Owners have filed 2,739 complaints on the Subaru Legacy, covering 1990–2025. The system named most often is Electrical System (334 reports). Worst years by volume: 2005, 2011, 2015; cleanest: 2025, 2023, 2024. 236 reports describe a crash, 40 a fire, 2 a death. On average the car was 5.2 years old when the problem happened.
What breaks on Subaru Legacy
Grouped by the system owners named — percentages are shares of all 2,739 Legacy complaints. Open any row for the full reports in owners' own words.
Electrical System 334 Read
The contact owned a 2014 subaru legacy. The contact stated that her son was driving and hit a deer that caused extensive front end damage. The vehicle was taken to an auto body repair facility for repairs. However, a week after the repairs were completed her son was driving again when he smelt smoke and looked out the…
One hour into traveling on the highway smoke began to come from under the hood so we pulled off to the side of the road. Upon opening the hood, after the smoke cleared, a fire was observed. At that point the passengers exited the vehicle and called 911. There was no warning lights or sounds indicating any problems…
The Driver Side Rear View when I started the Car back in January of 2024 after car had been running for 30 Seconds smoke and Fire flames were seen coming through that rear view mirror immediately contacted Subaru of America and was called back with urgency and they fixed this issue but since then I haves a few other…
Air Bags 314 Read
The contact owns a 2011 subaru legacy. The contact stated that while driving at an unknown speed, the vehicle crashed into the rear end of another vehicle and the air bags failed to deploy until 4 or 5 seconds later. Prior to the air bag deploying, burning fumes emitted into the vehicle. The contact did not indicate…
I was traveling into work in Boston and a Dodge Ram 1500 pickup hit me broadside (drivers side wheel, rear door). My air bags (driver front or side) did not deploy and my car was determined to be a total wreck by my insurance company. I was bruised and out of work for a couple of days but was a fortunate to walk away…
Had a frontal impact hitting a deer in center of front grill at 45-50 mph. During impact steering wheel airbag deployed and all side impact airbags deployed. Passenger side did not deploy. Cannot get answer as to why...side impact airbags deployed?? Subaru dealer said they will only deploy when you have a roll over or…
Power Train 288 Read
A 2017 Subaru Legacy was stopped on a hill, on the shoulder of a two lane service road. The driver, who was the car owner, placed the gear selector in park, left the motor idling, exited the vehicle, closed the driver side door, loaded several logs into the trunk, and slammed the trunk. The passenger remained in the…
The contact owned a 2016 Subaru Legacy. The contact stated that while attempting to park the vehicle, it suddenly accelerated crashing a small tree causing the contact to reverse the vehicle. When placed in reverse the vehicle accelerated and crashed into another vehicle. The air bags did not deploy. There was damage…
When parking in a parking spot at a school going to work, the car accelerated on it's own and went up an embankment and struck a tree causing extensive damage
Visibility/wiper 219 Read
Highway travel , approximately 70 mph , small object struck windshield and cracked it . Cracked far too easily . Less than 3000 miles on vehicle
Front Windshield cracks easily. Vehicle is only 7 months old and the front windshield has been cracked four separate times due to small rock impact. I just had the windshield replaced with a new Subaru OEM front windshield and three days later it was hit by a small pebble and cracked again
The windshield is extremely fragile, I have under 3,000 miles and already 4 rock chips on the windshield. This is all from highways and paved roads, no gravel or dirt roads have been driven on. The rock chips have happened on different occasions and never was their a loud bang from a large rock which makes me think…
Service Brakes 200 Read
My wife experienced an unintended acceleration in her 2018 Subaru Legacy. My wife had begun to slowly back out of a parking space in a school parking lot when her 2018 Legacy went into an unintended rapid acceleration in reverse. The car took off in reverse and did not respond to her applying the brakes. Somehow she…
I drove into the parking lot of Walgreens, then drove around and pulled into a parking spot facing the south side of the building and put my foot on the brake to stop and park. Instead of stopping, the car suddenly lurched forward violently and slammed into the brick wall of the building. My wife called 911 since I…
I was going 40mph when I had to break for a yellow light with plenty of time to stop, as I was hitting the brakes my car began to skip and continue to press forward and did not stop until I hit the back of someone's vehicle. The brakes did not work and I was not going so fast that I couldn't have had a smooth stop
Engine And Engine Cooling 172 Read
The contact owns a 2007 subaru legacy. While driving 15 mph, oil leaked on the exhaust and caused a small engine fire. The dealer replaced the oil line. The failure mileage was 10,200 and current mileage was 12,500. Updated 12/12/07
The contact owns a 2006 subaru legacy. While the vehicle was stopped, the contact noticed smoke coming from the hood of the vehicle. Once she pulled the vehicle over, she opened the hood and noticed flames coming from the radiator. The contact was able to extinguish the fire. The vehicle was towed to her local…
The contact stated while driving the vehicle was hit on the front passenger side, near the bumper and wheel. The other vehicle impacted the vehicle at 40 mph. The airbags did not deploy and the engine did not shut off. The manufacturer determined due to the angle of impact the airbags should not deploy. The contact…
Vehicle Speed Control 127 Read
The contact owned a 2022 Subaru Legacy. The contact stated that while driving into their driveway at unknown speeds, the vehicle independently accelerated forward. The contact placed the vehicle in reverse, however, the vehicle continued to accelerate independently, and the contact's rear bumper crashed into the…
I experienced unintended acceleration while operating my vehicle. I was slowly pulling into a parking space at a gym when, without warning, the vehicle suddenly accelerated rapidly forward. I did not intentionally press the accelerator at that time. The unexpected acceleration caused the vehicle to surge ahead and…
The contact's wife owned a 2020 Subaru Legacy. The contact stated while his wife was driving approximately 3 MPH in a parking lot the vehicle suddenly accelerated and jumped the curb into woods and collided with a tree. The contact said his wife was not aware of any warning lights being illuminated. The vehicle front…
Engine 103 Read
The contact owned a 2015 subaru legacy. While driving at an unspecified rate of speed, an animal went across the driver's path. The driver veered to the right and crashed into a tree. The vehicle erupted into flames. Weeks prior to the crash, the vehicle was taken to the dealer due to various warning lights randomly…
The contact owns a 2018 Subaru Legacy. The contact stated while stopped at a traffic light with her foot lightly depressing the brake pedal, the vehicle independently accelerated and crashed into the rear bumper of a vehicle stopped in front of her. The contact stated no warning light was illuminated. The contact…
A friend was trying to move the car from the street when it suddenly lurched and accelerated and hit a tree, and boulder, and another car. They had not stepped on the accelerator yet. She lost control of the car. It was totaled as per State Farm
Legacy 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Air Bags | — | — | |
| 2024 | Air Bags | — | 1 | |
| 2023 | Air Bags | 2 | — | |
| 2022 | Electrical System | 3 | 1 | |
| 2021 | Air Bags | — | — | |
| 2020 | Air Bags | 1 | 1 | |
| 2019 | Back Over Prevention | 2 | 1 | |
| 2018 | Air Bags,lane Departure,forward Collision Avoidance | 6 | 1 | |
| 2017 | Air Bags | 10 | 1 | |
| 2016 | Air Bags | 6 | — | |
| 2015 | Air Bags | 15 | 3 | |
| 2014 | Air Bags | 4 | 2 | |
| 2013 | Air Bags | 6 | — | |
| 2012 | Air Bags | 7 | — | |
| 2011 | Air Bags | 6 | 2 | |
| 2010 | Air Bags | 8 | — | |
| 2009 | Air Bags | 3 | 1 | |
| 2008 | Air Bags | 3 | 1 | |
| 2007 | Air Bags | 1 | 3 | |
| 2006 | Air Bags | 4 | 1 | |
| 2005 | Air Bags | 10 | 4 | |
| 2004 | Air Bags | 5 | — | |
| 2003 | Air Bags | 4 | — | |
| 2002 | Air Bags | 4 | 1 | |
| 2001 | Air Bags | 11 | 2 | |
| 2000 | Air Bags | 8 | 2 | |
| 1999 | Air Bags | 15 | 1 | |
| 1998 | Air Bags | 12 | 2 | |
| 1997 | Air Bags | 12 | 1 | |
| 1996 | Air Bags | 23 | 2 |
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 | 1,864 |
| Average complaints per series | 1.5 |
| Worst single series | 11 complaints |
| Average age at failure | 5.2 years |
A model average of 1.5 hides a worst series at 11. 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
- The original window sticker and factory options
- Full research report as a PDF for the pre-purchase inspection
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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 Legacy?
By complaint volume, 2005, 2011, 2015 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 Legacy years are the cleanest?
2025, 2023, 2024 have the fewest complaints on file. For recent years that can simply mean the cars are young.
How many complaints does the Subaru Legacy have?
2,739 owner complaints filed with NHTSA, covering 1990–2025. Of those, 236 describe a crash and 40 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.