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.
In a period of less than 1 year, I have experienced three windshields cracking from normal driving down the highway. I have driven for over 55 years in several vehicles and have been hit by road debris or rocks numerous times. This will normally leave a pit or star which can be repaired, I never have had a vehicle's windshield crack, all the way across when simply driving the speed limit. Not once, but three times in a 5 month period. I feel these windshields are not safe for my family to be in. If they crack with a pebble, what would happen if there was an accident. The first windshield cracked coming back from the grand canyon visit. The second time, new replacement window from suburu, cracked from little or unknown strike 2 months later. Suburu replaced that window at their cost. 2 months later during July heat, a small rock picked off the road and the window cracked in a backward C shape. Suburu denies any liability from road hazards, and will not consider they have less quality product as it was approved. Reading several blogs and online comments alerted me that this was very common and they had past issues with their windshields. Who can I speak to?
Small rock hit windshield and it caused a huge crack in March 2019 and then again in November 2019. We were driving down the highway when it happened. It should have cause no damage or just a little chip, not huge cracks. The windshield appears to be weak.
I bought my car brand new in March of 2018. After only 1 year the windshield cracked. I did not see where the initial chip was and came out to my car one morning and saw the windshield completely cracked. I was shocked at how expensive the recalibration was so I filed an insurance claim. I still had to pay around $300 to get it fixed because again, recalibration costs an exorbitant amount for some reason. After further review I got off light as having it done by the dealership was quoted to me as costing $850. It is now only 7 months later and my windshield is cracked all the way across again. I didn't see the chip at first until it had begun to crack a tiny amount. As I was driving in the city it spread all the way across the windshield. Because I saw it early I planned to get it fixed the next day to hopefully avoid another few hundred dollars of expense. Unfortunately, it spread all the way across the windshield making it irreparable within 30 minutes of my finding it. Again, this was with me driving less than 30 mph with no heat on because it's cold outside and I know hot and cold make it worse. I have never had a windshield crack like this and more than once within a 1 year time frame. These windshields seem to be made very cheaply at the expense of safety. I can't afford to make another insurance claim or pay this out of pocket. I took every precaution as a driver and this still happened. I will never buy another Subaru and may sell this one if this keeps happening because I simply cannot afford to fix this all of the time and more importantly I shouldn't have to.
I have replaced the windshield 3 times already. Tiny rocks are causing large cracks like I've never experienced before in other vehicles. This should not be happening.
Windscreen is easily cracked by any pebbles that knick thr shield. First time the screen was hit by a pebble from a moving vehicle and the crack spread all the way across the screen. Had to replace it with another Subaru glass. Not even 2 weeks in another pebble hits and chips..then a couple weeks later again, another pebble cracks the screen. Anything that hits the glass seems to put knicks and cracks. Other cars we've owned have been hit harder and not had any damage. Not sure what these Subaru glass screens are made of, but I assume the most delicate of materials not suited for windshield use. All times hit with rocks from moving vehicles while my car was also in motion on a highway.
- Victoria, MN, USA
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Car parked in driveway in morning and windshield was fine. Few hours later there was a two foot crack from the drivers side to the mid point of the windshield.
The windshield cracked, starting at the bottom middle, and spreading up and then in all directions. There is no point of impact and the crack started while parked int the driveway, away from the front of the house.
I heard the noise of a pebble hitting the windshield on the highway traveling between 60 and 70 mph. Less than a minute later, a crack appeared vertically from the bottom center of the windshield. Later, the crack became a "T" and grew horizontally. The next day when the windshield defroster was on, the crack continued to grow to about a foot and a half. The windshield had to be replaced at this point.
On September 23, 2019 at about 1 pm mst I was driving North on Arizona route 89, just North of the rt 64 intersection. I was on a divided section of paved highway traveling at no more than 40 miles per hour. There were no other cars ahead of me and none on the other side of the highway when I heard a pop in my front windshield and a crack appeared about a third of the way up on the driver's side. When I stopped later to examine the windshield I could see no evidence of anything striking the glass. There was no debris on the highway. The pavement was in good condition. The crack expanded horizontally across the window. I had the window replaced at the greeley Subaru dealer on Friday September 27.
I have owned my 2018 Subaru Outback for 8 months. The windshield has cracked in the same spot twice already. It starts from the middle of the passenger side and extends all the way across the windshield. I never heard a rock hitting, nor was there a ding in the windshield. I got it fixed the first time and within a week it cracked in the exact same spot. It was parked both times we noticed the crack.
While driving down the highway, a small pebble was kicked up from the car in front of us and bounced off our windshield. It left a tiny chip the size of a pinhead. We reported it immediately and took it for repair within two hours of the incident at safe lite. Two days later, there was a giant crack in the windshield. We brought it to the dealership for replacement at a cost of nearly $1000, $500 out of pocket.
The windshield cracks and shatters for no reason. I have now replaced two windshields and they continue to break, even though no impacts with flying debris occurred. Many Outback owners report similar things happening. There is something defective with the windshield that cause them to be fragile.
Vehicles windshield spontaneously cracked while stationary. During a road trip with several passengers, we made a pit stop and when we got back in the car a passenger noted that the windshield was cracked when it had not been prior to the stop.
Windshield broke while driving down the freeway going roughly 30 mph. The car was passing kicked up a small rock which hit my windshield causing the outer layer of glass to get chipped and crack. The original crack was 7 inches long but the afternoon in the sun caused the crack to propagated across the windshield spanning 3/4 of the windshield. The glass ended up costing 1200 to be replaced and have the eyesight re calibrated. The car was less than a year old and had less than 12000 miles on it when the windshield broke.
My windshield cracked for seemingly no reason, while driving on clean and clear highway. I didn't notice anything hit the windshield, but a huge crack appeared. I'm reporting this because I've read that this is a common occurrence on 2017 - 2019 Subaru Outbacks, and I wanted you to be aware of mine.
I was driving and hit a pothole with the right front tire. I heard a loud pop or crack and thought something had happened to the tire or wheel because it was a very loud. But after continuing to drive slowly for another block, it was apparent the tire wasn't damaged nor did the car systems indicate any problems. I was driving on a city street at approximately 35mph when I hit the pothole. I continued driving and completed my errands. I did look at the tire when I parked for my errand but didn't see any visible damage to the tire, wheel or body. I then drove home and parked the car in our garage as usual. I did not have any other issues, problems or hear any noises. The damage to the windshield was readily visible the next morning when I came out to drive the car. The crack in the windshield had started under the seal on the passenger side and had traveled up approximately 8-12 inches. It has continued to grow and is now almost bottom to top on the passenger side at the time our car had just passed the 12 month warranty period. However, I discussed the issue with the dealer where we leased the car when doing routine maintenance. This discussion took place over several months as I tried to work with them about the windshield potentially being defective since it was just the action of driving through the pothole that caused the windshield to crack. They agreed to look into the issue but ultimately denied the possibility of a defective windshield. The time between the event and now was due to ongoing discussions with the dealer. The windshield is still not fixed but I was just getting ready to have it repaired after this last round of discussions with the dealer.
Driving on highway one day heard a crack. Parked the car and after a few hours noticed a small hairline crack. That started from the middle passenger side. There was no sign of of rock hitting the windshield.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Santee, CA, USA