Subaru Ascent - Problems, Statistics, and Analysis

Subaru Ascent owners have reported a total of 1,275 problems for their cars built in the 8 model years listed in the chart below. The chart shows the number of problems reported across all service years for each given model year of the Subaru Ascent. The 2019 Subaru Ascent cars have the most problems reported (541 problems).

Table 1. Total number of problems by model year for Subaru Ascent

Model Year	Number of Problems
2026 Ascent	2
2025 Ascent	17
2024 Ascent	63
2023 Ascent	52
2022 Ascent	73
2021 Ascent	132
2020 Ascent	395
2019 Ascent	541

🔍 Common problems of Subaru Ascent

The following chart shows the 26 most common problems for Subaru Ascent cars. The number one most common problem is related to the vehicle's electrical system (287 problems). The second most common problem is related to the vehicle's visibility (203 problems).

Table 2. Common problems of Subaru Ascent

Problem Category	Number of Problems
Electrical System	287
Visibility	203
Power Train	172
Equipment	150
Engine And Engine Cooling	104
Service Brakes	82
Forward Collision Avoidance	44
Other Fuel System	38
Structure	30
Lane Departure	27

Steering	22
Air Bag	20
Suspension	19
Vehicle Speed Control	16
Wheel	14
Exterior Lighting	11
Tire	11
Seats	7
Seat Belt	4
Back Over Prevention	4
Electronic Stability Control	2
Latches/locks/linkage	2
Other/i Am Not Sure	2
Tether, Lower Anchor (on Car Seat Or Vehicle)	2
Parking Brake	1
Traction Control System	1

📉 Compare Reliability Across Model Years Using PPMY Index

It would not be fair to compare the Subaru Ascent of an older model year to newer model years since older vehicles have been in service longer and thus are expected to have more problems. In order to compare the reliability across Ascent model years, we use the PPMY index which is defined as the problems reported per thousand vehicles per Year. A smaller PPMY index indicates greater reliability of the given model year cars.

PPMY = P / S / Y * 1000,

where P = total problems reported during the life of a Subaru Ascent model year; S = total units sold of the model year; Y = years since the debut of the model year (the age of the vehicle).

The results are shown in Table 3.

Table 3. Use PPMY Index to Compare Reliability Across Ascent Model Years

Ascent Model Year	Problems	Sales [1]	Vehicle Age	PPMY Index
2022	73	67,172	4	0.27
2021	132	75,065	5	0.35
2020	395	76,961	6	0.86
2019	541	85,485	7	0.90

📊 Number of Problems Reported During the First Year

Another way to measure the reliability across the model years of the Subaru Ascent is to use the total number of problems reported during the vehicle's first year in service, as shown in the Table 4.

Table 4. Number of problems in vehicle's; first service year

Model Year	Problems Reported
2026 Ascent	2
2025 Ascent	10
2024 Ascent	34
2023 Ascent	20
2022 Ascent	16
2021 Ascent	36
2020 Ascent	112
2019 Ascent	114

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