Wiper problems of the 2018 Subaru Outback - part 1

This is the third time my windshield has cracked in the last three years.

Sunroof's glass panel exploded/shattered unexpectedly due to unknown cause(s)/reason(s) while driving vehicle. No external item(s) contacted sunroof glass panel.

Spontaneous sunroof glass explosion.

Replaced windshield at dealer using factory glass on 8/7/24. Daughter came out of apartment on approximately the 18th of December and the windshield had a horizontal crack from side to side. She did not have anything hit the windshield and there were not dings or stars in it. It appears to be a stress crack from either a defective install or glass.

We have experienced 3 cracked windshields within 4 months due to small rock debris kicked-up from passing vehicles. Each crack originated at the edge of the glass; 2 from outside edge passenger side and 1 from center bottom edge passenger side. Driving conditions were different for each incident, as each incident occurred during highway driving during light, medium, and heavy traffic flow. Passenger safety was not compromised. The dates for each incident were 15 February 2024, 28 April 2024, and 21 may 2024.

My car’s windshield is cracked for the fifth time since I purchased it new in December. This crack was spontaneous, nothing struck the windshield, though it was during a blizzard. Only one if the broken windshields was due to a significant rock strike. The other 3 happened after the most insignificant “click” was heard on the windshield, nothing that would have damaged any other car. Each time I have replace with Subaru glass. I have seen multiple complaints online about the Subaru windshield fragility. The cost of this and safety hazard needs to be addressed. I will be scheduling this 5th windshield glass replacement shortly. My deductible is $250 so this 5th repair will add up to $1250 in just over 6 years. If repair receipts are needed, please contact me so I can obtain all of them from glass America.

The new (replaced in sept of 2023) oem glass installed by Subaru cracked due to weather change while the vehicle was stopped. There was no prior damage to the windshield nor warning this would happen.

This vehicle has less than 65,000 miles and has had 3 genuine Subaru windshields crack as a result of road hazards. We live in los angeles county and the windshields have cracked as a result of unseen freeway debris/objects (I. E. , not a large object such as a chunk of a truck tire). In 45 years of driving, I have never experienced this many windshield failures. I am not sure if this is a repeated part failure or systemic safety hazard.

My 2018 Subaru Outback's windshield has cracked overnight parked on the driveway. There's no visible rock strike point. This will be the 4th windshield replacement in the 5 year ownership. The first time was on 07/20/20. The last two were on 10/31/22, and 12/03/22. This means 3 new windshields in 5 months.

The touchscreen is delaminated. The delamination makes the backup camera useless. This is a possible danger to me and anyone behind me- turning to look reputedly behind and at the sides doesn't help when cars are moving parallel to me. The 'media' switches between radio and cd, fm and am, and switches into hd mode at random. There's no way to turn it off, so the beeping is a distraction while driving. The Subaru dealership is well aware of this issue. A replacement part was ordered in September 2023 but the part is yet to be replaced.

The windshield on our 2018 Subaru Outback is now on its third cracked windshield in the last 12 months. Each time, a crack has formed on the edges of the windshield after a small pebble or other debris from the road is kicked up. Across this same timespan, I've had similar frequency of debris striking the windshield of my 2015 vw golf, and have only had a small chip in the windshield that was repairable easily. Yes, different vehicles. However, in each incident both vehicles were travelling at similar rates of speeds, similar following distances, neither time behind any large vehicles (dump trucks, semi trailers, concrete mixers, etc). This is simply something being thrown up from the road. This is full on unacceptable. There are other lawsuits and class action suits against Subaru for slightly older models and I highly doubt that any meaningful changes to the design were introduced between the 2015-2016 Outback and the 2017-2019 Outback models. Reasoning being that the class action lawsuit was filed in 2017. By that point, the new models are already rolling off the production line. No way that anything substantial could have changed at that point.

Crack in the windshield with no apparent evidence of an object hitting the windshield. It started below the windshield wiper on the passenger side. Within days it spread several feet toward the middle of the windshield. The glass repair center noted that this is a common occurrence on Subaru Outbacks.

I was driving my vehicle in the dark through an unpopulated area of a highway. No other cars were near mine, as traffic was light. I was listening to music, but still heard a single “pop” sound. A few minutes later I heard another one. The next morning ( day) I noticed a crack (almost straight across horizontal ) in my windshield that looks as if it originated at the edge of the passenger’s side. It makes about a 90 degree curved turn about 1/2 way in the crack then goes up at a slight angle then makes another about 90 degree turn and then goes horizontal agsin.

I was changing the passenger side wiper blade, and when the wiper was lowered to the windshield, the windshield cracked. The crack is now moving up towards the forward eyesight detection system.

Message to Subaru of America before repair hi there, our 2018 Subaru Outback 3. 6r was parked in a covered parking garage for the last week. When we entered the vehicle, we noticed the windshield was cracked all the way from the passenger edge to near the rear view mirror. The windshield was not cracked after prior use of the vehicle. No object has struck the windshield during the time it was parked in the garage. There are no marks on the windshield to indicate any impacts. We have requested earl duff Subaru to order an oem replacement and will make an appointment with them within two weeks. VIN = 4s4bsenc1j3214896 we would like to discuss the matter with you before / after the dealer inspection and replacement of windshield. After dealer repair earl duff Subaru inspected the windshield and indicated to Subaru of America that there was no impact mark. The windshield was replaced at the owner's cost. Subaru of America provided $500 to earl duff Subaru on behalf of the owner. This covered approximately 50% of the repair. The owners insurance policy did not cover any of the repair costs.

Windshield has been replaced 4 times. 7/21/2018, 7/24/2019, 4/8/2022, 06/01/2022 replaced at Subaru dealership with Subaru glass all four times. Last time the glass broke (5/2022) there was no impact which was confirmed by Subaru staff. I went to the car and noticed two cracks which had suddenly appeared and could not be fixed. It is a safety hazard because the glass can't be replaced expediently because car eyesight also needs to be done/scheduled and ordered. 7/21/2018, 7/24/2019, 4/8/2022 windshield replaced on these dates at the Subaru dealership -----glass cracks and spreads quickly once a small rock hits the glass while on highway. Impairs clear vision while driving. Safety hazard.

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

The windshield got cracked again from almost the same place as last time in 2019. Again, I found out the incident the morning when I just started driving. The crack originates from bottom of the glass without any chips. The very similar thing happened in 2019. I have not driven much since covid. Looks like a manufacturing defect.

The windshield cracked while driving at 45mph on a normal street. Nothing hit the windshield, it just popped and cracked. This is the second time this has happened to this vehicle. The previous cracks occurred while it was parked.

A crack has developed from the base of the windshield and has grown to about 9 inches so far as it crosses along the windshield. The only thing that has hit the windshield was a small bug as we traveled along the highway. The sound of the bug hitting the windshield was so tiny neither my wife or I could believe that was what caused the crack. This needs to be looked into as it could create a huge problem if the windshield suddenly shatters due to this defect.

Windshield cracked for no good reason!.

My husband, son, and I got into our parked 2018 Subaru Outback and closed our doors. My husband started the car and we immediately heard a loud “pop” and saw a crack spread in several directions from the driver’s side edge of the windshield across the driver’s line of vision. Upon closer inspection, we were able to see 3 tiny chips in the glass, one of which was incorporated into the crack. As the driver of this vehicle at least 5/7 days a week, these chips in the driver’s side windshield were small enough that I had not noticed them before (see pictures). This crack impairs my ability to operate this vehicle safely because it obstructs my line of vision. Had we been driving when it happened, the cracking may have caused an accident. I am also concerned that the windshield is not appropriately tempered to provide adequate protection and structural integrity in the event of a collision. This is the third spontaneously cracked windshield I have experienced with this vehicle since I purchased it brand new in Nov 2017. The first cracked windshield occurred within months of my purchasing the vehicle. The dealership where I purchased it replaced the windshield with no cost to me at that time. I was given the impression that the original windshield was faulty and the replacement would not be, though no fault was admitted by Subaru. The second incident occurred about one year ago, a little over 3 years after we purchased the Outback. This being the third windshield to spontaneously crack, I would like to try replacing it with an after market windshield. However, I have been informed by both the Subaru dealership and the local windshield replacement business that has worked closely with my dealership the two previous times I needed replacement, that an after market windshield can not be calibrated for my vehicle’s eyesight system. If I use an after market windshield, I will have to forgo the added safety features provided by the eyesight system.

My windshield has cracked twice already. Both times a fine line started at the bottom of the windshield during the cold weather in March 2020 and March 2022. The incident was dismissed by the local Subaru dealer in 2020 claiming the cracked was caused due to something hitting it. I took it to my insurance for repair. I hae not replaced the windshield foe the 2022 incident. I strongly believe that both incident have been caused due to manufacturing defect.

This is the second windshield on my 2018 Subaru Outback that has cracked near the a-pillar without any evidence of being caused by an impact.

Windshield has a long crack in it that begins under the passenger side windshield wiper. There are no signs of impact whatsoever. First noticed the crack in early January of 2022. Initially, it was a small crack, however, within hours it grew to the driver side. I noticed the initial crack when I was parking and the crack grew without me moving my vehicle or driving it.

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.

The windshield has had 3 different pressure cracks (there's never been any evidence of a chip or impact) and the cracks have all appeared spontaneously. The cracks spread quickly and end up having to be replaced. The first crack was in may 2018, the second was in March 2020, and the 3rd (most recent) happened December 30, 2021.

My husband and I were driving on the freeway at 10:05 am on 12/23/21. Suddenly we heard a slight noise that emanated from the windshield. I 13 1/2 inch crack appeared on the passenger side windshield. Upon closer inspection there is a minute ding mark near the bottom of the windshield that may have been caused by a very small pebble, causing the windshiedl to crack upon impact. The vehicle is available for inspection. Safety concerns are visibility of the road, other vehicles, and possible eyesight system failure that is embedded in the windshield. I am reporting this prior to any inspection. I will now call the insurance and the manufacturer for repair. There was no warning system of any kind.

Windshield washer barely works, only one of the three nozzles will spray fluid. Pump sounds like it's working and fluid is full. For sure a safety issue in winter months.

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.

Windshield cracked when flicking my finger to kill a mosquito that for in the car. This was the replacement windshield which was installed only 6 months ago!.

Our 2018 Subaru Outback windshield has now cracked for the third time in the exact same spot - the bottom left hand corner of the windshield: October 8, 2019, August 11, 2020 and again August 27, 2021. The first two times, a loud pop was heard and then the crack appeared on the bottom left side of the windshield. The third time, I didn't even know it cracked until I got home. No pop or any other noise was heard. The second time in 2020, I contacted Subaru customer service to report this issue, and I was told the cracked window was not a matter of warranty and I would need to have someone at a Subaru dealership inspect the windshield before having it repaired. I am attaching pictures of the cracked windshields from each time the windshield has cracked (3 separate times).

I was driving when suddenly the windshield cracked. It cracked in a y shape. I took it to the Subaru dealer and was told that was due to a stone chip. When he is saying is a stone chip is where the the glass split into the y shape. They said that they will not cover under warranty.

Cracked windshield due to no impact. This is third windshield in 3 years. Known problem. Distracted visibility. Will take to dealer for repair.

Stopped at a stoplight when a crack started in the bottom corner of the windshield and by the afternoon it had gone almost completely across the windshield.