Owners have filed 8,132 complaints on the Subaru Outback, covering 2005–2026. The system named most often is Visibility/wiper (1,189 reports). Worst years by volume: 2019, 2017, 2020; cleanest: 2024, 2026, 2025. 280 reports describe a crash, 62 a fire, 1 a death. On average the car was 3.7 years old when the problem happened.
What breaks on Subaru Outback
Grouped by the system owners named — percentages are shares of all 8,132 Outback complaints. Open any row for the full reports in owners' own words.
Visibility/wiper 1,189 Read
Windshield developed a crack driver side bottom corner, with no chip or reason for the crack
The windshield cracked after a collision to a dear. The crack has been progressively getting worse
Media screen failure. Is available for inspection. Safety of pedestrians or other accident at risk because the screen is useless in bright sunlight. Planning to complain to dealer. No warning signal or alert when backing up when screen is unreadable. This has caused accidents x 3 for my family. Backed into another car…
Electrical System 1,032 Read
My son was traveling at an appropriate highway speed when the truck in front of him stopped suddenly. He braked immediately and was able to slow down significantly, but not enough to avoid colliding with the back of the truck in front of him. He was going approximately 20 mph, still braking, when the collision…
I just bought my Subaru outback brand new in October 2025. I’ve maintained my oil changes at the dealership. I bought it from in the last one was last may 26. I filled up my tank with a full tank of gas June 1. On June 2 when I was driving home from work on the I 94 Highway in Detroit Michigan I was going about 50 mph…
Vehicle was purhased in early June 2021. Vehicle was being operated on State Highway Route 55 at Milepost 46.7, in Elk Township, Gloucester County. Traffic was heavy, with southbound transient traffic traveling to New Jersey Shore points. Vehicle simultaneously lost power and began to display several error/warning…
Visibility 200 Read
The first issue I notice was back in may, my subaru almost came to a full complete before it leap frogged into the car in front of me, causing me to reared end the car. Then today october 11. I got into my car, removed my windshield sunshade from my car at around noon. I heard a loud glass like crack. I then saw a…
My wife left the house and smelled smoke. She pulled over and shortly thereafter flames started shooting out of the hood. She got our daughter out of the car and called 911. As the police arrived, one of my neighbors put the fire out with an extinguisher. The fire department arrived and looked at the damage and said…
The contact owns a 2010 subaru outback. The contact stated that the windshield wiper motor caught fire after the headlights were activated. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was 60,000
Power Train 135 Read
2025 Subaru Outback onyx edition purchased 3/2025. Approximate mileage at time of incident 7000. On 2/10/25 around 6am car is remotely started with Subaru app from iPhone on flat gravel surface. Car was in park. Go out car not there moved almost a car length down a hill left turn then over an embankment into a ditch…
My car had an unintended acceleration that caused me to go in a ditch and hit a tree. I could not get car to stop when I realized it was increasing speed. It all happened very fast. My car was totaled. All airbags deployed. Front right side of car was completely destroyed. There were no warnings. My insurance company…
The contact owns a 2022 Subaru Outback. The contact stated that while reversing out of his garage, the vehicle made an abnormal sound, and while the transmission was shifted into reverse (R), the vehicle rapidly accelerated, crashing into a tree. The contact stated the vehicle made the abnormal sound again and rapidly…
Steering 122 Read
The contact owns a 2020 Subaru Outback. The contact stated that their daughter was driving approximately 35 mph when the dashboard displayed that an electronic power steering failure had occurred. The driver then lost control of the vehicle and ended up going over a curb hitting some rocks on the landscaping. The air…
On April 13th 2022, me and my wife were returning home. We were at a complete stop on a left only turn intersection red light (Spring-Cypress Rd & Telge Rd in Cypress, TX. Coordinates: 29.985660988461188, -95.65465736615674). There was a vehicle ahead of us and also behind us at the light. It was raining lightly and…
Rccd email. Nhsta david chin on 04 envoy vin and smog cali fraud.. Ended case sold vehicle to pick a part. Did not sur dealer. Purchased 1 month later Carmax Ontario california 2019 subaru outback. Nhsta states moonroof and pedestrian braking for ev and hybrid u5 engine. This outback has no moonroof nor is it an ev or…
Air Bags 118 Read
I was recently involved in a multi-car accident, where the vehicle rammed into my outback from behind, leading to a spin-up and hit again by the driver side, forcing me to collide into a vehicle that had side-lined on a highway. In this situation, I would expect the airbags to get deployed, but to my surprise and…
My friends' son and wife had a crash on I 55 north near meadowbrook road on january 28, 2018. The car hit a highway barrier and spun around and resulted in an extreme fire after impact and the side airbag, nor the side curtain airbag did not deploy on drivers' side. The insurance company did not get consent from my…
My wife who is a small statured woman was leaving parking lot of church onto a narrow 2 lane street. As she made a left turn, the right front tire climbed the curb and dropped back onto the street. The car suddenly accelerated to top speed and crushed into a tree about 50 yards down the street. Airbags deployed…
Vehicle Speed Control 93 Read
The contact owned a 2025 Subaru Outback. The contact stated that after coming from a stop sign, she depressed the accelerator pedal to make a right turn, and the vehicle inadvertently stopped and then experienced unintended acceleration with no warning light illuminated. The contact regained control of the vehicle;…
The contact owns a 2023 Subaru Outback. The contact stated that his wife was driving the vehicle and as she was entering into a parking spot and depressing the brake pedal, the vehicle experienced sudden unintended acceleration. The contact's wife reported that the vehicle had made an abnormal revving sound as if she…
The contact owns a 2023 Subaru Outback. While turning into a parking spot, the accelerator pedal was slightly depressed, and the vehicle unintendedly accelerated, crashing into a parked vehicle on the driver's side. The contact stated that the vehicle continued to move forward after the crash into the next parking…
Structure 83 Read
I had backed my car up to the front of the garage. I came to a complete stop. As I tried to put my car in park, my vehicle catapulted into the garage which was directly behind it. I believe my car experienced "sudden uninterrupted acceleration". My cinder block garage partially collapsed and need to be completely razed
I had an accident @ 5pm-entering a busy road from a driveway-hit the side door of a car racing lefttoright in front of me. My fault of course. I heard no beep warning from the so-called collision mitigation sysem (?), nor did I feel any braking. Subsequently I tested this feature in my driveway where I slowly drove…
The subaru outback 2015 was parked in a lot after a 12 minute drive and burst into flames. It was purchased in february 2015 and was not yet due for servicing when the event happened. The subaru outback manufactured from july 3rd-27th 2015 has been recalled due to "possibility of fire due to a transmission fluid…
Outback 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | Electrical System | — | — | |
| 2025 | Air Bags | 4 | 1 | |
| 2024 | Equipment | — | — | |
| 2023 | Air Bags | 8 | 1 | |
| 2022 | Air Bags | 10 | 4 | |
| 2021 | Air Bags | 8 | 1 | |
| 2020 | Air Bags | 19 | 6 | |
| 2019 | Air Bags | 23 | 1 | |
| 2018 | Air Bags | 26 | 4 | |
| 2017 | Air Bags | 32 | 3 | |
| 2016 | Air Bags | 21 | 3 | |
| 2015 | Air Bags | 18 | 4 | |
| 2014 | Air Bags | 13 | 2 | |
| 2013 | Air Bags | 18 | 5 | |
| 2012 | Air Bags | 14 | 5 | |
| 2011 | Air Bags | 19 | 6 | |
| 2010 | Air Bags | 11 | 2 | |
| 2009 | Air Bags | 1 | 5 | |
| 2008 | Air Bags | 11 | 3 | |
| 2007 | Air Bags | 8 | 2 | |
| 2006 | Air Bags | 6 | 2 | |
| 2005 | Air Bags | 10 | 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 | 2,240 |
| Average complaints per series | 3.6 |
| Worst single series | 39 complaints |
| Average age at failure | 3.7 years |
A model average of 3.6 hides a worst series at 39. 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 Outback?
By complaint volume, 2019, 2017, 2020 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 Outback years are the cleanest?
2024, 2026, 2025 have the fewest complaints on file. For recent years that can simply mean the cars are young.
How many complaints does the Subaru Outback have?
8,132 owner complaints filed with NHTSA, covering 2005–2026. Of those, 280 describe a crash and 62 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.