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.
On Sunday Oct 11th while sitting in the driveway and washing the car a spider crack appeared under the tip of the passenger side windshield wiper that has spread across to just about the rear view mirror. Went to the dealer who then took some photos to send to Subaru. After many calls back and forth we are still waiting on a determination. First was to be be today 10/23 now being told 10/28. There is no evidence of an external impact and as the car is sitting in the driveway it seems it is being pushed out from the inside.
The contact owns a 2015 Subaru Outback. While driving 75 mph, a pebble struck the contact's windshield and created a twelve inch crack. Upon arriving home, the crack expanded to approximately sixteen inches in the shape of the letter "U". the vehicle was not taken to a dealer or repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 12,000.
Our 2015 suburu Outback was purchased in April 2015. In July, the windshield cracked (right up the middle and then, branched out to both sides) right before our eyes in the parking lot of the zoo. No impact of any debris was heard or evident. We had the windshield replaced after suburu determined a point of impact from debris. We did not agree, but we needed a new windshield, so we paid for it. On October 8, after getting into car at work parking lot, another crack was discovered and matched the July's crack exactly. Again, no impact of debris and the start of the crack starts at the very bottom of the windshield. I visited suburu this morning for routing maint and they informed me of no recall and didn't do anything about it. I am replacing the windshield, again, in a couple of days. I suspect there is something wrong with the manufacturing or design of the Outback.
This will be the second windshiled replaced since I bought my Outback in March 2015. First time it cracked, for no apparent reason, 2 weeks after purchase. Now on second windshiled, and seal in upper right is broken, and can't take it out of the garage because there's a deluge of rain out there. Must wait for factory replacement because it's too new!
In less than six months, two windshields have cracked with normal usage. Vehicles has less than 4600 miles. This is either a glass failure issues or a design flaw. Either way, unsafe.
- Medford, MA, USA
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Windshield cracked while driving through lake Tahoe area without any debris hitting windshield. The crack started at lower passenger corner and has grown past mid section of the windshield. This is the 2nd windshield damaged beyond repair on this vehicle.
Noticed a crack in the windshield on 8/27/15. It extended from under the right windshield wiper towards the center of the windshield about 18 inches long. I could not think of an object having hit the windshield, then recalled driving down the street earlier at about 30 mph. I had heard a loud pop sound, but thought it was coming from under the chasis, like the sound of a rock flying up from a tire and hitting underneath. In retrospect this was probably when the windshield cracked. Online research I did earlier showed hundreds of complaints about the windshields on the 2015 Outbacks cracking easily, many of which did not involve objects hitting the car. I found several sites of similar complaints, with the links of 1 below. I brought the car into the dealer the next day and explained that the windshield had spontaneously cracked. They initially told me that my crack appeared to have been caused by an object and not covered under warranty. I asked them to explain how an object could possibly have hit the glass and not damaged the wiper, which was fully intact. They said: "the wiper blade must have been moving when a rock struck windshield". I said no, the wiper blades have not been used in several days since it had not been raining. Also, an insurance appraiser looked at the damaged glass and said this was not caused by an object hitting it from the outside, since the crack he said was an "inside-out" crack based on the feel of the crack. A warranty claim was submitted by the dealer to Subaru of America. Within 2-3 days the decision was made by soa to cover the glass under warranty. Fortunately the dealer had a new windshield in stock, however, there are many reports of the windshield having been back ordered for weeks at a time, which is a safety issue. www.carcomplaints.com/Subaru/Outback/2015/accessories-exterior/visibility_wiper.shtml
Interior rear view mirror broke off the mounting with glass attached to the mounting. Their was no forceful movement or adjustment being applied to the mirror at the time, it just came down. Distracting my driving.
Three days ago, our new Subaru Outback (purchased in late February 2015) developed a crack in the windshield overnight that is now over two feet in length. The crack runs from the top edge, mid-windshield on the driver's side, and circles around the rear view mirror before tailing off a foot or so above the bottom edge, in front of the passenger's side. No object struck the windshield, it simply cracked. We contacted the dealership, who told us that this would not be covered under the warranty, that no aftermarket windshields are available for this model, and quoted a price of $625 (before taxes) for replacement with Subaru glass. The dealership also indicated that there are only a few Subaru windshields available in the us. After hearing this, we went online and discovered that many others have had similar experiences with this model. No wonder there are so few windshields available! since we bought the car, we have noticed significant road noise inside the cabin, even with all windows tightly closed. This, coupled with the number of similar complaints we've seen about cracked windshields on 2015 Subaru Outbacks, leads us to believe that Subaru should recall the model, in order to address the design flaw before someone is killed or injured.
We have 7,100 miles on our new & very first Subaru Outback. This past week we developed a crack that began on the lower 4 inches / center portion on the passenger side of windshield. Yes, there is a "very small nick" from where it began. Believe me, it's smaller than the top of a straight pin. The crack started out in 2 directions and over the past few days has grown to 20 inches and 11 inches respectfully, as of today. If you look at the data on the NHTSA web site for complaints about the 2015 Subaru Outback (104 total 8/20/15 ) 65 of them are about windshields cracking at a very high frequency rate. Plus, the subaruoutback.org web site has a litany of the same complaints. It's to the point, that there is a serious backorder of windshields for the Outback. There have even been cases, were after replacement, the problem happens again, shortly thereafter. I have tried to find this type of problem with other vehicles / brands for 2015. There are none to be found! except the 2015 Subaru legacy, 10 currently, same type of windshield. That would make it around 75 windshield cracking complaints total. Something other than "bad luck" is causing this issue. Subaru needs to seriously take this issue to their engineering people and find it's root cause and cover a proper replacement. I wouldn't recommend anyone running out and getting a replacement until this whole problem is addressed. Again, the replacement windshields are cracking also. Subaru "please step up" and do the right thing for the sake of your reputation and the satisfaction of your many customers, both old and new.
Within 9 days of receiving a replacement windshield for my Subaru Outback, my windshield was damaged again. The dealer noted it on 8/8/15 and the windshield was replaced on 7/31/15. I do not recall any rock hitting the windshield. The top corner of the passenger side windshield had a crack. I did contact Subaru of America who agreed to replace the windshield free of charge.
Windshield was hit by a rock. In the middle of the passenger side. Approximately the size of a dime. Within 4 hours, leaving the car parked, the crack spread a few inches to the left towards the driver side. It stopped in the middle. Over the course of a few days, the crack spread until it was almost within view of the driver.
Driving home upon taking delivery, the windshield cracked, starting at the passenger side wiper. Within 20 miles, the crack was 24" long. We did not hit anything. After two days of fighting with the dealer, they replaced the windshield. Three days ago, with approx. 2000 miles on the vehicle, it cracked again. Again, we did not hit anything. The dealer will not replace it. There has to be an issue with this vehicle. I'm an engineer, and have been driving for 35 years. I've never experienced anything like this.
Had a small stone hit the windshield and saw nothing at the time. About half hour later, we saw a crack in the lower part of the windshield, which spread quickly across the driver's side. Was told by the glass replacement company that these windshields were on back order and had to wait weeks for repair. Then on August 22, 2015 we had another small stone hit the windshield on the driver's side. It was small and normally we would have been able to get this fixed. But we saw it start to spread and then heard a loud pop and saw the thing star out into six different directions quickly. These stones were not very large and I've never had a windshield react like the Subaru. I've had larger stones hit our Toyota and was able to get a repair prior to a windshield being replaced. I believe there is an issue in the manufacture of these windshields. These are expensive to keep replacing and I am concerned with safety of these windshields.
A small object hit the passenger side lower part of the windshield. At first there was a small star shape mark that I thought could be fixed. However it spread quickly. I went to american auto glass and was told that he had many of these windshield on back order and that they were only made by Subaru. I waited for about 6 weeks and still no windshield. I called customer service at Subaru and finally I received a windshield about 7 weeks after it cracked. The manager at american auto glass told me that he has never seen so many cracked windshields in a new model car and felt that Subaru had an issue. Last week about 2 months after I had the glass replaced I had another crack at almost the same place as the first crack. I called Subaru and had it inspected by Subaru and they said I needed a new windshield and that it was not covered under warranty. I than brought it to safelight auto glass and they were able to repair it. I feel that there is a safety issue with the windshields in the 2015 Subaru Outback and that Subaru needs to come up with a fix. I will also follow up with customer service at Subaru
Car was sitting in driveway. Something hit base of windshield and starred it at spot hit. The star spread quickly as a crack running up the windshield. This appears to be a safety issue as other 2015 Outback owners are reporting multiple cracks in windshields as well.
2015 Outback, owned less than a year. A small pebble hit the bottom right corner of windshield while driving on I-25 South of pueblo, co. This created a dime size starburst pattern at the impact sight. Minutes later a 12 inch+ crack developed. The crack continued to expand to almost the center of the windshield during the the drive to tx. The temperature was about 65 degrees so the windshield wasn't in freezing conditions. The pebble impact was nothing of note and hardly got our attention. In 4 decades of driving and haven taken many rocks to the windshield of different makes of vehicles I've never seen this result.
The windshield developed a mysterious crack from the lower corner driver side, and it propagated across in a week a two. We have been unable to find a reasonably priced after market windshield and the quoted cost from the dealer is way too high. We also understand that the dealer has difficulty getting the new glass in a timely manner. I am not willing to spend so much money to replace the windshield when it appears that another crack may occur on this defective product.
My windshield has a crack that runs from the lower passenger side to the center of the window and then horizontally across to the driver's side. This first started as a small crack and grew quickly. There is a tiny chip, less than a pin head in size near the beginning of the crack. No star, and not the size I would take to get fixed. I didn't think much of it other than "bummer, a big crack in my brand new car's windshield" until I saw another Outback, same body style, with the same crack. I called the dealer to get it replaced and it is on a 3 month backorder. Then I checked this website and saw several similar stories. Please look into this. Is there some kind of defect in the windshield, installation, or fit? thanks
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Scotch Plains, NJ, USA