Radiator problems of the 2012 Subaru Outback

On October 16th, 2020 while driving our 2012 Subaru Outback on the highway, the check engine light came on. My husband and I pulled over, lifted the hood and saw steam coming from the engine near the radiator. We took the car to the Subaru dealership and the tech stated both head gaskets were failing. The vehicle had 156,000 miles on it and we ended up paying over $2500 in repair costs. Because of the age and mileage on the car, I did not plan to submit a repot to the NHTSA. However, I was notified by a relative today that her 2009 Subaru impreza with only 68,000 miles just experienced head gasket failure and the dealership quoted her $4500 in repair. I have encouraged her to submit the issue through NHTSA for further trending purposes as I believe this may be a safety concern with Subarus.

While on a 200 mile trip on rural interstate the thermostat failed causing head gasket to blow and engine to overheat. No check engine warning light was displayed. Suddenly all control panel warning lights began to flash. All coolant was expelled from radiator. Vehicle has less than 100k miles. By shear luck I was at an exit with a Subaru dealer near by. Have attached repair report from Subaru dealer.

I was taking it for an oil change and lube. After driving on the freeway at 60-70 mph, I came off the freeway, went 2 blocks to a stoplight. As soon as I stopped, many warning lights started flashing, and became alarmed, went 3 blocks to the lube service center and some steam started coming from under the hood. The service men immediately took it in to check it out. They replaced some coolant, completed the service and told me to have it checked by a mechanic. I drove it about a mile to the nearest auto shop, a place I've taken my last 2 cars, and left it. The next day they said it was fixed, and that they had to replace the radiator and it was ready to pick up. From there I picked up the car and drove it to a friend's in a city about 100 miles away. I drove it the entire way on the freeway, came off the freeway, drove it about 4 blocks to my friend's house. I wen up her driveway, and as I pulled into a parking place, the warning lights again started flashing. I pulled into a parking slot and stopped it. My friend's son later went out to look under the hood with me. There was evidence of some spray under the hood, but not much. I called the dealer where I'd bought the car a month before, and he told me to have the car towed to their shop, where I'd left it with them for about 2-3 weeks. When I called about the progress, they said they didn't want to release it back to me until to was repaired. In the meantime, my friend where I was staying when I had it towed, told me she had an identical problem with her 2011 Subaru Outback and after replacing hoses, thermostat, water pump, tjey finally replaced her head gasket. My daughter then reminded me the same happened to her 1999 Subaru Outback, so I started researching the internet for similar issues. Many sites, some well known said this is common with the 2. 5l engine. This is a defect Subaru should recall.