general problems of the 2018 Subaru Outback - part 2

While driving under normal conditions, (no hazardous weather or speeding), the steering will suddenly pull to the right, for only a moment, feeling as though a strong gust of wind had blown it, but there is no wind, it just does it on its on. A warning light comes on, and makes a pinging sound, then it turns off; it does not stay on long enough to be able to see which symbol lights up. This happens approximately once every 10 miles or so, more often when driving above 45 mph; occurring most often on the highway. It happens on every type of rode and in every lane. We've bought the car to be examined buy a Subaru dealership twice and was told both times that the wheels were out of alignment and we paid to have the alignment corrected, but this does not actually solve the problem. There has not been any incidents yet, but we fear that if the car pulls on its own in slick or icy weather, it may cause an accident.

Starlink infotainment system, moves between sound system functions on its own, like you have touched the touchscreen repeatedly. Sirius radio will no longer stay attached to a station and play. Reset failed to correct.

The touchscreen on the starlink head unit is delaminated and there is a “ghost touch” whenever the screen is on. You can visibly see bubbles under the screen. While I was driving my kids to daycare the other day, the navigation system activated and said that “you cannot change the volume at this time” repeatedly for no reason. It also changes driving directions mid-trip. It’s very distracting while driving and makes the car information system and radio unusable. My dealer said that this is a known problem and that they would fix it; however, the part is back for months. They said they could not turn the screen off without disabling other safety features such as the back-up camera.

Infotainment system is completely delaminated, and the backup camera is slow to start, if starts at all. System will go beserk, make calls, change stations, volume, navigation, and more.

The navigation/radio/app/rear back-up camera/control center malfunctioned sept. 2022; replacement unit took over two months to arrive. That unit failed in March 2023. We are still (6/23) awaiting a replacement. See attachment for more detailed narrative.

The head unit touch screen is delaminating making it difficult to see the backup camera view while backing the vehicle up. The unit is also constantly switching through radio stations and makes phone calls when I have my phone hooked up to the vehicle to charge it. I cannot turn the unit off. This is vary distracting while I drive. It is unsafe to drive while while the unit in use, due to the constant radio and screen switching as well as the delaminated screen causing visibility issues while trying to use the backup camera.

Car jerked back and suddenly accelerated without warning as driver had foot on brake and was slowly pulling into parking spot. Car hit wall of parking garage causing front end damage. Parking collision warning did not sound at any point. Car was going 1-2 mph and was 5 feet from end of parking spot when incident occurred. Sudden acceleration when driver has foot on brake can cause injury to driver, passengers or others in the path of the car. No hazards in parking garage were present that could have caused accident, which was witnessed by driver's work colleague. No police report filed. Incident was reported to Subaru, which ran diagnostic and could not replicate issue. No warning messages were present prior to the incident. It appears there are 2 current class action lawsuits filed against Subaru reporting similar issues with 2018 Outback. I am unsure what component failed to cause this issue; car is available for inspection on request.

Car battery dies if tailgate is opened for several minutes. Had to replace battery in January 2022 and still have issues with the battery.

Gas gauge is not working correctly. This problem was supposedly fixed in a previous recall.

Driving on residential road, heard a spontaneous pop and did not know what it was. By the end of the drive there was an approximately 2 foot long crack in the center of the windshield behind the rear view mirror. Crack started from top edge of the windshield, nothing had hit it, and proceeded to spread quickly. Due to the crack, the eyesight technology in the car stopped working. This has been settled with the 2015-2016 models that the windshield's were faulty, yet there is nothing for any further models despite the same issues continuing. Absolutely nothing that would have chipped or hurt the windshield prior to the pop and crack occurring had happened.

The brake, abs, and traction control (vdc) lights all came on a couple of weeks ago. I brought the vehicle into the Subaru dealership and they diagnosed a failed vehicle dynamics control board as the problem. I've requested to receive the old vdc board. That there were brake issues was clearly indicated by the dash lights, so my safety risk was low. There seemed to be no impact to regular brake function and because we weren't driving on any ice/snow/rain slick roads I didn't encounter any issues with not having vdc working. Problem was confirmed by dealer and a replacement board is being requested. They're charging me for it since I'm outside the terrible 36,000 mile warranty that's become standard in our anti-consumer country. The replacement board will only carry a 12 month/12k mile warranty because, again, our federal government is worthless at protecting consumers.

Gas gauge appears to be out of calibration. Not giving good / accurate readings. It's "50-50".

The battery has drained twice in the time that I have owned this vehicle. Once I was able to recharge the battery by jumpstarting and letting it run. The second time it required a battery replacement. This was approximately 12 months after the first incident. The electrical system also has unpredictable quirks related to the window functions and lighting. I am uncertain to other resulting irregularities that may be occurring under the hood. Currently, my car is being serviced for a radiator fan and motor replacement for the cooling system. The estimate for repair is $1747 + tax. This is potentially related to the electrical quirks related to the battery irregularities.

Windshield chipped with small pebble on highway. Chip was approximately the size of a penny.

The batteries cannot seem to hold a charge. We have called aaa several times, but the recharging doesn't last, and they say this is a problem with the Outback. In addition, the Subaru dealer has replaced the battery twice. It just failed again. This most recent battery fail stranded my 70 year old husband in another city. I have contacted the dealer again asking for service. There is no warning whatsoever that the battery has drained. This is not a safe situation. The date below is the most recent incident of a drained battery.

I was backing out of my driveway very slowly as usual. I checked the road both ways several times. A us mail truck evidently traveling at a high rate of speed came up behind me while I was looking in the opposite direction. The automatic braking did not kick in, the warning system didn't work. After the accident the green, yellow, red lines on the camera and the warning beeping stuff-all were not working for several weeks. All of the sudden, they started working. History-4 days after purchasing the vehicle we have had lane departure, driver assist problems. The passenger window does what it wants. The electric controls for the heat/ac go blank, or can't change settings. There seems to be a huge electrical issue. Every time we've taken the car in for service, the dealership just insults me that I can't drive and they can't find any problems. They seem to have an answer for everything yet the problems persist. Efforts to go thru Subaru are stalled waiting on their response. They were to look at the black box during time of accident. We are still waiting. We are frustrated. I wish the dealership had taken the car back after we first bought it like we demanded. I'm terrified this car is going to cause an accident.

While beginning a left turn with arrow, the motor died and the vehicle stopped. I put the transmission in neutral and attempted to restart without sucsess. I then placed the transmission in park in the driving lane with moving traffic, attempted to restart,this attempt was sucessfull. Iproceeded home without further trouble. The next day I looked on line and read of the fuel pump issue. The symptoms seemed the same as I had experienced. I then inquired at the Subaru dealership and gave them my VIN # and they informed me that our vehicle was not part of the recall. Please help.

My windshield was cracked unreasonably with minor contact through routine snow removal with a snow brush. With routine wiping of the snow off of my windshield, the snow brush made minor contact with the windshield, and the bottom of the windshield cracked. The resulting crack is approximately 2-3 feet long at the bottom of the windshield. The crack partially impedes vision and may impair the functioning of the eyesight safety system in the car. After online research, it appears that this is a problem present in the windshields of most Subaru 2017-2020 models. The contact was very minor as would be expected in any daily snow removal, and if this level of contact causes this level of damage to these windshields, that could cause many safety and visibility issues if a stray pebble were to strike the windshield of a moving vehicle.

When I was idling in park, the car spontaneously accelerated at full throttle. Another incident occurred while braking the car started accelerating at full throttle, even though I was sitting still at a drive through. - it would not stop without turning off the ignition.

What component or system failed or malfunctioned, and is it available for inspection upon request? after about 1 year of procuring vehicle, the car battery would die about every 4-8 weeks. How was your safety or the safety of others put at risk? I travel often and could *never* rely on my car to start up properly. Has the problem been reproduced or confirmed by a dealer or independent service center? yes, and also is in a civil law suit because of it. Has the vehicle or component been inspected by the manufacturer, police, insurance representatives or others? yes, although still not even remotely confident that they have truly identified the issue. Were there any warning lamps, messages or other symptoms of the problem prior to the failure, and when did they first appear? no warnings whatsoever. The battery would be fully charged one day and dead as dead can be the next. As noted above, it first started after about a year of having the vehicle, then started trouble shooting w/ the dealer for about the next 2 years over about 6 appointments.

Cracked windshield for no reason. Saw a current lawsuit that I wanted to add to my claim. Crack is at the bottom of the windshield.

We have had 4 windshields on this vehicle and now the current one that was just replaced last October ( 3 months ago) just broke too. If we have this replaced it will be the 5th windshield in 4 years. It is unsafe because visibility is reduced. This is a common problem with Subarus, as evidenced by the many online discussions regarding the faulty windshields. Subaru did lose a lawsuit for 2015-2016 windshields but the newer models have not been included as yet.

Battery kept dieing the first time car was only 2 weeks oldit died at least 10 times since also if tailgate is left open car battery is dead after 5 minutes.

A week ago, drove 5 miles to get a hamburger. While the car was parked I listened to the radio. When my husband returned with our food 8 minutes later, the car would not start. The battery was dead. This happened again today (11/19/21) when we drove 4 miles and parked. I left the key in the ignition for barely 3 minutes before removing it, but the battery was dead when I tried to start it again a few minutes later. Both instances we used a portable battery charger after having the same problem happen during the summer. Today my husband took the car in to have the battery checked, but it is within normal range (12. 2 volts). Aside from the battery problem, the oil lamp also comes on a lot…after getting a complete oil changed which should last us 6k miles or so, the oil warning light comes on after 1,500 or 2k miles, forcing us to add a quart of oil which we always have in the car now.

The windshield on my Subaru developed a crack across the length of windshield after a minor rock impact. A few weeks later a second crack developed randomly. The new crack crosses infront of the eyesight system. I am concerned the cracks interfere with the vehicles eye sight system. I believe the windshield is defective and creates safety hazard as the cracks blocks visibility and also affect the eyesight system. I contacted Subaru and the dealer advised the defect was not covered under my warranty and would cost more than $1000 to repair.

Went into my office yesterday morning and came out on my break to a cracked windshield. It was a perfect crack that seems to have started right at the edge of the glass extending to the middle of the windshield with no point of impact noted. As per Subaru it’s not covered under our gold warranty plan even when we explained the glass seems to have just cracked on its own. After research it’s seems to be an issue with Subaru that they do not want to handle and with my insurance deductible being $500 I will have to cover the whole windshield for $471. At this point I will just leave eyesight off because it’s around another $600 to recalibrate that. ** accidentally uploaded a picture of an email and was unable to delete it.

The battery completely dies after at-least 3 days of not driving the vehicle. Within a few weeks of driving the car off the lot in 2017 (new from the dealership), the car would not start after not being driven over the weekend. I had the car jump started. It happened again the next week after a long weekend of not driving the vehicle. I had it jump started the drove it to the dealership. I was told there was nothing wrong with the vehicle or the batter. It happened again the next weekend and I had to get it jump started again. Since then I have not left the car un-driven for more than a couple of days. On June 18, I took the car for an oil change and was told I needed a new battery. I replaced the car battery that same day. Hooked everything up and the car started just fine. I check all interior lights and headlights to make sure they were all off. The next day, I go to start the car and my battery is completely drained. There is an issue with the car where it is draining the battery. I don't know if replacing the battery caused some kind of software reset, but now I'm having issues with a full brand new battery being drained overnight.

Windshield has a giant crack from an unknown source.

I bought a new 2018 Subaru Outback in June 2018. It has been a very good vehicle except for the cvt which Subaru has had issues with for years. The cvt hesitates and shudders and detracts from the performance and safety of the vehicle. I have spoken with the dealer as well as Subaru of America they have extended the cvt warranty to 10 years 100k miles but only if the cvt breaks to the point where the vehicle will not operate. I do all my service at the dealer and have asked if Subaru would replace the cvt to make it run better and safely. They said that Subaru will only do that if and when the cvt breaks and does not operate. I would hope that NHTSA can get Subaru to replace the cvt if it operates in an inferior way.

I have been having battery issues with my 2018 Subaru Outback. Ended up replacing the battery with a new one and am still have issues with the car draining the battery to dead if not run for a few days.

My windshield cracked after washing it. It seems out of the blue with no previous damage known.

Since June of 2020, my 2018 Subaru Outback has now had four cracked windshields with little to no explanation. The first crack was repaired by a Subaru dealership, only to crack again within 24 hours. The same dealership refused to cover the cost of the second windshield replacement. Then in Nov 2020, it cracked again and a different Subaru dealership did cover the cost of the third windshield replacement, but only after filing a compliant with Subaru corporate. Now in may 2021, the windshield has cracked again with little to no impact and needs to be replaced. Each time the windshield cracked, it significantly spread across the the windshield within hours, and poses a risk to driving. Please assist, as I am aware of active lawsuit for this same type of car misfunction occurring with other 2018 Subaru models, and cannot afford to have a car continue to have this issue.

My Subaru starlink infotainment system has been inoperative since my local dealer attempted to install an update. The update is on back order. I was not informed that this system is no inoperative and if I were in a collision or other emergency the system would not be able to notify 911 dispatchers of my emergency or location. There are now warning lights to tell me the system is inop. I contacted Subaru of America and they provided me with a phone number to starlink. They are not accepting responsibility. Starlink has refused to provide a refund. There was a class action lawsuit against Subaru that was filed in 2017.

I was parking my 2018 Subaru Outback premium next to my house on my parking spot, my foot was on a brake pedal, it left around 50'' to complete a parking, like suddenly my car start moving forward even that I was strongly pressing brake pedal, car went over curb and hit a palm tree that is next to my parking spot. Car suddenly accelerated and I was not able to control the car. Car front bumper, grill, radiator was damaged. Today, my car is in body shop. It was very scare experience. From my background I am driving 12 years without any car accident.

My wife and I, financed our brand new 2018 Subaru Outback premium from world Subaru, 688 shrewsbury Ave. , tinton falls, new jersey 07701, in June 2018. There are 3 main problems with the car, but I’ll only be addressing the most recent one. The main people in this situation is myself-james a lep jr, my wife-donna lep, Subaru, owner and general manager-joe wajda, service advisor-rudolph j degaetano, and fixed operation director-lou zuluaga. The 2018 Subaru was brought in for an oil change filter, etc. , on April 19, 2021 and I went right up to the service advisor rudolph j degaetano to tell him besides the oil change and filter to please take a look at this back tire wear, on the edges to about an inch in, its bald, about 3 inches then full thread all the way around the tire, rudolph said you need an alignment, so I told him to do it with the oil change and filter, so when they were done rudolph came back to me and I paid $165. 47, with this rudolph showed me the alignment paper and said this can’t be fixed, no mater what you do, the right front caster in red at 4. 3 cannot be fixed. And as you see on the original paper, on the right front caster in red, it can’t be fixed. But at the bottom in red it states, “ or more values are not within specification. Tire wear, handling and safety problems may result”. So its telling me the car is unsafe to drive and world Subaru cant fix it. I told rudolph thats unexceptable. Texted owner and general manager joe wojda who turned it over to fixed operation director lou zuluaga who in turn sent me a text, that it could be the body of the car. I explained to rudolph that Subaru had a big problem with the new ascents, and it either would cost Subaru to much to fix or they couldn’t fix it, and Subaru gave them all brand new ascents, but what about my car we bought brand new, they expect my wife to drive an unsafe vehicle???james a lep-732-221-8338 possamato@gmail. Com owner joe wajda-732-741-6200 lou and rudolph-same number.