Started the car and a warning light came on and the steering froze. I turned it off for the day. The next day I started it and it didn-??t freeze again. I-??m concerned that while driving the steering will lock up and cause an accident and possible injury or kill me. My uncle reached out to Subaru of America. They didn-??t offer any help. They just said take it in at your own expense. We were quoted over the phone approximately $2000 to repair.My uncle researched this issue. This locking steering problem has been a big problem with the Subaru Crosstrek subjecting it to recalls. I believe Subaru should repair this safety issue.

- Bakersfield , CA, USA

The vehicle had 51666 miles on it when I last serviced it for an oil change in Oct. of 2021. The owner puts very few miles on the vehicle. The vehicle would be available for inspection by your agency. At this time, no specific component has been identified in the intermittent failure. 2016 and newer Subaru's have recalls on similar symptoms. Owner complaint is that the power steering intermittently stops working and the steering wheel is very hard to turn if it can be turned at all due to the fact the owner is 80+ years old. Subaru vehicles from 2016 and up have had this issue and recalls have been issued on them, but not on this model year. Owner stated today that the problem has only occurred so far on initial start-up, and one time, once the key was cycled start, then off and back to start again then the power steering worked. She said the p/s warning light came on, and then went off, but I cannot verify that at this point. Warning lamps on IP's do come on during the key on to start on the ignition switch start process, so this may be part of normal IP function. I am an auto repair shop owner and have grave concerns that this failure may happen while the customer is driving down the road, and if approaching a turn and the power steering locks up, they could die due to the inability to safely maneuver out of traffic and get off the road or miss a bend in the highway. The customer brought the car in once, and I could not re-create the problem cold or warm. I am currently waiting for the dealer in Green Bay to call me back with more information as the nearest dealer from the customer's residence is a 170 mile round trip. At this point, it has not been back to the dealer for inspection for the p/s system, and I am awaiting call back today from Bergstrom Subaru in Green Bay. Bergstrom did confirm the recall for a brake light switch was completed previously by them, and there were no other campaigns or recalls listed in their computer records.

- Baileys Harbor, WI, USA

The vehicle's power steering failed. The "computer" was replaced, and the vehicle was drivable. Then, while my daughter was driving, the power steering failed again. Now the whole steering train seems broken. The car is undriveable. If it happened on the highway, there would have been an accident. The car has very low mileage.

- Providence, RI, USA

Power steering issues. Light illuminates on dashboard and power steering problems occur. It's only 4 years old (never driven off road) taken well care of, and there are serious problems with the electronical part of the power steering saying there is a problem and when driving it locks up making turns really hard when turning the wheel. Then our car shut off like the battery was dead for half a day and we tried one last time to start it before jumping and it started up and worked. Seems like something is wired wrong.

- Phoenix, AZ, USA

I have a 2014 Subaru crosstrek (14K miles) and my steering wheel will feel like it lost contact (dead spot) with the steering rack for a second or two. The problem is intermittent and I can't reproduce for the dealer service techs. At times get funky vibrations like a strut bounce from the left front wheel or excessive side to side yaw motion and then steering wheel rocks (left to right), the electric steering feels like it wants to adjust and then goes numb (no road feeling) and recovers, never any error dash light or code. The car has been to the Subaru dealer where I bought the car twice with no trouble found. A second dealer took the car for a test drive and did not reproduce the problem, I was told that without a trouble light or code they may never find the problem. A third Subaru dealer got all antsy when I told them the problem (like it is a known issue) and made me out of the service area by yelling, they did not have time or techs to trouble shoot this problem. I contacted Subaru of America and got a complaint ticket on file (1-8235180260). I find it odd that a modern car with electronic (electric) steering system has no stress test diagnostics or a fail safe to prevent the driver from loosing control. Besides this intermittent steering issue and the bad Subaru dealer service network, the crosstrek is also scary to drive in high winds.

- Flushing, NY, USA

The contact owned a 2014 Subaru Xv crosstrek. While driving approximately 40 mph, the steering wheel seized and caused the contact to lose control and crash the vehicle. The contact and the passenger sustained lacerations and bruises that did not require medical attention. A police report was filed. The vehicle was destroyed. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 1,200.

- Harbor City, CA, USA

On multiple occasions, prior to incident date/mileage, this vehicle has been pulling to the right since we took ownership about 6 months ago. Most recently my wife was driving, had looked over for something that fell on the seat, and realized she was heading for the curb without knowing it as it continues to pull right. This car has a torque steer condition, and routinely requires more pressure on the wheel, to the left, to keep the car going straight. Once accelerating it pulls right, then as you release the accelerator, it goes back towards left. It will also drift to the right, without acceleration, though not always. Has been in shop 3 times for same. First time was told air pressure was different from delivery of vehicle and alignment was correct. 2nd time they said it wasn't happening, and that it was all okay. Third time they said the rear alignment was off. The steering wheel appears to be slightly off as well. In addition, the car makes a small thumping sound, coming from right front wheel/tire area, when going over small bumps. Lastly, the body molding on the left side, under the drivers door, keeps pulling away from the car. Was just serviced for same, with new clips and molding, and it is worse than when it went it. To me, it seems like this car was either in an accident (bought it new) and fixed before delivery (or) that it is bent and thus nothing is lining up right.

- Glen Mills, PA, USA