Wiper problems of the 2016 Subaru Outback - part 1

1. Windshield crack in the deicing area. Driving on a highway heard a loud boom as if a very big rock hit the car. 30-40 second later there was another boom of normal loudness. At this moment windshield crack has been noticed. The windshield will not be available, replacing it on 12/22/2025 2. Visibility has been affected 3. No, problem was not reproduced. Dealer representative said that the problem is not covered by Subaru. 4. Windshield was visually inspected by the dealership representative. I will try to collect more data at the windshield replacement shop. 5. There were no symptoms of the problem. N. B - the crack outside is flat, as if no rock hit happened. - I have camera's mp4, where sounds can be heard, 1gb.

I had a rock thrown at my vehicle's windshield and required a replacement. I went to a Subaru dealership, zeigler Subaru of kenosha, local to me for a replacement. A day after I received my car, the windshield developed a hairline crack emanating from the bottom. I brought it back to the dealer and they replaced it again. After that time, it was a whole week and a half when I noticed a hairline crack, this time from the top working its way down. I brought it once again to the dealer for a replacement and a better explanation as to what is going on. 1. 5 months later, I took my car again and was good for a little over a month, when I noticed the same hairline crack, this time from the bottom. I am up to having three windshields being installed and have no confidence in the safety and longevity of the vehicle I have. Subaru has had engineers come out to evaluate my vehicle and determined that its structural construction is not compromised and have tried to diagnose another probable cause coming from the windshield wiper heater and unplugged it. I have heard crack noises when driving at random intervals and have it noted to the dealership. No further update has been told to me as of the writing of this concern.

Media screen failure. Is available for inspection. Safety of pedestrians or other accident at risk because the screen is useless in bright sunlight. Planning to complain to dealer. No warning signal or alert when backing up when screen is unreadable. This has caused accidents x 3 for my family. Backed into another car with no warning.

Travelling on I-95 southbound at approx. 70 mph in the right lane at least 8-10 car lengths behind another vehicle in front of me. Clear skies, f, calm weather. I heard a loud, sudden noise followed by wind and what sounded like glass on my roof, thought it was fireworks or a gunshot. Pulled over to make sure my dogs are ok (all good, just spooked!) and see what happened to the car when I observed a large hole and continued cracking noise in the sunroof - glass was pushed outwards/ convex rather than concave as if an object had struck the glass from above or in front of my vehicle. Notified insurance then carefully drove home the remaining 20 or so miles, called dealership and started researching the issue. There are nearly 40 reports of spontaneous sunroof explosions on NHTSA website for Subaru Outbacks. Dealing with Subaru corporate and a local dealership for repairs.

Windshield cracks on its own. This is my 3rd time replacing windhield.

Windshield cracked on its own, this is the 3rd time I will be replacing windshield.

A crack appeared across the upper middle of the windshield. There was no event, damage, or accident involved. The crack just appeared one day. The crack runs across the windshield in the area of the rear view mirror and in front of the mounted cameras used for the collision avoidance, lane departure system.

Windshield cracked.

Went out to my car this morning and noticed a linear 6 inch crack in my windshield-it expanded from near the wiper on the driver side upward and within 2 hours another crack began about 5 inches lateral to the ever expanding first crack which is now greater than 12 inches long. I called devoe Subaru in naples florida and asked about windshield crack and repair-I had bought the car there 3 years ago. I was informed they do not repair windshields, never did they mention this was a common problem with the Outback. I contacted satellite windshield repair and gave them my insurance info and hopefully my progressive insurance will cover the windshield and the eyesight calibration. I then googled the issue and found that this is a real and frequent issue with the Subaru.

Two windshields cracked in 6 years - this is a safety issue that should not happen.

We have replaced about 5 windshields in this vehicle since we have owned it. The cracks form from the bottom of the windshield in the black area where a rock couldn't possibly chip the windshield. Subaru refuses to recognize this VIN number as part of their class action law suit that was just settled and has refused to extend the warranty on this particular vehicle although they are covering replacement windshields for other 2016 Subaru Outbacks. They clearly recognize that there is a problem but are refusing to admit fault. You do not need to look far to find numerous complaints in forums on the internet with people describing this exact problem.

On November 15, 2021 my car was in the garage as normal. I started my car and I heard a "pop" I was headed out my driveway is when I notice a crack at the bottom of the windshield that is about 3" high and then curves for about 4".

Battery corrosion on terminal post and drained for no reason, failed battery test and had to be replaced. Windshield has imperfections throughout and cracks easily. Shift mechanism will not release the vehicle key while in park. Squeaking sound emanating from passenger seat belt buckle. Excessive exhaust noise and odor from exhaust pipe. Rear hatch will not close completely unless slammed very forcefully. Belts under the hood squeak very loudly when started and subside when warmed up.

Windshield cracks easily. On my 5th windshield, just replaced 2 weeks ago and it’s cracked again. The windshield cracks easily even with minor rock chips. This is the 5th windshield on this car.

Windshield cracked without any cause.

The windshield cracked without receiving any kind of impact to it. No rock chip, sudden jolt, extreme temperatures or other weather event precipitated the cracking.

Windshield spontaneously developed a crack; there had been no impact to the vehicle or windshield.

The windshield cracked in August of 2020 without any impact or outside cause across the middle of the windshield almost the entire length of the glass. I had it replaced at the dealership and in April of 2021 the new windshield now has cracked down the middle of the glass. Both times the cracks appeared overnight with the vehicle in a parked position.

2016 Subaru Outback. A four-inch wavy crack on the left bottom of the windshield; a week later another crack of about 6 inches appeared. The cracks occurred with the Subaru car in motion on a highway.

This morning my wife noticed a crack in the windshield of our 2016 3. 6r Subaru Outback purchased 3/2016. It originates at the base of the windshield, passes over the 6 red defroster wires below the windshield, and extends ~10" up on the drivers side toward the rear view mirror. There are no pits etc. , this crack originated on the inside of the windshield. This crack perfectly matches the crack pattern and description identified in Subaru service bulletin 12-192-15r, revised 11/19/15. That bulletin was issued as a result of Subaru's loosing a lawsuit in California regarding broken glass windshields because of manufacturing defect. Unfortunately Subaru is only replacing defective glass on Outbacks up to VIN g3222455/g3210476. Our manufacturing VIN is early 2016, and the judge in the case did not extend judgment against subary to cover our Outback. This is exactly the same problem with our Outback as for the California case. Here in new jersey we have been having several weeks of harsh weather, outside temperature ~20 degrees f in the morning. The Outback is garaged, it is a warm garage. Even though this is a 2016, we assume the extreme is a factor. This is not a stone hit problem, all the driving is northern NJ surburban roads, not highway driving. We see many many complaints definitely a manufacturing issue. Attaching a photo of crack. I run my finger over the crack and actually can't feel anything, no dings, nothing.

Windshield began cracking near the bottom (close to the windshield wipers) but there was no rock or damage to the windshield that prompted the crack. It just appeared and then has spread about 2 feet.

2016 Subaru Outback's front windshield cracked for no apparent reasons.

I drove my car to ski. I parked my car. The snow accumulated on windshield. And then I found the windshield has a long crack.

We purchased a car brand new in savannah, GA and since have replaced windshield three times. It has a small crack again. All our replacements occurred against our insurance. Our coverage has increase in premiums. Previously, I never had an issue with windshield cracked on regular occurrence. Another issue - when it rains the visibility is extremely poor. Despite I buy the expensive wipers to replace them at least once in 12 months unable to adjust/increase the wiper speed for the heavy rain makes the driving extremely dangerous. Optional eyesight which was added as an option is shuts itself due to the heavy rain and is no help. Eyesight is also underperform what was promised by manufacturer. All above applies for vehicle in motion.

Ii was driving on an open highway with no cars in close vicinity when windshield cracked for no apparent reason. Crack was on driver side near edge about 12 inches long. On investigation, there were no nicks or pits in the windshield, just the crack. When the windshield was being replaced, the technician stated that it was wierd that a similar crack developed on the passenger side of the windshield as he was removing the shield from the car.

The adjustment of the passenger side side view mirror has malfunctioned. The mirror can not be adjusted properly for visibility of cars to the side of the vehicle. Only the driver-side window is operable. All other windows fail to open from the driver side control. The passenger window will no longer operate from the passenger side either. These windows would have to be broken in order to escape the vehicle in some situations (flooding). My mechanic says that this is a common problem in 2016 Subaru Outbacks. No warning lights were activated. A mirror not able to be adjusted for optimum sighting of other vehicles is surely a safety issue.

Spontaneous crack developed down the passenger side of the windshield in my 2016 Subaru Outback while driving. No obvious reason such as impact with stone or rock was involved- large crack just suddenly appeared. Have read many reports of others having same issue, and Subaru has had at least 3 class action lawsuits filed against them for this exact issue.

Battery is drained while parked.

Tl the contact owns a 2016 Subaru Outback. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the windshield cracked without impact. The contact stated that the vehicle was previously repaired at peacock Subaru hilton head (111 drivers way suite a, hardeeville, SC 29927) for a cracked windshield. The vehicle was taken back to the same dealer and the contact was informed that the windshield needed to be replaced however, no additional assistance was provided. The windshield was not replaced. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 53,688.

My windshield spontaneously cracked on the driver's side near the wiper blade, while driving with a factory windshield. The 6" crack from the corner almost immediately turned into a crack across the entire windshield - again no trauma or rocks. I was driving straight on a highway with no potholes or anything. I had the windshield replaced and it has again spontaneously cracked with no trauma (no rock or bug impact or other impacts/damages) on the passenger side by the wiper blade. I believe that the Subaru windshield as well as the defrost system are defective. This will be my third windshield in under 3 months. Other Subaru Outback owners have complained about this and Subaru continues to blame it on rocks. The second crack happened while my vehicle was stationary in the driveway!.

In February 2019 I had to replace the windshield in my 2016 Subaru Outback because of a crack that started from the passenger side edge from a very tiny chip, and paid about $950 (oem equipment and due to the eyesight system calibration required). On February 29, 2020, I discovered a crack in the new windshield, in a similar place (passenger side, tiny chip at the every edge (black part of windshield), that then extended half way across the windshield. I could not remember anything hitting the windshield to cause the tiny chip, and it really was tiny and very shallow. The car had been parked all day in a safe, secure area. The crack was not there in the morning when I parked the car, but was there by the end of the day. Photo attached. It does not seem reasonable to have to replace a windshield annually! Subaru has a problem with their windshields!.

This is the 2nd window that has had to be replaced in 2 1/2 years. It appeared to crack spontaneously.

Windshield cracked in l shape . On day after snow fall. When cleared there was the crack.

I have a 2016 Subaru Outback, which I've owned since new (09/15/2015). I've had to replace 8 windshield so far, sometimes within 3 months, or even 2 days apart. I drive around san francisco bay area (not statistically higher risk for windshield damage) this constant issue with the windshield affects the safety of the car in case of foreign object impact or spontaneous cracking, because of reduced visibility and compromised structural/impact protection.

Crack in windshield directly behind the rearview mirror horizontally and vertically with no visible signs of impact, found one getting into the car which was in our garage.