10.0
really awful- Crashes / Fires:
- 1 / 0
- Injuries / Deaths:
- 0 / 0
- Average Mileage:
- 49,800 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.
Ghostwalking Subaru Outback, 2008. Driving my family (2 adults, 2 teens) to a family event, along with luggage, experienced rear end sway back and forth uncontrollably while driving on slightly slick roads (slushy conditions). It felt like rear end was swaying into traffic in adjacent lane. It was extremely unnerving. Occurs in speeds above 50 km/H. problem continued while driving above 50 km/H with slick road. Had to slow down below 50 km/H on highway (which is illegal).
- Salmopn Arm, 00, USA
2008 Subaru Outback wagon sways dangerously on rough roads. The sensation is that when one hits a bump the rear end bounces/kicks/walks out to the right. While there have been no accidents with this vehicle, it does not feel safe to drive. The car has been serviced regularly, has newer tires, and has been aligned several times.
- Grand Rapids, MI, USA
Experienced severe fishtailing on slightly slippery roads with a 2008 Subaru Outback. This was highly unusual for an all wheel drive car and I didn't have the same problem with my wife's Honda CR-V that I drove on the same day on the same roads.
- Avon, MN, USA
Subaru Outback 2008 2.5I side-to-side motion: Recurring issue is considerably dangerous and presents itself when driving on wet and or slippery roads. Yes, although the conditions are less than ideal they are normal driving situations. Testing has been conducted with identical conditions and other vehicles and similar behavior was not experienced. This testing has been repeated with identical results. Issue: When traveling on slippery roads - rain, snow, ice the Subaru all wheel dirve/suspension configuration creates side to side "fish-tail" like behavior. This motion can cause the vehicle to spin-out. Other dirvers have expericed over correction issues when dealing with this unexpected back-end motion. The side to side motion does not seem to be a result of application of power. Wth power applied or coasting the motion is still evident.
- Boulder, CO, USA
- Seattle, WA, USA