general problems of the 2015 Subaru Outback - part 1

Exhaust manifold bellows crack exhaust coming into car when idling.

My sunroof glass just shattered spontaneously while I was driving. Thankfully the door was closed or me and my daughter would have been showered by glass while in the road. Nothing hit the car , I just heard a loud bang over my heard and when I stopped to see what happened my sunroof was in pieces!.

A transmission that was replaced in July of 2023 went bad un December of 2024 and dealership won't give reasons why transmission went bad or what caused a almost brand new transmission with less than 50,000 miles on it went bad. They are demanding we pay $5000. 00 dollars on a transmission that was replaced under the extended warranty on cvt transmission from Subaru. Which also extends to the brand new transmission. They are demanding their loaner car back and refusing to honor extended warranty on new transmission which the gave us which is bad. They will not give us anything other than it is bad. No information what so ever is being given to my husband or I as to why, how or what happened. My car will not move unless it is pushed by someone. They are refusing to honor their recall warranty or provide a loaner while dealing with their corporate offices on this issue. This is after in the past 1 and a half years my car has been in their shop for well over 8 months and I am still making payments on this vehicle. They will not even provide paperwork on the issues with my vehicle.

The horn stopped working on my vehicle. This puts my safety and other driver's safety at risk since I can not alert them if they are coming into my lane. I contacted Subaru customer advocacy but they are not willing to fix this problem. I checked the online forums and this seems to be a common problem.

My horn only works if car is stopped steering wheel turned to the left. Subaru dealer says it’s in the steering column mechanism that affects airbag and cruise control also. Says it will cost over $600 to repair. If it preventsthe airbag working, wouldn’t it be a car defect and considered dangerous?.

Infomation unit stopped working and has moisture fog inside of it. I was using it for the map route in an area that I was not familiar with when it stopped working. I do not know how moisture could get in a sealed unit but it is over $22,000. To replace it. Perhaps this does not qualify as a safety issue but it was for me since I needed directions as to how to get home.

There's a problem in a part called (clock spring/roll connector) that is responsible for the horn on steering wheel. It affects almost all Subaru models, like Outback, forester, legacy. . . I've verified it in a mechanic shop, and after all the tests of fuses, horn, and everything. They say the problem is the clock spring, a part that goes after the air bag and costs around $130 plus service ($150 minimum) to change. Then I research on internet and found out it's a very common problem with a lot of videos on youtube of people having the same issue and a lot of comments there of more people complaining about it that it should have a recall cause it's a security part. I couldn't use my horn when another driver almost hit me, that's how I figured out that my horn died. Those are just some of the videos with this related problem. There's a lot more on youtube and a lot of posts on internet forums as well: https://youtu. Be/e73ao9zrcum https://youtu. Be/vdxvafmq6qg https://youtu. Be/plbtvx2wzww https://youtu. Be/yiwl5amhfq0 https://youtu. Be/zr5qq3zufrc.

On my drive in to work this morning, the sunroof on my Outback shattered with a loud bang. Fortunately the inside sun shade was closed, otherwise I would have been showered with glass while driving 50mph on the expressway. How does this happen? there were no trees overhead, no cars or trucks near me, the temperature was not especially hot or cold. And, I would think the glass would have a film or something that would hold the pieces together in the unlikely event that it would break!.

The child safety lock on the passenger side will not disengage. Our child is old enough now to operate the door safely but she cannot open the door from the inside. I feel that this is a great safety concern and the dealer should take care of the cost. When we asked if it could be fixed the dealer expressed that it would be on us for all charges. This is a manufacturer defect and should be rectified immediately. Thank you.

While driving on 55mph road, sunroof suddenly shattered for no apparent reason (no sudden impact from rock or other debris), producing a loud bang, startling driver. Driver momentarily swerved due to being startled by noise from next to head before correcting. No other cars were around on the road at the time and driver is sure no rocks or other objects fell onto sunroof (covered by rooftop cargo box, no trees near street to drop debris). Pieces of glass went upwards and ended up on roof of vehicle.

The car experienced sudden reverse acceleration when the gear was switched to reverse. I had to floor the brake pedal to have the car stop. I was fortunate behind me was enough of grassy area for the car to stop. Yes, I am sure I wasn't pushing gas because eventually after hard pressing the brakes the car stopped. Afterwards I tried pushing both and it was impossible to push both hard as the foot slips off the brake pedal.

Purchased this car in 2019 from dealer as a pre certified vehicle. Replaced original battery(dealer said it was)in 8/2021. As I had to have it jumped, battery drain. 6 years old. So I replaced. I have had numerous battery drain since, jumped numerous times. Dealer will say I left something on, no I didn't. They check and can't find issues. So, I purchased a battery jumper pack. I'm 64yrs old female. Don't need this worry, is my cr going to start. Please help. As I've read numerous other 2015 Outback owners are having same issues and Subaru won't address them.

The car regularly drains the battery. We are the original owners and have had to purchase 3 car batteries thus far. The car does not provide any warning messages or report any issues. Every time the battery has been drained it happens without explanation, over a dozen times since we’ve owned the car. We’ve always had the batteries inspected, and they’ve been in good contention with life left in them, just drained, needing a recharge. Unfortunately, the car counties to drain the battery, leaving me stranded, including at night away from home. The details for the incident I will be providing below will be for the most recent, this morning.

Outback 2015 windshield cracked with no obvious reason even at about 30 mph.

I have had to have my battery replaced almost every year since I bought this car and there is always a large amount or corrosion no matter how often I clean it. I just read that this has been a known issue of Subaru. I literally just had the dealership in late November tell me at an oil change that I needed to replace my battery. When I informed them that I had just replaced it in February of of this year when I stopped for gas in the middle of the texas winter storm and my car would not start back up (that battery was only about a year and a half old), they blamed the cold weather and suddenly backpedaled saying it just seemed low so I should keep an eye on it. Yesterday, my car took two tries to start so I am going to have the battery tested again but this means I haven't even gotten a full years worth out of it.

This car has had 5 batteries. The charging system tests fine. It’s not safe.

Excessive battery drain from open back hatch while parked and engine off. Having my back liftgate open while my engine was off for a 30 minute period drained my battery so that I could not start my vehicle. Had not my friends been there to jump me I would have been without transportation miles from home. No warning light was given by the vehicle. Others with this vehicle have had similar issues and it is an easy issue to find complaints about. A service center has not been contacted yet but I plan on speaking with my dealership soon. This problem blindsided me completely.

I proudly purchased my 2015 Subaru Outback, new, in April 2015. I currently have less than 18,000 miles on it. During the time I have owned my Outback, I have had to replace the battery 5 times, through no fault of my own. Subaru USA and my Subaru dealership say that I do not drive it enough. B/s. I have done some research online and have found many other Subaru owners who are constantly having battery problems and dead batteries. I understand some have filed a class action suit. The problem appears to be that the battery drains down on a regular basis. Now when I put my car in my garage at night, I turn the headlights off completely, the radio off, the a/c off, and I do not set my parking brake for fear all of the above will drain my battery overnight. I am even afraid to set my car alarm. I have had to call aaa each time the battery has gone completely dead. They are tired of seeing me. Fortunately for me, each time the battery has died, I was at home and my car in the garage. I am a senior citizen who is afraid my battery will die when I am not close to home. I purchased a Subaru because of its so-called reliability. I am tired of Subaru giving me the runaround and trying to make it look as though I am the problem. I, for the life of me, don't understand how this problem has been swept under the rug by Subaru for so long. When I chose the Outback, I had done my homework and went first to the la auto show and the Outback, back then, appeared to be my dream car, which has turned into a nightmare for me. I had a sienna for 15 years and only replaced the battery twice. Please have your staff seriously look into this Subaru battery drainage problem. I am certainly not alone with this problem. Each time I go to start up my Outback, I have to hold my breath and keep my finger and toes crossed. Subaru USA has given me little or no answer to my problem. My dealership again tells me I have to drive more. The other Subaru owners must not drive enough!!!.

Windshield randomly cracked on its own. Similar issue as other have reported in past. Begins on passenger side in wiper park near heated zone and continues up across windshield for 12 inches or so. Car was parked, nothing hit the windshield.

The horn stopped working. It has been diagnosed as a bad relay switch that is imbedded with the driver airbag in the steering wheel. This should not be happening to a well maintained vehicle that has been serviced regularly. I was almost was in a serious accident on the freeway when the horn failure occured . A vehicle moved into my lane and did not see me and I was not able able to honk and alert them . I was lucky to avoid it by an inch or so.

Rapid acceleration - this has happened twice to our Subaru. The first incident was about a year ago. My wife was driving and I was the passenger. We drove into our driveway and sat their talking while the garage door opened for a few minutes. Her foot was on the brake the entire time. Suddenly the Outback surged forward at a rapid speed. Thank god for Subaru emergency accident braking system that stopped the vehicle within inches of our back garage wall. I remember my wife saying "what just happened? I didn't do anything we were just sitting their my foot on the brake and it just lunged ahead rapidly. I didn't do anything to stop the vehicle other than step on the brake. Rapid acceleration #2 - this happened two weeks ago and I was driving with no passengers. I was pulling into our garage and again the Outback rapidly surged ahead. I stood on the brakes to stop and had no response. The eye sight emergency braking system kicked in and stopped the vehicle with a panic stop. I am positive in both cases we were braking the vehicle and our foot was not on the accelerator. I feel unsafe driving this vehicle. If someone is standing in front of this vehicle when it rapidly accelerates they will be injured or killed and I don't want to ever see this happen. I feel subrau should supply me with a free loaner car until this problem is fixed. I know their is no safety recall issued and the dealer will only replace the control module at customer expense.

Consistent battery issues on start up; upon a mechanic looking at battery, the battery is fully charged/ok - but there appears to be possible connection issue? it appears to be a known issue. Is there a fix for this?.

Received Subaru recall (wuj-95) on Aug,3. 2020 pertaining to exhaust pipe bellow failure. The recall includes replacement of the exhaust y-pipe that is installed from engine to tale pipe. This exhaust pipe in my understanding was installed under a stress manufacturing process where the pipe and fastener system has to be forced in to install. This puts excess stress on the bellows and caused failure. My question is why did Subaru wait five years to notify the consumer and issue a recall. Please return my request for a full explanation of what happened. 2nd. I would like to address the cvt transmission issue. Subaru extended the transmission failure time line to 10yr-100,000 mile. I am having many issues with my cvt transmission and Subaru will not issue a recall. With all the complaints and problems with the gen-5 cvt transmission would please take a 2nd look at this issue.

I was driving on the freeway and the vehicle stopped, rolled to a stop, and wouldn't start up again. This resulted in a serious accident. I pushed the hazard button but the other drivers account of the accident was that the lights were off. The car had its epb reprogrammed and sub relay replacement done according to the dealership. I had no prior problem with the car stopping unexpectedly. I was knocked out by the accident, so I didn't have much time to surmise what the problem may have been. It must have been like 30 seconds from the time it stopped until we were hit by 3 cars at freeway speeds.

Vehicle is equipped with Subaru's "eye sight" system, which provides pre-collision braking and is involved with lane departure warning. The eye sight system in my car is intermittently inoperative while the car is in motion. Sometimes, the system begins working again, then turns off, turns on, etc. If eye sight is inoperative as the car comes to a full stop, the inoperative warning message usually disappears, but the message returns shortly after the car begins moving again. This has been happening every time the car is in motion for three weeks.

I was pulling into a parking space and as I was gradually hitting the brakes, the car started to accelerate on its own at high speed hitting the fence in front. I am sure that I did not have my foot on the gas. I hit the brakes and it was of no use. After hitting the fence the car stopped as I shifted to neutral. I am scared to drive the vehicle.

Automatic breaking activated for no reason but only for a very short time but very hard. Then released. There was a flash of something on the dash I think a breaking warning and beeping sound. Moving approx 35mph, not breaking, on 2 lane road ( east pea ridge rd. Huntington wv). Nothing in front of me for quite a distance. No one coming toward me either. Road conditions were good. Straight road. ( I have included a google map picture of approximately where it happened) time: about 12:45pm car was previously a "company car" of my brothers. (wheels inc) I purchaned it in oct 2017. My brother said this had happened to him one time also. . Read more...

Child lock on back passenger door is locked down so you can't get out unless someone from outside opens. I never used the child lock and have no idea how it got down. Took it to Subaru dealership and they said it would $350 to fix it. This seems to be a defect. Seen many posts of others having the same problem.

Lift gate motor needs to be replaced, making knocking sound.

Automatic front seats. When wife opens the passenger door first (before the driver) the driver seat adjusts to her set position. An d if I don't pay attention the driver seat will push/crush me into the steering wheel. I have a bad back and drop foot, so I don't have the strength of a younger person. My only salvation is to squeeze out or hit the position button on the door panel. Also, the presets go out all the time. I have asked if they could disable the passenger side door sensor. Nothing. Rear gate opening: it has happened so many times. I have complained directly to Subaru about the seat and gate problem. No results. The rear gate has opened while raining outside during the night. It has opened while in the garage jamming the overhead garage door. I am afraid on trips to have stuff stolen out of my car is such an incident. Happened once. Also. . . They have a cute preset so you can set the max height of the gate opening. Twice my wife has walked into the rear gate and literally flipped backwards to the pavement! Subaru denies any problems about the gate. Funny, one day I was helping a friend and her mom was there. As they helped me unload my Subaru we discovered that mom had also a similar model. The first question she asked me "have you any problem with your rear gate"!!! it's not just me. Subaru needs to step up and fix these problems before someone really gets hurt or have loss of items from the car.

My dashboard releases vocs so much I cannot keep the windshield clean and the sun blinds my view because of it. I clean almost every day but the smog just gets moved around and will not clean. It is a terrible safety hazard. They need to manufacturer the dash with a safer material.

Vehicle would not start. After jumping the battery vehicle started, aaa performed roadside testing and determined the battery and alternator are working properly and are sufficiently charged. Car would not start for unexplained reasons. Previous service history leads me to believe there is an ongoing electrical issue with this vehicle. Previously the airbag light would frequently illuminate. Dealership stated it was due to electrical interference and that nothing was wrong.

Battery is dead after one day of complete battery charge this is the third time this has happened on a replacement battery. The original Subaru battery failed in same manner. Charging system is putting out 13. 85 volts when car is running. Battery voltage after trickle charge 12. 87. Stationary.

Key stuck in ignition when I parked and tried to take key out. I was away from home. Eventually, I moved gears and I pushed key inwards and it released. I just had a hefty repair bill before discovering recalls for this issue on earlier models.

The srvd (blind spot) not working indicator light comes on--meaning the blind spot mechanism will not work. I have turned the car off and started again which may eliminate the problem. There have been other published complaints as detailed in consumer forums on the internet. The blind spot light on the outside mirrors will will not work if the srvd is not functioning.