, but likely). car completely died, when lights and all settings were turned off. bought a jump starter thinking maybe i just left something on, drove around for like an hour to juice it up and power the battery. went to car today and dead again. cannot access trunk (where i put my emergency stuff) because it's completely dead. called and had to wait 3 hours for a jumpstart after subaru automated roadside assistance hung up 4 times before i even got to speak to a representative. scheduled an appt for new car battery. so no invoice or anything yet, but i spent $150 to be able to drive it (thinking it could have potentially my fault), for it to be confirmed that it was infact subarus fault.

- Edison, NJ, USA

problem #4

Sep 112021

Legacy

  • miles
The battery for the Subaru Legacy Limited will not keep a charge. As a result the battery dies and the car will not start. On four occasions the car had to be jump started. After each jump start the car was left running for up to an hour. The next day, the battery was completely discharged and starting the engine was not possible.

- Staten Island, NY, USA

problem #3

Jun 062021

Legacy

  • miles
1. The infotainment system crashed (happens often), which caused the touchscreen in the center control stack to turn black and become unresponsive. This also caused the EyeSight safety system, adaptive cruise control (with lane keep assist), and reverse auto braking to all shut down (my dashboard lit up with warning lights and errors). 2. Not only is this an annoyance, but having all of the safety systems in my car unexpectedly shut down is extremely unsafe, especially adaptive cruise control. Other functions of my car, such as the radio and climate controls are also inaccessible when this happens. 3. A Subaru dealer has replaced the touchscreen in my vehicle to try and remedy the slowness and crashing, but it did not seem to fix anything. My car safety systems have not shut down prior to this incident, but on this day (June 6th), they did when the system crashed, which was after the replacement. After waiting weeks to get a replacement which didn't fix anything, I felt as if I needed to go elsewhere for help with this issue. 4. Only the manufacturer has inspected this issue, and I've also emailed Subaru directly after this incident, as to which I have not gotten a response yet (emailed on Monday, June 7th). 5. The warning lamps (for EyeSight, reverse auto breaking, and adaptive cruise control) all appeared on my dashboard as soon as the infotainment system crashed on June 6th. Prior to this, my vehicle had no warning lamps. They went away a few minutes after the system rebooted (all while I was driving on the highway), and system functionality returned to normal. Other Notes: This vehicle only has about 15k miles on it, and is only 1 year and 3 months old. Issues like this should not be happening. Before the replacement of the touchscreen, I had issues with it being extremely laggy and crashing, but my car's safety systems never shut down before. This is a new issue, which prompted me to report it to NHTSA.

- Johnston, RI, USA

problem #2

May 062021

Legacy

  • 1,000 miles
Battery drain

- Media, PA, USA

problem #1

Feb 102021

Legacy

  • 14,628 miles
Radio and control unit randomly restarts and freezes, affecting the radio from working, the vehicle control and driving assistance options, and the two usb ports which are the only power sources in the vehicle from working correctly. I have no audio and cannot reset the radio and cannot change vehicle control functions. When I select certain buttons it does nothing.

- Millville, NJ, USA

Not what you are looking for?