10.0

really awful
Crashes / Fires:
2 / 1
Injuries / Deaths:
0 / 0
Average Mileage:
54,899 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.

Get notified about new defects, investigations, recalls & lawsuits for the 2011 Subaru Outback:

Unsubscribe any time. We don't sell/share your email.

« Read the previous 20 complaints

problem #15

Dec 242018

Outback

  • miles
We have passed down my husbands 2011 Outback to our teenage daughter as her first car. This car has been taken very good care of and is serviced regularly. It has been driven mostly highway miles $146,000. Last year in January the car acted up and the head gasket, timing belt, water pump were all fixed ($3500). In the past every once in a while the car would stall out at a light or when changing from reverse to drive. 2 days after my daughter started using it around town she noticed it stalling every time she went out. We did some research and apparently the torque converter is a know issue with Subaru and an extended warranty has been issued rather than a repair. We brought the car to our Subaru dealer again and they agreed that it was the torque converter and could be repaired for $1950. It would not be covered under the extended warranty because of the miles on the car. This should not be allowed as anacceptable solution to a problem. There is a known issue with this car that causes the car to stall. Subaru seems to have gone around the actual problem by not using the word "stall" in its distribution of the problem. They should be held responsible for all cars that stall while driving when they put in a faulty parts. If my husband drove more around town I am sure we would have realized this before but this is not a problem that the consumer should have to take on... a car that is known to stall should not be allowed on the road and the company who caused this to happen should be responsible to pay for it... I expected more from Subaru and they want us to put our family into their cars? well my daughter won't be driving a car that isn't safe.

- Simsbury, CT, USA

problem #14

Nov 112018

Outback

  • 149,090 miles
My dash lights came on suddenly.. after researching states type torque converter for transmission needs to be replaced.. Subaru wants me to purchase whole new transmission, loss of power and gas mileage. The car was running when these lights came on.

- Vermilion, OH, USA

problem #13

Oct 222018

Outback

  • 132,356 miles
I observe everytime my car is coming to stop it will shrud like the engine goin to die or stalled. Then out of nowhere the engine icon, ABS lit-up and cruise control flashing

- Lake Jackson, TX, USA

problem #12

Oct 192018

Outback

  • 100,000 miles
Takata recall" I was driving on the interstate hwy. The car in front of me slammed on brakes, so I stepped on my brakes, car turked to a stop while engine stalled. Dead stop on interstate. Not a good thing. I started it back up, kept driving, when, I came to a safer stop sign. I tried to step on brakes like I had done on interstate and it turked to a stop again stalling. It doesn't seem safe to me. I am glad no one was behind me on interstate or I am afraid it would not have ended well.

- Milton, WI, USA

problem #11

Aug 012018

Outback

  • 125,000 miles
Torque converter issue

- Lakewood, OH, USA

problem #10

Jul 102018

Outback

  • 130,000 miles
As I was driving my 2011 Subaru Outback 2.5 as I do always on a normal basis I recently came to a stop sign and when I came to an abrupt stop my vehicle stalled out leaving me vulnerable for oncoming traffic I had to put the vehicle in park and restart the car it starts right back up but every time I have to put my foot heavy on the brake to stop and traffic the vehicle cuts off without fail every time has also happened to me one time and heavy traffic jam on highway very scary!!

- Syracuse, NY, USA

problem #9

Jul 242018

Outback

  • 80,000 miles
Intermitent: Steady icons: Check engine light traction control system flashing icons: Brake cruise from starting the vehicle icons listed above are active. Engine is very hard to start when put in gear, unable to move car. Solution is to turn car off, wait and restart. This might require several attempts. Eventually, vehicle will resume normal operateion. Dealership service personel do not acknowledge problem.

- Bloomfield, CT, USA

problem #8

Feb 012018

Outback

  • 79,233 miles
Issue - stalling while braking hard or stopping (automatic transmission) what happened - my 2011 Subaru has just under 80K mileage. It has now happened to me 3X this week and especially when the car hasn't been driven in hours (morning early on my way to work or on my way home from work). In the morning, I was driving down a street to drop off my kids at school. I needed to make a left, but since there was oncoming traffic, I had to brake. It was not a gradual brake, but was a bit sudden. The car shuddered and stalled. It is similar to what happens with manual transmissions if you are in gear and come to a stop without pressing the clutch. But my car is an automatic, so I had to put it in park and restart it. If the car stalled while I was in the middle of an intersection or if I panicked, it could have caused an accident. Cause - unknown. It at the dealer for service and they are trying to figure it out. Some online sources mentioned the torque converter or sensors.

- Silver Spring, MD, USA

problem #7

Nov 282017

Outback

  • 121,547 miles
Car stalls when you come to a stop. Does not happen if you stop slowly. Has happened several times.

- Lindenhurst, NY, USA

problem #6

Dec 202011

Outback

  • miles
Pretty much since I purchased the vehicle the anti-skid lights, cruise control, parking brake & check engine lights will flash and will not go off. I was told to make sure the gas cap was tight and was also told to check the battery. Once when it was on I tried to press the parking brake to release and could not get it off at a traffic light and was nearly rear ended. It will randomly come on and sometimes stay on for weeks then go off and stay off for a few days. It comes on when car is started and does not usually go off.

- Canton, OH, USA

problem #5

Mar 202016

Outback

  • 80,000 miles
Our Subaru Outback (2011) has been shuddering and dying when coming to stops. It began doing this approximately March/April of 2016, and the issue is still not resolved. We took it to the Subaru dealership's service center in madison, Wisconsin, very concerned, in may of 2016, but they told us they could not reproduce the problem. (how is that possible, since it does it so often?) we took it in again in winter/spring 2016, and they finally acknowledged we had an issue and told us that the torque converter needed to be replaced to the tune of $1500-$1800! we were concerned, especially, because of the safety issue, and, further, because of the cost to us to fix it. If Subaru had identified and dealt with the issue when it first started, we might have been under some kind of warranty. We took the car home, did some research and discovered that lots and lots of other owners of this make and model have been having the same problem we described to the Subaru dealership over a year ago. How could Subaru not know this is a huge safety issue" there are hundreds of complaints out there! we have since been borrowing my parents' car for longer drives and have been trying to figure out a way to cover the cost of the repair. Today we received a letter from Subaru indicating they were giving us a warranty extension for the car's cvt. Guess what? it covers the Outback 2010-2015, they wrote. How long has Subaru known this was an issue while families like mine were driving a car with a major safety flaw? I called the dealership's service desk immediately and talked with a rep who wanted to be clear that this isn't a recall, (really") and that I'd have to call back to find out if it'll be covered by this warranty extension since, apparently, the torque converter, though related, isn't "technically" the cvt. He said they had done a similar repair, though, and the warranty had covered it.

- Wisconsin Dells, WI, USA

problem #4

Jan 132017

Outback

  • 152,000 miles
While accelerating uphill on a road, many of my dash lights flashed, including "check engine", "at oil temp", "brake". my car lost its pep. My cruise stopped working. I couldn't use my down/upshifting paddles and I live in an icy/snowy climate which resulted in a significant decline in my car which is normally highly-ranked in safety surveys. I had to replace my torque converter and my valve body for >$3,0000. Additionally, my gas mileage decreased by at least 6 mpg.

- Oakland, MD, USA

problem #3

Jul 092016

Outback

  • 59,500 miles
I have replaced the passenger side low beam lights multiple times also when I started the car the brake light, traction control light, and multiple other lights started blinking while driving. This scared me very much. The owners manual seemed to imply brake failure and to stop immediately, which I did. Called aaa and they towed my car to thoroughbred transmission in laurel. They checked the codes and nothing made sense to them. The called Subaru and described the problem ans Subaru said it was a software problem and it needed to up upgraded. Since I had an extended warranty with Subaru I took the car to them. I also took the Subaru wvu31 bulletin with me. Subaru said they did not see the codes and even though I took the thoroughbred documentation with me they refused to upgrade the software. It is clear that Subaru was not interested in fixing the issue, refused to accept the warranty and charged me $70. So next time this does the same thing and I keep driving I may in fact have a serious problem but not know it. I need Subaru to install the software upgrade.

- Columbia, MD, USA

problem #2

Oct 012011

Outback 4-cyl

  • miles
I am not sure if this is a safety issue but I was told by the dealer after two visits that the transmission axle seal needs replaced and possibly some other problems.

- Jefferson Hills, PA, USA

problem #1

Jul 252011

Outback

  • 3,500 miles
2011 subura Outback at 3500 miles would not start, jump started with road side assistance, then 3 days later did same thing, took to subura and they said they could find nothing wrondealer said they check it out on computer, again nothing showed, recommend whe does it again, to call dealer, before jump starting to see what computer will say, very, very unhappy customer, thinking about trading in.

- Iuoup[O], MD, USA