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.
The contact owns a 2021 Subaru Outback. The contact stated while starting the vehicle, the starter motor was making an abnormal clicking sound. The contact stated that after several attempts the vehicle was started. Additionally, the contact stated that at times the instrument cluster was blank. The contact stated that he purchased a battery charger and recharged the battery; however, the failure persisted. The contact stated that once he had fully charged the battery the vehicle was started; however, sometimes the vehicle failed to shut off and the battery terminals had to be disconnected. The contact drove the vehicle to a local dealer who diagnosed that the OE battery was not sufficiently powerful to start the vehicle and provide power all the electrical functions. The dealer installed a new battery with more amperage and new cables. The vehicle was repaired. The contact was informed by the dealer that the manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The manufacturer was informed of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 34,000.
As I was approaching a T intersection and preparing to stop at the stop sign, I started to apply my brakes when all of a sudden my car accelerated and lunged forward almost into the path of oncoming traffic on the intersecting road. As I had originally started to apply my brake, it felt as if the brake dropped slightly under my foot but, as the car lunged forward, I immediately jammed on the brake so I am not 100% sure about that dropping sensation. It all happened within a matter of seconds. Anyway, jamming on the brakes stopped the forward momentum and the car stopped before actually entering the path of an oncoming car. If I had started to brake any closer to the intersection, I may not have had time to stop the car in time to avoid a broadside collision with the oncoming car. I have owned this car about a year and a half and this is the first time anything like this has happened. There was no warning lamps, messages etc at the time or prior to the incident. After the incident, my husband checked online and saw that others have described a similar experience with their Subarus and, apparently, there is an ongoing lawsuit involving this problem. This just happened last evening so I have not yet taken my car to the dealer to be inspected but plan to do so soon.
My vehicle is equipped with EYESIGHT. I was driving to my home after work at night and suddenly the infotainment system screen went blank; including Braking Assist, Adaptive Cruise control, Lane assist, Emergency Braking etc including Navigation, also the HVAC shut off and EYESIGHT that controls these as well, shut off. It was suffocating in the car due to no A/C and thusf I tried to pull over at a remote text-stop place and tried restarting the car but in vain. All screens were dark, no warm air, I couldn-??t see what direction I was driving to, as well as I solely relied on navigation. I brought this car for it-??s safety features and warmth in this cold temperature in UPSTATE NY and this happened. I waited for 20 mins, charged my phone for only 4-5% with a fellow citizen who was waiting there as well and checked online just to see a lot of people reported the same issue with 2021 Subarus with EYESIGHT. And there is NO way one can fix it. I tried contacting the dealer but in vain. I am afraid that if this would happen again, I wouldn-??t be in a situation to face this scary experience.
I have experienced premature rear brake wear and excessive tire wear. Issues with infotainment system and pre-collision braking system. (1) Regarding Tires: Performed all dealer recommended tire rotations and aligned vehicle when recommended. Needed new tires at 31,169 miles. Tires showed excessive inside wear. Bought new tires from a 3rd party shop and had alignment done with hunter alignment system. Showed rear right camber at -2.0. Subaru recommends -1.8 to 0.3. Rear camber is not adjustable on this model. Took vehicle back to dealer for brake job and they said camber was fine...there is a spec for a reason. Did not want to attempt to bring it in spec with aftermarket kits (i.e. adjustable cam bolt) or fix under warranty. (2) Regarding Brakes: Needed new brakes at 31,169 miles. Not covered under warranty and not what I would consider typical wear based on my driving style and my past experience with Subaru vehicles. If this is an expected side affect of the EBD system I would highly recommend Subaru consider ways of improving brake life on their vehicles. (3) I have the Onyx XT trim with navigation. Infotainment system is constantly glitchy. Examples include booting with blank black screen, failing to load, excessive lag while operating system or will freeze and beep repeatedly while buffing a menu selection. Also, had my car battery replaced under warranty within the first two years due to a bad battery. (4) Issues with ADAS system, specifically pre-collision breaking. This system is extremely sensitive and will over-react / take control in certain situations where I didn't need it to even when I was in the process of braking. Have had this system activate on the highway at high speeds while switching lanes on the highway or when having a vehicle merge quickly into my lane in front of me. Constantly, have to turn off this system which is a chore as this system is defaulted to always being on. Do not feel safe driving with this system on.
Eyesight driver assist went out rendering safety features inoperable. Touch screen also blanked out so unable to adjust a/c, navigation, radio etc. Car had been on long distance all hiway drive and at 7 hours systems failed. Weather was in the 60s, overcast and it was in the afternoon. Pulled into rest stop and turned engine off then restarted but still failed. Drove 2 more hours and next rest stop systems came back after letting car sit off for 10+ minutes.
- Chapin, SC, USA
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The 2021 Outback XT which we purchased new on April 15, 2021, would not start on September 15, 2023. My spouse had a medical appointment that morning. On September 18, 2023, the vehicle would not start again. My spouse had a medical appointment that morning as well. This same problem occurred several months earlier. On the morning of May16, 2023 I called the dealership's service department for a service appointment. This was the first such incident and caught me totally by surprise. Here is a direct quote from the Service's Manager's May 19, 2023 email. " The tester/charger determined that your battery was healthy, had a good state of charge and accepted a good rate of charge and also held the charge. The battery has no fault, the drain was the issue determining replacement of your battery was unnecessary and not warrantable." The dealership service department manager went on to state "it (battery)required 3 hours and 45 minutes of charging". Following the May 16, 2023 service appointment the vehicle performed as expected until the morning of September 15, 2023. On September 19, the vehicle was again taken to the dealership for servicing. During this visit, a "new battery" was installed by the service department because they determined the existing battery failed their test. The service rep stated the -??new-?? battery will fix the problem. Also, the service rep stated, when asked, that the Electronic Control Module was updated but the Data Communications Module was not replaced. Additionally, the rep stated, when asked, the -??new-?? battery did not carry the normal warranty because it was installed under the vehicle-??s existing 3-year warranty which expires on April 15 2024. This limited battery warranty makes no sense. Since the May 16, 2023 incident, we experienced emotional tension every time we have driven the vehicle, dreading it would not start when we needed the vehicle the most. We are 70+ and believed that we were purchasing a safe vehicle.
On Sunday, August 20, 2023 I was pulling into a parking spot in front of an Anytime Fitness at a local strip mall. As I applied the brake, the motor raced and accelerated driving me into a pillar outside of the fitness center. I was in shock, not understanding what had happened. Had I chosen to park one stall to the right, the car would have gone through the window of the business instead of the pillar. Considerable damage was done to the pillar and to my 2021 Subaru Outback, but I was not injured, and no one else was injured. I had the brakes checked at my vehicle service center and was told the brakes were functioning as they should be. The vehicle has not been inspected by the manufacturer, police, insurance representatives or others. No warning was provided by the vehicle. The crash occurred in two seconds.
The contact owns a 2021 Subaru Outback. The contact was unable to start the vehicle. The contact stated no warning light was illuminated. The contact jump started the vehicle; however, approximately 5-7 days later, the failure recurred. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. A dealer was not contacted. The manufacturer had been informed of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 48,000.
Car would not start this morning. It-??s driven every day, so it had not been sitting. Last service was 3/23 (today is 6/2/23), and the battery passed dealership inspection with no issues. Roadside serviceman stated this was the fourth -??relatively new-?? Subaru he-??d had to jump this week. Jumping the battery fixed the issue (for now), but the Subaru dealership, themselves, advised submitting a claim for potential -??parasitic battery drain.-?? However, the current class action suit only covers 2015-2020 Subarus, and mine is a 2021 Outback.
This vehicle has 3 major issues that the dealership has not been able to resolve and are as follows: 1) Battery---is not able to hold charge. In early 2022, dealership replaced a new battery, however, the problem still exists. Battery size does not have the charge capacity REQUIRED to start the vehicle even less than 1 week of parking during warm weather months. 2) Heating System---has a defect, specially on driver side of the system. With seat and steering heating on, the vents on driver side emit uncontrollable hot air that forces the driver to shut the driver side heating system. During winter this is unreasonable! Did inform the dealership of this issue and were unable to resolve the problem as I understand was inherent with the design. This problem is likely to cause fire if electrical wires are exposed to the heat. 3)Tires---are supposed to be inflated with nitrogen, and this innovation is to maintain the tire pressures for most weather conditions. However, all of my five tires are unable to maintain the pressures. Did bring it to the attention of dealership at each service. However the problem still persists. Possible problem can be any of the following individually or in combination: a) Seal between the tire and rim is inadequate. b) Slow leakage in tire valves or c) Tires are of poor quality permitting air to escape from the body of the tires.
When there is an alert for -??low windshield-?? washer fluid. I receive multiple audible alerts from the car while driving. The alert will go away and then come back. I think the fluid level sloshes while driving, going above and then below the sensor repeatedly. The multiple alerts are distracting and cause alarm fatigue. I think one alert per driving session would suffice.
Issues with both driver and passenger windows. There are times when windows don-??t close all the way or just go back down. Wind and rain while driving is very unpleasant. This has been addressed 3 times at dealership and still we have issues.
Tried to start outback and nothing, no clicking for battery dying, just nothing. Tried again and again, no noise in engine at all. Waited 2 minutes longer and it finally turned over and started.
Traveling toll road /fwy at approx 70mph at rush hour and lost all power with Check engine light, emergency brake, lurching engine, all flashing at the same time!!! Coasted through 4 fwy lanes to offramp and service station- extreme danger!!! How was there no pile up with me going from 70-10 to coasting on a busy 15 Northbound fwy at 7:30 am"????? Was in toll lane and crossed toll 3 foot sticks to exit at first available exit. 2 cars followed me off as they were concerned for my safety Towed to shop where they put in new thermo valve, gasket intake manifold, Pipe ay- fuel and gasket egr pipe 56000miles, 2 year old car 3 replaced windshields in last 6 months They said they've done 10 cars with this problem in the last year???" Insurance covered windshields, service center at Subaru inspected car
Vehicle was on highway in stop and go traffic when brake was applied. Auto stop-start feature engaged which turned engine off. On release of brake the auto stop-start feature failed to restart vehicle. Engine tried and failed to turn over and all console lights flashed on and off continuously. Ignition was turned off and attempted to restart car unsuccessfully. Four way hazard light button was activated and showed on dashboard as on. However, hazard lights on outside of vehicle were not on causing cars behind to not realize car was immobilized. Hazard lights malfunctioning on an immobilized vehicle on the highway is extremely unsafe.
Battery had been drained multiple times that required a jump start over the past four months. Also a new battery was purchased. No warnings we're presented before the issue occurred. The latest incident was today.
Battery of the vehicle continues to drain itself at seemingly random times. All sources that could possibly drain the battery while vehicle is not running have been turned off (dome light, tailgate light, exterior lights set to minimum time, etc...). Several times, this drainage has resulted in the car having to be jumped, so driver can get home. Car has been taken to dealer. Dealer indicates battery is fine. Took home, a few days later, battery is dead. Car does seem to struggle to turn over at times when trying to start. Lately this has been noticed while driving the car, and it engine was restarting while shutting down at stoplight (shutdown as part of limiting emmissions); had to turn the automatic shut-down feature off. Contacted local dealer again, was told that nothing can be done if battery is tested and it tests fine. We have resorted to carrying a recharging pack with the car to ensure that our kids don't get stranded with a dead battery.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Lacey, WA, USA