Owners have filed 7 complaints on the Subaru DL, covering 1986–1989. The system named most often is Seat Belts (2 reports). Worst years by volume: 1988, 1987, 1989; cleanest: 1986, 1989, 1987. 2 reports describe a crash, 1 a fire. On average the car was 11.2 years old when the problem happened.
What breaks on Subaru DL
Grouped by the system owners named — percentages are shares of all 7 DL complaints. Open any row for the full reports in owners' own words.
Seat Belts 2 Read
While traveling at 25 mph another vehicle ran a stop sign and hit consumer's vehicle on the right front bumber. Driver's side seatbelt didn't hold, resulting in driver sustainin serious injuries. Please provide any further information
Experiences intermittent failure, when driver's shoulder/lap belt won't come completely out to go around, and rear lap belts won't retract all the way. Tt
Vehicle Speed Control 1 Read
The engine reved high when the driver pressed the accelerator. The vehicle went out of control due to the accelerator sticking and the driver struck a pedestrian and other vehicles
Electrical System 1 Read
Engine comparment fire, under the hood, electrical short. Tt
Power Train 1 Read
Replaced clutch assembly
Suspension 1 Read
Air suspension system failed, causing a leak
Fuel System 1 Read
Time is a key factor, as well as places that rust vehicles sooner than others. The failure is a fuel damper and/or fuel lines and/or fuel pump. The consequences are smell of fuel, leaks, erratic engine, and lead on one occasion to a lean condition that failed a timing belt. The fuel pump also failed. If this leak…
DL years to avoid — and the clean ones
Complaints per model year. More reports usually means more cars on the road as well as more trouble, so read the crash and fire columns alongside the count.
| Model year | Complaints | Top system | Crashes | Fires |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1989 | Seat Belts | — | — | |
| 1988 | Power Train | 2 | — | |
| 1987 | Fuel System, Gasoline | — | — | |
| 1986 | Electrical System | — | 1 |
The same model year, different builds
Every complaint carries the first 11 characters of the VIN — plant, year, body and engine. That is a production series, and complaints are spread across them very unevenly.
| Measure | Value |
|---|---|
| Distinct production series | 7 |
| Average complaints per series | 1 |
| Worst single series | 1 complaints |
| Average age at failure | 11.2 years |
A model average of 1 hides a worst series at 1. Enter a VIN above to see the numbers for that exact build instead of the model as a whole.
Owners reported these. Find out if yours is one of them.
- Complaints matched to the exact production run, not just the model
- What the car is worth given what tends to fail on it
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How we count
Every figure here comes from complaints owners filed with NHTSA — 1,100,006 of them, covering 1,982 models built between 1981 and 2026.
A complaint is an unverified report: someone wrote down what happened to their car. It is not a confirmed defect and not a recall. What makes the volume useful is the pattern — when thousands of owners of the same build describe the same failure, that is a signal no marketing brochure will give you.
Two things we do that the source does not. First, we compute the age of the car at the moment of failure from the incident date and the model year. Second, we group complaints by the first 11 characters of the VIN — the production series — so a bad plant run does not disappear into a model-wide average.
Frequently asked questions
What are the worst years for the DL?
By complaint volume, 1988, 1987, 1989 drew the most owner reports. Bear in mind that popular years put more cars on the road, so check the crash and fire columns too.
Which DL years are the cleanest?
1986, 1989, 1987 have the fewest complaints on file. For recent years that can simply mean the cars are young.
How many complaints does the Subaru DL have?
7 owner complaints filed with NHTSA, covering 1986–1989. Of those, 2 describe a crash and 1 a fire.
Are these complaints verified?
No. They are unverified reports from owners. NHTSA publishes them as filed and investigates only a fraction. The value is in the pattern, not in any single report.
Can I check complaints for one specific car?
Yes — enter its VIN above. We match the first 11 characters, which identify the plant, year, body and engine, so you get complaints on that exact production series rather than the whole model.