— A Subaru Legacy and Outback cracked windshield lawsuit claims the windshields are a safety hazard because they crack, chip and break, but Subaru says a warranty extension took care of the problems and the lawsuit should be tossed out.
Plaintiff Lucia Luong says she bought a new 2015 Subaru Outback in February of 2015, but in March 2017 her windshield cracked, so she took it to a dealer for repairs.
Luong says that although the windshield should have been covered under warranty, the dealer refused by saying her windshield wasn't included in the coverage.
The proposed class-action lawsuit includes all 2015-2016 Subaru Outback and Legacy vehicles, but Subaru filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit by claiming none of the arguments are with merit.
Subaru told the court the windshield case is "nothing more than a tempest in a teapot" because the plaintiff is complaining about getting a crack in her windshield after owning her vehicle for a couple of years, and she is mad the dealer would not fix it for free.
In addition, Subaru says attorneys have taken a warranty claim worth less than $1,000 and "gone nuclear with it, attempting to plead a full-blown class action lawsuit" by alleging all windshields in all 2015 and 2016 Subaru Outback and Legacy vehicles are defective.
Subaru says the lawsuit is proof that "no good deed goes unpunished" because the automaker extended the warranty for windshields from 3 years/36,000 miles to 5 years/unlimited miles in certain Legacy and Outback vehicles.
Under the warranty extension, customers receive a replacement windshield at no charge (or obtain reimbursement of out-of-pocket costs already paid) if the de-icer area of the windshield is damaged. Subaru considers the de-icer area as a small section along the bottom portion of the windshield that is damaged.
The automaker says all of this was done nearly two years ago and customers were notified of the warranty extension, yet the plaintiff still chose to file the class-action lawsuit. However, Subaru says the plaintiff is simply upset because a dealer rejected the warranty claim by finding the windshield didn't meet the requirements.
According to Subaru, the plaintiff makes the request that all 2015-2016 Legacy and Outback windshields be replaced even if there is nothing wrong with the windshields.
The plaintiff also wants the automaker to reimburse the costs of all windshield replacements for whatever reason for all 2015-2016 Legacy and Outback vehicles, even for vehicles that are not subject to the warranty extension and even though windshields that are in no way defective do crack sometimes.
Calling the lawsuit a “kitchen-sink” complaint, Subaru says the suit should be dismissed because the court lacks general personal jurisdiction over the automaker for the claims of non-California owners because they purchased their vehicles in and reside in other states. In addition, Subaru argues the plaintiff's claim fail as a matter of law or are insufficiently pled, especially the fraud claims.
Subaru says claims of fraud should be tossed out because the automaker did the right thing by extending the warranty and letting customers know about the extension.
The Subaru Legacy and Outback cracked windshield lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, San Francisco Division - Lucia Luong, et. al., v. Subaru of America, Inc.
The plaintiff is represented by Glancy Prongay & Murray LLP.
CarComplaints.com has owner-reported complaints about the Subaru vehicles named in the lawsuit.
- Subaru Legacy - 2015 / 2016 / All model years
- Subaru Outback - 2015 / 2016 / All model years