2021 Subaru Outback complaints

I have owned my 2021 Outback since April of 2021. I currently have just under 15,000 miles on it and am now looking to replace my second windshield. I have taken the car on 5 road trips over 200 miles and this is the second time where I instantly have a 6-8 inch long crack appear. There was evidence of a very small impact but the instant spreading seems to be an issue with many other Outback owners as I have seen on social media groups that some people have gone through 5+ windshields in the first year of ownership. I believe it is clear at this point that there is an issue with the glass itself and this could be a serious safety concern as I am fearful what would happen if a normal size rock were to hit it how it would respond to the impact.

Windshield developed a large crack for no apparent reason. There is no sign of an impact from an object. Vehicle was parked outside when outside temperature dropped overnight. Crack over 6” long appeared the next morning.

When I bought my new 2021 Subaru on Sep. 27, 2021. It was twilight and the sales lady said it had a small rock chip in the windshield but they were going to fix it. Driving home, I saw the windshield had a spider web of cracks all over it. I took it back on Sep. 30 and they replaced the windshield. On Oct 31, I drove 660 miles. When I looked at the Subaru in the motel parking lot the next morning, the new 5-week old windshield had cracks. There was a rock chip where the cracks crossed. They were not spread all over but covered an area about 14" wide and 8" high. I didn't want to drive it but I had to get it back to the dealer. Later I saw the State of New Jersey had filed lawsuits against Subaru for cracked windshields on 2.5M vehicles. I felt sick and didn't know what to do. I found a "Service Bulletin" No. 12-192-12R dated 10/26/15. It was only for 2015-2016MY Legacy and Outback models and MY's but it described the crack issue and illustrated it. It was very limited. It just offered an extended warranty and one repair on specific models. I believe this is a serious Safety Defect because it is spread over a large population of vehicles and Subaru is not admitting any defect or safety problem. If this occurs on a trip, it's likely the driver will continue to drive to their destination with a dangerously compromised windshield. FMVSS 205 states that Glazing in Auto windows is to reduce injuries resulting from impact to glazing surfaces, to maintain transparency for visibility

We purchased a new 2021 Outback Subaru 2 months ago. Three days ago, on 11/12/21, a crack appeared on the windshield overnight, while the car was parked on our driveway. Nothing hit our car while we were driving and there's nothing that stands above the car that could have fallen on it while parked at our house. The crack is linear and started on the very left side right above the driver's sight. It started at about 5 inches long and the next day was already extending almost halfway through the windshield length. We are highly suspicious that the crack is a result of a defective windshield specially after learning that Subaru has several lawsuits regarding this same issue. We had to stop driving the car in fear that the windshield may completely break at any time. My husband contacted Subaru twice and the representatives told him someone would soon contact him about the incident. Nobody contacted us for the next two days. My husband then called Subaru and they said it would cost $1,500 to fix it.

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.

Front window crack without being struck by rock or any other object in the second month of ownership.

The vehicle on board computer system periodically goes completely black (i.e., completely shuts down) disabling all of the operator controls (heater/fan/defrost controls, seat heater controls, temp controls, navigation, radio and other dash monitoring and informational controls, etc.). I am not sure of all features/functions that are lost because it happens when I am driving and I cannot investigate to see what all functions/indications I have lost. It remains out of service for a short period (the times of the shut down seem to have varied) of time and then comes on and reboots itself. Sometimes it comes back to where/when it shut down, and sometimes it just comes back to the initial ignition/start screen. This requires action by the driver (which is a safety concern because it requires the driver's attention and is distracting) to reset control settings. Navigation sometimes requires resetting an address because the computer lost its destination. This is dangerous. I just had the vehicle serviced for this issue and had a Subaru "FIX" installed - that apparently did not work. The problem still exists.

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.

Windshield spontaneously cracked on passenger side at eye level after 5 months, 5,700 miles

The emergency braking forward collision system has deployed several times when it should not. In some circumstance the braking could result in the person behind me rear ending me. The main problem is that if the car detects another car directly in front of you, the system will sometimes deploy even if the vehicle is not in the same lane as you. I've had the emergency brakes deployed incorrectly in the following situations. I am driving in the left lane of a 2 lane road with a speed limit of 45 mph and the road is banking sharply to the left. Because of the sharp bank, a car was directly in front of me but in the right lane, so this is a normal non dangerous situation but the brakes deployed. I exited a parkway, the exit ramp banks sharply to the right as most exit ramps do. Directly ahead of me but off the road is a disabled vehicle. There is no danger to me as it is safely off the road, but the brakes were deployed. In both instances there was no one following close behind me but if there was, either situation could have resulted in them rear ending me. I have taken to disabling the emergency braking feature because I no longer feel safe using it. Unfortunately this takes 7 key presses to accomplish and it resets every time you turn the car on. I contacted Subaru customer service to complain, but got ridiculous suggestions, like just turn off the emergency braking when you expect to be driving with a lot of cross traffic. If not rectified, sooner or later that's going to cau

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.

I am on my third cracked windshield in FOUR MONTHS! First crack in July 2021, second in August 2021, third in early October 2021. Haven’t replaced the latest as I’m concerned about insurance rate increases. Each time the crack appears in the bottom of the drivers side and spreads to more than 12 inches in minutes. Summer in Utah is typically not problematic for cracked windshields. All windshields have been replaced with Subaru product as aftermarket products don’t exist.

A small object struck the windshield on the lower driver side, it created a horizontal crack about 1.5 ft long within a minute.

Infotainment system suddenly shuts down while driving blank screen often triggered while using GPS. Radio will turn on spontaneously at full blast creating a startle effect, often unable to turn off. Had to pull over and turn car off. Daily event has been escalating. Apparently dealerships aware Subaru has been non-responsive. Telling dealerships there is a software fix issue, finally communicating to me there is no current fix. Multiple communications have led to no response. Despite near miss of an accident due to these issues. Almost daily over last 2-3 months

This is my second experience with a cracked windshield in the 6 months I have owned this vehicle. The first time the windshield cracked I was driving on the interstate and the windshield simply cracked. No debris impact, no bumps, just a long crack running from the top center of the glass down apx 8 inches. Subaru replaced under warranty. The second time the glass cracked I was driving on the interstate and was hit by a small piece of debris. So small it took a moment to find the point of impact. The crack immediately started to spread and after a few hours was apx 12 inches long. After apx 2 weeks the crack has run and is apx 2.5 feet. Insurance claim has been filed, but due to a shortage of glass the repair has not been completed.

Bought this new Subaru in December and the battery died twice after a week and a half of not driving. The first time I had to get the battery replaced. If I don't start the car every few days (and during COVID I don't) then the electricity completely drains the battery dead.

The Auto-start feature, which stops the engine at a light, then restarts, is very dangerous. It cannot be permanently turned off - always on by default. 1 if the steering wheel is not perfectly straight, it jerks out of your hand when the engine restarts. 2 the car jerks forward when the engine restarts. This has already put me in danger of a crash several times - and this 'feature' must be actively disengaged each and every time the car is started. It should be able to be permanently turned off - not always on by default.

Windshield suddenly cracked, starting from bottom center of the window, crack moved up about 6" and then turned 90 degrees towards passenger side and went another 6". No object hit the window or car; it just spontaneously cracked from bottom then moved upwards.

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.

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.

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.

Driving at 65 mph, engine stopped taking gas, slowed to below 30 in heavy freeway traffic. Resumed normal operation in about a minute. Then failed in similar fashion 5 minutes later. Took my 2021 Subaru outback xt to the dealer where purchased. They have been unable to duplicate the issue and want me to drive the car without any fix. I refuse to do that as if it happens in a situation where I must accelerate to be safe, it is going to be disastrous. They point to no recall on the 2021 model, but had this issue for the last 3 years on many of their models. What to do?

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.

Windshield spontaneously cracked. No warning.

As I was getting into my vehicle to drive to work the morning of Monday August 30th,I noticed a large crack in the windshield starting at the passenger side to the middle of the windshield. Vehicle was parked in driveway over the weekend and no damage was seen on the outside of the winshield.

The contact owns a 2021 Subaru Outback. The contact stated while coming out of a full stop, the vehicle would stall without warning. The contact stated no warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was taken to a local dealer but was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not informed of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 6,500.

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.

My wife has purchased Subaru 2021 Outback on May 2021. The windshield got cracked while it was parked in a driveway. It looks there was no sign of impact on the crack. The windshield of the Outback looks very susceptible to crack.

On 3 Occasions the Eyesight automatic braking activated with no apparent reason. The first was at highway speeds, second at 45mph and the third at about 30/35mph. In the first case a car entered the lane but there was considerable distance. In the second a car made a right turn into my lane and was slow but there was about 1/4 mile or more space and the last one occurred as, my wife, followed the curve of the road to the right. There were no vehicles near by only a median. In each case there was no gradual slow down only a full force application of the brakes. This led to the car lunging forward. Fortunately in all cases there was no one behind us or we would have been rear ended. The associated red heads-up lights activated at the very same time as the brakes did. I have called the dealer for an appointment to bring it in. No one else has inspected the vehicle.

The contact owns a 2021 Subaru Outback. The contact’s wife was driving 40 MPH and noticed that the center console display screen went blank and rebooted independently after a few minutes. However, the failure reoccurred and affected several safety features on the vehicle including the HVAC controls, Bluetooth connectivity, and navigation on the vehicle. The contact took the vehicle to a local dealer who inspected the vehicle and duplicated of the failure the but could not determine the cause of the failure. The dealer was able to install a software monitor to replicate the failure so the contact could notify the failure to the dealer. The contact took the vehicle back to the local dealer where the dealer replaced the center module in an attempt to repair the vehicle however, the failure still occurred. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 1,800.

After less than 3,000 miles and 6 months, the windshield spontaneously cracked from about 1/3 the way up the driver-side post horizontally about 12” toward the center of the car, then up vertically about 10” and then horizontally about 24” further toward the center of the car. This was reported to Subaru of America with Case # 1-73126830225 on 2021-08-18.

Cracked windshield while parked in the garage

Windshield cracked on a new 2021 car, while driving in the city in clear weather and light traffic.The crack runs horizontally for about 10 inches and then turn vertical for the same height. I do not think it was hit by anything. Dealer inspection will be taken up soon.

Don't buy I regret buying it. Water leaks into the vehicle passenger side door. I got a loaner and the same issue water leaks into the vehicle

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.

During heavy rains, the vehicles leak water into the driver's side wheel well. Numerous times back to the dealer and the vehicle being piece by piece all seals are being replaced. As per numerous blogs on Subaru forums, an indication of a faulty windshield seal could be the issue, but the dealership refuses to replace or reset the windshield seal. Bought the car on June 28, 2021, and have been to the dealership 3 times for the same issue. The dealership is replacing seals on the skylight and door but as of yet no resolution. At the time of this complaint, the vehicle has been at dealership for 3 weeks with no resolution.

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.

The glass on my 2021 subaru outback that I purchased less than 2 months ago has started cracking from the bottom next to vin number and spread all the way to the center of the glass within 3 hours.

Windshield cracked at bottom base without any impact from something hitting it. In standstill traffic, all of a sudden we heard and saw a crack just appear! Then is spread rapidly straight up, then to both sides sides. So scary. This was about 4:45pm on 8/4/2021. We noticed next day it spread even more. Then a day later 8/6/2021 at 3:30pm traveling, the right side base of windshield cracked again! And spread quickly. So now there are two cracks! It is the oddest thing! Never experienced anything like this with any vehicle. This is an AVIS rental car. We will bring it to the Suburu dealership in West Palm Beach, FL when we get home early next week. This windshield is obviously defective.

Bought my 2021 outback June 16th. Last week my battery went dead in my driveway. Called customer care and they had to jump me. Yesterday morning it was dead in the driveway again. Again they had to come out and jump me. July 29th was the first time and august 4th was the second time. This is a brand new car!!

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.

While driving on residential street, I heard a pop and saw my windshield crack. My speed at the time of this incident was 30mph. There was no impact with a foreign object. Crack is in front of the Eyesight camera and is affecting the functionality of vehicle's safety features. This is a 2021 Outback with approximately 3200 miles.

Subaru has apparently integrated their Eyesight Collision avoidance system with their infotainment system and the infotainment system crashes constantly. When it crashes about 50% of the time Eyesight goes offline and kicks cruise control off. At highway speeds this is VERY dangerous. The vehicle will slow down 5-10 mph between when the system crashes and when someone realizes what has happened in order to put their foot on the gas pedal to keep their speed up. I've almost been rear-ended multiple times now because of this. Subaru has been aware of this issue for TWO FULL model years now and is going into a 3rd year with the SAME problem. The update they issues in Spring 2021 made the problem worse not better. Subaru must be forced to either fix the issue immediately or recall the entire system and replace it before someone dies in a highspeed accident caused by this system. Until two days ago Subaru of America's employees were arrogant, condescending, and beyond unhelpful. Wendy Clough has stated Subaru plans to issue an update in August has no actual confirmed timeframe. Subaru has done NOTHING to communicate with owners or dealers on mitigation options, if any, nor to warn customers of potential risks. Subaru must be forced to notify all owners of the issue immediately.

Automatic braking system activated abruptly and forcefully when a vehicle in the adjacent lane slowed down to make a turn. This has occurred numerous time both on the highway and in city driving. I have called Subaru to report the issue. They did not recommend taking it to a service center, although I plan to. The car otherwise has shown no warning of automatic braking malfunction prior to or after the incidents. However the automatic braking system has continued to malfunction. I now deactivate the automatic braking every time I start the car to avoid further incidents. Potentially related to the automatic braking malfunction, the car regularly alerts me to keep my eyes on the road while I have my eyes on the road. Common situations when this happens include when I scan an intersection on approach for potential hazards (e.g., pedestrians, people running red lights, etc.), fixing my glasses or hat while continuing to look straight ahead, and simply scratching my face all trigger the warning. Occasionally, the warning is activated for seemingly no reason. At best, it’s a nuisance; at worst it’s a distraction and a liability. I now deactivate this feature when I start my car.

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.

The windshield cracked shortly after purchase. We had the windshield replaced and within 4 months the windshield is now chipped in three places. This is a safety issue because a cracked windshield impairs visibility while driving.

My 2021 Outback windshield just cracked. My 2020 Outback did the same thing. Apparently three class action lawsuits are not enough for them to fix the windshield problem. $1200 to fix, on a brand new car. looks like the St. Louis Arch.

Windshield spontaneously cracked where the mirror was atached to the glass. There is a concave indentation where the mirror was attached and we found the mirror hanging by a wire and small glass pieces on the dash. Temps were in the low 90s. No one has modified or put any unusual pressure on the mirror, no decorations were attached. The outside of the glass has no chips or cracks anywhere in the glass which was confirmed by the local Safelite dealer. This vehicle was purchased new on May 7, 2021. Location of incident was Temecula, CA. I asked the local dealer to repair under warranty and was told that there is no manufacturer warranty on glass. Obviously having your windshield spontaneously crack and the rearview mirror falling off would be a distraction at highway speeds.

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.

Windshield cracked on the bottom left of driver's side and continued up and across. There was no point of impact. Getting gas and got back in the car and the crack had formed. Crack grew by 3" just sitting in the driveway. Brand new car with approximately 1400 miles on it when it happened.