Steering Problems of Subaru Outback - part 1

The contact owns a 2025 Subaru Outback. The contact stated while driving at an undisclosed speed, the wheels skidded and the steering wheel seized. In addition, the contact stated that the engine seized. No warning lights were illuminated. The contact stated that while attempting to start the vehicle, the vehicle started. The contact stated that the vehicles behind the contact's vehicle had to drive around the contact's vehicle. The vehicle was driven to the contact's residence. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired by an independent mechanic or dealer. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 16,000.

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April 3, 2026: my 2025 Subaru Outback premium (VIN [xxx] , 2,052 miles) suffered simultaneous failure of multiple safety-critical systems due to corrosion on a can bus pin in the driver door wiring harness (Subaru part #xxx) at its dash harness connection, caused by water intrusion into the cabin. Trip start: eyesight, collision avoidance, blind spot, and lane assist all offline; brake indicator illuminated with no brake engagement. Minutes later, airbag warning activated. Dealer service advisor described the dash as "lit up like a christmas tree. " while reversing through a 3-point turn on a commercial drive used by heavy trucks, I lost steering at single-digit speed. 60 seconds further would have placed me on an inclined high-traffic road near a freeway interchange. Vehicle was towed by Subaru from the failure location. Confirmed by authorized dealer driveway Subaru of moon township (invoice #680646, warranty claim). Subaru ssm4 scan recorded 17 unique dtcs across 10 control systems, including c1460 brake booster abnormality; u1131 lost comm power steering control module; u0151 restraints control module; u0122/u1122 vdc; u0126 steering angle sensor; plus multiple eyesight faults. Dealer documented moisture on both a-pillars, driver kick panel, standing water in cupholders and center console. Prior intermittent symptom: passenger seatbelt alarm on empty seat, two occasions in prior months, consistent with past-status u0151 on scan. Dealer cleaned the corroded pin but did not identify or seal the original water ingress point. Vehicle remains in dealer possession. Subaru of America customer advocacy case #xxx-xxxhas declined repurchase/replacement, stating vehicle is "operating safely as designed. " I dispute this conclusion: the ingress source is unremediated and recurrence risk has not been addressed. Repair invoice, full dtc scan, soa correspondence, and owner statement available on request. Information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u. S. C. 552(b)(6).

Brake light comes on while driving and power steering also locks up. .

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See attached document for complaint.

Ignition key not releasing after turning engine off. Put shifter in park, foot on brakeii, turn ignition key off. Key will not release. Have to cycle multiple times to get key released.

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While the lane keeping assistance is on the car will follow the exit lane beside the lane I’m in and jerk over into it. There has been a car beside me when has happened but I caught the steering wheel before a crash. Also if a car is turning in front of me sometimes, not always, the brakes will jam on when I’m not even close to the car that is turning but I would be going around the car after it has turned almost all the way. There has been no crashes or injuries yet.

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The clock spring (steering roll connector) component has failed, confirmed by the resulting complete loss of the horn function. Safety hazard: the component failure has resulted in the loss of the electrical connection to the driver's airbag system, rendering the primary airbag inoperable. This creates an unreasonable, life-threatening risk in the event of a collision. The problem has been diagnosed based on common failure patterns for this vehicle platform and confirmed via manufacturer correspondence. The problem first occurred on or about [input approximate date] with the simultaneous failure of the horn and subsequent inoperability of the driver's airbag. The manufacturer, Subaru of America (soa case #251013-1700910), was contacted and acknowledged the concern but refused to cover the repair under a goodwill adjustment, citing an expired warranty, despite the component's direct link to the critical airbag safety system.

See all problems of the 2015 Subaru Outback 🔎.

2025 Subaru Outback has been to the dealership three times for software issues. Cruise control, back-up camera, rear collision system, eyesight system all operate some of the time and other times they do not work at all. Software recall in March 2025 and fix was not successful. In may of 2025, dealership reinstalled entire software system. Same safety functions are again not working all the time. Vehicle returning to dealership on July 15, 2025 to try and rectify safety issues associated with the software. No accidents. Safety functions just turn on an off over the past three months.

The contact owns a 2025 Subaru Outback. The contact stated that while driving on several occasions at various speeds, the vehicle oversteered, almost causing the contact to crash several times. The vehicle was taken to a dealer where it was diagnosed and determined that the alignment was out of spec, and an alignment was needed. The vehicle was repaired, but the failure persisted. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 44.

Car will lane correct when it's not needed. And all warning lights will come on in car when it's very hot. Cannot access touchscreen - because it constantly glitches as if it's being touched passenger side window continues to roll up and down when you click auto control on window and will not stop. I am afraid to drive because of these electrical issues.

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The steering warning light came on and my steering wheel stiffened. Luckily I was able to make it home, but when I went back to crank it. The light was still on and it would only move forward of backwards; because I wasn't able at all to turn the steering wheel.

The contact owns a 2014 Subaru Outback. The contact stated while driving 50 mph or above, the front end and the steering wheel were shaking abnormally. While driving at various speeds, there was a metallic grinding sound coming from the passenger side of the vehicle. The contact stated that while depressing the brake pedal, the brake pedal went to the floorboard and the braking distance became extended. The contact stated that the brakes were squeaking while the brake pedal was depressed. The contact stated that the brakes, check engine, power steering, and engine overheating warning lights were illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer seven times; however, the dealer was unable to determine the cause of the failures. The contact stated that the dealer replaced the passenger’s side rear wheel bearing. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was 201,206.

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The clock spring that controls the steering wheel, horn and other electrical accessories doesn’t work. This put my life and family’s lives at risk. This is a known issue for Subarus 2015-2019. There’s multiple videos online, I have spoken to multiple owners personally that have encountered the same issue. I spoke to the Subaru dealer and they said due to no recall has been issued for the VIN number of my vehicle they can’t replace it and it cost about $1,000 dls. We need the NHTSA to step in and ask Subaru to issue a recall to start replacing the defective units at no cost to the owner.

To the CA automotive repair bureau, [xxx] complaint, in 2022, I bought a new Outback at albany Subaru. In October 2024, my car has 33,000 miles and I've had all of my 3,000-mile oil changes, inspections, and warranty repairs done by albany Subaru. I pay $100 for each repair that's covered under Subaru's extended warranty. In 2023, the car's dashboard computer/radio head unit was repaired, I drove the car for a few days, but the head unit was defective, so Subaru changed the head unit. This cost me (3) three trips to Subaru, which is 7. 8 miles from my home, uber costs, and three $100 warranty payments. I'm a small business owner and had to pay employees extra to remain at work so I could drop off and pick up my car. Most times Subaru didn't give me a loaner car. Weeks later, I was driving up a hill and could not correctly steer my car, I thought I might crash, so I stopped driving my new car. I only drive on paved roads and I bought my Subaru because of Subaru's quality and safety reputation. I returned my car to albany Subaru. My car's steering or front end seemed loose and not right. Subaru told me I needed an alignment. I paid for an alignment. I drove my car home, but again, the steering didn’t seem right, it was still loose and shaking. A day later, I returned my car to Subaru and they readjusted and tightened the steering box. Subaru called me at home and stated I needed an oil change, an alignment, and (4) four new tires, and brakes, which I agreed to the oil change. The next day, I picked the car up and spoke to the service managers about my concerns with the new car steering, and stated to them that Subaru bloggers are sharing that there should be a recall on Subaru steering columns and other repair issues that could result in lemon law lawsuits against Subaru. The service manager nikki ali and a mechanic stated that Subaru has steering column issues but that Subaru has not yet issued a national recall, but may replace steering columns. Information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (f.

The contact owns a 2024 Subaru Outback. The contact stated while driving approximately 35 mph, the abs, all-wheel drive, auto start/stop, auto vehicle hold, brake system, traction control, parking brake, and cta warning lights illuminated. Additionally, the steering wheel became firm, making it difficult to steer the vehicle. The vehicle was taken to the dealer but was not yet diagnosed. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and a complaint was filed. The failure mileage was approximately 2,800.

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The car flashed “eye sight off” before flickering and shutting off while I was braking at a stop light. I tried putting my car into park and then turning it off and restarting it but it would not turn back on. I tried this a few more times but I was in the middle lane of a heavily trafficked street. The steering wheel was locked and I was not able to immediately remove it from the road and maybe an hour later it was able to be shifted into neutral and moved out of the street. However, it would still not turn on and when I did open my power gate, the gate would not secure closed. I took it to the dealership that I purchased it at and where it is also regularly serviced (with the last service date only over one week ago,) and they were not able to determine what happened but instead mentioned that my car had no internal data of any errors occurring and that the car was able to be started when they serviced it. I took a picture of the dash as it was flashing with all of the error codes and submitted that to the tech that was working on my car, but they asked me if I’d had someone “clear my codes” which is not something I’m familiar with or even capable of doing- I don’t even know anyone that would be capable of doing that for me. The whole ordeal cost me a day of work and now my peace of mind as I am unsure of if this may happen again and now I am worried it may happen while my kids are in the car. I’ve had similar issues with my center console messing up but nothing as urgent as my whole car shutting down and my steering wheel locking in the middle of traffic.

See all problems of the 2021 Subaru Outback 🔎.

String wheel locked and couldn't start engine. Called dealer, who said to jiggle the transmission while attempting to turn the steering wheel. After three or four tries, everything freed up and everything ran normally. The dealer rep in the service dept said that that had happened to her "a few times"and there wasn't any way to fix it. Dealer doesn't want to see or inspect, no warning lights or anything else associated with this failure. First happened on Friday 13 July 2024. Hasn't happened since. What would prevent the steering wheel from locking up while driving? the dealer service rep said if we couldn't fix it by jiggling things, we would have to have it towed in. This doesn't seem to agree with the prior statement that there wasn't any way to fix the problem.

The car horn is unable to be used when driving straight. It only works when setting the alarm and only when you steer the wheel left or right. There are no warning lights on the instrument panel.

* I detected a noise in the front end and an instability in the handling. My independent service mechanic found the cradle on the right front severely rusted out at the point where the control arm attaches. He had to condemn the vehicle. * my mechanic says that it could have resulted in a total loss of ability to steer. He says that he is unable to order the part from the manufacturer because so many are on back order. He is also unable to find any used ones. Finally, he says that in the last 3 months he has had to condemn 3 other Outbacks due to the same problem. This sounds like a serious safety issue to me. *problem confirmed by my independent service center.

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Subframe is rusted out and causing control arm wobble which I cannot control the steering correctly.

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I am filing this complaint regarding multiple serious safety defects in my 2021 Subaru Outback purchased in July 2021, currently at 48000 miles thermo control valve failure (26,307 miles) while traveling in the center lane on [xxx] southbound in [xxx] the evening of 1/6/2024 my vehicle suddenly experienced a complete loss of control. It seemed that the car was accelerating and braking at the same time without driver input making it impossible to operate safely. It started shaking and several lights were illuminated on the dashboard, power steering was not working. The car coasted to the right shoulder and starlink was used to call for help. The car was towed to the dealership for repairs. The diagnosis was a failed thermo control valve and related sensor circuit. There were no dashboard lights before the incident that fore shadowed this event. This failure rendered the vehicle completely inoperable at highway speed and posed and extreme risk to the safety of the driver, passenger and other motorists. I am aware that Subaru has extended the warranty on the thermo controls valve to 15 years/150000 miles for 2020-2022 Outback’s which suggests that Subaru had knowledge of the defect. Since the incident several other premature “wear” defects have presented under 48000 miles on a 2021 vehicle: - 41,402 miles: driver side rear strut replaced - 41,402 miles: rear brake pads and rotors - 41,402 miles: driver side front window motor, regulator and run chanel - 41808 miles: rear knuckle assembly, rear wheel bearing and backing plate replaced - 45,768 miles: front brake pads and and rotors replaced - 48,000 miles: complete exhaust system - 48,000 miles: passenger side front window motor, regulator and run chanel this vehicle has proven to be uncharacteristically unreliable for a Subaru Outback. The intended use for this vehicle is for my children to drive to college nearly 600 miles from home in the fall. This car is not appropriate for this purpose. Information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information.

2019 Subaru Outback with 55,000 miles has a head gasket leaking 3 months over the warranty. But within the mileage. Also the steering column manual lever adjustment collapses intermittently causing severe safety issues and/or an accident.

2019 Subaru Outback many issues bought the car for safety for my newborn child in 2019. Has had multiple issues windshield keeps cracking. The steering column manual lever keeps collapsing causing unreliable steering and safety issues could possibly cause injury/death due to accident. The other major issue is there is now a head gasket leak in a car that only has 55,000 miles it's under on the miles for warranty but 3 months over for time. Try to work with the dealership and Subaru America to no resolve of the issue they offered a minor discount they should be covering the whole thing I have owned many cars brand new going over 100,000 miles plus with no such issue of a head gasket. I am a disabled marine corps military veteran and the cooperation from Subaru as supposedly number one safest vehicle was not what I expected. If Subaru doesn't fix this it will be my last Subaru ever and this was my first not a great impression by any means.

Both front headlights cast a tabbed rectangular shadow into driver's field-of-view creating two potentially dangerous disruptive shadows/dead spots at certain longer distances and in open flat terrain areas. These tabbed rectangular shadow/dead spots often tricks the driver into falsely responding/over-reacting unnecessarily. The dead spots in the driver's field-of-view can be potentially dangerous while driving at night and around turns/corners where the led headlights automatically track and follow based on the steering inputs by the driver. These projected tabbed rectangular tabs often startle my wife and or I often tricking our eyes into seeing what appears to be an object darting out in front of the vehicle.

This vehicle has severe cvt problems. It shifts back and forth with a clunk on level roads at a steady speed. I have a 2015 murano with over 80,000 miles that does not display this type of behavior. I am driving a loaner which is a 2023 Subaru with the same engine and transmission as mine and it has none of my safety problems. The additional safety problems are: very poor resolution on backup camera and incorrect guidance lines; we are a hands free state and my voice command will not properly make calls; built in nav is horrible and android auto doesn't work; adaptive headlights don't work; lane centering hugs the left side of the lane to a degree that I have to pull to the right if a vehicle is passing me; auto rear braking does not work properly. The rest of the items are more of a nuisance than safety oriented. I have owned over a dozen Subarus without having any issues.

The camber on the right rear wheel is out of specification at -1. 8 degrees. This causes the vehicle to constantly dart and sway on the highway and worsens at higher speeds >40mph. This erratic motion makes driving unstable. It is worse on grooved pavement. The manufacturer has measured the camber and showed the result as being out of specification but no fix was provided. Further they are saying that this is "how the vehicle is suppose to operate" there are no warning lamps and the lane control software was disabled. The service department confirmed the erratic behavior when doing a test drive.

On my 2023 Outback my Subaru eyesight is intermittently inoperable, which causes my cruise control and automatic braking to not work.

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Driver's seat started peeling off approximately a year after purchase. Notified dealer, they said to contact Subaru of America via social media. Now almost all peeled off, have to cover with towel possibly interfering with airbags. Steering column lock will not lock in top position. Dealer repaired once under warranty, now out of warranty. Unsafe when column moves when driving. Transmission started slipping or behaving strangely around 90,000 miles. . Read more...

Accelerator dangerously increased and could not slow down. I pressed the ignition button(to kill the engine and was "jamming on the brakes to no avail. To my knowledge Subaru has not recalled vehicles for these reasons. No warning lamps or other symptoms. My car traveled approximately 1/4 before it stopped. I took out a tree or trees knocked down a light pole which slowed me down, hit a utility trailer. Owner of trailer estimated my speed at 40mph. I was driving approximately 20mph when it violently accelerated. She witnessed my ride.

My car's battery died when I was on vacation. A friend of mine tried to jump start with his car and he couldn't. Then a roadside service jump started the car. After the jump start I was told to drive the car around so that it can charge the battery. The car did two unexpected things: 1- the steering was jittery and sometimes moving to the opposite direction that I was turning. This issue has been confirmed by the dealership. 2- when I was at a traffic light, my foot was on the brake, both traction control and brake warning lights came on and the car moved couple of inches forwards while my foot was firmly on the brake. This happened more than once to me but did not happen at the dealership. And the car didn't hold the charge at all after driving for more than 30 minutes. Meanwhile the car got towed to Subaru dealership (eastside Subaru in seattle) and they replaced the battery as a fix. But they did not provide any information about why all those issues happened and how to avoid them in the future. My concern is this, a brand-new car shouldn't have lost all its power in the first place. If it did, it should have charged itself with driving after jump-start and it should have been safe to drive even on low battery. Subaru advertises heavily to be the 'adventure' vehicle, image all what I explained happened to you on top of a mountain or remote places.

The front lower subframe cracked where the driver's side front wheel attaches to it in our 2011 Subaru Outback. This resulted in loss of steering control of vehicle. The issue has been confirmed by independent mechanic. Vehicle has not been inspected by manufacturer, police, or insurance agent. It is available for inspection at 201 w. Cloverland drive, ironwood, mi. 906-932-5720. There were no warning lights when this failure occurred.

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Had new tires installed and on the way home kept feeling wheel pulling to the right. Eyesight/lane assist feature was turned off. At one point the steering wheel dramatically jerked right and locked, completely immoveable. It jerked me into the other lane and almost into the median of the highway. I got to safety and had it towed to the dealership. I originally thought it was an issue with the tire alignment or the awd system. They took it on a test drive and confirmed lane assist was malfunctioning in a dangerous way. They confirmed that eyesight/lane assist was turned off when this issue happened. They reset the system and said they couldn't guarantee the vehicle was safe to drive and suggested bringing it in if it happened again. I asked them to document everything they said over phone calls and voicemail. They agreed, but it took them weeks to provide a repair order. When they wrote up the repair order it included none of the information that was previously given and they said the car was, and always had been in perfect working order. I opened a case with Subaru of America and they were unable to get the information they needed from the dealership to proceed with the investigation. Upon further research, I found many similar accounts of this happening with Subarus of the same and similar year(s) and model(s). There is a class action lawsuit open for this but currently there are so many plaintiffs they cannot accept more. I refuse to drive this car as I feel that this malfunction is of life and limb consequence. I do not feel it would be ethical to sell this car without full disclosure and then would be out 30k on the car I purchased just three years ago. Reliable Subaru and Subaru of America refuse to offer a solution or help me in any way.

Loss of steering wheel electronic functions including paddle shifters radio volume and airbag light illuminated. Looked up faults and found NHTSA campaign id 10v283000 which describes cable damage from Subaru manufacturing. According to Subaru and NHTSA, our vehicle was manufactured 2 months after "affected" vehicles. Subaru unwilling to work on problem as it is not listed in affect vehicles, yet clearly the problems found are exact match to campaign list. I will seek outside confirmation of failure and then request NHTSA to update the affect vehicles list so Subaru can fix a safety issue for all affected vehicles.

In the morning of Jan 28th, I drove this car off highway(north bound mopac) to the ramp to frontage road to 360 in austin TX. The vehicle lost control out of sudden and crashed to the left side of the road. The accident caused total loss of the vehicle but luckily a>the passages and the the driver on the car are ok. B>no other vehicle was involved . As the drive of this vehicle , I feel the crash was so strange so later on I requested both insurance company (aaa) and Subaru to investigate the possibility of malfunctions of the car. Aaa -- claim number 015641968 Subaru --case 230128-1800367 aaa claimed the total lost but refused to do further investigation. Subaru took my request in March. Early this month, Subaru said their finished the comprehensive inspection and simply claimed the car was running normal when the accident happened. They don't want to share any further information about what they've found and they also don't want the inspect technician to talk to me about the results. I would like ask NHTSA, as the regulatory authority, to look into the their inspection report to make sure this vehicle does not have any abnormalities as their claimed. Thanks!.

I went to reverse, then drive and left turn into a parking spot inside a small flattop parking lot. My car made a popping noise and grating sounds after the reverse and turning of the steering wheel. I turned off my car once in the spot and looked under the car is it sounded like something was grating against the ground. I didn’t see anything. Upon restarting the car, the sounds continued when I tried to accelerate or turn. I could not accelerate past 10 mph and all my warning lights lit in the dash. I turned the car off and put in park. The car would roll forward unless I had the emergency brake on.