Steering Problems of Subaru Legacy - part 1

Emergency breaking deployed during traffic where no indication of collision was about to take place; vehicle safety features disabled and enabled off and on automatically while driving, this led up to sudden stop of vehicle in heavy traffic and vehicle would never restart. Subaru starlink emergency services failed to work or respond after trying for several minutes. Steering wouldn’t work to guide vehicle safely out of traffic.

See all problems of the 2022 Subaru Legacy 🔎.

Replaced steering rack 2/12/20 replaced steering rack 12/07/22 replaced sway bar links 11/09/23 inspection found rear lateral link bushings torn and alignment hardware seized in bushings torn and seized/replaced bushings and hardware to complete a proper alignment. 01/23/24 replaced front sway bar links and strut mounts and performed alignment.

See all problems of the 2018 Subaru Legacy 🔎.

Electric power steering failure.

See all problems of the 2017 Subaru Legacy 🔎.

Steering did not return to neutral position after making a right turn, steering wanted to continue on right turn. I was able to pull it back to straight position with some needed force. I don't believe my wife would be able , after initial surprise, to steer back into lane of traffic. Result could have been an accident. I have not reproduced the problem at dealer or independent service facility or by manufacturer and because of no accident police or insurance CO. Not called. There were no warning signs. I just recently pudchased this vehicle within past week. I would call your attention to the articles on internet describing the problem and how to repair I don't think I should pay for repair as it is a recurring problem with other cars by same manufacturer. Thank you.

See all problems of the 2016 Subaru Legacy 🔎.

Power steering stopped working. I see online this problem was reported with other Subaru vehicle 2019 models and a recall was made but for some reason my car is not included. I believe this is the same issue of faulty equipment.

See all problems of the 2019 Subaru Legacy 🔎.

Front sub-frame rusted through. Local mechanic said unsafe to drive. Insurance will not cover claim because this is "prior issue" not accident related. Subaru dealership confirmed safety risk and will repair for >$3000.

See all problems of the 2011 Subaru Legacy 🔎.

Vehicle is difficult to control, especially when driving on uneven roads, or when it is windy. It takes a lot of effort to keep the car in one lane. The ride is rough, and you can hear and feel every little bump in the road. More than a rough ride, this will oftentimes throw my vehicle off path which feels like the car is not in my control momentarily. For instance, it will follow the direction of any cracks/grooves in the road, despite both my hands being on the wheel. This deviation requires immediate correction or risk collision. A passing vehicle moving at a high rate of speed will also push my car off track, which is obviously dangerous on the freeway.

Make noise in the front driver site every time when I drive over bad roads.

Key gets stuck in ignition. Often will not release. Happens when put car into park upon stopping.

Tl the contact owns a 2011 Subaru Legacy. The contact stated while driving at approximately 60 mph, the horn activated independently without warning. The contact stated that the symptom was like NHTSA campaign number: 10v283000 (steering). The vehicle was driven to webster groves Subaru (7982 big bend blvd, webster groves, mo 63119, (314) 476-9638) to be diagnosed. The contact was informed that the steering wheel electrical connector needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired. The manufacturer was informed of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 149,000.

Horn sounds unintentionally possibly similar/ related to campaign 10v283000 from previous model year. Horn sounds when I am turning the wheel and accelerating, especially when going from a stop, up a hill, or harder acceleration. Occasionally when going straight, especially over speed bumps. Horn also sounds when I hit the rim of the steering wheel with my fist.

Key does not come out of ignition after putting car in park.

Am able to shift into park and turn off the ignition but not able to remove key. It takes several tries to shift gears until able to turn the key to release it. This was happening for a while and stopped and has started doing it more consistently now.

Every time I started the car to pull out of a parking space the wheel would get stuck. Making it hard to turn left or right.

See all problems of the 2009 Subaru Legacy 🔎.

Our current 2017 Legacy has less than 35,000 miles and is 3 months 4 months out of warranty, some of which was during the covid19 shutdown. The latest issue is the ignition switch issue when you can get the keys out or engine to stop. There are a number of complaints online but s\the Subaru dealer refused to address this under warranty.

Purchased the car used took to dealership for rattle from front end, they diagnosed and recommended replacement of steering rack as it was defective, so it was replaced, a month later same noise, same diagnosis, replaced again, repeated this 7 times and they have reconfirmed it is the rack, the dealership technician states it’s the rack and not as it should be. The manager however is trying to state now that it’s a normal noise and they won’t warranty the repairs anymore. It continues to get worse and louder and feels unsafe to have defective steering racks on the roadways that are non repairable. I’ve reached out to corporate Subaru as well and they can only make decisions based off info the manager gives them which is opposite of what the technicians state. Please help me this car is unsafe.

Unable to remove key from ignition when vehicle is in park-engine/car turns off except radio/lights. Have to restart car put into reverse, back into park, then turn off car.

Car shudders when turning left or right. Subaru has other models on recall for this issue. Noticed it at first when pulling into a parking lot space.

See all problems of the 2007 Subaru Legacy 🔎.

Key will not remove from ignition when turning off car. Progressively got more frequent. Only way to remove the key is to move the car or to shift back in forth from park to drive. Part had to be replaced.

Key is getting stuck in ignition after car is placed in park and turned off. Car must be moved out of park into neutral and park into park multiple times before key can be removed from ignition. At times I have had to leave the key in the car and return later in order to remove it. This is creating a hazard not only for the potential for the car to be stolen but also it keeps me from moving my car quickly if necessary.

Experienced difficulty removing key from ignition after vehicle is stopped and engine turned off. Issue recurs frequent but randomly. Sometimes it require several attempts to restart and shut-off engine before key would release from ignition. Vehicle was returned to dealer for repair and faulty part in shifter assembly replaced.

Having difficulty removing key from ignition when vehicle is in park - car will turn off but cannot remove the key without much difficulty, restarting jiggling with force - fear of key breaking in ignition.

When braking, the car often stalls and all requires a shift into park, and a restart of the entire engine before being able to proceed. When it stalls, steering is also affected. This frequently happens on city streets, but also happens when pulling into parking spaces and when slowing for turning. This has been happening with increasing frequency.

See all problems of the 2012 Subaru Legacy 🔎.

Tl the contact owns a 2019 Subaru Legacy. While driving 30 mph, the steering wheel turned on its own to the left. The contact managed to regain control of the steering wheel with no issue. On another occasion, while driving 45 mph and making a left turn, the steering wheel made a sharp left turn and became difficult to turn. There were no warning indicators illuminated on both occasions. The vehicle was taken to putnam Subaru (located at 85 California dr, burlingame, CA 94010, (888) 697-0962), but the failure could not be duplicated. The failure continued and multiple unknown warning indicators illuminated. The manufacturer was notified. The failure mileage was 2,400.

What we notice is a change in response of the steering in some situations. Coming �off-center� there is a slight change in steering feel and response � almost as if it has a dead spot �on-center�. Additionally, I have noted a change in response at highway speed entering and exiting curves. Particularly, the steering has a nice �weighted� feel entering and maintaining through the corner, but just as one begins to unwind the steering as the road straightens, the steering changes feel and response requiring an unexpected adjustment. The car seems to want to turn more aggressively into the corner as I begin to unwind the steering. Both of these responses seem to be more noticeable at highway speeds. One must immediately correct the direction travel by either turning more into the curve or out of the curve. In either case, the car responds and the non-linearity momentarily disappers.

The car veers right or left irradically as if a gust of wind pushed the car or large truck passed by. This is very troubling since it happens sporadically and has caused the car to drift off the road.

I had an accident with my 2017 Subaru Legacy and initially saw a deer to my left and tried to steer slightly right. Next thing I know the cops are there and took me to hospital. They said the car went over an embankment. It had massive damage and after two months in shop, still pulls to the right. I never received a recall on this car but it was sending me messages through starlink saying there was a power steering problem. I will try to attach that screen shot. Also the dealer that sold us the car has been no help at all. The car was driving and in motion. No air bags deployed either.

When vehicle goes over 50 miles an hour, pulls to the left.

At speeds above approximately 50 mph, the steering has suddenly, erratically and without warning pulled the car to the left or right as if hit by a large gust of wind (when there is no wind or passing truck). It is as if the steering is out of control for several seconds. The car has 3,000 miles and this has happened about 5-8 times. I notice there is also an identical complaint for 2018 Subaru outbacks. This last happened today. This is a dangerous defect in the electric power steering.

Steering wheel nearly locked - became impossible to turn. Happened while making a very slight right turn at about 5mph from a small side road onto a four lane highway. Was able to continue a very very wide turn to get off the road into a parking lot.

My mechanic told me there was a recall on older Legacy's like 2010-2012 about the brake lines. He went on to check my brake lines (with my car on a lift) and saw they were completely rusted out and swollen. Also, for some reason when I'm driving, my car pulls to one side or the other, specifically on the highway. I cannot drive straight or let go of the steering wheel or else it'll pull me off the road. My mechanic has already looked everything over and said everything was good. So I'm not sure where the problem is but it's with the steering.

See all problems of the 2013 Subaru Legacy 🔎.

The steering has no resistance to input from the road or crosswind, heavy/slushy snow, etc. You have to steer into a crosswind and as soon as the wind is gone, the car veers. This happens with the wind given off while passing the front of a semi truck or other large commercial truck. The steering is very easy for the driver but has no "feel". It needs more weight to resist outside forces. I've had it to the dealer and they aligned it but the problem persists. They say it is inherent to the design of the car. This occurs regularly. It also seems to perpetually understeer going into sweeping curves on a highway or state route. You start steering but enter the curve straight before the steering starts to work. It results in a jerky experience.

Eye site safety main wiring harness rodent damage harness insertion made with soybean so its made of food happened parked in driveway.

1997 Subaru Legacy outback. Came out to my parked vehicle with the right front tire flat due to part of the suspension spring being snapped and sticking into inside of the tire. Spring was intact when I parked it. Frightening to think if that had happened while driving on the highway of which I was the day before this happened.

See all problems of the 1997 Subaru Legacy 🔎.

After purchasing my vehicle in November, my steering felt off in December. A couple weeks later my tire pressure light came on. I took my car in for service and there was a nail in my tire. Subaru repaired the tired. Upon leaving Subaru, steering continued to feel off . Pulling to one side constantly. I took the car in to Subaru again for a wheel alignment on January 23rd. They confirmed it was out of alignment and fixed it. The car drove great for 2 weeks and again it is off. Car is extremely hard to keep in the lane; if it is windy it is even worse. No matter if I am going under 30 or on the highway. The steering wheel does not align with the wheels again. I have driven the same route to work each day m-f for 5 years. There are no pot holes. It is a short commute however I am starting to feel unsafe driving. Do I take in the car again? I love the car but either the tire is bad or the alignment/steering is bad.