general problems of the 2021 Subaru Outback - part 1

On 10/29/25 the car lost power once it got to 3500rpm. Multiple warning lights came on. On 11/06/2025, the thermo control valve, high pressure fuel line, and gaskets for intake manifold and egr were replaced. On 11/24/25, when backing up slowly in a small parking lot, the rear camera detection picked up a raised cement walkway with metal railing. The brake was applied by the driver, however the car accelerated quickly and slammed into the railing and cement. The vehicle was placed into drive after the collision and continued normally. The brake was on once the warning light beeped and prior to the collision. The foot was not removed from the brake pedal until it was in drive. It could not have been placed into drive without the brake pedal being pressed. I asked the dealership if they could pull data from the car at the time of the incident, and was told they weren't sure they would get any information. It has not been inspected by a dealership or insurance. There was no damage done to the cement and railing was already bent. Only the car sustained damage.

I was stopped at a stop sign and the car shut off as the auto on/off function. When I went to drive the car did not re-start as the battery needed replaced. I was left stranded in an intersection. The battery did need to be replaced. The auto start/stop feature is a saftey hazzard on any vehicle.

Sunroof exploded driving home in 90 degree sunny and clear weather. It sounded like a gun went off right over my head. It scared me so bad I jerked my steering wheel into the other lane. Thank god no one was in that lane. I had to get it replaced at mid state glass company. According to what I found on the internet this happens rather frequently. No notification by Subaru that this was even a possibility. I have the receipt the replaced sunroof and photos of the sunroof after it exploded.

Sudden aacceleration: cold started the car in garage, all ok. Then backed out and into turn around where I placed foot on the brake. At that moment suddenly accelerated and engine revved to 2000rpm (sounded like). I had to push down very hard on the brake pedal (where my foot already was) to stop the car before crashing into a tree. Foot was clearly on brake pedal at incident (that was the only way I could stop the car). It was not on or close to accelerator pedal and no floor mat or other objects was on or near the accelerator pedal. Very concerned about safe vehicle with this sudden acceleration. Appointment with Subaru dealer made for full diagnostic check. Dealer is white bear Subaru, white bear lake, mn.

The rear driver side window shattered while I was driving. There was no outside influence, and I was driving around 35-40 miles/hour. I am reporting this because Subaru had the same incident happen multiple times on another model of their vehicles. If there was anyone sitting in the back, they would have most likely been injured.

Purchased used with just over 60k miles & have had less than a year. Vehicle still under 80k miles. Told transmission needs replaced but found service records from previous owner which shows fuel pump replaced twice at about 20k mile intervals & I am just under 20k miles past previous pump replacement. Vehicle does not run at the moment & warranty company refusing to help.

The auto restart does not work and requires a car restart to fix. The latest software update caused this is to happen.

Today while waiting at a stop light the auto start stop engaged. When the light went green I put my foot on the gas and the vehicle stalled. The car was on but not running, several alarms were on the dashboard. I had to put the car in park, turn it off and then restart the car. This is a repeated issue and has been going on at least once a month since we purchased the car in 2021. We've brought it to the dealer and they said there was nothing wrong because there was no obd code. I have checked myself and I have not found any code. This is extremely unsafe.

2021 Subaru Outback limited | ~13000 miles | component: battery | car suddenly stopped and all warning lights started flashing at a busy traffic signal, while I was waiting to take a left turn (lucky to have escaped safely from that situation). I had to turn the car off and restart it. 2 days later, the car would not start at all. Tried jumping it multiple time in vain. Had to tow the car to the nearest Subaru service center. Technician ran a diagnostic and concluded that the battery was not holding any charge at all and it was deemed faulty. Reading many posts on reddit and other forums of many Subaru owners facing the same issue from older (2015) to newer models. Many of them also complained of parasitic drain on the battery due to faulty dcm on starlink. Note: there was no warning lights/messages or any other symptom before this. This was a Subaru certified pre-owned car that went through a 152 point inspection in 2023.

Front windshield on my 2021 Outback has numerous large cracks for no reason. This is a known issue via google and class action law suits for windshields. This is a safety issue and needs to be addressed. I emailed Subaru and filed a complaint with them, case#240708-220236. Asking them to replace windshield with new one that won't crack like this one. I have photos if needed.

On 30may2024 while accelerating to travel speed (45 mph) on a rural maine highway, the little used glass moon roof of our 2021 Subaru Outback touring with 24,100 miles on the odometer exploded with a huge, shocking bang!. Weather was clear and bright, wind ~5 mph, temperature about 68ºf, no traffic. We never saw or heard anything strike the car, either from the road or falling down from the trees at or prior to this incident. We had the interior shade closed so no glass fell into passenger compartment thankfully. Upon inspection at the road side and discovery of the problem, the glass panel had a large hole in the middle and the edges of the remaining glass looked like it had been blown upward.

The windshield is very light and delicate. I have had two cracked windshields in less that two years, also, the glass is so soft that it gets tons of micro-pits from sand. At night they each disperse lights and make it difficult to see.

Windshield breaks way too easy. Rock chips happen easily, then they spread across the whole windshield. I am on my 2nd one and this one needs to be replaced too.

Defective windshield. Car purchased in 6/2021 and as of 2/16/24, windshield has been replaced 3 times which would make it my 4th windshield total. No off-road use. Car driven locally. Insurance is dropping me due to excessive windshield replacement.

I have had 3 windshields crack spontaneously during normal use in the past year. Each incident was repaired by a certified repair shop and at time the damage was noticed, no chips, signs of damage, or impacts were noted. The crack appeared to be internal and was not able to be felt from outside or within. In each incident the crack began near the edge of the glass and spread across the entire length of the windshield. The most recent was 12/27/2023, the approximate dates of the previous are 12/2022, and 03/2023. All three occurred in periods of clear weather, no ice, or snow present, although all three occurred in the cold, while parked outside overnight either at work or home.

While my husband was driving up a hill at low speed (25-30miles/hr) the car lost power, struggled and felt like it was going to stall. 5 days later, I was driving up a hill going 25miles/hr, the car lost acceleration the stalled, was unreponsive to gas pedal being depressed, the car then started again on its own. I brought the car to Subaru but they couldn't find anything wrong. Luckily nobody was behind me when the car stalled.

The windshield has spontaneously cracked on 4 separate occasions. Subaru denies this is a defect and claims all have been caused by rock chips. This is not true. The cracked windshield has caused the vehicle on numerous occasions to slam on its breaks while traveling at 55 mph or greater as it “senses” a collision. This has nearly caused 3 accidents so far.

I just had my second windshield failure in 2 years on this vehicle. The first time a rock hit me, but today a ~ 12" crack appeared out of nowhere while I was driving down the highway with no impact. The windshields on this vehicle seem overly prone to cracking, whether or not any impact is applied. I'm worried this will interfere with the eyesight functionality.

My windshield has cracked 3 times since vehicle was purchased, the last time within 2 months of replacement. The first 2 times the windshield was replaced by the dealership with oem glass. There was no visible crack from rocks, etc in the last two incidences. . . Went out in the morning to find that the windshield was cracked across half the windshield after it had been parked and no visible damage had occured beforehand in both cases. ( I have taken pictures of this last incident. . . Insurance notified, but no inspections took place. No warning lights, etc appeared pryor to cracks).

Both passenger and driver doors leak water onto floor while using the car wash. The dealership has replaced the door moldings but it still leaks.

The moonroof glass exploded yesterday in my parking lot. I contacted local dealers and they refused to cover it under factory warranty.

Subaru has a known issue with windshields being easily cracked. I purchased a new 2021 Subaru Outback onyx xt and had to replace the windshield 2 times within the first year of owning due to cracked windshield, both happened after having a small chip from likely a small rock hitting windshield. I currently have another cracked windshield after hearing a slight hit on my windshield , after a semi truck passed me going in the opposite direction. I have had other vehicles that have had small chips after taking a slight hit from rocks and never developed cracked that required windshield replacement. Truly think that Subaru could do better and correct this issue as windshields are very expensive to replace and those who can’t afford replacement will continue to drive with potentially impaired visibility.

Defective windshield. I purchased my Subaru Outback xt from the Subaru dealership in shoreline, washington in October 2020. Since then, the windshield has cracked 4 times beyond repair. Each time, a small hairline fracture develops and quickly spreads across the windshield until the windshield has to be replaced. I have taken the car to the Subaru dealership each time to replace the windshield. The car remains under warranty. I reached out to Subaru of America after the windshield cracked for the 4th time, but I was told that the crack was a result of "outside influence". I have never had a car windshield crack until I purchased the Subaru, and 4 cracked windshields in about 2 years is beyond excessive. After doing additional research online, it appears that this is a frequent and ongoing issue with newer Subaru models possibly because the windshield used now is of a thinner material.

My car battery dies prematurely. I am about to have my third battery since buying the car.

The driver's side window when I activate the automatic button to close the window it goes 3/4 way up then automatically comes down. Cannot close try several time. It will eventually close after several attempts.

Vehicle infotainment system refused to start up without long delay (20 seconds or so) preventing various safety systems from initializing. This has been a recurring problem with this vehicle for two years.

The front windshield of my vehicle cracked excessively after being hit by a pea sized piece of gravel while traveling less than 50 mph. I felt that the safety of my family was put at risk as the crack quickly spread to over 8 inches in length by the end of that same day.

Wind shield very very weak cracks very easy I have had for 1. 5 years, I am on my 6th windshield, if any thing hits the edge of the windshield it totally cracks. Also having battery issues. On my third battery care has 47 k miles.

My 2021 Subaru Outback vehicle is subject to a recall for engine harness and ecm replacement, according to Subaru. I took my car in twice to the dealership and it was unable to perform the recall repair. That dealership told me that the issue presents no safety problem - is that true? (the current recall of 2022s sound like there is a safety issue. ) your website says my repair was performed. That is false. Can you help me understand why you show the vehicle has been repaired? can you help me find a dealership that knows how to safely repair the car?.

Our 2020 Outback dashboard display randomly goes black and hard resets. It also appears that the eye sight cameras, collision detection, and other features disable at the same time. This has occurred about a dozen times since purchase.

While driving eastbound on I-90 at the top of snoqualmie pass, the sunroof completely shattered causing small pieces of glass to cover the small children in the back and driver and front seat passenger. At the time there were no vehicles in front of us and there was a cargo carrier on the roof racks. This caused small pieces of glass to go everywhere causing small lacerations to 2 of the occupants. There were no warnings signs of this extreme failure of the glass. The vehicle was repaired by a Subaru dealership.

Since we bought our 2021 Subaru Outback in may 2021, the vehicle hesitates when accelerating mainly after filling up with gas but also at other times. We have taken the vehicle in 4 times for service, but Subaru cannot duplicate the problem. Another issue we are having is that every time it rains, there is a puddle of water that forms on the passenger side floor board. We have taken the vehicle in 4 times for service, but Subaru cannot duplicate the problem.

Cracked windshield from no sign of impact. This is clearly an issue, as there have been class action law suits regarding these windshields covering 2015-2020 Outbacks. They've done nothing to fix the issue and deny that it's a problem, instead falsely claiming that there was a chip.

The front windshield on the passenger side cracked for not apparent reason. The vehicle had been parked in my carport all was fine. Next morning upon entering the vehicle I noticed the crack. Within 2 days the longest crack had grown from about 2 inches towards the drivers side to about 10 inches. I called Subaru of America customer service with a complaint. They suggested taking it to the dealer for inspection and a determination if it’s covered under the new car warranty. I have had the vehicle for about a year and it has less than 15000 miles on the odometer.

Passenger lower side windshield cracked while driving, it started as a tiny crack but the next morning the crack line was 16 inches long. I contacted Subaru because the car is under warranty but they said they will not cover it. The whole windshield had to be replaced.