10.0
really awful- Crashes / Fires:
- 0 / 0
- Injuries / Deaths:
- 0 / 0
- Average Mileage:
- 0 miles
About These NHTSA Complaints:
The NHTSA is the US gov't agency tasked with vehicle safety. Complaints can be spread across multiple & redundant categories, & are not organized by problem. See the Back button — blue bar at the very top of the page — to explore more.
When driving long distances, the steering wheel encounters a sticky area where the steering wheel gets stiff to turn and then all of a sudden loosens up causing excessive corrections. This issue is apparently the same that was experienced by Honda owners. my car only has less than 10k miles. This can be dangerous for drivers who are not that experienced.
- Flushing, NY, USA
There are 2 issues that I have noticed since I bought my car from a subaru dealership 10 DAYS ago. the first is that upon driving at highway speeds (over 50 mph) It feels like the car is jerky and pulls in a shaky rocking manner. this happened continuously, when I was using the cruise control and when I was not using the cruise control. It basically felt like I was driving in 40mph winds that were moving my car independently of what I was doing. The second is also something that happens at highway speeds, my driver side mirror shakes and vibrates so much so that I can't make out the surrounding space, cars and road at all. I scheduled a service appointment at the same dealership immediately. I told them these issues and upon inspection they reported that they do not see or report any such issues that I am concerned about. Stating that these are quote "characteristics" of the car. These are both potentially very dangerous problems that Subaru has stated is not an issue as far as they are concerned. There is a lawsuit about the driver side mirror that was filed in september of 2024. I just bought this car used with 10,500 miles on it and NOBODY mentioned anything in person or on the pre certified inspection checklist, CARFAX report or anything of that nature about these issues which Subaru must actually know about. If I was told about theses issues I would have not bought the car. And they are continuing to deny anything is wrong, saying its just a characteristic of the car. There are no warning lights or messages alerting of this issue within the car.
- Chicago, IL, USA
The steering sticks when moving it from the null position. It feels as though there is a lock of some sort and one has to exert more force that normal to move the steering wheel in either direction. This is very noticeable when driving on a straight road or highway where normal steering adjustments are just slightly to either side of null. I find myself over adjusting for things like the crown/pitch of the road. Also, cold weather seems to mask the issue. Now that the weather is warming up though, the issue is consistent and seems to have become worse with more miles logged on the vehicle. Please note that this is not related to the lane assist or road departure safety features as the steering issue occurs with neither in use.
- Ludlow, MA, USA
I recently have started experiencing a sticky/jerky steering wheel (24K miles). It happens when the car is fully warmed up on longer road trips whether the cruise control engaged or not. In fact, it's worse without cruise control. The steering wheel requires stronger pull and then releases quickly. I could not reproduce it at the dealership as it's nearby and does not require a long trip, but of course right after I left it, the steering wheel started sticking again. The technician did not know what it could be and stated he could not reproduce the issue. There is no issues with alignment or tire balancing. I am noticing it more consistently in warmer weather. It is not an issue at all when it's 20 degrees F. No lights are triggered. I believe this is a huge safety issue as I constantly need to correct the steering when it is stuck. I posted this issue on Reddit with multiple owners experiencing the same problem: [XXX] / It is also the same problem as Honda Civic 2022-2023 models have. [XXX] INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)
- Jonesborough, TN, USA
My steering feels loose to the point it is pulling to the right when you drive excess 35mph. It is to the point where it doesn-??t feel very safe because if sometimes if you hit a pothole, it will want to turn the wheel to the right and pull you in that direction. I had the issue repaired once at the Subaru dealer where they did an alignment and tire rotation and the issue returned after about 1000 miles. There is no warning lights but the vehicle steering is not correct in any means.
- Grand Blanc, MI, USA
I was driving with cruise control enabled right around 40mph. All of the sudden, while I was moving, my speedometer dropped to 0 and all of my dashboard lights turned on. I pulled over to the side of the road and tried to put the car in park to figure out what was going on. I was not able to shift the car into park, only remain in D or shift to N. I forced the car shutoff while in D with the press-button ignition, then turned the car back on. I was then able to shift the car into P. However, all of my dashboard lights were still on. I will attach an image to this description as I was able to take a photo of all the dashboard lights. After putting the car in park, I then shifted it back into D. However, my steering wheel was very stiff. Eventually, it loosened up back to normal. I then turned around and headed home for about a 2.5 hour drive. For the first 1.5 hours of the drive, most of the dashboard lights remained on and I could not initiate cruise control at all. After stopping for gas and turning the car back on, I was then able to drive as normal (putting the car in cruise control) and most of the dashboard lights also turned off. This was a Sunday evening. I then brought my car to the Subaru dealer in which I bought the Crosstrek from the very next morning. I told them exactly what happened. They said this was highly unusual and this wasn't something they've dealt with before, especially on a brand new car (I purchased this vehicle with 0 miles just 6 months prior). After sitting in the shop for 30+ days, the dealer eventually replaced the VDC Module and gave the car back to me. I did submit this issue to Subaru of America, but they denied this to be a Lemon case. They would not tell me why, even though a car sitting in a shop for 30+ days achieves Lemon status in the State of Utah. Since the dealer replaced the VDC Module and returning the car to me, I have not yet had another issue, but am nervous this could occur again.
- Cottonwood Heights, UT, USA
Steering power assist deactivated suddenly with no advance warning while driving in traffic. Warning lamps on dash lit concurrently. Steering still functional with higher level of driver effort. Under the circumstances, no real danger. Curvy road at speed would be dangerous. Vehicle currently at the dealer awaiting replacement steering rack. Two weeks today.
- San Jose, CA, USA

- Victor, NY, USA