Subaru
Outback

I purchased this vehicle in May 2024 within 2 months of purchase the eyesight function malfunctioned. I took it back to the dealership where I purchased it and they attempted to diagnose it at cost of parts and I ended up paying a few hundred dollars for that repair. That didn’t work and they offered to attempt something else but this was just guessing. Then a few months down the line I receive a post card in the mail for a ‘warranty extension’ on the exact issue I am having. I take it to the Subaru dealership once and they had me return a second time saying they couldn’t diagnose it at that time because the lights that appear on and off weren’t appearing for them. Returning a second time they said they were able to diagnose the issue but the warranty only covers 75%. The remaining 25% that’s left to me comes to $1098.34. The issue I have with this is being it is a safety concern. The features eyesight provides are to be additional safety features. The biggest one being the cruise control that has gone out on me while using it. Going high velocity down the freeway using it and it shuts off completely, luckily I it hasn’t caused an accident and there hasn’t been anyone behind me when it happens and no one to close in front of me but this has happened on multiple occasions to myself, my boyfriend and most recently a friend when we went out of town when I didnt think to inform her of it. We no longer use the cruise control being it is scary and a risk to our safety. I have escalated to Subaru of America who says that it is a warranty extension to care for their customers but the representative I spoke with denied it being a known issue. He says the warranty expired in 2016 for my vehicle but Subaru extended it as to care for the customers. With that in mind I do not think I’m the only one with this issue and concern or else why would they put this extension out if they’re no just trying to be compensated and avoid a recall for the issue.

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.

For several years, the nav/camera/radio screen goes black. Only turns back on when car is turned off and restarted, then does it again. It is available for inspection upon request. I almost ran into pedestrian at grocery store without backup camera and have had many more incidents like this. Dealership I visited won't look at it unless I pay. Independent Subaru service provider saw this and said to contact you to help with "service campaign" as other clients of his have mentioned same complaint. No warnings/messages prior to failure or patterns for when it happens. Just happens at random times while driving.

I was in a store parking lot, putting purchases into the trunk of my 2014 Subaru Outback. The rear gate had been opened for about five minutes. As I was leaning into the trunk, as I'd just done 2 or 3 times, with no warning I suffered, a sudden forceful blunt impact on the back of my head. I was so startled, I didn't know for a second what had happened, then realized, I couldn't move, as the rear gate was on top of me. I lifted it up off my head. It was quite heavy as there was no help from the hydraulic arms. I stepped back, while holding the gate/door, and let it go. It rapidly slammed shut. I tried to open it again, and realized the hydraulic arms were not activating to lift it. Each time it is opened, it only stays open for as long as I hold it and then slams closed. It is clear how I or my family could have been seriously injured or killed. If I had looked up to close the gate in the second preceding the failure, the gate would have come down on my face. I or a family member could have had hands or arms crushed when the gate crashed down, and would have been trapped under the gate until help came. I have not used the trunk since the incident as am trying to get Subaru to repair it this week. The problem remains, exactly the same and can be replicated by anyone. There were no warning messages that this was coming and no previous signs that the hydraulic system was going to imminently malfunction and fail. I have seen other reports by Subaru Outback owners that they have had similar failures with their gates and one was almost identical to my situation.

Water was coming out of my eyesight camera on the drivers side after a rain

I am just the mechanic and this is my customer's vehicle, but whilst doing some regular maintenance on the vehicle and also replacing part number 383485200 which Subaru calls "HOLDER, AXLE BRG" due to a crack which ran thru one of the 5 fastener holes. Upon normal cleaning of the threads in the rear differential casting where the "holder, axle brg" is bolted up to the left output shaft side I noticed a massive cavity in the casting which was drilled into and tapped for a bolt. This cavity is so large it presents a huge risk of catastrophic rear differential failure resulting in potential loss of control and increasing the risk of a crash. When I called the dealership to obtain the answers to the questions I know my customer is going to ask me, they shrugged it off as no big deal and couldn't even get me a price on a new rear diff housing or complete assembly. Using my brake rotor thickness calipers I was able to measure what I believe is the closest part of the cavity to the hole where the "holder, axle brg" is fastened in place. This "holder, axle brg" is the output shaft seal housing, plus, the outer race for the differential carrier is pressed into this component. Making it quite a critical component of the delicate innerworkings of a differential. Just a few ten-thousandths out of tolerance and the ring and pinion gears will destroy one another, the cavity in the casting right in a bolt hole creates potential for the differential carrier to not receive the proper bearing preload greatly reducing the life of the bearings, and in the worst case, the cavity could cause the rear differential to crack under heavy load which could cause a catastrophic failure, locking up the rear differential causing the vehicle to skid uncontrollably.

My 2014 Subaru Outback, with only 42,000 miles on it, is unfortunately among the 3% (per Consumer Reports) with undiagnosable, therefore, unrepairable, brake failure issues. The brake failures began in April 2023 as I pulled out of my driveway in the Tucson Mountains, headed into town. On the downhill, I pressed my brakes to slow down. My foot went to the floor - no brakes. Terror! I pumped the brakes and gradually they came back. Luckily, no one was ahead of me. The brake fluid was down a very slight bit, so I brought it back up. No problem for two weeks, until the exact same thing happened again. Tucson Subaru has an excellent Service Center. I've kept the service on my Subaru up, so I booked in for a regular tuneup, plus advised them of the brake issue. The shop mechanic flushed the brake cylinder along with the usual tuneup: brake pads, etc. There was no problem for about two more weeks when brakes failed again.  Took back to Subaru on a Friday. They kept over the weekend, but by Monday afternoon, brakes were still working "fine". They Ubered me to test, but I didn't need to even pull out of parking lot, everything seemed okay.  Took my Outback home and all okay until brakes failed again. Took on AAA's and my friends' recommendations to Tucson's Primarily Japanese auto shop. The brakes failed once more in the interim, but worked fine at the shop. The owner thought possible a failing ABS unit. However, both Tucson Subaru/Primarily Japanese were reluctant to try replacing either the brake cylinder or the ABS unit as both are expensive fixes and they were unable to duplicate the failure. In the meantime, I went online and found that other owners of Outbacks across a range of years/mileage had the same problem - and the same results, none of fixes reliably worked. That included flushing/replacing the brake cylinder, the ABS unit, cleaning/replacing brake pads, etcs. Some owners were not as "lucky" as I was. The car is parked.

The car had been recently serviced through the dealer and had 66,000 miles (9 yrs old). It was 6k miles past warranty. While driving, the radiator hose exploded—loud noise, white steam, and all the warning lights came on and the car heated up. I had the car towed and was told that the radiator hose, the radiator and the head gasket had been destroyed and the engine would need to be rebuilt. The car was essentially a total loss given the repair costs. There was no warning at all that anything was wrong with the car prior to the engine blowing. It is my understanding that many years of Subaru Outbacks have required recalls for head gasket problems.