I WAS DRIVING MY CHILD TO SCHOOL ON A RAINY MORNING IN TRAFFIC,20-30MPH ON A STRAIGHT ROAD. THE CAR STALLED AND THEN THE ENGINE SHUT OFF. (I AM LUCKY I DID NOT GET REAR ENDED; OTHERWISE I WOULD BE IN THE HOSPITAL GETTING MY CHILD CHECKED OUT.) ROLLED OVER TO THE SIDE OF THE ROAD; AS CLOSE AS I COULD GET.. SHIFTED INTO PARK AND RESTARTED THE CAR. STARTED RIGHT UP. I HAD A QUARTER TANK OF GAS AND DROVE THREE MILES AFTER THAT AND STILL HAVE ENOUGH TO GET TO A GAS STATION; SO IT IS NOT A FUEL SUPPLY ISSUE. THIS IS NOT SAFE!!! THIS IS NOT ACCEPTABLE!!!! THIS IS A NEW CAR PURCHASED THREE MONTHS AGO!!! CALLED THE DEALER'S SERVICE REP AND ASKED IF THIS COULD BE PART OF THE ISSUE I AM HAVING WITH FUEL ECONOMY. I AM AVERAGING 16.1 MPG. MY 2007 MERCURY MILLAN PREMIER AWD AVERAGED AROUND 22.8MPG: 10 YEARS OLDER AND LARGER ENGINE (3.0 VS 2.5). I ALSO LET HIM KNOW THAT AT LOW SPEEDS THE CAR IS FIGHTING AS IF IN THE WRONG GEAR AND LOW TORQUE. ALSO THERE IS NOT A SMOOTH COAST, IT IS ALMOST AS IF THE CAR IS BRAKING BY BEING IN THE WRONG GEAR. I HAVE HAD A TOYOTA, DODGE, FORD, MERCURY, HONDA, AND HYUNDAI IN THE FAMILY AND NEVER HAD PROBLEMS LIKE THIS. THIS IS NOT SAFE!!! THIS IS NOT ACCEPTABLE!!!! THIS IS A NEW CAR PURCHASED THREE MONTHS AGO!!! I ALSO ASKED HIM IF THIS HAS SOMETHING TO DO WITH THE HEAD UNIT WHICH IS RIDDLED WITH PROBLEMS. HOW DID SUBARU LET A CAR LIKE THIS OFF THE LINE? I NOW FEAR USING THIS CAR. I DO NOT WANT TO BE IN A FATAL ACCIDENT AND I DO NOT WANT TO INTRODUCE FATAL RISK
2018 Subaru Outback 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 2018 record →
MY WIFE AND I WERE DRIVING ON THE INTERSTATE ON A COOL (45 DEGREES) DAY AT ABOUT 70 MPH, THE ONLY VEHICLE IN THE VICINITY. THERE WAS A SUDDDEN UNEXPLAINED NOISE OVERHEAD, THEN A LOUD EXPLOSION LIKE NOISE AND THEN A LOUD RUSH OF WIND AND THE SOUND OF SOMETHING BREAKING AND FLAPPING AND SOMETHING BLOWING AND HITTING THE ROOF OF THE CAR. I SLID OPEN THE SUNSHADE A VERY SMALL DISTANCE AND DISCOVERED MY SUNROOF HAD EXPLODED FOR NO APPARENT REASON OR CAUSE.THIS WAS ON A 7 MONTH OLD 2018 SUBARU OUTBACK WITH FACTORY INSTALLED SUNROOF AND 17,000 MIKES ON IT. THE SUNROOF WAS COMPLETELY CLOSED AT THE TIME AND FORTUNATELY SO WAS THE INTERIOR SUNSHADE.
A CRACK DEVELOPED IN THE LOWER LEFT CORNER OF THE FRONT PASSENGER WINDOW. THE CRACK IS ABOUT 7 INCHES IN LENGTH, RUNNING FROM THE BOTTOM OF THE WINDOW - WHERE IT MEETS THE RUBBER GASKET OF THE DOOR - UP AND TO THE RIGHT. IT OBSCURES THE RIGHT SIDE MIRROR. THIS CRACK APPEARED SUDDENLY ON 2/21/18. PRIOR TO THIS, WE NOTICED A BUBBLING OR WARPING OF THE WINDOW IN THE TOP LEFT AREA THAT DISTORTED THE VIEW - THIS HAS BEEN PREVIOUSLY REPORTED ON THE NHTSA SITE.
8" NAVIGATION/DISPLAY FROZEN. NO BACK-UP CAMERA WHEN IN REVERSE. DOES NOT RESPOND TO INPUTS EITHER ON THE DISPLAY OR FROM STEERING WHEEL. "POWER" SWITCH DID NOT POWER DOWN THE UNIT. STOPPING THE ENGINE AND RESTARTING DID NOT RESET THE UNIT. STOPPING THE ENGINE, OPEN AND CLOSE THE DRIVERS DOOR AND RESTARTING DID NOT RESET THE UNIT. REMAINED INOPERATIVE DURING MORNING COMMUTE (30 MIN). CENTER CONSOLE REMAINED ON AFTER EXITING AND LOCKING THE CAR. AFTER 9 HOURS THE BATTERY WAS DRAINED AND THE ENGINE WOULD NOT START. AFTER A JUMP-START, THE UNIT DID RESET AND SEEMS TO BE WORKING NORMALLY. THERE SHOULD BE A WAY TO POWER-DOWN (REBOOT) THE NAVIGATION/RADIO DISPLAY WITHOUT HAVING TO STOP THE CAR AND RESTART THE ENGINE.
MOST OCCURRENCES WERE AT HIGH SPEED ON INTERSTATES. I THOUGHT IT WAS WIND RELATED BUT PROBABLY WASN'T. CAR WOULD SEEM TO MOVE SLIGHTLY WITH NO STEERING EFFORT AND THEN THE STEERING WOULD PUSH BACK SEVERELY ON CURVES SOMETIMES IT WOULD PUSH FROM SIDE TO SIDE SETTING UP A SWERVING MOTION. NO WARNING LIGHTS EVER CAME ON THIS CONTINUED FOR FOUR DAYS AND THEN HAS NOT BEEN EXPERIENCED AGAIN. SERVICE COULD NOT DUPLICATE. I CONSIDER THIS SERIOUS ENOUGH THAT IF IT CONTINUES I WILL TRADE THE CAR. THE MOVEMENTS ARE SEVERE ENOUGH IN MY OPINION TO BE DANGEROUS. THESE EVENTS OCCURRED ON 1-27,28,29,30-2018.
I PURCHASED MY 2018 SUBARU OUTBACK ON DEC. 29, 2017. THREE WEEKS LATER, THE WINDSHIELD BEGAN TO SHOW A CRACK CREEPING UP FROM THE UPPER RIGHT SIDE OF THE VEHICLE. MIND YOU, THE CAR WAS STATIONARY IN MY DRIVEWAY. I NEVER WITNESSED THE WINDSHIELD SUSTAIN ANY IMPACT THAT WOULD CAUSE SUCH A CRACK. I BROUGHT THE VEHICLE TO MY LOCAL SUBARU DEALER WHERE THE CAR WAS PURCHASED FOR REPAIR OR REPLACEMENT AND THE DEALER REFUSED TO COVER THE REPAIR UNDER THE VEHICLE'S WARRANTY. THERE HAVE BEEN MULTIPLE COMPLAINTS LODGED WITH THE NATIONAL HIGHWAY TRANSPORTATION SAFETY AUTHORITY, DESCRIBING THE SUBARU WINDSHIELD DEFECT ISSUE. ADDITIONALLY, ON OCCASION AND WHILE IN MOTION, THE HEAD UNIT (NAVIGATION DISPLAY, RADIO, ETC.) IN MY 2018 OUTBACK LIMITED W/EYESIGHT, WILL FREEZE UP AND NO HARD OR SOFT BUTTONS WILL REACTIVATE THE SYSTEM. I HAD TO SHUT MY CAR DOWN FOR A FEW MINUTES BEFORE A "REBOOT" TOOK PLACE.
THERE IS A DISTORTED VIEW THROUGH THE DRIVER'S SIDE AND PASSENGER SIDE WINDOWS. SUBARU OF AMERICA, AND THE SERVICE DEPARTMENT AT THE DEALERSHIP THE VEHICLE LEASE WAS SIGNED AT, BOTH TELL ME THAT BECAUSE IT'S TEMPERED GLASS, THAT'S HOW THEY COME. THIS IS VISIBLE WHEN IN MOTION OR WHEN THE VEHICLE IS IN PARK. IT LOOKS AS THOUGH YOU'RE ALMOST LOOKING THROUGH A FISHBOWL. I'VE SAT IN NUMEROUS VEHICLES ON THE LOT THAT ALL APPEAR TO BE THE SAME. I HAVE VIDEOS OF THIS ISSUE, BUT THEY'RE UNABLE TO BE UPLOADED SINCE THE FILE SIZE IS TOO BIG. SUBARU IS OFFERING ME A CASH SETTLEMENT TO DEAL WITH THIS FOR THE NEXT 3 YEARS, BUT I AM NOT FEELING TOO COMFORTABLE WITH TAKING THAT OFFER.
WHILE DRIVING 70 MILES PER HOUR: ON MOST CURVES TO THE LEFT THE CAR SEEMS TO "GRAB" TO THE LEFT AND THEN I CORRECT THE SWING. SOMETIMES IT SEEMS TO ALMOST OVER CORRECT. AND I HAVE EXPERIENCED THE SAME ISSUE WHILE ON THE STRAIGHT WAY AND THE CAR WILL SEEM TO PULL TO THE RIGHT. NOT ENOUGH THAT I AM IN DANGER OF CRASHING BUT IS UNSETTLING
THE ABILITY TO ADJUST THE OUTSIDE DRIVER SIDE MIRROR IS SIGNIFICANTLY RESTRICTED IN COMPARISON TO THE PASSENGER OUTSIDE SIDE MIRROR. THIS INCREASES THE CHANCE OF AN OPERATOR BEING IN AN ACCIDENT DUE TO REDUCED AWARENESS AND/OR NEEDED INCREASED REACTION TIME TO COMPENSATE FOR THIS DESIGN FLAW. THE BLIND SIGHT MONITORING SYSTEM SHOULD NOT BE USED AS THE ONLY SYSTEM TO DETECT VEHICLES IN YOUR BLIND SPOT. SUBARU DOES NEED TO ADDRESS THIS MATTER.
STARLINK RADIO IN TOURING MODEL WITH 8"SCREEN UNRELIABLE. HAD ISSUES WITH TOUCHSCREEN FREEZING AND CD LOADING ERROR FROM PURCHASE DATE IN AUGUST TO DEC. 18, 2017. DEALER TRIED TO PERFORM SOFTWARE UPDATE AND FRIED RADIO. RADIO WAS REPLACED. ISSUES WORSE WITH NEW RADIO. TOOK 2500 MILE TRIP AND HAD COMPLETE FAILURE OF RADIO, NAVIGATION, BLUETOOTH, BACKUP CAMERA. LETTING CAR SIT CLEARED SOME ERRORS BUT LATER SIMILAR PROBLEMS REOCCURRED. ALSO HAVE ISSUE WITH DOORS DO NOT ALWAYS LOCK WHEN SHIFTING INTO GEAR OR UNLOCKING WHEN SHIFTING INTO PARK. THE RADIO CONTROLS THESE SETTINGS AND ALL DOORS ARE TO UNLOCK WHEN SHIFTED TO REVERSE OR DRIVE AND UNLOCK WHEN SHIFTED TO PARK. SOMETIMES NO DOORS LOCK WHEN SHIFTING INTO REVERSE OR DRIVE. SOMETIMES ONLY THE FRONT DOORS UNLOCK WHEN SHIFTING TO PARK SOMETIMES NO DOORS UNLOCK WHEN SHIFTING TO PARK. DURING ONE PERIOD WHEN RADIO WAS OUT THE CAR WOULD NOT START UNTIL THE DRIVERS DOOR WAS OPENED AND CLOSED 3 TIMES. ISSUE WITH LOSS OF RADIO AND OTHER COMPONENTS OCCURS WHEN STARTING THE CAR. IT HAS NEVER OCCURRED WHILE DRIVING. EXTREMELY CONCERNED ABOUT DOORS NOT LOCKING AND UNLOCKING SERIOUS SAFETY ISSUE. SUBARU APPEARS TO KNOW ABOUT THE ISSUE BUT DEALERS HAVE HAVE LITTLE INFORMATION AND SUBARU HAS NOT NOTIFIED OWNERS OF THE ISSUES BUT NUMEROUS POSTS IN SUBARU OUTBACK FORUM INDICATE NUMEROUS OTHER OWNERS WITH THE 8" SCREEN ARE HAVING SIMILAR ISSUES.
THE VEHICLE PULLS TO THE LEFT. THE DEALER ADDRESSED THE PROBLEM TWICE IN TWO WEEKS BY DOING A FOUR WHEEL ALIGNMENT. THE VEHICLE IS STILL PULLING TO THE LEFT. A MORE CONCERNING ISSUE JUST STARTED. THE VEHICLE HAS APPLIED THE RIGHT FRONT BRAKE AT HIGHWAY SPEEDS. NOT HARD, JUST ENOUGH TO FEEL THE STEERING WHEEL JUMP TO THE RIGHT. I WAS TRAVELING APPROXIMATELY 65 TO 70 MPH ON A STRAIGHT INTERSTATE HIGHWAY WHEN THIS HAPPENED.
LOW BEAMS UPPER HALF OF VIEW IS SO DARK I CAN NOT SEE THE ROAD. LOW BEAMS SEEMS TO CUT VIEW IN HALF HORIZONTALLY. I CAN'T SEE THROUGH UPPER HALF OF WINDSHIELD UNLESS HIGHBEAKS ARE ON. BRAND NEW CAR. JUST BOUGHT IT. ONLY 950 MILES ONNIT.
ON OCCASION, AND WHILE IN MOTION, THE HEAD UNIT (NAVIGATION DISPLAY, RADIO, ETC), IN OUR 2018 OUTBACK LIMITED W/ EYESIGHT, WILL FREEZE UP AND NO HARD OR SOFT BUTTONS WILL REACTIVATE THE SYSTEM. I MUST SHUT CAR DOWN FOR A FEW MINUTES BEFORE A "REBOOT" TAKES PLACE. I HAVE SEEN NUMEROUS OTHER COMPLAINTS ON SUBARUOUTBACK.COM.
AFTER PUTTING ON HAZARD SWITCH AND LEAVING VEHICLE, I CAME BACK TO VEHICLE AND THE KEYLESS ENTRY WOULD NOT FUNCTION. SYSTEM DID NOT SEEM TO RECOGNIZE MY SMARTKEY AS THE DOOR HANDLE SENSOR DID NOT OPERATE. I TRIED THE BUTTONS ON THE SMARTLY FOB AND THEY TOO DID NOT FUNCTION. ALSO TRIED THE MOBILE REMOTE APP AND THAT TOO FAILED. I HAD TO USE THE MECHANICAL KEY TO ENTER VEHICLE. OF COURSE THE SECURITY HORN GOES OFF, BUT STRANGELY I WAS ABLE TO START VEHICLE SO SYSTEM WAS ABLE TO RECOGNIZE MY SMARTKEY AFTER ENTRY. PROBLEM SEEMS TO ONLY OCCUR AFTER A SPECIFIC TIME PERIOD. IF I PUT ON THE HAZARDS AND COME BACK IN A COUPLE MINUTES, SYSTEM WORKS NORMALLY. IT SEEMS TO OCCUR AROUND THE FIVE TO 10 MINUTE TIME FRAME.
THE CAR IS PARKED. THE FLASHERS ARE ACTIVATED. THE CAR IS THEN LOCKED FROM THE OUTSIDE WITH THE KEY FOB. AFTER RETURNING TO THE CAR A SHORT TIME LATER (MAYBE 5 MINUTES OR SO) THE KEY FOB IS TOTALLY UNUSABLE. LOCK, UNLOCK, REAR HATCH OR PANIC DO NOT WORK. MUST THEN USE THE KEY IN THE DOOR LOCK, TO UNLOCK THE DOOR. THEN, OF COURSE, THE ALARM SOUNDS UNTIL YOU CAN PUT THE KEY INTO THE IGNITION TO SILENCE THE ALARM. THERE APPEARS TO BE A TIME OUT PROBLEM BECAUSE THE KEY FOB CAN UNLOCK THE CAR WITH THE HAZARD FLASHERS ON, RIGHT AFTER LOCKING THE CAR BUT THIS PROBLEM ONLY HAPPENS AFTER THE CAR HAS BEEN LEFT FOR A SHORT TIME. I HAVE GIVEN THIS PROBLEM TO SUBARU HEADQUARTERS AND THEY GAVE ME A CASE NUMBER OF 1-27586772057. IN AN EMERGENCY WHEN THE FLASHERS ARE ACTIVATED, IF THE CAR IS LOCKED AND UPON RETURNING A SHORT TIME LATER AND THE KEY FOB WON'T UNLOCK THE CAR, THERE COULD BE A DANGEROUS SITUATION, ESPECIALLY IN A DANGEROUS LOCATION OR SOMEONE (ESPECIALLY AN OLDER PERSON) MIGHT PANIC AND NOT THINK CLEARLY WHAT TO DO NEXT. I AM ABLE TO REPEAT THIS PROBLEM AT ANY TIME SINCE IT HAPPENED. I TRIED BOTH KEY FOBS WITH THE SAME RESULT.
DRIVERS SIDE VIEW MIRROR DOES NOT ADJUST FAIR ENOUGH TO SEE MY BLIND SPOT WELL. THIS IS A COMMON PROBLEM. I'VE READ COUNTLESS FORUMS ON POPULAR SUBARU FORUM WEBSITES. THIS IS A SAFETY ISSUE.
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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.
Full record for the 2018 Subaru Outback → · Every Outback year → · How the figures are calculated →