The manufacturer has failed to repair an open recall in a timely manner. Our Crosstrek Hybrid's 12-volt battery frequently needs charging and has been jumped a half dozen times in as many months and replaced twice since November.
2019 Subaru Crosstrek complaints
Owner reports filed with NHTSA about this vehicle, newest first and reproduced as filed. They are unverified accounts: one proves nothing, and a pattern across many is the thing worth reading. Back to the full 2019 record →
The car's hybrid system failed. The problem was a poorly protected electrical cable and connector that is exposed under the car. It corroded and failed. The dealer cleaned it and it works again, but they think the issue will be ongoing. May be related to Manufacturer Recall Number: WRD23 / NHTSA Recall Number:23V080000
The main information panel which displays navigation information under Carplay goes blank for approximately 5 seconds every time the user adjusts the car volume. This appears to be by design. The "feature" creates an unsafe driving situation by forcing the driver's attention to linger on the main panel waiting for navigational or other information, creating an unsafe situation which could cause an accident. In addition, though less threatening, the vehicle's audio volume turns on when the car is started, regardless of whether it was last left off or on. The unexpected volume sound interferes with a driver's initial planning and focus in the vehicle unnecessarily. This unfortunate "feature" is less threatening than the screen blanking resulting from volume adjustment because it occurs before the car begins moving. The volume control screen blanking creates a hazard because it interferes with the driver's access to important information while the vehicle is in motion, tempting the driver to take their eyes off the road waiting for the main screen to once again resume normal operation.
Unexplained acceleration. I was in a parking lot and driving slowly and the car just took off. I had to crash it into the building at the mall to avoid cars and people. The car was totaled and my husband had a broken rib. We were taken to the hospital. Car was inspected and serviced. by the dealership, no problems before this accident, no warnings.
When driving, the car has intermittent random power failures. When you start to accelerate, it does not go even when applying full petal to the floor or letting go and pushing the petal again then it goes rapidly to speed. It is failing to accelerate more frequently and when I brought it in to the dealership twice, they said if I can tell them exactly how and when it is failing they would have a chance at fixing the problem. The problem they say is that it is random. Because of the problem with this we are seriously looking at buying another car. We no longer pull out into traffic because we do not know if it will fail. There are no warning lights on the dash or other indications.
The screen display with the oil temp gauge and water temp gauge will randomly turn off while driving as well as sometimes it will not turn on immediately when the car turns on. I have brought this to the dealers attention and nothing has been done, there has been no warning lights on the dash illuminated. This has been going on randomly for the last 6 months. Another issue is that when the bluetooth or carplay is inuse and there is a call in progress the digital speed display is blocked by a screen that says call in progress. This is very dangerous that the digital speed display is blocked when bluetooth or car play is used to make calls. This has many times resulted in me speeding as the speedometer on the car is marked well with tick marks for how big the arm is that tells you how fast you’re going. There is no reason subaru should block the digital speed display. The infotainment system powers off randomly, changes the radio station on its own, and changes the volume on its own. This started in 2019 when I got the car and the issue was observed by the dealer and the radio was replaced. However now that the radio was replaced in 2019 or 2020 the radio has been recently not turning on when the car is started, shutting off in the middle of the drive, and sometimes not even connecting to carplay to use navigation. Subaru won't help me anymore or even look at the car now for this concern without charging an insane diagnostic fee (which is wrong to charge for safety concerns)
The left rear door would not open from the inside when unlocked. In an emergency, my passenger would not be able to get out on their own.
The contact owns a 2019 Subaru Crosstrek. The contact stated that after starting the vehicle and activating the front window defroster, moments later while driving at an undisclosed speed, the front windshield started to crack. The contact stated that the crack started from the bottom of the windshield and extended toward the driver’s side of the windshield. The crack extended approximately 22 inches. The cause of the failure was not yet determined. The local dealer was notified but the manufacturer was not yet contacted. The failure mileage was 33,000. The contact stated that they would like to cancel this complaint.
My 2019 Subaru Crosstrek has a little over 19000 miles on it, and my windshield has cracked for the third time. The first time was after a rock strike at the edge of my windshield; the vehicle did not make it the couple miles home before it had split several inches. The second and third times seem spontaneous. Both cracks originated from the bottom of the glass on the passenger's side, and there were no known rock strikes either instance. Both instances, the windshield cracked several inches while the vehicle was parked. In the third instance, the vehicle had only been sitting an hour between use, and a six inch crack appeared within that time. None of the three windshields have sustained any other damage beyond the cracks. Subaru has recently undergone lawsuits regarding this issue with many of their vehicles over the last several years. This is a known problem. Cracks to the windshield reduce the efficacy of the safety features in the event of an accident and can impair a driver's visibility. With damage this often and the cost of a new windshield and sensor recalibration, I am sure many drivers are waiting until their windshield has completely cracked until replacement.
The contact owned a 2019 Subaru Crosstrek. The contact stated while her husband was driving at 25-30 MPH downhill, the tractor trailer before him slowed down at a curve. The contact's husband depressed the brake pedal but it failed to respond and the vehicle accelerated unintendedly, causing the vehicle to fall into a ditch where it bounced and hit the rear of a trailer, then bounced back into the embankment. The passenger's side and driver's side roof rail air bags deployed. The frontal air bags failed to deploy. The emergency units transported the contact and her husband to the hospital where it was diagnosed that the contact had sustained a compression fracture in her back. Her husband did not sustain any injuries. The occupant of the trailer did not sustain any injuries. A police report was filed. The vehicle was towed to a tow lot where it was totaled. The dealer was not notified of the failure. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and a case was opened. The contact was awaiting a call back from the manufacturer. The failure mileage was approximately 31,200.
Back rear window shattered on its own, but it shattered completely instead of like the windshield with it didn’t stay together it was shattered into 1 million pieces. All I did was close my front door.
A crack on the windshield appeared for no apparent reason . The crack started on the passenger side right below the windshield wiper. At this time, the vehicle has not been inspected by insurance or police. Besides the financial burden this may cause it has not caused any physical harm to myself or others. However, it is a known issue with Subarus in the past and should be addressed.
Battery Drain problem. Subaru had to replace the battery in January of 2022. That did not resolve the issue. My battery started dying again in June of 2022 & I have to constantly jump start my car. I complained to Subaru & brought my car in for servicing but all they did was test the battery immediately after it was driven on the highway for approximately 20 miles. The issue is not the battery, it is the electrical system that drains the battery.
On 09/29/22 while crossing the Richmond Bridge, the drivers rear tire experienced a sudden and complete blowout of the tire. All rubber separated from the rim and landed in the adjacent left traffic lane. I slowly came to a complete stop on the bridge with hazard lights on. A bridge service vehicle arrived within 1-2 minutes and helped change to the spare. My tires had just been serviced at Costco Tire Center in Novato on 09/25/22 and they maintain that the failure is due to manufacturing defect as they tire passed their inspection.
I have had to have my windshield replaced four times since purchasing the vehicle in June of 2021. Small chips and cracks have formed from the smallest debris on the road, and even a small rock can cause a foot-long crack.
I am about to get my second windshield on this car due to chips and cracks. I currently have 7 with one large spider crack. I have never owned a car that had a windshield that chipped and cracked so much. Our Dodge Caravan which we have owned twice as long and drive in the same roads, highways and conditions, has never chipped.
On July 13,2022, while easing into a parking slot with foot on the pedal brake, with final stop and reaching to shift gear into parking mode, my 2019 Crosstrek engine suddenly accelerated and made the car surge forward. My brake pedal was on the floor with no response and the car continued to shoot pass the curb and sidewalk onto a vegetation embankment, heading towards the building and its glass door. I was terrified as the car did not respond to braking and tried to shift into neutral but the shift gear was struggling, until the car got stopped by the vegetation bank and continued to rev loudly, but then allowed me to shift into neutral. There was no warning of any sort when the phenomenon took place. When the tow truck arrived, tow personnel turned on the engine and tried the brakes pedal which went straight to the floor, with no pressure response. What was terrifying was the car engine suddenly accelerated forward and would not stop until the car was stopped by the dirt and vegetation. Without the vegetation, my car would have plowed into the building and the tall glass windows. The front of my car was damaged. It is now in a body shop. My car was bought brand new, has been serviced regularly by the dealership that I ordered it from. The last maintenance was March 2022, for a 24k service, with all in good operation. It currently has 25K miles. In the aftermath, I researched the web for info, and I found out that there is a current class action suit against Subaru for this
Windshield cracked randomly while car was parked at my house. The crack isstarting from from bottom corner at seam. And extends almost all the way up in 1 single crack. After showing pictures to a mechanic he confirmed this is not from a rock or dust storm. If the windshield were to crack when driving it could potentially spiderweb, causing little visibility.
2019 SUBARU CROSSTEK. CONSUMER WRITES IN REGARD TO VEHICLE BEING FLOODED WITH WATER AFTER SAFETY RECALLS BEING REPAIRED. THE CONSUMER STATED THED VEHICLE WAS FLOODED DUE TO THE AIR CONDITIONER BEING CLOGGED. ALSO, AFTER HAVING THE ENGINE RECALL PERFORMED THE TECHNICIAN FAILED TO RECALIBRATE THE COMPUTER AND/OR VALVES PROPERLY. THIS CAUSED THE VEHICLE TO FAIL ON THE HIGHWAY WHILE DRIVING. DUE TO THE DANGEROUS CONDITION, THE CONSUMER HAD DIFFICULTY GETTING A RIDE OFF OF THE HIGHWAY.
Windshield Replacement due to rock chips: Within 3 months of purchasing my Crosstrek, my windshield received 3 rock chips: I will say, I don't drive OFF ROAD. I drive on the highways or paved city streets. When this first occurred in 2018 (purchased in Oct2018), I was shocked. I've owned cars all my life (I'm over 50y - drove Nissans) & NEVER had a rock chip incident. Anyway, dealer told me I should be more careful and it's my fault - the service guy actually inferred that it must be because I'm a woman and drive badly (I haven't gone back to that dealer). I wasn't happy but had the rock chip repaired but one: It couldn't be repaired because it was on passenger side but down by the black area where the shield connects with the body of the car. Was told to wait and see. That winter the crack spread significantly to a 48+ inch crack that scaled the entire windshield. Because of the pandemic, I recently took it in for replacement (costing $1,076.52). Now, not even a month after replacing the old windshield - yesterday in fact - the windshield developed a new rock chip crack. I'm beyond understanding why this is occurring. It's as though the Crosstrek is a magnet for this type of event. I love my car but I really am not pleased - and feel the design of the windshield makes these vehicles prone to this type of issue. I know the manufacture has to be aware due to the number of complaints they receive but have yet to improve the design to correct for it.
Windshield accumulated a small crack in the lower passenger side, about 6in long and a quarter up from the bottom of windshield. It's now continued to grow and is now half of the windshield.
I own a 2019 Subaru Crosstrek Premium. Today, I noticed a crack in my windshield as I got in my car in my garage. There was no impact to the windshield that could have caused the crack in the windshield, and the night before there was no crack visible. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired yet, and is pending review from the dealer. The crack began at the bottom right edge, the crack is roughly 2" long.
Today my vehicle make a single click sound and the car rattle a little while driving on the highway and suddenly everything shut off. All my guages, lights, and I lost power on the vehicle. Within seconds I had power again and my guages came back on and I was able to continue on the highway safely. About 5 minutes later it did the same thing; click, shook and lost all power. Except this time the radio stayed on. Luckily I was driving downhill and was able to coast to the next offramp. I pulled over only being able to use the brakes and hazards. I had no turn signals or power. I was able to stop safety on the offramp and turn the engnition off. I started the car and everything started just fine. I drove on the main streets to my destination. At my destination, I checked the battery terminals and air filter, everything looked fine. Subaru has reported of a recall on my year of vehicle that is a new recall from this month for the Ignition Coil but the recall does not come up using my Vin. The description sounds like these incidents. The vehicle is my family's only vehicle but is available for inspection. I am hoping to get Subaru to check my Ignition Coil as a part of their recall to ensure this issue is fixed. My daughter who is currently learning to drive was driving the vehicle 10 minutes prior. I cannot imagine her driving when it does that again.
I parked my vehicle in my garage last evening no Crack in my windshield. Today I went to go out to eat and I had a 3" Crack starting at the edge middle of the driver's side. I drove 4 miles to the restaurant and now it's 8" long. No rock impacts I'm aware of and no chips in the Crack area. From what I'm reading subaru seems to have a windshield issue, and I think these should be replaced at no cost to the consumer.
This 2019 Crosstrek dangerously malfunctioned. When driving at 75 MPH on the highway it went into in neutral, then it would not go in reverse, and in park it revved to 75 MPH, ultimately it would not start. Based on many codes the car was indicating, the Subaru mechanic tried to replace a cable that communicates the computer to the transmission (turbine?), it did not solve the problem. It has been waiting on a new transmission for four weeks with no ETA. Subaru dealer indicates the new transmission will have a 100,000-mile warranty. It appears that rather than fix this known dangerous defective transmission issue for good, there are many reports when you research online, they simply up the warranty. Someone is going to get hurt if they haven't already. Thank you for your time.
The contact owns a 2019 Subaru Crosstrek. The contact stated that there was a crack on the windshield. The contact stated that there was no impact to the windshield that could have caused the crack in the windshield. The dealer and manufacturer were made aware of the failure. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The failure mileage was 36,000.
Within a month of owning this vehicle new, the windshield formed a crack in it randomly. A few weeks later It formed another in the center near the driver's side making it harder to focus on the road. Now we have 2 cracks next to each other obstructing the driver's view.
I purchased my 2019 Subaru Crosstrek in 2019 brand new and as of March 29th, 2022 I have had two windshield replacements due to cracks. I have never had this issue before with my other vehicles and I have also owned a 2016 Subaru Impreza so I am assuming it might have something to do with the year and model of my current Subaru. I recently replaced my cracked windshield last month and today I have discovered another chip in my windshield. This will be the third time that my windshield has cracked. When brought to the attention of my Subaru dealer, they said it was not an issue and I am just unlucky. Upon further research online, I have discovered that I am not the only one who has had windshield cracking issues with a 2019 Subaru Crosstrek.
This vehicle has a crack across the lower part of windshield. Apparently this is a notorious subaru problem I'm told.
Unknown Windshield Cracked, No apparent reason, and can be inspected. Nothing has been reported or inspected as of yet.
TWO incidents: 1) Within a month of buying a brand new car, the windshield chipped. A small pebble hit the windshield while driving it. I've been hit by hundreds of small pebbles in other cars over the years and never had a chip. Got it repaired the next day with Safelite, they did a repair and it seemed to work fine. No further issues with the chip. They were shocked at how easily it chipped. 2) Feb 2022, I had my car at the dealer for about a week, and then drove it home and parked it in the driveway. Came back to it a day or two later, and there was a large crack originating by the heating elements/where the wipers are. It had 4 or 5 branches out, 3 were small, one was medium, and one large crack went all the way to the middle of the windshield. No damage, didn't hit anything, the crack is nowhere near the chip. Spontaneous crack.
Battery won't hold a charge. Car is not reliable, danger of not starting and being stranded. Car has been inspected by dealership twice and new batteries were installed but the problem persists. No warning of low battery.
I've owned cars for 40 years. And not once in 40 years, has the ash from a cigarette caused a seat to immediately burn. And I mean burn. Not just a burn on the outside of the fabric, but deep down into the padded material within seconds. Thankfully, I was able to put it out in the heavy smoke phase, before it turned into a full blown burning flame, burning the entire car seat and car. After my experience, it floored me that wasn't discovered during any type of testing that might be done on a vehicle. A major safety issue in my mind. I decided to report it now, because I'm surprised nobody else has. Considering there aren't a lot of cigarette smokers it's not surprising I guess.
Windshield cracked while driving for no reason
Windshield cracked at in the center at the base while car was sitting inside garage.
While driving at a slow speed (<15mph) I had to stop quickly at an intersection. A small board inside the car (<1 lb, 2'x12") connected with the windshield causing a substantial crack approximately 10 inches in diameter. The windshield is absolutely unsafe and will need to be replaced(although has not yet been seen by the dealer.)
After having cowl replaced under warranty, at the dealership, I drove vehicle home (3 miles) and placed in garage. Next day, noticed 10 inch crack on lower passenger side of windshield. Took car to have looked at by dealership who stated crack had to come from rock and refused to replace. On my way home, I did not take a rock to my windshield. The Service Manager stated he would call Subaru regarding my issue. He has never called to provide any update.
Today, 12/19/2021, marks the sixth (6th) time my car’s battery has failed and forced me to call Star Link to schedule and wait for a battery jump. Subaru refused to replace my battery after the 3rd and also refused to check the grounding wire upon a service inspection. This battery is faulty and Subaru knows it. My child has been with me in three of th de ridiculous occasions of waiting for jumper cables and has been frightened each time. This is totally unacceptable and is costing my family time, money, and emotional distress.
I was driving on an open road today and it was cold outside about 50 degree. There were no other cars around and I heard a loud boom noise on the roof of my car. I looked at my sunroof in the car and it was shattered. The Bubble from the explosion in the glass was sticking out from the car verses towards the car so I am aware it was not impacted by anything.
The contact owns a 2019 Subaru Crosstrek. The contact stated while the vehicle was parked, the front windshield cracked without impact. The vehicle was not taken to a local dealer. The manufacturer was not informed of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 24,200.
The windshield on my Subaru Crosstrek is incredibly weak and cracks upon the smallest impact. I have owned my vehicle for 2.5 years, and have driven it about 25,000 miles. In the vehicle that I owned prior (Lincoln LS), I never experienced any windshield cracking, and I was driving in the same region. I now have 6 cracks on my windshield, two of which have grown to be larger cracks (one going all the way across my dash, and the other stretching about 12 inches). The cracks and nicks are causing an issue with visibility in colder weather. My vehicle windshield does not defrost as quickly, and my windshield becomes foggy more often while driving.
The contact owns a 2019 Subaru Crosstrek. The contact stated while driving 20 MPH, the accelerator pedal was not depressed but the vehicle slightly accelerated independently. There were no warning lights illuminated. The contact also stated that while accelerating from a complete stop and making a turn, the vehicle inadvertently stalled, almost causing another vehicle to crash into her vehicle. There were no warning lights illuminated. The contact veered to the side of the road. The vehicle was taken to the dealer who diagnosed an engine failure and that the failure was related to NHTSA Campaign Number: 21V264000 (Electrical System, Engine and Engine Cooling). The dealer updated the ECM software. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and referred the contact to NHTSA. The vehicle was repaired. The approximate failure mileage was 7,990.
After driving for a few when I come to a stop or slow down to a lower gear and accelerate it starts to stall out and the lights dim a bit slightly. It does not do it on the highway or at higher rates of speed. I’ve checked battery, watched allot of the parameters on a diagnostic tool and didn’t see anything out of the ordinary or any codes even when almost stalling out in a intersection. It would have left me to oncoming traffic. It didn’t die but it was rattling rumbling and stalling. It’s like the transmission is trying to keep it at a super low gear to save gas? I checked for recalls and it states none. I just got this car and it has 40k miles and is still new. I love this car and feel super safe driving it . I traded my abarth for it and it was really hard to part but this car makes up for it. I’m calling the Subaru dealership and dealership I got it from. I’ve owned it less than a month.
Battery continually does not hold charge over any time longer than a few days parked. Even after long drive from Wisconsin to Ohio, car sitting for 6 days in cool weather (never under 40 degrees) caused dead battery. Battery has been replaced by Subaru dealer 3 times previously, each time dealer said they could not detect a problem. In winter, battery is dead each night, even with normal daily use each day.
UNKNOWN. My windshield has a crack in the lower section on the passenger side coming up from the bottom of the windshield. There is no indication that it was hit by anything, there is just a crack. In fact, it was parked in the garage and next time we got in it we noticed the crack.
2 battery failures in 2 years of purchasing vehicle. I am on my third battery in less than two years. Incidents occurred 15, 19, 23 and 24 months into car ownership. 4 battery / electrical related dealer service visits in 2 years. 2 times the car was immobilized due to battery failure, would not start and required a tow to dealership service. On 3 occasions lost car audio - no audio map directions, no hands free phone calling, no radio. On 1 occasion lost all internal lighting on entire instrument panel and all switches during night driving on one occasion creating a serious driving hazard and safety issue. All issues occurred with no warning lamps, messages or other symptoms. Only Subaru Dealer service has inspected and replaced/ recharged the batteries. Dealer service claimed they could not reproduce the problem once they replaced or recharged the batteries.
The vehicle of concern is a 2019 Subaru Crosstrek Plug-in Hybrid (PHEV). In the past 2 to 3 months, we have had multiple warning lights come on when the vehicle is started. In some cases, we were able to clear the warning lights by turning the vehicle off and back on several times over the course of 30-40 minutes. The two most recent occurrences involved the vehicle having to be towed to the dealership as either the car would not shift out of Park or upon shifting out of Park, the parking brake would not release. The car was driven to the Burlington Subaru dealership in Burlington, VT about 5-6 weeks ago where they were unable to reproduce the problem or find any information logged in the vehicle's logs. Two weeks ago (8/19/21), the vehicle was towed to the dealership. The service department was able to log/see the errors (ABS, Check Engine, Eyesight System and Vehicle Dynamic Control) which were also logged in the MySubaru app. The dealership drove the vehicle almost 250 miles in attempts to diagnose the problem further. They upgraded the ECM software and they did not see the problem after that. I picked the vehicle up the morning of 8/30/21 and the problem recurred the evening of 8/30/21 resulting in the 2nd tow back to the dealership. The same errors as before were reported and seen by the dealership. On 9/1/21, I was informed by the service dept rep the problem was root caused to be a faulty electronic parking switch resulting in a drained battery. They are awaiting the n
I was driving on the highway and a tiny rock my windshield which shouldn’t have caused the 12 inch crack in my windshield like it did, i have to have it replaced now.
The contact owns a 2018 Subaru Crosstrek. The contact stated while entering the vehicle, he heard a popping noise and saw there was a crack on the windshield. There was no impact to the windshield that could have caused the crack. The vehicle was repaired by an auto glass company. The dealer and manufacturer were not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 19,500.
My daughter was in process of pulling her car into the garage when it experienced sudden acceleration and crashed into the garage. My daughter was unable to stop the car as the brake system failed during the incident. She is now too terrified to drive the car. Subaru claims that the car is and has been operating as intended. The Subaru Eyesight, Anti-Lock Braking, Vehicle Dynamic Control systems all failed during the sudden acceleration event. It's fortunate that this incident did not happen at a stoplight (intersection).
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NHTSA publishes every complaint as the owner wrote it and investigates only a fraction. Spelling, capitalisation and judgement are the filer’s own. What carries weight is repetition: the same component failing the same way across many filings, and whether the manufacturer eventually opened a recall for it.
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