Complaint volume
805 consumer-submitted complaints are matched to this model year. Treat the count as a research signal, then read the actual summaries for repeated symptoms.
Complaint records
2018 Subaru Outback Complaints
805 consumer-submitted complaints on record for the 2018 Subaru Outback, grouped by component category.
805 Total complaints
27 Crash reports
4 Fire reports
10 Injury reports
Complaint data reflects consumer-submitted reports. A complaint is not proof
of a defect, recall, or manufacturer fault. Enriched severity fields come
from official bulk records when the complaint can be matched by ODI number.
Buyer interpretation
How to use these complaints before buying
Complaint records are most useful when they turn into inspection points, seller questions, and comparison checks against nearby model years.
Pattern to inspect
The most common categories are visibility/wiper, electrical system, unknown or other. Use those categories as a test-drive checklist instead of judging the vehicle from the total count alone.
Severity flags
Enriched records include 27 crash reports, 4 fire reports, 10 injury reports, and 0 fatality reports. These fields come from complaint records and should be read in context.
Mileage clue
Mileage is available on 488 complaints, with an average reported failure mileage of 21,422 miles. Compare that with the mileage on the listing.
Questions to ask the seller
- Have you had any problems related to visibility/wiper, electrical system, unknown or other?
- Can I see recent maintenance and repair records?
- Has the vehicle ever been towed, involved in a crash, or repaired for the same issue twice?
- Can we also check the recall record for this 2018 Subaru Outback?
Used-car checklist
Use these complaints before the test drive.
Build a buyer checklist to turn these issues into questions and inspection points.
2018 Subaru Outback
Build buyer checklist Compare with other years Sends year, make, and model to pre-fill your checklist.
How severe are the 2018 Subaru Outback complaints?
27 Crash
4 Fire
10 Injury
0 Fatality
19 Towed
7 Medical attention
What are the most common 2018 Subaru Outback complaint categories?
VISIBILITY/WIPER 210
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 197
UNKNOWN OR OTHER 97
VISIBILITY 37
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,UNKNOWN OR OTHER 23
STEERING 22
FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM 19
ENGINE 15
STRUCTURE 12
BACK OVER PREVENTION 10
805 total complaints on record
Latest complaints
| Date | Component | Summary | Severity | Mileage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 2022 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM | Subaru Starlink system flickers, selects apps and does all of this without ANY touching. At times, the backup camera is not working. Having a phone connected does not improve the problem. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Aug 2022 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM | Persistent battery drain. Car was jumped a week ago because it wouldn't start at all. It has been sluggish to start (turns over a couple times before catching) since and had a major error with the rear hatch today despite starting up. Power rear hatch will alarm as open but then cannot be opened with key fob, button in car, or button on hatch. The rear alarm will ring consistently until car has been running for 10 min/reached 60 mph but restarts again at stop lights. It is currently scheduled to be looked at in 4 days, if it is able to be safely driven to the dealership. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Aug 2022 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM | I bought this Outback new back in June of 2018. I just purchased the 3rd battery for it today 8/11/22. I’ve noticed that the past 2 batteries have been corroded and barely last 1.5-2 years. It sounds like this is an issue with many other owners as well where the battery either doesn’t fully charge or continues to deplete when the car is off and parked. The battery gets so low and is so corroded that it can’t get jumped by remote starters and requires a jump from a started car. The shop I took it to to replace the battery said they couldn’t get a read from their battery checker because the terminals had so much acid on them. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Aug 2022 | AIR BAGS | SEVERE, HEAD-ON IMPACT TO DRIVER'S SIDE, OTHER CAR WAS TOTALED. POLICE EXPECTED BOTH CARS TO BE TOTALED, AND WERE SURPRISED THAT DRIVER'S SIDE AIRBAG DID NOT DEPLOY. DRIVER WAS NOT SERIOUSLY INJURED, HOWEVER, SHE TOOK A HARD HIT TO HER HEAD, NECK AND SHOULDER. DEALER, INDEPENDENT SERVICE CENTER HAVE NOT INSPECTED THE VEHICLE, NOR HAS PROBLEM BEEN REPRODUCED. AIRBAG HAS NOT BEEN INSPECTED BY THE MANUFACTURER, OR INSURANCE REP., POLICE AND REPAIR FACILITY ONLY. NO WARNING LAMPS, ETC. WERE KNOWN TO HAVE ILLUMINATED. THE VEHICLE AND AIRBAG ARE AVAILABLE FOR INSPECTION. | Crash: Yes Fire: No Injuries: 8 Towed Medical attention | Unknown |
| Aug 2022 | UNKNOWN OR OTHER | Gas Gauge is not working correctly. This problem was supposedly fixed in a previous recall. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Aug 2022 | UNKNOWN OR OTHER | car battery dies if tailgate is opened for several minutes. Had to replace battery in January 2022 and still have issues with the battery. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jul 2022 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,ENGINE | Normal vehicle start. While leaving shopping mall parking lot, vehicle suddenly shut down; no electrical, no accelerator, no power steering, no engine. Was able to steer vehicle to safe location out of traffic path. Waited approximately 10 minutes, tried vehicle again, and it started / drove normally. Vehicle inspected afterward by dealer, who found no issues, and returned vehicle with no repairs made. Driver is 86 year old widow, who is terrified of being stranded in an unreliable car. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jul 2022 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM | The electrical system in our Subaru is draining the battery prematurely, which could cause us to get stranded. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jul 2022 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM | The battery loses its charge so that the car will not start if I don’t drive the car at least once or twice a week. The battery and electric system of the car was checked July 11, 2022 at the Bay Ridge Subaru dealership in Brooklyn, NY and all systems were found to be normal and good, including the battery. The battery is only 1 year old and is under a 30 month warranty. The Subaru service technician said that the car needs to be run for 45 minutes twice a week or this problem will keep happening and will lead to the battery needing replacement much sooner than normal. He also suggested I buy a portable battery jumper or a stronger bigger battery for $500-$750. So he acknowledged that this model has issues with the battery draining. He said the newer Subaru electrical system in Subaru Outbacks was first tested on this car model and year, and that was the cause of the problem, that they hadn’t figured out an efficient electrical system for the newer Subaru Outbacks by the time they started selling the 2018 Subaru Outback. The system is available to look at upon request. The problem was confirmed by the Subaru dealership service technician. The safety hazard is that I or my family might get stuck somewhere that is remote or dangerous due to weather or temperature with a car that won’t start. Or if I need to escape a bad situation quickly and my car won’t start. There were no warnings before the battery died. This has happened 3 times in the past two months. Today is July 11, 2022. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jul 2022 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM | The car battery will drain completely when the car is not being driven. This has happened to us numerous times while camping leaving us in a remote area with a dead battery and no cell phone service to call for help | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jun 2022 | VISIBILITY/WIPER | 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 = [XXX]. 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. INFORMATION Redacted PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6). | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jun 2022 | UNKNOWN OR OTHER,SERVICE BRAKES | The Brake, ABS, and traction control (VDC) lights all came on a couple of weeks ago. I brought the vehicle into the Subaru dealership and they diagnosed a failed Vehicle Dynamics Control board as the problem. I've requested to receive the old VDC board. That there were brake issues was clearly indicated by the dash lights, so my safety risk was low. There seemed to be no impact to regular brake function and because we weren't driving on any ice/snow/rain slick roads I didn't encounter any issues with not having VDC working. Problem was confirmed by dealer and a replacement board is being requested. They're charging me for it since I'm outside the terrible 36,000 mile warranty that's become standard in our anti-consumer country. The replacement board will only carry a 12 month/12K mile warranty because, again, our federal government is worthless at protecting consumers. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jun 2022 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM | Just had to replace the battery for the third time since we bought the car in Dec 2017. This last battery was installed in Aug 2021 and failed Jun 2022. The dealer we take the car for service has not been able to determine why the batteries are failing so often. Fortunately two failed our house but once it failed at a store's parking lot and we had to wait for three hours to get a tow to the dealer. It's always failed parked, never while driving but I'm not sure it can't happen while driving. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jun 2022 | VISIBILITY/WIPER | Windshield sustained 7 in crack and needed to be replaced. No determination on if anything hit the windshield. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jun 2022 | UNKNOWN OR OTHER,VISIBILITY/WIPER | Windshield chipped with small pebble on highway. Chip was approximately the size of a penny. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jun 2022 | UNKNOWN OR OTHER | Driving on residential road, heard a spontaneous pop and did not know what it was. By the end of the drive there was an approximately 2 foot long crack in the center of the windshield behind the rear view mirror. Crack started from top edge of the windshield, nothing had hit it, and proceeded to spread quickly. Due to the crack, the eyesight technology in the car stopped working. This has been settled with the 2015-2016 models that the windshield's were faulty, yet there is nothing for any further models despite the same issues continuing. Absolutely nothing that would have chipped or hurt the windshield prior to the pop and crack occurring had happened. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jun 2022 | UNKNOWN OR OTHER,FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM | Gas gauge appears to be out of calibration. Not giving good / accurate readings. It's "50-50". | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jun 2022 | LANE DEPARTURE,BACK OVER PREVENTION | Eye Sight Blind Spot Warning indicator on each side view mirror does not function intermittently: blind spot warning indicator light does not light up when cars are in blind spot. Eye Sight Rear Cross Traffic Warning camera does not function intermittently in Reverse gear: screen turns black OR camera shows cross traffic AND sound alert does not sound. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jun 2022 | VISIBILITY/WIPER | 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. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| May 2022 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM | The battery continually drains due to some electrical leak in the system (particularly when the rear liftgate is left up and the interior lights are on for several hours), requiring jump starting of the vehicle on several occasions. I have had the battery serviced and checked several times, at my expense, with results being the battery was okay. Eventually, I had the battery replaced by a Subaru dealer at my expense. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| May 2022 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM | The Battery of the vehicle drains frequently, making the car inoperable. The battery has been replaced three times in four years, much more frequently than i would expect in a relatively new vehicle that was purchased new from a dealership. The battery dies without warning and repeated jump starts don't charge it enough to maintain a change to the nexty operation. Each time the battery stops holding a charge the dealership advises me to simply replace it. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Apr 2022 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM | Over the last two-plus years I have found my 2018 Subaru Outback's battery dead or so low that it cannot crank the engine. I have had to replace the battery twice in that time, and have had AAA out at least four times to jump start the car without replacing the battery. Today, after sitting in my garage for about 10 days, the battery was so low that it would not crank over the engine. This is a truly unusual experience in my life. I have left cars at home or at the airport for several weeks while traveling, and had no problem starting the cars upon my return. My Subaru Outback completely drains the battery while parked with the engine off in as little as 7-10 days. It is as if some electrical system or circuit in the car is continuing to use battery power at the same rate as if the engine was running. I am fortunate that I have a 2nd car. If I did not, I would be screwed. Someone needs to look into this, identify the problem, and then require a fix. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Apr 2022 | VISIBILITY/WIPER | 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. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Apr 2022 | VISIBILITY | The contact owns a 2018 Subaru Outback. The contact stated while approaching her parked vehicle, she noticed that the driver’s side windshield was cracked. The contact stated that there was no impact to the windshield to cause the crack to occur. The contact stated that the crack occurred overnight. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. A dealer was not contacted. The manufacturer had not been informed of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 40,000. | Crash: No Fire: No | 40,000 |
| Apr 2022 | ENGINE | 2018 SUBARU OUTBACK. CONSUMER WRITES IN REGARD TO ENGINE FAILURE. THE CONSUMER STATED THE VEHICLE HAD VARIOUS SAFETY DEFECT ISSUES INCLUDING A RECALL FOR LOW FUEL PROGRAMMING, LOW GRINDING NOISE AND VIBRATION IN THE BRAKES, AND VIBRATION IN THE STEERING WHEEL. THE VEHICLE ALSO HAD VARIOUS ELECTRONIC ISSUES INCLUDING GLITCHES WITH THE INFOTAINMENT SYSTEM, STEREO WOULD FREEZE, SPEAKERS WERE OUT OF SYNC AND RATTLED, SEAT HEATING TEMPERATURE TOO LOW, AND THE PASSENGER SIDE POWER WINDOWS DID NOT OPERATE PROPERLY. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |