10.0
really awful- Crashes / Fires:
- 0 / 1
- Injuries / Deaths:
- 0 / 0
- Average Mileage:
- 67,750 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.
The electrical harness connecting the body and rear lift gate which contains 14 wires within a rubber accordian boot suffered a breakage of all 14 wires at the body side of the boot. This affected the third brake light, defrost wires, and the rear wiper motor as a safety issue, and rear backup lights, liftgate lock, and security system as an inconvenience. First item that was noticed was lift latch lock not working, then other items failed in succession. I looked at affected components but only solved problem by accessing a Legacy owners website where this was found to be a frequent issue in varying degrees. Problem was fixed, not repaired, by running 14 new higher quality wires through the rubber boot and making connections at either side. Replacement harness from Subaru had same type of wires which in my opinion would have eventually failed again.
- Portland, OR, USA
If you press on my radio and/or sometimes for no reason at all, my display lights on the radio go out, the lights for heater/ac/temp control go out and my four way flashers come on. When this occurs, you are unable to control the radio, the heater, defrost or air conditioner, which is dangerous with variable weather conditions. In addition, I have two babies in the back seat so regulating temp is important too. At first this was an intermittent problem, which made it difficult to address. Now, it is more frequent. Recently, I had it to the dealer and the radio was determined faulty, but will cost $300+ to fix. I contacted Subaru of America regarding this issue and I was told by the representative that my car is well out of warranty and above the mileage (my car currently has 58,000) and they are sorry. In addition to the radio problems, my car's headlights and fog lights need to be replaced every 6-8 months. I have had multiple occurrences where both headlights die at night and I am forced to drive with my high beams on. To this I was informed by the dealer, that bulbs just die.
- Peckville, PA, USA
The electronic display for the HVAC controls and radio go off and come on intermittently for no reason. When the display is off, you cannot engage defrost, heat, A/C, and none of the radio controls at all. The only control that still functions is the fan speed of the HVAC controls. This occurrence is well documented among numerous Subaru owners, on the owners group www.legacygt.com, of which I am a member, from 9/29/2004 to 5/2/2011. legacygt.com/forums/showthread.php/loss-off-power-radio-and-climate-control-3459.html?highlight=radio+light+problem I feel that this is a safety issue due to the fact of not being able to operate or control any of the defrost features of the HVAC, or operate the cars heater controls. I have contacted Subaru corporate and this was their reply: [xxx], thank you for contacting Subaru of America, Inc. I regret a concern regarding your vehicle prompted your contact to us and I appreciate the opportunity to be of assistance. At this time there are no recalls or service campaigns for the concern you are experiencing. In looking at your vehicle identification number, I do see that there are two service programs affecting your vehicle which would need to be completed. They are wvu31 and wvm23 - both are ECM reprogramming. These service campaigns can be completed free of charge through any authorized Subaru dealership. Since there are no recalls or service campaigns related to the problem you are having, there would not be any further warranty coverage. The warranty for the radio and HVAC systems is 3 years or 36,000 miles, whichever comes first. As you know, this warranty has expired. I have updated our records to reflect you as the new owner of this vehicle. Should your vehicle be affected by a recall or service campaign in the future, we would notify you via the mail. Please let me know if you have any further questions. Information redacted pursuant to the Freedom Of Information Act (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6).
- York, PA, USA
- Briarcliff Manor, NY, USA