Warnings Problems of Subaru Outback

I was parking my car slowly until it suddenly accelerated. I hit a wall and car got totaled.

See all problems of the 2020 Subaru Outback 🔎.

Unforced acceleration occurred in a parking lot. I had my foot off the gas pedal, and had the car easing to a stop, when the car sped up rapidly and scraped the side of a large van. The car eventually came to a stop as I was applying the brake as much as I could. The passenger side of Subaru was damaged extensively. I reported this to our insurance agent and lithia.

See all problems of the 2025 Subaru Outback 🔎.

The infotainment system in the car has suffered from screen delamination, which is apparently common with these models. This has left the touchscreen both non-responsive to touch as well as randomly selecting items on the screen, rendering it unusable. This is a safety issue because the only way to deactivate reverse automatic braking and the rear parking sensors is through the touchscreen. Being able to do this is essential when connecting a trailer or attempting to reverse with one attached. Subaru is aware of the problem and was subject to class action litigation related to it, ultimately being required to extend the warranty on the units as a result. However, the warranty extension was inadequate and left several thousand units in the field which would eventually require replacement. Note that a similar issue on the 2019 models resulted in an 8-year / 150,000-mile warranty extension on the units, yet prior models were only required to have a 4-year / 80,000-mile extension.

See all problems of the 2018 Subaru Outback 🔎.

The head unit on my 2018 Subaru Outback is pressing random buttons all over the screen by itself. It would constantly make the button noise as I drive leading me to lose track of the directions that was being provided from my apple maps. It would also disconnect me from carplay leaving me with no sense of direction as to where I should be going. I have gotten this fixed before at a Subaru dealership and they ended up replacing the head unit for me, however this is the second time it’s happening and there is obviously a serious problem with the all the units.

On 1/12/24, I was backing up my vehicle in the driveway, the vehicle suddenly stopped, thinking I was going to backup into the gate. I was surprised because I didn't think I was that close. I slightly tapped the gas pedal to move slowly forward when the car suddenly accelerated and lunged forward. I couldn't stop the car, by braking, for 56 feet. I was able to avoid hitting another car, parked on the street, by driving into the large bushes along the sidewalk of my home. The only damage that occurred was the destruction of some bushes and the damage to the vehicle is to be determined. No injuries. The Subaru dealership had eyesight adjustments on 1/08/24.

See all problems of the 2024 Subaru Outback 🔎.

Thermo control valve assembly has failed resulting in loss of use for the following: rear automatic brake, eye sight lane keeping, loss of heat in cabin and failure of coolant to circulate within engine possibly leading to engine failure, loss of cruise control and check engine light coming on. Reference TSB 09-80-21. Without cabin heat vehicle is not useable in current cold temperatures (currently 22 degrees fahrenheit in ohio on December 14, 2023). Dealer has confirmed part failure. Issue must be addressed to continue operating vehicle so I paid $1185. 87 out of pocket to repair.

Radio headunit -- freezes and has ghost inputs. Makes the unit unusable- no backup camera. Flashes and beeps constantly. You can not mute it or stop it. It seems to also cause the "eyesight" to not behave normally.

See all problems of the 2019 Subaru Outback 🔎.

While backing into a parking spot between 2 cars in a parking lot the reverse auto braking engaged. When going into forward the car accelerated and crashed into cement wall about 10-15 feet ahead. Just occurred so no other info available.

8/1/23 - the electronic center console display as well as the display behind the steering wheel continually fails. The center console controls all electronics such as defroster, heater, and of the advance safety features. The display behind the steering wheel controls the odometer, speed etc. The inability to control any vehicle functions is a huge safety risk. For example, the defroster can not be accessed not controlled. If you had an immediate need for this, you would have to stop driving immediately. No advanced safety features can be accessed, you have no idea of your speed, the list goes on. We have brought the car in twice and had a software update but the problem persists. We left the car for a week and were told it was fine but the next day the issue persisted. The display screen will come and go which is completely unacceptable from a safety standpoint. The Subaru forums seem to indicate this is a widespread problem that Subaru has yet to address or come up with a viable solution. We have the records to back up all of these assertions as well as video of the failures of the display screen once returned to us.

See all problems of the 2022 Subaru Outback 🔎.

2018 Subaru Outback headunit is "delaminated" causing phantom touches on the headunit's touch screen. While driving, the headunit will act as if something is pressing random buttons, changing radio stations, opening/closing maps, going through settings panel and changing car settings, ultimately distracting the driver usually at highway speeds. . Read more...

The head unit in my vehicle is malfunctioning and causing a safety issue. The unit will flash on and off and change displays with distracting noises with no apparent cause. It has also caused my phone to call random contacts without warning which is causes a safety issue as I need to pull over and disconnect my phone from WI-fi to address the issue. I am unable to use my maps feature because of this issue as well. Finally, I am unable to safely back up using my camera as the screen has bubbled / discolored causing me to not be able to safely view the traffic or obstacles behind my car.

I was in a parking lot pulling into a parking spot. My car sped with full power over a curb barrier and hit a parked car in front of me. The force was strong enough to push the car I hit back several inches. My airbag did not deploy. The forward obstacle collision detection did not work. My safety could have been at risk if this happened while on the road or freeway. There were no warnings that day, however a week or so earlier when I tried to drive the car it would not start (new battery installed approx 3 months ago) and all lights on the dash came on. I tried to start it a few times but after smelling gas I left it. Later that day it started with no problems. The car is up to date on services/recalls. It is scheduled for inspection with my insurance company on 11/30/22.

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.

While attempting to park in a parking spot with a concrete parking lot stop the car experience an unintended acceleration and did not engage the safety braking system causing the car to jump over the concrete parking lot stops and hit a light lost and concrete supporting barrier behind the concrete parking lot stop. There were no warnings and this caused injury to the driver and passenger. A police report is being issued as well as contact with the car manufacturer. This is the second time this unintended accelerated occurred however this is the first incident where damage to the car and injury occurred,.

See all problems of the 2017 Subaru Outback 🔎.

That main concern I have is the windshield. My windshield has been replaced once already and it seems no matter what speed or road we are traveling if anything hits the windshield it cracks. I am not talking a chip or little crack either I am talking tiny rock 45 mph crack halfway through the entire windshield. It can’t be that safe of safety glass if a pea gravel smashes it at 45mph. First time it happened we were traveling through a blizzard at 30 mph rock crack the entire windshield…. . The Subaru windshield is super expensive and can only be put in at specific places.

I have had this vehicle since @ 6/30/21, under 4,000 miles. Sometimes when I'm driving, the car will suddenly brake or lurch when I am not near another object or person. I drove down the highway once when this happened and it was very concerning. I have also been in the middle of an intersection when this occurred, as I was turning left. It has happened approximately 10 other times since I've had the vehicle. Today it happened and a truck was behind me; thankfully I did not get hit. I brought this into the dealereship twice and they claim there is nothing wrong with the car. There is definitely something wrong with the car; it's dangerous. My car is available for inspection upon request. I and others are at great risk for an accident. I remember flashing lights on a few occasions, not today. When I went online to check for recalls, I noticed many other Subaru owners having the same issues.

See all problems of the 2021 Subaru Outback 🔎.

The vehicle, a 2018 Subaru Outback limited 3. 6r, was being pulled into the garage at the owner’s home. With brakes applied, and while putting vehicle into park, the vehicle suddenly accelerated forward making contact with a suspended shelf attached to the back wall of the garage. The force of the vehicle was such that the shelf and back wall of the garage were completely separated from the home in one piece and pushed approximately 10 yards away from the home before the shelf broke away from the wall upon impact with the ground, perpendicular to the back of the house. The vehicle then traveled down two hills in the back yard, across a water saturated easement, over a concrete drainage culvert and came to rest at the base of an incline in an adjacent yard approximately 150 ft from the garage. Air bags did not deploy and the owner suffered minor contusions causing pain and stiffness, but no significant injuries are noted as of this report. The vehicle was totaled and significant damage was caused to the residence. No collision warnings were displayed prior to collision and emergency braking did not apply upon acceleration. This was the first incidence of sudden acceleration experienced by the owner so this issue has never been checked out by a service technician and will not be repaired. The vehicle had less than 8000 miles on the odometer. The vehicle is currently located in a repair lot and the owner’s insurance company has been requested to hold the vehicle for inspection prior to disposal. The cause of the sudden acceleration is unknown, but the owner is confident that the brakes were being applied at the time of occurrence, and that they remained cognizant throughout the incident as they were unable to stop the forward progression of the vehicle until it came to rest on the muddy incline.

On June 20th my front windshield began spontaneously cracking while sitting in driveway. A day later while driving on the interstate, the rearview mirror fell off windshield. Since the rearview mirror is essential for several electronic safety mechanisms to function properly, this means they were disabled and/or malfunctioning as well. After having the windshield replaced, the same thing happened about a month later (July 24, 2021) so now I have to replace it again. In both cases, the Subaru service manager determined that there was no chipping or other external damage to the windshield. Looking at customer forums & complaints, this appears to be a defective windshield problem that Subaru is attempting to cover up. It has been going on since at least the 2015 model year. Please help.

Drove into the walgreen's parking lot, made several low speed turns to arrive at the west side of the building. Pulled into an empty parking space. Entered parking space at very low rate of speed and proceeded to brake to a full stop. Moved shift lever with the intent to move transmission from drive to park and despite my foot still being on the brake, the car suddenly lurched forward, drove over the curb and sidewalk, crossed sidewalk and hit the side of the store (a brick wall). Car bounced back to a midpoint of the sidewalk. Engine was still running but car came to a full stop. I turned off the engine. Two walgreen employees came out to see if I was ok (they heard the impact). I told them I was but later my chest hurt and I found a bruise suggesting impact with the steering wheel. Entire front of car is damaged. There were no warning notifications from the car (no parking or forward collision warnings). My right foot never left the brake pedal. The "unexpected acceleration" lunge forward occurred with the attempted shift of the transmission from drive to park. The transmission ended up being in neutral when the car finally stopped moving. Floor mat was in the normal position, secured by the built-in pins, had not shifted and was not near the brake or accelerator (gas) pedal. Cruise control was not turned on. This was a routine trip to a local store.

The contact owns a 2016 Subaru Outback. The contact stated that while his wife had attempted to park the vehicle, the vehicle independently accelerated while at a complete stop. The contact stated that the vehicle jumped a curb and hit a tree; however, his wife was unsure if any warning lights had illuminated during the failure. The air bags did not deploy upon impact and the contact's wife was not injured. The police were called to the scene; however, the contact was unaware if a police report was filed. Due to the failure, the vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic where the vehicle was repaired for the damage. The contact stated that prior to the failure, the vehicle was placed under recall NHTSA campaign number: 15v794000 (power train) where it was serviced by north end Subaru(757 chase rd, lunenburg, MA 01462). The dealer nor the manufacturer had yet to be notified of the failure. The vehicle had been repaired. The failure mileage was approximately 44,343.

See all problems of the 2016 Subaru Outback 🔎.