1. defect in windshields or framing area. I've had 4 windshield crack in the bottom right and have replaced 3 so far since I bought it. Adding my name and car to the complaints saying the windshields in their Subaru vehicles are defective and are spontaneously cracking, and breaking, sometimes 'within weeks or a few months of purchase.' I usually notice upon returning to my car in the morning to leave for work or returning from being away from it all day. My car insurance has covered all but $100 of the bills over the span of 2 years, luckily. But my time is valuable. 2. radio/multimedia screen sometimes doesn't come on when I start the car and won't work until I turn the car off and back on later. 3. chincy material, seems to dent veeeery easily, does not live up to high standards and durability they rave about. I'm not sure what all has dinged my car but it is way more frequent than any other car I've owned. I usually notice walking up to it from being parked. Could be from driving down road though. 4. battery life is short. Car was not run for 5 days and battery was dead. Claims to be an outdoorsy car so why would it be set up to kill the battery so quickly? my dealership updated the software and gave me a bigger battery to help "fix" that issue.

- Caledonia, MI, USA

Something in the car is constantly draining the battery. No lights or other systems are on but when the car sits for a couple days without starting, the battery drains. We have replaced the battery twice and it keeps happening.

- Los Angeles, CA, USA

Battery was dead in May 2020. Purchased new battery 5/28/2020. New battery was dead 6/4/2020. New battery had lasted only 7 days.

- Stevensville, MT, USA

Battery had to be replaced within a year of owning the car as it would not start and could not be recharged. Since replacement I have had a few times when the car wouldn't start again.

- Albuquerque, NM, USA

My relatively new Subaru failed to start, and had no electrical power at all. The oem battery would not charge with a home charger, but was able to start with a jump from aaa. At Subaru of bend, they stated the battery had not failed, but that Subaru's are programmed not to charge the battery below 40 mph. They installed a software change that removed that "feature" since we use the vehicle primarily, but not exclusively, for around town driving. This non-charging is a safety issue since the failure to start occurred without warning, nor would any reasonable person expect a car not to charge the battery when driving predominately on local trips. There was no warning of this "feature" and if the car failed to start in a remote location, this could be a safety issue. We do drive the vehicle to trailheads in the national forest and wilderness area's, and Subaru advertises its products, such as the Outback, and being suitable for back roads driving.

- Sisters, OR, USA

Dead, drained battery- no response from car, unable to even open with key fob. Car parked in garage at home.

- Jackson, NJ, USA

This model has severe battery drain issues. I have had to repeatedly jump or charge the battery after just a short period of the lift gate or side doors being open. The lights are turned off but they still drain the battery. This is unacceptable in an "outdoor" vehicle. You cannot tailgate, use the lift gate to make a tent, keeps doors open when unloading. Subaru gives you an under-powered cheap battery and has the drain issue. I cannot use the car as marketed. I finally got fed up with the issue so far and purchased my own larger battery. Soa has agreed to pay for this, but the underlying issue needs to be corrected. I suspect on the lift gate there is power continually flowing to it when open so it is ready to close when you push the close button. This need a kill switch. My behavior with this car is no different than other cars in the past and their batteries did not die. This is not user error, but a bad design. The web is full of similarly frustrated owners. I'll put the last date I had to call aaa, but this has happened repeatedly since I have owned it. Even an hour of the lift gate open seems to severely drain the battery. My parents have a 2016 and I don't think they have this issue? this is a safety issue if you get stuck somewhere in the wild with a dead car.

- Escondido, CA, USA

The car has 19065 miles and will not start because the battery is dead. The car will start when jump started following the manual procedures. However the battery immediately discharges when engine is turned off. When the battery is disconnected from the car the voltage is $12.65 but when the battery is reconnected to the car the voltage drops to 5.75 indicating there is a load on the battery when the car is in the off mode. When running or driving the battery warning lite is not displayed.

- Kamuela, HI, USA

Car was not used for 5 days and had dead battery.

- Appleton, WI, USA

The volume of the phone ring: This is another problem going on for years, throughout different year models, and very well documented on the internet in several forums as well (https://www.subaruoutback.org/threads/2018-w-nav-phone-ring-volume.497495/). every time my cellphone rings, it's ear piercingly loud. It makes one jump loud. I did try to get help at the dealership but sadly there is no remedy. The problem is twofold: 1. the phone connected via bluetooth to the car's native system. While in settings there is a mode where one is able to adjust the ring volume (which is for some reason set to '10' by default) and bring it down to '1-2', soon as one parks and leaves the car for even an hour the system resets to '10'. even worst, sometimes all one have to do without leaving the vehicle, to turn up the volume on the radio and that will reset the previously lowered ring volume. 2. the phone connected to airplay for which there are no settings whatsoever. Even if the phone in silent mode and there is no sound for text messages, it rings overwhelmingly loud.

- Los Angeles, CA, USA

These incidents are ongoing problems from purchasing my first Outback 4 years ago. The question/answer below (*when did this happen?) cannot be answered truthfully, pinpointed to an exact date. It was a brand new car purchased from the dealer and my current, second one with the same exact issues are also a new purchase from the same dealer. The hazard flashers: When the car is in parking and hazards are on, if one locks the car with the fob, they won't be able to unlock the car with the remote anymore. The tiny key from the fob needed to unlock, which is hard enough especially for someone with disabilities and consequently triggers the car's alarm. Weather warnings: This outrageous thing started just a few months ago (Nov. 2019), when I was prompted to update the firmware. Ever since at any weather phenomena (regardless of my phone being plugged in or not, bluetooth on or off) a warning appears on the screen and one has to interact with it. This warning pops up sometimes every 2-4 minutes while driving. Especially dangerous on the highway at high speed, at night and while using the navigation system in unfamiliar areas since one's been distracted by the blacked out screen. When I first reported this issue at the dealership they spent an entire day finding the problem, unsuccessfully. Which is a huge surprise because there are multiple websites and forums (https://www.subaruoutback.org/threads/weather-alerts-on-the-head-unit-radio.449129/) discussing the problem with no solution, going beck for years. While I appreciate the effort, it's absolutely not my vehicle's job to tell me about the weather.

- Los Angeles, CA, USA

Information systems fail to rebooting. Backup camera fails etc

- Glasgow, KY, USA

I have replaced the battery twice and the battery is still dead if I don't drive the vehicle for more than 3 days. Obviously there is a parasitic drain. I don't have an options or accessories installed that did come with the vehicle when purchased.

- Thornton, CO, USA

Radio and maps went to a black screen several times at 5K miles. It was sent to the dealership for update. Still had issues, but not as many. Then the lighting went out on the radio buttons. Replaced main head which was covered under warranty w/a 100 dollar deductible. Automatic door locks work intermittently when put in gear, drivers window control panel does not work for any windows in the car other than the drivers window. Had transmission issues after 2 months of purchase. It idles high and does not smoothly glide into gear. Windshield was cracked by a small rock. It was replaced and two weeks later it cracked again.

- Paoli, OK, USA

The head unit in the sound system/electrical system broke resulting in no backup camera/ music/ apple car play/ etc. For over 2 months. The car was less than 6 months old and the unit was backordered at the time resulting no use of the head unit for 2 months.

- San Diego, CA, USA

The head unit in the sound system/electrical system keeps failing resulting in a loss of all sound functions. I don't get any warnings of problems as the sound system simply does not work. This is unsafe. To date, the dealer has replaced what he calls an amplifier twice. The new unit works for a few days or weeks and then fails again. So far, the other components connected to this system -- back up camera, for instance, still work. I don't know if this is related, but the rear hatch has opened by itself three times, each time when the car was parked. Once, this caused the battery to drain because we did not discover it for more than 12 hours. Once, there was damage to the rear hatch because we did not know it was open and it was damaged by the garage door when we opened it remotely from outside.

- Lawrenceville, NJ, USA

Headunit, including backup camera, has been unresponsive for over six weeks. A replacement has been on order with the local Subaru dealer for five weeks.

- Carthage, NC, USA

In Dec 2018 the fuel line of my 2018 Subaru Outback had to be replaced because it had been chewed through by a rodent and was leaking in the car. Total damage was over $2000. In May 2019 another $3500 damage was discovered from a rodent chewing on electrical harnesses in the dash. The dealer told me this is because Subaru is now using soy-based insulation for fuel lines, wiring, and electrical harnesses. Rodents are attracted to the soy because they think it is food. In both cases my damage was discovered while trying to start the car while it is parked. But what if I was driving down the road and a chewed wire came loose that shorted something out and impacted my ability to control the car" or what if the fuel line broke while driving down the highway and caused the car to suddenly stall" manufacturers should not be allowed to use materials (e.g. soy) that actually attract rodents. If anything, they should be using materials that deter rodents. Fuel lines and electrical harnesses are critical to the safe operation of a car and these systems are needlessly being put at risk by using soy to produce them. This is especially troubling for Subaru because part of their image encourages their owners to explore "the great outdoors." What happens why I go camping and park my car in the woods and chipmunks chew through my components and strand me in the middle of nowhere? or, worse, a critical system on the car fails as I'm driving home and I lose control of the vehicle and crash. The use of soy-based components should not be allowed. Or, if it is, oems should cover rodent damage to these systems under warranty. At the very least, oems should be required to disclose the use of soy in the car before a vehicle is purchased. I had no idea soy-based products were used in this car. Had I known, I would not have bought it. Fyi... Subaru denies using soy products.

- Wixom, MI, USA

Infotainment system would not boot up at start. Loss of navigation, backup camera, hands free phone, sirius radio.

- Chapel Hill, NC, USA

Smoke electrical short issue in driver side mirror. Diagnosed by Subaru mechanic to be a short in the approach light module. Significant smoke was emitted from mirror with burn marks on bottom inside middle of mirror. The car had just came to rest in a hospital parking deck. Car was removed from deck in order to prevent fire hazard. Note - a 10 amp fuse did blow which caused a failure of the TPMS (tire pressure monitoring system) and the remote lock/unlock system.

- Canton, OH, USA