Three problems related to wiring have been reported for the 2006 Subaru Legacy. The most recently reported issues are listed below. Please also check out the statistics and reliability analysis of the 2006 Subaru Legacy based on all problems reported for the 2006 Legacy.
Vehicle wiring for rear wiper is faulty and damaged. Have seen the same thing on other outbacks and Legacy wagons. Dangerous because this car is supposed to be optimal for all-weather driving. Hard to see out back in heavy rain.
Rear window defroster ceased functioning. The problem was due to broken wire in a wiring harness that passes through a rubber accordion boot between the car body and the tail-gate (near the right-hand tailgate hinge). The left hand tail-gate boot was removed and a previously repaired wire was also found ( this is a previously owned car). Research at an online forum for Subaru owners showed that many other owners of 2005 and 2006 Subarus have experienced similar failures due to broken wires in this wiring harness. I suspect that it is an under-reported problem. I believe that Subaru should be asked to issue a safety recall notice.
I was driving with my 6 month pregnant wife. No indication of impending problem. Suddenly the at oil temp indicator lighted up and split second I loss engine power with steering became stiff. Good thing I was not in the freeway yet and was able to safely pull over with residual momentum. This could be worse if I am passing thru my daily commute of using the bridge or if it happened in the freeway because I do not have total control of the car brought the car to the dealer to diagnose the er-hc error in the dash and was advised that the issue was due to melted wiring harness connecting all the computer systems. Their only reason is that it has been driven for 133k miles thats why we saw the issue. I think this is a reliability/safety issue that needs to be taken into consideration.