In the past 10 months, the windshield on my vehicle spontaneously cracked twice while I was driving (December 2022 and October 2023). In both instances there was no perceptible impact; a crack suddenly appeared on the left (driver's side) edge of the windshield, about 1/3 of the way from the bottom, and spread across my field of vision. This is a safety issue because it affect the driver's ability to see the roadway. It might also affect the strength and integrity of the windshield itself should it actually be hit by road debris or other objects. The vehicle was inspected by the Subaru service center both times when it was repaired. Again, if there was impact in either of the incidents, it was imperceptible, and certainly should not have caused any damage to windshield, let alone the extensive cracking that occurred.
2022 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 2022 record →
Small object hit the top of the windshield and created a star 20 minutes later it spread to a 17 inch crack
A month ago I was sitting in my car in a parking lot when the windshield on the passenger side cracked about 1 foot in an "S" shape. There were no other cars, rocks, etc. around and you cannot see or feel an impact point on the crack or anywhere on the windshield. The crack has spread over the last week and formed a "T" split in line with the rearview mirror.
Fuel gauge reading incorrectly. Shows full tank and it is not full. Also mpg and mileage range indicators fluctuate, sometimes wildly
The contact owned a 2022 Subaru Outback. The contact stated that while his wife was driving at 30 MPH, she heard an abnormal sound emanating from the front of the vehicle, and the vehicle suddenly lost all electrical power. She was able to coast to the shoulder of the roadway, where the vehicle failed to restart. A short time later, the contact's wife observed white smoke rising from the engine compartment, and within 15 minutes, the entire vehicle was engulfed in flames. Local emergency services were called and were able to extinguish the fire. A fire and police report were filed, and no injuries were reported. No warning lights were illuminated. The vehicle was towed to a tow yard, awaiting inspection. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 23,000.
The contact owns a 2022 Subaru Outback. The contact stated while pulling into a bumpy parking space, the vehicle shuddered violently, unintendedly accelerated, and crashed into a stone wall. As a result, the hood of the vehicle was bent and the bumpers were damaged. The air bags did not deploy. The contact did not sustain any injuries. The contact was able to drive to an unknown dealer, where the vehicle was inspected, but the cause of the failure could not be determined. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and informed the contact that they would follow up in two business days. The failure mileage was 13,947.
The contact owns a 2022 Subaru Outback. The contact stated while driving approximately 35 MPH, the engine started sputtering with several unknown warning lights illuminated. The contact stated that the vehicle started losing motive power. The accelerator pedal was depressed, and the engine revved and responded as needed. The contact stated that the power steering and power brakes failed while attempting to pull over to the side of the road. The contact continued to rev the engine which appeared to stabilize the instrument cluster view; however, the power steering and brakes were inoperable. The contact stated that the vehicle was shifted into park(P) but while attempting to shift into drive(D), the gear shifter failed to move. The contact turned off the vehicle and waited for approximately one hour and when the vehicle restarted, all functionality had returned. The contact had not taken the vehicle to a local dealer or independent mechanic. The vehicle had not been diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer had not been informed of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 17,000.
Windshield spontaneously cracked while we were starting the car in a parking lot. No movement and no impact points along the crack. Initiated at the bottom of windshield exactly at the center point and worked up toward the middle. Dealers (West Houston Subaru, followed by Gillman Subaru) could not point out an impact point along the crack but indicated this was not a dealer problem.
Windshield cracked with rock impact April 2023. Crack spread immediately across the entire windshield. Replacement was done May 30, 2023. 3 weeks after replacement, the new windshield cracked with no evidence of impact.Car was parked and not moving at the time crack occured. Crack spread immediately accross the entire windshield. Replacement of 2nd windshield was done June 3, 2023.
The relatively new car (2022) stalls out randomly at intersections and red lights. This is a major safety issue as we have had the car totally shut down in the middle of 2 busy intersections. We had to dial 911 and have the police come to assist. We brought the car to the dealer and they did not find a problem but it continued to happen. There were no warning lights or messages - stalling happened randomly. May be related to the gas saver engine stop feature when at a complete stop.
Lower oil pan leaks due to poor QA/QC at the factory so I’m told. And possibly the upper oil pan leaking to. Researched forums and it’s a requiring problem. So is the problem big enough for a recall? One issue is that the dealership didn’t notice it during last inspection and service. Or is the dealership being told to remain silent ? Never less the end user suffers with worrying about if it’s going to happen again and cause bigger issues. Please check forums on this issue. Thank you
While parked for about two hours, the vehicle windshield cracked from the drivers side edge across the middle of the drivers field of view approximately 15-18 inches. There are no signs of any impact to the windshield to cause such a crack.
2022 Outback with 24,000 miles, was parked in the garage all weekend and found an 18 inch crack in the drivers side windshield starting on the left edge. This windshield was replaced 5 months ago due for the same reason. Nothing hit the windshield while driving. Both cracks appeared while the car was parked in a ramp or garage.
When in a parking lot the windshield started cracking from bottom up and formed a T. Crack is about 12 inches long in front windshield. There are no signs of a rock or anything else that hit the windshield.
Repeated dead battery with no known cause
The very first rock to ever hit the windshield landed around 9pm (6000 miles total on the car). The next day driving around 10am in the rain a 30" crack formed, that eventually spread from one side of the windshield to the middle.
I own a 2022 Subaru Outback Wilderness Trim. I had my car parked in my garage on Aug -23 night without any damage and when I checked next day Aug-24 around noon I noticed windshield had a large 1.5 foot crack on the passenger side.
This is the second time I've had a large crack appear from the edge of the windshield with no obvious damage.
I've experienced problems with the center Infotainment screen about 2 months after purchasing a 2022 Outback Wilderness edition. It seems to happen when I use Apple CarPlay (as this is the only way I listen to music and must plug in my phone using the USB to start CarPlay). The Infotainment screen has a long lag time to respond to clicks on the center screen, will freeze, and crash the system suddenly. The most extreme effect of this is that when the Infotainment screen crashes/freezes, the EyeSight safety features of the car such as Lane Keeping Assistance, Blind Spot Warning, Forward Crash Warning also stop working. I'll see all of the dashboard signals and notifications on the dashboard screen indicating the features are disabled. Additionally, I'm unable to control the AC when the screen crash happens. This happens while the vehicle is in operation and the vehicle user manual doesn't provide any troubleshoot options. Sometimes the screen will remain on after I've turned the car off. I can only hope the screen will shut off and restart after I've completely shut the car off to "fix this". There have been many times I've had to keep driving without the Eyesight safety features or AC when the screen crashes. I've tried to update the Infotainment screen myself with the supposedly "over the air" updates Subaru offers. It says my system is up to date even though I've found online Subaru service bulletins saying there are new software versions released. At my first six month dea
8/1/23 - the Electronic center console display as well as the display behind the steering wheel continually fails. The center console controls all electronics such as defroster, heater, and of the advance safety features. The display behind the steering wheel controls the odometer, speed etc. The inability to control any vehicle functions is a huge safety risk. For example, the defroster can not be accessed not controlled. If you had an immediate need for this, you would have to stop driving immediately. No advanced safety features can be accessed, you have no idea of your speed, the list goes on. We have brought the car in twice and had a software update but the problem persists. We left the car for a week and were told it was fine but the next day the issue persisted. The display screen will come and go which is completely unacceptable from a safety standpoint. The Subaru forums seem to indicate this is a widespread problem that Subaru has yet to address or come up with a viable solution. We have the records to back up all of these assertions as well as video of the failures of the display screen once returned to us.
The contact owns a 2022 Subaru Outback. The contact stated that after parking the vehicle, the next morning it was discovered that the front windshield glass had developed a crack on the driver's side, extending approximately 7-inches. The contact stated that the windshield had not been impacted by an object to cause the crack. The vehicle was taken to the local service center and the windshield was replaced. The local dealer was notified of the failure, but no assistance was offered. The manufacturer was not contacted. The failure mileage was 20,000.
The contact owns a 2022 Subaru Outback. The contact stated while driving at an undisclosed speed, the front windshield inadvertently cracked from the passenger’s side and extended to the center of the windshield. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where it was diagnosed and determined that the windshield and windshield seal needed to be replaced. The contact also stated that photos were taken of the windshield and the camera also needed to be recalibrated. The vehicle had not yet been repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and the contact was advised to contact the dealer for assistance. The failure mileage was approximately 20,000.
Windshield cracked for no apparent reason. 6-8" crack near the bottom and extending up the middle of the windshield. This is the 2nd crack in less than 10 months.
I drove to work; did not hear or see any rocks hit the windshield. Parked in a carefully chosen spot - not near any roads or work areas; not near a tree - and the windshield was cracked. No apparent reason. A single line crack coming out from the middle of the driver's side of the windshield, stopping in the middle of the windshield just past the mirror. It is right at the sight line. I have filed with my insurance company. Police refused to take report as they said it didn't appear to be that someone had maliciously hit it. Car is garaged at home. 19,000 miles. I see that this appears to be a common problem with Subarus - topic on reddit and other places.
Case Number: # 230715-1900405 The car was just sitting in the garage, I got up the next day and saw a huge crack starting from the passenger side of the windshield for no reason. My 2022 outback is a year old, there is no origin of the crack, no chip! It seems to be a clean crack as if someone cut it! We are legitimately concerned about the cause and how easily this crack appeared on the windshield without being hit and is expanding too! We trusted Subaru with its safety excellency but this crack is a huge safety concern for us and it really doesn’t seem like it appeared because of a chip or anything. Dealership says it could be because of banging the door or cold hot climate changes, does this mean we need to change windshield every season or every time someone bangs the door? It’s been just above a year we got this car and we certainly didn’t get expect to see a crack this huge without any reason for it!
Windshield cracked on passenger side of vehicle without any impact to glass, extreme temperature change, or pressure change. Crack continues to grow, doubling in length in a matter of minutes.
The original windshield cracked a month into ownership of the vehicle. I took it to a Subaru dealership and paid out of pocket to have them install a new OEM windshield. A year later, the windshield cracked again starting from the top edge, and was not caused by a rock or other object. The vehicle was parked when the crack formed.
Observed 3 cracks on the Subaru outback - Touring Windshield and instances as below: First Crack observed on 1st of July 11 am Second crack on 4th of July around at 4:15 PM Third crack on 4th of July at 8 PM Case opened with Subaru of America with case num: Case # 230707-1700738 5th July i had visited a Subaru dealer in Missoula,Montana but it was no help. 10th July visited Eastside Subaru and shared the photos for further diagnosis. now they are asking me to take one more appointment with the dealer removing the tape and taking the photos again. As the eye sight protection is the key in safety of Subaru driver and passengers this will lead to dangerous situation. There are no warning lamps or symptoms observed before the incident
Our 2022 Subaru Outback windshield has been replaced on 2 occasions & repaired on 1 occasion due to cracking caused by unknown impacts. It has now cracked again while passing a vehicle on the interstate. The vehicle had just 16250 miles at the time of this occurrence. Sadly, we have had more windshield changes than oil changes at this point. Thankfully, we haven't experienced any issues regarding warning lamps or malfunctions of the safety systems as the cracks have not propagated into the cameras line of sight, but we're only one incident away from that possibility. Hopefully this won't result in a safety system malfunction.
On 10/10/21 my wife and I were sitting in a parking lot when we heard a loud crack. The windshield of my Subaru cracked from midline on the passenger side post thru the middle of the windshield. After going through SOA and multiple times back to the dealer, the dealership repaired the windshield for no charge. Three weeks ago my wife and I were sitting at my son's house and a crack appeared once again starting at the bottom of the passenger side, up and through the center of my windshield. I will be working with the dealership to have this one replaced. They told me my first windshield replacement was "complimentary, and one time" so I am not sure how this new repair will go. These windshields have to be considered a safety issue based on the numbers I am starting to see on line.
Our 2022 Subaru Outback windshield cracked for a second time with no clear reason. If there was a rock impact it was very light and not noticeable, certainly not sufficient to cause a crack in any other vehicle I have ever driven. We had a 2018 Subaru Legacy and had the windshield crack twice with little or no impact. This is the second time since new that the Subaru Outback windshield has cracked. I have been driving for thirty five years and have never had a windshield crack in any vehicle ever, even with very firm rock strikes. This will be the fourth Subaru windshield I have replaced in just a few years - the second in a year or so. There was a class action lawsuit already in 2018 on this issue. It is clear that Subaru has not fixed this dangerous problem.
Multiple occasions of dead battery or stalling in an intersection have occurred since the car was 6 months old, with mileage of only 3,000 miles. Dead battery accompanied by electrical malfunctions such as loss of nav system, climate control system, and driving safety systems. Battery failure in cold weather in Michigan winter resulting in long waits for tow truck. Loss of heat in very cold temps on a road trip.
Sirius radio ads showing up while driving interfering with media console and acting as a distraction hazard. Intentional design flaw. The ad specifically shows up while the car is in motion, not when parked. I have explicitly non-consented these ads due to their hazard and they persist.
While driving my Subaru 2022 Outback with Eyesight Asssist, a 20 inch crack appeared from top left windshield down about 4 inches and across to center of windshield without sound of impact other than plop sound associated with bug hits, not a rock ping. When dealer reviewed, they pointed to a small impact point at center of crack (prior to expansion another 10 inchs the next morning). Impact area 2mm long, 1mm wide. Depth was even less shallow. Because of impact indication, Dealer said it needed to be handled through insurance, not vehicle warranty. I believe this is more a warranty issue.
The windshield made a "pop" sound and had spontaneously cracked from the driver's side pillar towards the center of the windshield, without warning or clear cause. This was all while sitting in the driveway, not in motion. The dealership service department inspection found no point of impact.
Driving on a Thursday morning, 62 degrees outside, and my sunroof exploded. I live in northwest Kansas. No trees, no variation in temperature.
On my second windshield that has cracked.
Windshield cracked for no apparent reason. It was a 12 in line that started at the passenger side and moved across the windshield horizontally.
Windshield developed a major crack all the way across it from the smallest nick 36 hours after the Nick occurred. This makes me very concerned for the integrity of the windshield in a crash. I am far from the only report of such an item.
Windshield crack caused by either a defective windscreen or incorrect installation. -no evidence of damage prior. -cracked overnight. -on both sides of the crack the windshield was offset, one side being higher than the other. The collision center advised that there was likely a 'bad batch' of windshields Subaru installed.
While driving, a giant crack appeared in the windshield. This was not caused by an impact.
The contact owns a 2022 Subaru Outback. The contact stated that upon approaching the vehicle, she noticed an 8-inch crack in the windshield extending from the trim midway up on the passenger’s side that was not present the night before. After further observation over the next 24 hours, the crack extended to 20-inches towards the driver’s side, possibly in the driver’s view. The vehicle was not taken to the dealer. The vehicle was not repaired. After investigating the failure, the contact related the failure to NHTSA Campaign Number: 22V712000 (Visibility). The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 22,000.
Spontaneous windshield crack that spread while vehicle was parked and no damage due to rock or other cause. Appears to be stress fracture and is approximately 20” in length and spreading. This happened previously on my 2020 Subaru Outback in the same exact area of the windshield.
Driving down the highway, I noticed a small crack in the windshield. I didn't hear anything hit it and did not have any cars in front of me. By the time I got home, 20 minutes later, the small crack had grown quite large . I put the car in the garage and didn't drive any more that day. Got up the next day and noticed that overnight the crack had started growing the opposite direction. I got the window replaced and 6 days later it happened again. First time was May 4, 2023. Fixed on May 16 and cracked again May 22. I've been told that replacing windshields in the 2022 Outback is quite common.
On 5/18/2023, I was driving down RT. 30 in Paoli, PA going East. Cars infront of me stopped for the red light. I pushed down on the brakes and the car was not slowing down and not responding. Instead of hitting the car in front of me, I veered to the right & got on the grass, hit 2 signs and finally got the car to stop. Cash Champions fixed my car to the tune of $6,800. I had asked to check the brakes because they failed. They checked the brakes and they told me when I picked up my car, that there was air in the break line with they flushed out. This is 6/13/2023, so in 2 days I am taking the car in for Subaru to check out the brakes. System failure - brakes Safety - My husband and I were in the car and I was driving. We could have hit the car in front of us. To prevent that I veered the car to the right, no traffic. Confirmed by Crash Champions who repaired my car. Not reproduced. Just saw the air in break line. Subaru is getting the car this Thurs. 6/15/23. I do not remember if there were any warning lights. I just followed what I saw.
Windshield cracked for no reason.
While driving the light turned red and everyone started breaking. My car failed to brake and slow down so I turned to the right, hit 2 signed, missed an office building. and stopped the car in a Ford Dealership's lot. When the car went to get fixed, I asked the manager to make sure they checked the brakes. They found air in the brake line which could account for the non braking. They flushed the line.. But will it happen again? This car I got 1 year ago, 5600 miles on it. Thanks.
I have had to have my windshield replaced twice since I bought it last June. The first incident occurred when I was traveling on a highway. A small rock hit the driver's side of the windshield and immediately a crack developed. I had the windshield replaced. Within ten days, a crack appeared at the bottom center edge of the new windshield. It was not there when I parked my car at work, but it was there when I left for the day. I even reviewed security cameras but saw nothing that would contribute to the crack. A few days later, another crack emerged at the center edge of the passenger side. Again, this was while the car was parked. Neither crack was in my line of sight so I continued to drive until recently as both cracks have spidered all over the windshield. In scheduling another replacement Subaru tells me this is a result of the windshields with EyeSight being thinner than normal. I find this to be a safety hazard and extremely frustrating, not knowing how many windshields I will have to replace as long as I have this car. Looking online, I see many complaints of this same issue by other consumers of this year/model of car.
Windshield crack from bottom while driving
1. Vehicle doesn’t start when sitting just for a couple of days. Battery isn’t dead as lights, radio, etc work. The vehicle will start if jumped. Happened last year and was in and out of the dealership 3 times with this issue. They replaced the battery, but issue still persisted. They ended up doing a “software update “ which seemed to fix the issue. But just a year later I’m having a very similar issue with the vehicle not starting. This vehicle only has 14,000 miles on it. Do their batteries only last 1 year/ 7l miles? 2. The information screen freezes quite a bit we’re you’re not able to control the radio, air/heat etc. there seems to be electrical issues with this vehicle.
Reading these
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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