Complaint volume
289 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
2021 Subaru Outback Complaints
289 consumer-submitted complaints on record for the 2021 Subaru Outback, grouped by component category.
289 Total complaints
7 Crash reports
1 Fire reports
2 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 7 crash reports, 1 fire report, 2 injury reports, and 0 fatality reports. These fields come from complaint records and should be read in context.
Mileage clue
Mileage is available on 60 complaints, with an average reported failure mileage of 8,787 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 2021 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.
2021 Subaru Outback
Build buyer checklist Compare with other years Sends year, make, and model to pre-fill your checklist.
How severe are the 2021 Subaru Outback complaints?
7 Crash
1 Fire
2 Injury
0 Fatality
6 Towed
0 Medical attention
What are the most common 2021 Subaru Outback complaint categories?
VISIBILITY/WIPER 86
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 44
UNKNOWN OR OTHER 37
AIR BAGS 14
VISIBILITY 10
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,UNKNOWN OR OTHER 6
FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE 6
ENGINE 4
POWER TRAIN 3
POWER TRAIN,ENGINE 3
289 total complaints on record
Latest complaints
| Date | Component | Summary | Severity | Mileage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 2022 | UNKNOWN OR OTHER | 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. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Sep 2022 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,UNKNOWN OR OTHER | 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. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Sep 2022 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM | Battery repeatedly drains with short drives or if car is parked for 72 hours such that the vehicle will not start. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Sep 2022 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | I purchased the car new in January 2021. During the first several months there were no issues. After that, the "Infotainment" system which controls the sound, nav, hvac, etc. systems would suddenly go black and those functions would stop working. It would seem to reboot as a computer does when you restart it. That was distracting but mostly just annoying, lasting less than 30 seconds. I will call that a "soft reboot." That happened many times over the next few months. On two occasions, the screen would black out and not only those systems would cease to function, it would shut down cruise control and Eyesight. Call that a "hard reboot." This was very dangerous. In traffic at 70-75 mph when the cruise control suddenly stops working, the car decelerates immediately and quickly. There are no warning signs or messages; it just goes black and shuts down those systems. Cars following would quickly be within a dangerous proximity. Not a safety issue but a hard reboot also wipes clear some settings including the nav destinations. During that period I spoke with service managers at two Subaru dealerships who said that it was a common problem and Subaru had issued a "patch" that was supposed to fix it. I live approximately an hour from the nearest dealership and had some difficulty finding a time to take it in for the upload. Finally I took it in to Scenic Subaru in Mt. Airy, NC on September 9, 2022 to get the update, with around 22,500 miles into a 36,000 mile warranty. I left the dealership at approximately 4 p.m. headed for Winston Salem, NC, approximately an hour drive. Within 5 miles from the dealership it did a soft reboot. That happened two more times. I called the dealership to advise them but it was too late to return. Then, still within an hour from the dealership, it did a hard reboot, shutting down everything as I described above. It functioned properly until it did a soft reboot today, 220 miles after the update. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Sep 2022 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM | Battery failed in first 6 months of owning the car. Battery was replaced at Gilman Subaru Selma Texas. Battery and relay at North Park Body shop during the repair for hail damage. The car was at this shop from April 20th 2022 until the middle of July 2022. The day the car was picked up the electronic door locks did not work. The car was taken to North Park Subaru to diagnosis and repair a faulty body control module. They have had the car since August 8th. After it was taken back to North Star Collision to try to remedy the issue. North Star Subaru would not honor a warranty claiming outsider influence. On August 15th I was informed that the battery malfunctioned for 3rd time. With exception of about a week and a half since April 20th. I have not had use of my vehicle. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Sep 2022 | VISIBILITY/WIPER | Crack in windshield rapidly developed into line of driver sight. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Sep 2022 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,UNKNOWN OR OTHER | 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. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Sep 2022 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL,UNKNOWN OR OTHER | The infotainment system is so buggy and slow it's dangerously distracting. It crashes all the time and takes a few minutes to reboot which is not good when you're using navigation. The volume randomly will go to 100% and the only way to fix it is to restart the car. I've had it happen maybe 10 times. It's very startling and it's painful to the ears. The most dangerous problem with the infotainment system, however, is how inconsistently slow it is. When you tap to open the HVAC menu, for example, it can take 1-45 seconds to open. That means you have to keep your eyes off the road waiting for a response. If you don't, the menu disappears right away. Then when you're waiting for a response, the driver monitor starts beeping loudly and flashes "Stay Alert". Even Subaru's own safety systems think the response time is unacceptable. I called Subaru about the issue but their primary purpose just seems to be deflecting complaints and and gaslighting. We've been expecting fixes for years and it never comes. Either Subaru doesn't know how to fix it or they don't want to. The system falls under the 3/36 warranty which means that by the time the find a fix, most of the cars won't be covered. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Sep 2022 | VISIBILITY/WIPER | Windshield crack developed and requires replacement for the third time in 18 months on a new car. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Sep 2022 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,EXTERIOR LIGHTING,VISIBILITY/WIPER | The headlights on this vehicle are obnoxiously bright! I get flashed by oncoming drivers constantly at night. I even get flashed by pickup trucks. I'm not sure if it's the main headlamps or the fog lights. It does seem like the fog lights have really poor beam control. When driving on a country road at night I can tell the fog lights are lighting up the tops of trees by toggling them on and off. I passed an oncoming car just like mine a while back and I could finally understand why I get flashed all the time. They ARE really blinding. I tried to bring it up with Subaru of America and the guy on the phone literally laughed at me and just told me to not use the fog lights. They don't seem to care at all about all the safety issues the current generation Outback has. Very unprofessional. Subaru doesn't appear to welcome feedback at all. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Sep 2022 | VISIBILITY/WIPER | I had a rock hit my windshield and it instantly cracked and kept cracking in multiple directions looking like a spider. Had it repaired and same thing happens like 1 month later. And it seems when it rains there is some water that is getting through. I do not feel like Subaru has fixed the windshields since the recall on previous models. Pictures make it hard to really see severity. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Aug 2022 | VISIBILITY/WIPER | Hey NHTSA! This needs to be looked into ASAP!! My windshield has broken twice now after getting hit with debris so small I couldn't even hear it hit. I've been driving for 24 years and I've never broke a windshield. The windshield on these is hilariously weak. After they get chipped the crack spreads to the whole windshield in a matter of a couple days. The cracks are also delaminating and letting water in. This needs to be addressed ASAP. It's scary how thin and weak the windscreen is on these. This is a huge safety issue. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Aug 2022 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM | Battery has died 3x in 7500miles of driving Subaru states battery is fine. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Aug 2022 | VISIBILITY/WIPER | The front windshield developed a crack. It was not struck or damaged in any way - it appeared out of nowhere. The crack spreads quickly and the windshield must be replaced. This has happened to countless other Subaru Outback owners. The volume of broken windshields must be caused by some defect on the manufacturer’s side. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Aug 2022 | UNKNOWN OR OTHER,ENGINE | 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? | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jul 2022 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM | Vehicle was about 1 year old and had about 2300 miles when I started having issues with the battery being dead and having to jump start the vehicle after it sat a few days. I contacted the dealership and the battery took it in. After about 4 hours they said the battery was "low" and they recharged it and said everything was fine. They said I didn't drive it enough so it was my fault the battery would not start the vehicle. That was 5/10/22. On 8/26/22 the battery was dead and I had to jump it again. There have been no warning lights. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jul 2022 | UNKNOWN OR OTHER | 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. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jul 2022 | UNKNOWN OR OTHER | 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. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jul 2022 | VISIBILITY/WIPER | Windshield spontaneously cracked while parked. I parked the vehicle around 3pm and at that time, no crack was present. I left the house at 5:30pm and in that 2.5 hours, a 12-18 inch crack appeared. There’s no visible impact point and it starts from the bottom edge of the glass on the passenger side. I have not brought it to the dealer yet as I’m working through a claim center for windshield coverage. This is the third time since I purchased the vehicle (May of 2021) that the windshield has cracked. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jul 2022 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,ENGINE | The engine block of our car caught fire while it was parked and turned off. It melted the engine and hood of the car, totaling it. Thankfully, we were not in the vehicle when the incident occurred, so no one was injured. At the time of the incident, our car was parked outside our apartment building under a low-hanging tree, which was burned in the fire. Had a neighbor not noticed and called 911, the fire may have spread to the nearby apartment building and caused much more severe damage than what was already done to the car. We had no warning prior to the incident. To our knowledge, the car was in perfect condition. We had bought it brand new 16 months prior and had taken it in for its scheduled maintenance 3 times. We are unaware if the vehicle has been inspected yet or if they've discovered the origin of the problem. All we know is that the insurance company and firefighters confirmed it wasn't arson, as the fire was contained to the engine block and front end of the car, and they also confirmed we were not at fault. Vehicle caught fire while it was parked and turned off. | Crash: No Fire: Yes | Unknown |
| Jul 2022 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM | Battery is draining for no apparent reason. As stated in several class action law suits, defects in these vehicles ( Subaru Outback 2015-2020) cause the batteries to drain, replacement batteries also drain. The Subaru Outback battery drains because of the Controller area network (CAN). When the vehicle is shut off, the CAN system should enter sleep mode so only a limited amount of electrical current is used. However, Subaru software errors prevent the CAN from entering sleep mode when vehicle is turned off. This software error will drain the original battery and every replacement battery installed in an Outback. Once the battery is drained, I am stranded. Reference law suits Daley v. Subaru and Tomasian v. Subaru. Subaru needs to fix all Subarus that are affected by this battery drainage issue. I have been experiencing this problem since we bought the car. First time, I thought I left something on, subsequent drainage issues I know that nothing has been left on. I now keep a trickle charge unit on the battery while in the garage at all times. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jul 2022 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,VISIBILITY/WIPER | Windshield has needed constant repair due to either small debris or even in one instance, self-cracking. On-board unit is constantly turning off. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jun 2022 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM | On multiple occasions I have had the infotainment system (the touchscreen) either freeze, go completely blank, or reset itself while driving. Most often this has happened while using Apple Car Play but that's not always the case. When this occurs, I also get a message that EyeSight is not available. While this has not caused me to have an accident the potential is there. I have had the screen go blank while using navigation in an unfamiliar area, I've had it go blank while driving down the highway. It's very distracting and you can easily miss your exit or worse. Subaru has no fix for this other than updating the software approximately every 6 months in hopes it will solve things. To me this is totally unacceptable. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jun 2022 | VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | The Navigation system will randomly go blank and then restart while driving. This not only affects any navigation which is currently in progress, but also disables the Cruise Control, Eye Sight, Lane Departure and other Safety devices. This has occurred numerous times while driving on an interstate highway and is dangerous and life threatening. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jun 2022 | ENGINE | The contact owns a 2021 Subaru Outback. The contact stated while at a traffic light, the vehicle stalled. The instrument panel lights illuminated then went dark. The police came but there was no police report filed. The police had the vehicle towed to a dealer. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 12,500. | Crash: No Fire: No Towed | 12,500 |