10.0
really awful- Crashes / Fires:
- 3 / 0
- Injuries / Deaths:
- 2 / 0
- Average Mileage:
- 13,020 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.
I hit a large deer on ih 10 at 75 mph. All airbags deployed safely but conpletely blocked my vision and prevented me from exiting the vehicle as the bags blocked door handles, window control switches and my seat belt release. Another motorist cut air bag strips and helped me to exit the car. Fortunately, no fire.
- Kerrville, TX, USA
September 9th 2017, our Outback was involved in an accident on a mixed residential/commercial street intersection, when it was hit on the left front wheel, hard enough to spin the car so that the left rear corner made contact with the other vehicle. The impact resulted in serious injuries requiring hospitalization and weeks of recovery. The airbags & seatbelt pre-tensioners did not activate. After the collision, the "sos" button was pressed, but there was no response from starlink. Several days later the starlink concierge called to advise us that the lights were "on" and checking on our wellbeing. They were unaware that the vehicle had been in an accident several days prior, nor did they have any record that the "sos" button had been activated. The cause of the non-activation is still under investigation by our insurance and Subaru
- San Diego, CA, USA
On 8 June 2017 I had just pulled into a parking spot in front of a medical suite when my leased three month old 2017 Subaru Outback with 1,000 miles suddenly had an unintended acceleration episode jumping the curb and crashing into a brick wall and suite door after displacing a threshold column by two inches. The airbag did not deploy, the "eyesight" function did not stop the vehicle, the seat belt did not restrain me and my chest slammed into the steering wheel, my knees crashed into the dashboard. On 2 June, less than a week earlier, the car had done the same unintended acceleration while backing out of a parking spot, but nothing was hit at that time. After the initial ambulance er visit, plus two more, my physical injuries consisting of aches and pains, bruises, xrays, iv treatment for persistent headache after the accident, are insignificant compared to the mental and emotional damage. Not to mention the economic burden and frustrating situation this leaves me in. I contacted the dealership and sent in pictures of the vehicles and damaged building. They in turn referred my complaint to Subaru of America who was very diligent in performing an investigation and keeping me updated with the procedure. However, almost two months after the accident, Subaru of America claims their results indicate "misapplication of throttle and break" clearly putting the blame on me, without mentioning anything about the first incident, and the lack of response of the safety features of the vehicle during the accident. There are at least 34 reports of similar accidents due to unintended acceleration of Outback vehicles, and at least 70 related to the Subaru forester on carproblemzoo.com since 2000. I now find myself with a beautiful brand new vehicle that I will pay the lease for, but don't feel comfortable driving out of fear that the unintended acceleration will reoccur.
- Gainesville, VA, USA
Faulty occupant detection system. Turns off airbag with passenger. Turns on airbag and seatbelt chime with no passenger/weight. Intermittent. Brand new car with 700 miles and brought in 3 times to Subaru santa monica. Service center unable to replicate problem, but I sent them videos.
- Los Angeles, CA, USA
- Los Gatos, CA, USA