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.
Battery failed in first 6 months of owning the car. Battery was replaced at Gilman Subaru Selma Texas. Battery and relay at North Park Body shop during the repair for hail damage. The car was at this shop from April 20th 2022 until the middle of July 2022. The day the car was picked up the electronic door locks did not work. The car was taken to North Park Subaru to diagnosis and repair a faulty body control module. They have had the car since August 8th. After it was taken back to North Star Collision to try to remedy the issue. North Star Subaru would not honor a warranty claiming outsider influence. On August 15th I was informed that the battery malfunctioned for 3rd time. With exception of about a week and a half since April 20th. I have not had use of my vehicle.
I purchased the car new in January 2021. During the first several months there were no issues. After that, the "Infotainment" system which controls the sound, nav, hvac, etc. systems would suddenly go black and those functions would stop working. It would seem to reboot as a computer does when you restart it. That was distracting but mostly just annoying, lasting less than 30 seconds. I will call that a "soft reboot." That happened many times over the next few months. On two occasions, the screen would black out and not only those systems would cease to function, it would shut down cruise control and Eyesight. Call that a "hard reboot." This was very dangerous. In traffic at 70-75 mph when the cruise control suddenly stops working, the car decelerates immediately and quickly. There are no warning signs or messages; it just goes black and shuts down those systems. Cars following would quickly be within a dangerous proximity. Not a safety issue but a hard reboot also wipes clear some settings including the nav destinations. During that period I spoke with service managers at two Subaru dealerships who said that it was a common problem and Subaru had issued a "patch" that was supposed to fix it. I live approximately an hour from the nearest dealership and had some difficulty finding a time to take it in for the upload. Finally I took it in to Scenic Subaru in Mt. Airy, NC on September 9, 2022 to get the update, with around 22,500 miles into a 36,000 mile warranty. I left the dealership at approximately 4 p.m. headed for Winston Salem, NC, approximately an hour drive. Within 5 miles from the dealership it did a soft reboot. That happened two more times. I called the dealership to advise them but it was too late to return. Then, still within an hour from the dealership, it did a hard reboot, shutting down everything as I described above. It functioned properly until it did a soft reboot today, 220 miles after the update.
Wind shield very very weak cracks very easy I have had for 1.5 years, I am on my 6th windshield, if any thing hits the edge of the windshield it totally cracks. Also having battery issues. on my third battery care has 47 k miles.
The infotainment system is so buggy and slow it's dangerously distracting. It crashes all the time and takes a few minutes to reboot which is not good when you're using navigation. The volume randomly will go to 100% and the only way to fix it is to restart the car. I've had it happen maybe 10 times. It's very startling and it's painful to the ears. The most dangerous problem with the infotainment system, however, is how inconsistently slow it is. When you tap to open the HVAC menu, for example, it can take 1-45 seconds to open. That means you have to keep your eyes off the road waiting for a response. If you don't, the menu disappears right away. Then when you're waiting for a response, the driver monitor starts beeping loudly and flashes "Stay Alert". Even Subaru's own safety systems think the response time is unacceptable. I called Subaru about the issue but their primary purpose just seems to be deflecting complaints and and gaslighting. We've been expecting fixes for years and it never comes. Either Subaru doesn't know how to fix it or they don't want to. The system falls under the 3/36 warranty which means that by the time the find a fix, most of the cars won't be covered.
The headlights on this vehicle are obnoxiously bright! I get flashed by oncoming drivers constantly at night. I even get flashed by pickup trucks. I'm not sure if it's the main headlamps or the fog lights. It does seem like the fog lights have really poor beam control. When driving on a country road at night I can tell the fog lights are lighting up the tops of trees by toggling them on and off. I passed an oncoming car just like mine a while back and I could finally understand why I get flashed all the time. They ARE really blinding. I tried to bring it up with Subaru of America and the guy on the phone literally laughed at me and just told me to not use the fog lights. They don't seem to care at all about all the safety issues the current generation Outback has. Very unprofessional. Subaru doesn't appear to welcome feedback at all.
- Weston, WI, USA
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Vehicle was about 1 year old and had about 2300 miles when I started having issues with the battery being dead and having to jump start the vehicle after it sat a few days. I contacted the dealership and the battery took it in. After about 4 hours they said the battery was "low" and they recharged it and said everything was fine. They said I didn't drive it enough so it was my fault the battery would not start the vehicle. That was 5/10/22. On 8/26/22 the battery was dead and I had to jump it again. There have been no warning lights.
The engine block of our car caught fire while it was parked and turned off. It melted the engine and hood of the car, totaling it. Thankfully, we were not in the vehicle when the incident occurred, so no one was injured. At the time of the incident, our car was parked outside our apartment building under a low-hanging tree, which was burned in the fire. Had a neighbor not noticed and called 911, the fire may have spread to the nearby apartment building and caused much more severe damage than what was already done to the car. We had no warning prior to the incident. To our knowledge, the car was in perfect condition. We had bought it brand new 16 months prior and had taken it in for its scheduled maintenance 3 times. We are unaware if the vehicle has been inspected yet or if they've discovered the origin of the problem. All we know is that the insurance company and firefighters confirmed it wasn't arson, as the fire was contained to the engine block and front end of the car, and they also confirmed we were not at fault. Vehicle caught fire while it was parked and turned off.
Battery is draining for no apparent reason. As stated in several class action law suits, defects in these vehicles ( Subaru Outback 2015-2020) cause the batteries to drain, replacement batteries also drain. The Subaru Outback battery drains because of the Controller area network (CAN). When the vehicle is shut off, the CAN system should enter sleep mode so only a limited amount of electrical current is used. However, Subaru software errors prevent the CAN from entering sleep mode when vehicle is turned off. This software error will drain the original battery and every replacement battery installed in an Outback. Once the battery is drained, I am stranded. Reference law suits Daley v. Subaru and Tomasian v. Subaru. Subaru needs to fix all Subarus that are affected by this battery drainage issue. I have been experiencing this problem since we bought the car. First time, I thought I left something on, subsequent drainage issues I know that nothing has been left on. I now keep a trickle charge unit on the battery while in the garage at all times.
On multiple occasions I have had the infotainment system (the touchscreen) either freeze, go completely blank, or reset itself while driving. Most often this has happened while using Apple Car Play but that's not always the case. When this occurs, I also get a message that EyeSight is not available. While this has not caused me to have an accident the potential is there. I have had the screen go blank while using navigation in an unfamiliar area, I've had it go blank while driving down the highway. It's very distracting and you can easily miss your exit or worse. Subaru has no fix for this other than updating the software approximately every 6 months in hopes it will solve things. To me this is totally unacceptable.
vehicle about 14 months old, I purchased new Tried to start vehicle battery dead, no lights or other acc. had been left on. two weeks later battery would not start car, I jump started car according to directions in owners manual. After jump start several check engine lights came on, cruise control did not work. lane control and "EYESIGHT" failure warning light was on. Subaru dealer replaced battery under warranty
I believe there is a software defect associated with the infotainment system. The system also includes car information such as car data, audio/radio, navigation as well as other items related to modern car's functionality. The issue is when a mobile is plugged into one of the two from USB port, the infotainment will randomly reboot itself. When this happens the screen turns black/bland while rebooting occurs. This can happen even while the vehicle is in motion possibly causing severe distraction resulting a safety issue. (Imaging driving down the highway and your car reboots without warning.) Reboot takes about two minutes during this time the vehicle is drill drivable but is very disconcerting to the driver. This issue is also a major topic with online forums such as www.subaruoutback.org under the Gen 6: 2020-Future section. https://www.subaruoutback.org/threads/2020-outback-software-gigathread.517684/page-340#post-6235066 Attempts to reach the dealership has not proven to be resolvable.
Car won't start. Battery drained after in garage overnight. The lights weren't left on and keys far from car. This same thing happened after leaving car with blinkers on for a very short period.
Purchased vehicle 1/2021. Currently has 8500 miles. For the past few months the dash/navigation system intermittently shuts down. Lose everything including speed/cruise/gps/radio. After a few seconds will reboot. I have called the dealer twice regarding this issue - was told to press "defrost" button 5 times and bring to the service department. This was done and they sent the info to Subaru - have not heard anything from Subaru regarding this complaint which was done over 2 months ago
Battery dead after leaving in garage for a day. Happened three times and I brought it to dealer, and they charged battery and said it passed Subaru test procedure and that nothing they can do. No lights on and key is in house closet area. Battery still drains if left in garage for a day without driving. I bought a portable charger for $150.
Purchased new Outback SUV in March of 2021. Currently has 4488 miles on odometer. Center console infotainment center randomly reboots at times without warning. System reboots after several seconds, but until system is restored, any function active at the time controlled from that console is unavailable (radio, navigation, etc.). Dealer has not yet inspected the car for this problem at this time. I have not been able to cause the system to reboot at will, it appears to be totally random.
2021 outback purchased Feb 2021. Within 2 weeks the touch screen, which controls the cruise control, heating, all eyesight controls went blank. This causes cruise control at highway speed to quit, causing sudden deceleration at highways speeds. Sometime the screen reboots, most times it requires driver to pull car over to reset. This also controls GPS and Heating/Air. There have been times when I have working canines in the car and loss of air conditioner in summer months has been extremely problematic requiring pulling car off road to open windows to ventilate. Multiple trips to dealer, and open case with SOA results in no resolution, as there apparently is no fix. Recently 11/1/21 instructed when this happens to push my front defroster button five times after reboot to record codes. How distracting while driving is this" Feel like this is severely underreported as owners frustrated. Receiving dealer instruction to look at touchscreen while driving causes the cars alert function to activate saying -€œkeep eyes on road-€. Why are they advising this unsafe action" Recent software updates as late as last week of October installed and does not fix issue, verified by dealer service manager. Multiple incidents, recorded on my phone video, last incident occurred 7/12/2021.
The contact owns a 2021 Subaru Outback. The contact stated that while driving at various speeds, the home screen on the center console would go blank without warning. Once while driving 65 MPH with the cruise control activated, the center console went blank and the cruise control deactivated with several unknown warning lights illuminated. The contact stated that vehicle abruptly slowed down due to the failure and the 360-camera feature failed to operate as needed. The dealer was notified and acknowledged the failure; however, they informed the contact that there was no remedy for the defect. An independent mechanic was also notified and provided the contact similar information as the dealer. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was approximately 11,000.
Your form would not allow me to chcek all applicable issues. I believe the computer system and brakes are the major issues. The start/stop system engaged when I was turning in the middle of an intersection. When driving at cruising speeds (foot on the gas pedal), the car suddenly felt as if the brake was being engaged. The forward and rear collision warning signals do not work. The blind spot warning does not work. There is grinding coming from the undercarriage at times (random), while my foot is on the gas. The car bucks for no reason. The battery is draining (less than 2,000 miles on the car). Sometimes I have to turn the ignition twice in the morning. I turn everything off when I get out of the car. My safety and safety of others is definitely at risk. What I didn't realize until recently is that prior to accepting the vehicle, the salesman must have turned the start/system off, because when I went for a test drive, the start/stop did not engage once and I drove in city traffic with multiple stops. Immediately upon diving off lot, the car stopped and I had issues. The salesman told me I had to get used to the start/sytem. This is a dangerous situation. My car is currently being looked at by the dealer.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Seguin, TX, USA