10.0
really awful- Crashes / Fires:
- 1 / 1
- Injuries / Deaths:
- 1 / 0
- Average Mileage:
- 1,564 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.
« Read the previous 20 complaints
Car won't start. Battery drained after in garage overnight. The lights weren't left on and keys far from car. This same thing happened after leaving car with blinkers on for a very short period.
- Blacksburg, VA, USA
Purchased vehicle 1/2021. Currently has 8500 miles. For the past few months the dash/navigation system intermittently shuts down. Lose everything including speed/cruise/gps/radio. After a few seconds will reboot. I have called the dealer twice regarding this issue - was told to press "defrost" button 5 times and bring to the service department. This was done and they sent the info to Subaru - have not heard anything from Subaru regarding this complaint which was done over 2 months ago
- Wilmington, NC, USA
Battery dead after leaving in garage for a day. Happened three times and I brought it to dealer, and they charged battery and said it passed Subaru test procedure and that nothing they can do. No lights on and key is in house closet area. Battery still drains if left in garage for a day without driving. I bought a portable charger for $150.
- Irmo, SC, USA
Purchased new Outback SUV in March of 2021. Currently has 4488 miles on odometer. Center console infotainment center randomly reboots at times without warning. System reboots after several seconds, but until system is restored, any function active at the time controlled from that console is unavailable (radio, navigation, etc.). Dealer has not yet inspected the car for this problem at this time. I have not been able to cause the system to reboot at will, it appears to be totally random.
- Denver, NC, USA
2021 outback purchased Feb 2021. Within 2 weeks the touch screen, which controls the cruise control, heating, all eyesight controls went blank. This causes cruise control at highway speed to quit, causing sudden deceleration at highways speeds. Sometime the screen reboots, most times it requires driver to pull car over to reset. This also controls GPS and Heating/Air. There have been times when I have working canines in the car and loss of air conditioner in summer months has been extremely problematic requiring pulling car off road to open windows to ventilate. Multiple trips to dealer, and open case with SOA results in no resolution, as there apparently is no fix. Recently 11/1/21 instructed when this happens to push my front defroster button five times after reboot to record codes. How distracting while driving is this" Feel like this is severely underreported as owners frustrated. Receiving dealer instruction to look at touchscreen while driving causes the cars alert function to activate saying -??keep eyes on road-??. Why are they advising this unsafe action" Recent software updates as late as last week of October installed and does not fix issue, verified by dealer service manager. Multiple incidents, recorded on my phone video, last incident occurred 7/12/2021.
- Frederick , MD, USA
The contact owns a 2021 Subaru Outback. The contact stated that while driving at various speeds, the home screen on the center console would go blank without warning. Once while driving 65 MPH with the cruise control activated, the center console went blank and the cruise control deactivated with several unknown warning lights illuminated. The contact stated that vehicle abruptly slowed down due to the failure and the 360-camera feature failed to operate as needed. The dealer was notified and acknowledged the failure; however, they informed the contact that there was no remedy for the defect. An independent mechanic was also notified and provided the contact similar information as the dealer. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was approximately 11,000.
- Morganton, NC, USA
Your form would not allow me to chcek all applicable issues. I believe the computer system and brakes are the major issues. The start/stop system engaged when I was turning in the middle of an intersection. When driving at cruising speeds (foot on the gas pedal), the car suddenly felt as if the brake was being engaged. The forward and rear collision warning signals do not work. The blind spot warning does not work. There is grinding coming from the undercarriage at times (random), while my foot is on the gas. The car bucks for no reason. The battery is draining (less than 2,000 miles on the car). Sometimes I have to turn the ignition twice in the morning. I turn everything off when I get out of the car. My safety and safety of others is definitely at risk. What I didn't realize until recently is that prior to accepting the vehicle, the salesman must have turned the start/system off, because when I went for a test drive, the start/stop did not engage once and I drove in city traffic with multiple stops. Immediately upon diving off lot, the car stopped and I had issues. The salesman told me I had to get used to the start/sytem. This is a dangerous situation. My car is currently being looked at by the dealer.
- Montclair, NJ, USA
There are multiple issues at hand. The radio system continues to randomly power off and or not work and often times the entire eyesight system crashes and shuts off when driving at highway speeds disabling the cruise control. The screen has already been replaced once but the issue is still there.
- Mint Hill , NC, USA
Bought a new 2021 Subaru Outback in July 2021. In the first 1600 miles of driving the battery has died three times. Twice I found it wouldn't start after having parked it for a few days and once it wouldn't start the next day after driving it (it was driven the previous day at 6pm and wouldn't start at 9am the next day). There seems to be something that drains the battery when the vehicle is off. One time it may have been my fault for leaving an interior light on, but how could an interior light drain the battery in just a few hours? I've had roadside assistance jump start the car each time it wouldn't start and each time the technician said anecdotally that Subaru Outbacks and Foresters were the most common car he is seeing get jumped. That last time it wouldn't start, I double checked to make sure I had not left any interior lights on and I had not. This is definitely an issue with the car - some system draining the battery.
- New York, NY, USA
I am having battery drainage issue with my vehicle. If it sets more than 4 days the car will not start. I see there is a class action law suit on Outback vehicles. This car has 9,000 miles on it and this has happened 3 times.
- Camdenton, MO, USA
Battery drain and car won't start. Called roadside service for a Jumpstart and on 5 other occasions, even after driving for 1.5 hours, the car won't start. Sometimes after driving and turning car off for 1/2 hour to visit a store, it won't start. Othertimes it will. Car only has 6000 miles on it. I have had to buy a battery jump starter so I can at least get rolling again. I have a call into Subaru service but they could not get me in for over a week. So I have to deal with the possibility of being stranded until Subaru can diagnose. I live in the country so bring stranded will be a big deal. I should have bought the Volvo.
- Farmville , VA, USA
Drove car and parked for 15 minutes. When I tried to start it again it would not turn over. Battery was completely dead and could not be jump started. Car is a 2021 model with only 11K miles on it. There was no prior warning of a low battery. It left me stuck in an isolated parking lot. Probably not a major safety issue but apparently a known issue for late model Subaru Outback-??s so I wanted to add the 2021 model to the affected list.
- Farmington , CT, USA
My problem is an intermittent one. The infotainment display goes blank and reboots. When this happens I have lost Rear Automatic Braking, the Eyesight System, cruise control, the backup camera display and driver monitoring along with other non-safety related systems (radio, environment control). The dealer has not been able to reproduce, but has gotten error codes to send to Subaru of America (SoA) along with print out of error messages received via the My Subaru website. The vehicle has been to the shop 6 times in the first 9,000 miles. There has been no inspection of the car by SoA, just dealer service. There is no warnings until the issue occurs. SoA has been notified via Certified Letter and has been unresponsive as to a fix since 7/19/2021.
- Frederick, MD, USA
Record of Subaru Outback electrical issues 2021 April 25 purchased. May 5 ca.No startSalesman came to home and jump started. June 28-29No start, Recharged and had no further electrical issues until--- July 27No start. Briefly left vehicle. On return wouldn't start, dash lights crazy blinking.Jump box started it. July 28 Left it all morning at Subaru service for eval; result: "no problems were detected." Aug.5No start. Parked at friends for 3 hr. On return wouldn't start, dash lights crazy blinking. Jump box restart. Aug. 7No start. Left ignition on for 3 hr testing new solar panel.Purchase Solar panel, proves useless, ignition drained battery.Trickle charged for several hours, starts. Aug. 9 No start. Battery dead. Trickle charged for several hours, starts. Conclusion: Subaru Outbacks are: (1) inherently unreliable, (2) Subaru has known about this problem for several years, and (3) Subaru is dishonest in not admitting to and fixing the problem.
- Santa Cruz, CA, USA
Problem has occurred twice when I put my cellphone in the same pocket as my key fob. The car will not start when I press the start button, although the ignition will be on and the dashboard instruments light up. Even if I separate the fob from the phone, it won't start. Holding the keyfob right up to the start button won't allow it to start. The battery in the fob is brand new. On this car, only the fob can start the car. I have had to use the MySubaru app via Starlink (a subscription service) to remote start the car using my cellphone. However, I cannot shift it into gear. I must turn the car off, and then restart the car by pushing the button. It will then start normally. If I did not subscribe to Starlink, I would have been able to start the car at all. The phone/fob proximity problem seems to create a logic fault in the vehicle programming which then prevents you from starting the car using the fob, even if you separate it from the phone.
- Lake View, NY, USA
I purchased this vehicle in May 2021 and since then have had four incidents where the battery was not able to start the vehicle. The first two incidents were when I was camping, so there was some heavy, battery only electrical system use, e.g. opening/closing the hatchback, turning on lights, etc.
- Broomfield, CO, USA
We bought this car new about 3 weeks ago and tried to drive it this morning to find it completely dead. It was last driven about 60 hours ago. It has just over 1,000 miles on it. There was no warning lamp that came on when we last drove the car. I was able to jump the car and have it on a trickle charger now but this is completely unacceptable for a brand new vehicle. I've reached out to the dealer but have not heard back.
- Creswell, OR, USA
My Subaru battery was completely dead after only having it for 3 months and 700 miles on odometer. I was left stranded due to not being able to start vehicle. Vehicle was towed to dealer. Dealer took 2 day to diagnose that the battery was bad and they replaced battery. Dealer claims the passenger map light was left on. This light was not left on unless the tow truck driver left the light on. It was night time when the vehicle was towed and when the vehicle was jump started the light was not on.
- Orange Cove, CA, USA
After 5000 miles my battery has been drained and is currently dead. I was told I must lock it every time I am not driving to ensure battery life is extended. Even with doing this battery is still dead after barely 5000 miles.
- Midland, MI, USA
- Arlington, VA, USA