general problems of the 2013 Subaru Outback

I purchased this car may 28th 2025 and had it over the weekend and check engine light came on and took it Monday once shop opened and came back for catalytic converter and O2 sensor I letted the dealership know about it and said its not much that I can fix it but I figured would say that since was a as is car and just had to come up with money. . . Only thing month later it stalled on me and had to take to a shop to see what it is and came back for transmission but that shop told me the car never should have been sold I never try to let them know about that its been sitting since July when that happened I been trying to talk to consumer protection services but noone willed to help but since last year was so rough I just wanted to try again once year is up.

My horn became intermittent, and stopped working. The car will not pass state inspection. It was diagnosed as a faulty clock spring. The dealership stated that this was a common failure on Subaru's, especially those that had the takata airbag replacement recall. They said there was no TSB or recall for the part. I reached out to Subaru customer service who said that due to the age and mileage on my car, there was nothing they could do to assist replacing the part.

Back up camera failure! the camera in the lift gate get corrosion and stops working! the safety of people walking behind the vehicle.

Vehicle horn has failed to function.

While driving near my home on June 5, 2021, the vehicle simply shut off and simultaneously all the warning lights flashed. I was unable to restart the vehicle after two or three tries. I called a tow service. About an hour later, before the tow truck arrived, I turned the key again, and the car restarted. This occurred in the middle of the roadway and I was lucky no vehicle was being behind me, as a collision could have happened. A local auto repair shop looked at the computer code and found one for a cracked gas cap. The mechanic replaced the gas cap, but stated that it could not have caused the car to cease running. I took the car to a Subaru dealer on June 14, 2021, but the service consultant stated that looking for the problem would be like "going down a rabbit hole" and told me to continue to drive the car until another incident happened.

Took it home from dealer and the electronic parking brake would not turn on. The brake light was also blinking. A couple days later, on the way to dealer, I stopped at a gas station and turned on the electric parking brake. It worked this time, but when I got in the car to drive, the electric parking brake wouldn't turn off. I was stuck. There was no way to move it. I was blocking the gas pump for about an hour waiting for a two truck. Tow truck driver had difficulty loading vehicle and taking off vehicle because the parking brake was on and it was an awd meaning none of the wheels can move.

2013 Outback limited 3. 6r bought new and has 40k miles. On 3 occasions over the past 5 months, the vehicle can't catch 2nd gear and revs high and then a heavy jolt physically felt and a loud clunk. Have taken it to Subaru service 3 times and they cannot reproduce the problem. Even after flushing transmission fluid and relearning the transmission, and vehicle did it the same day driving home after picking the vehicle up from relearning the transmission. This is aggravating, stressful, and dangerous. Subaru needs to own up and address a known issue, and do a recall.

On a handful of occasions while driving, suddenly the car detects an object in front of the car that it believes I will hit. The beeping and object collision detection message appears on my dash. On all these occasions, there has never been on object. One time it automatically engaged my brakes. This happened while I was on a highway. Luckily, no car was riding closely behind me so I was able to control the vehicle before causing an accident. I don’t remember exactly when this started happening but I think it was 2 years ago. There is an option to turn off the detection sensor, but this must be done every time the car is turned on, and I’m afraid I will forget. Moreover, the safety feature being turned off means I don’t have that feature to detect real objects. My biggest concern is that one day I’ll be driving at a higher speed, such as on a highway, and the car will detect an object, engage the brakes and cause me to be in an accident. I can make my car available for inspection upon request. I have not spoken to a local Subaru dealer or independent service center about this yet. My vehicle has not been inspection by the manufacturer, police, or insurance reps yet. No warning lamps, messages or other similar symptoms have occurred. However, this morning my car did auto-start on its own twice and this is the first time I’ve noticed this.

While driving the car on a city street the brake light, cruise control, check engine light started flashing in the dashboard. Cruise control would not work during this. Car seems to run fine but warning lights continue to flash.

I took my car in for airbag recall, the brake light indicator flashes on/off on dash, intermittent. Service dept could not replicate at first, discovered electronic parking brake component faulty. Parking brake could engage while car is in drive or fail on hill. Charging me 1100 for repair, says its not under warranty or recall. This is same defect/recall on 2015 model Outback. Dealer says no recall for 2013 model outbcak. I dispute this.

Tl-the contact owns a 2013 Subaru Outback. The contact stated while driving on the highway at approximately 30 mph in inclement weather. The contact stated that she started sliding while driving downhill she attempted to control the steering but it wouldn't move. The contact stated that the vehicle was not responding. The contact stated she was sliding towards a cliff the vehicle hit a delineator post the vehicle slid in the other direction started towards a concrete wall and the vehicle suddenly stopped. A police report was filed no medical attention was required. The manufacturer was not notified. The approximate failure mile was 37000. Am.

Upon noticing a blown 3rd tail light(one of the tail lights on the rear hatch/door of the wagon,) I disassembled and found that the sockets on both sides(left and right 3rd tail-light sockets) were scorched around where the bulbs fit into them. The discoloration was brown/black and was present not only on the socket with the blown bulb but also the other, working side. Dealer replaced blown bulb and made no comment on scorched bulb sockets. It almost appears as if they were so heated they were ready to melt or burn the plastic. Car has been in service for 27 months and has 27k mostly city driving on it. Happy to provide photos of the affected sockets to anyone investigating or concerned.

Passanger side airbag indicator light and alarm go off whether passenger is in the seat or not. Intermittently, when I start the car, the indicator light flashes and then remains lit. If the car is driven in this state, the alarm sounds at speeds over 25/30 mph. Subarun doesn't know how to trouble shoot.

Apply brakes while in motion and car door locks open. Passenger complained when getting out of car that they got a shock.

With the eyesight system, Outback may start braking when you are coming up on another car or trying to pass it, even though you are moving away from the vehicle to pass it and are not endanger of an accident. Very annoying at times and forces you to disable it but might be worthwhile if it didn't go off just from coming near vehicles. I suppose they don't want it to go off too late. The seat/headrest is the bigger problem.

Made a turn and was halfway down the block going approximately 15 mph when the engine suddenly shut off. The instrument gauge lit up with all sorts of annunciators. I was able to pull over to a safe location and park. The following annunciators were flashing; at oil temp, cruise control indicator, and the brake light. The following annunciators were lit solid; check engine warning light /malfunction indicator light and the vehicle dynamics control warning light. Turned off vehicle. Waited. Turned engine on and the annunciators were still present and the instrument gauge remained unchanged.