Complaint volume
84 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
2023 Subaru Outback Complaints
84 consumer-submitted complaints on record for the 2023 Subaru Outback, grouped by component category.
84 Total complaints
8 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, unknown or other, forward collision avoidance. Use those categories as a test-drive checklist instead of judging the vehicle from the total count alone.
Severity flags
Enriched records include 8 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 12 complaints, with an average reported failure mileage of 30,900 miles. Compare that with the mileage on the listing.
Questions to ask the seller
- Have you had any problems related to visibility/wiper, unknown or other, forward collision avoidance?
- 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 2023 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.
2023 Subaru Outback
Build buyer checklist Compare with other years Sends year, make, and model to pre-fill your checklist.
How severe are the 2023 Subaru Outback complaints?
8 Crash
1 Fire
2 Injury
0 Fatality
6 Towed
2 Medical attention
What are the most common 2023 Subaru Outback complaint categories?
VISIBILITY/WIPER 15
UNKNOWN OR OTHER 11
FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE 10
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 9
EXTERIOR LIGHTING 6
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE 3
LATCHES/LOCKS/LINKAGES 3
AIR BAGS 2
POWER TRAIN 2
SERVICE BRAKES,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE 2
84 total complaints on record
Latest complaints
| Date | Component | Summary | Severity | Mileage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 2023 | VISIBILITY/WIPER | A crack appeared on the windshield without anything hitting it and spread up | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jun 2023 | FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | While driving at a high rate of speed on a remote road, using cruise control, my vehicle suddenly braked/decelerated for no reason. Could have been the automatic emergency braking, adaptive cruise control, or forward collision warning. The first time it happened, a warning bell sounded, red lights flashed, and the vehicle decelerated VERY rapidly. It happened again about 6 weeks later, but the second time there was no audio or visual warning, the vehicle just decelerated rapidly. If there had been a vehicle behind my vehicle I might have been rear-ended because there was nothing on the road in front of me to warrant rapid deceleration. Also, on both occasions, the deceleration was swift enough to cause items in the vehicle to dislodge. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jun 2023 | EXTERIOR LIGHTING | I'm a first time Subaru owner but am now challenging my decision to buy a Subaru. While driving at night on dark roads in Pennsylvania, it was quite obvious and strange that the top half of the windshield was black while the bottom half was clear showing the lights on the road. This was quite annoying and disruptive while driving; We did not notice such on a well-lit road. I googled and found out that many Subaru owners experienced the same issue. I've been driving for over 55 years and have never experienced such an issue. I called the dealer and he never heard of such but did read the comments on the web link I shared with him. It's truly unsafe and disturbing while driving on darker roads. Please advise as I'm considering trading in this wonderful car, taking a loss, and buying something that doesn't disturb me while driving at night. I don't need a potential accident at this point of my life. Safety first... I've attached the url to those comments from other Subaru owners. https://www.cargurus.com/Cars/Discussion-t83408_ds1044301 | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jun 2023 | UNKNOWN OR OTHER | We were driving on a highway at 60 mph with a hard case roof carrier when our sun roof exploded and shattering all the glass. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jun 2023 | AIR BAGS | I get passenger air bag OFF indication although the passenger is an adult. Dealer claims that there is no issue, the car is less than one week old. I asked if they would escalate the problem to Subaru corporate so that they will address this issue but they refused. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jun 2023 | EXTERIOR LIGHTING | When the headlamp selector is in Automatic Mode, automatic high beams are also enabled by default. The issue is that the automatic high beam headlamps do not function well at all. They defeat the high beam selection if any ambient light is detected and are far too sensitive. As a result, if there are streetlights, city lights, or even snow on the ground, the high beam headlamps cannot be turned on while in the automatic mode. It’s got to be pitch dark, and even then it takes some time for the high beams to come on after selecting them with the switch. This presents an Immediate safety concern in the inability to use high beam headlamps. The owner’s manual (p 574) says this feature can be disabled, but Subaru refuses to change this setting citing legal requirements and safety concerns (that one may use the high beams to blind oncoming traffic). Their proposed solution is to temporarily disable the system on every drive by turning the headlamp selector from Auto to ON, however this is only a workaround and does not solve the underlying safety issue. If a driver has not previously thought to change the headlamp selector to ON, their high beams are likely unavailable for use. I’ve attached the response from Subaru North America. I’ve had several conversations with Premier Surbau of Fremont, most recently with Devin in Service, who has said they refuse to modify the setting. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jun 2023 | VISIBILITY/WIPER | Sunroof spontaneously exploded. Temperatures were around 50 degrees, no cars around me at the time and as far as I can tell, nothing could have hit the window at least at that moment. I had been driving for about 1 hour and no sudden changes in temperature or pressure. It sounded very much like an explosion when it happened. Thankfully, the inside slide cover was closed when this happened. If the slide window cover had been opened, It could easily have caused an accident as some of the glass would have fallen on the driver. Also, the breaking window resulted in a shower of glass over the car roof and would have hit cars behind me if present. At the time, I had less than 3000 miles on the car and the car was less than 6 months old. The window has since been replaced. If you look at the profile of the car from the side, the sunroof seems to be more sloping downward than on some other cars. My understanding is that sunroofs are made from tempered glass. It would seem that safety glass would be a better option at least in terms of the protection they might offer in preventing the dramatic shower of broken glass that happened in my case. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| May 2023 | FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | Pulling into our home driveway at a slow rate of speed, the auto emergency braking engaged for no reason and came to an abrupt stop. This system now has be concerned that it will engage at random times while driving and potentially cause an accident. We are taking the car to the dealer for inspection | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| May 2023 | UNKNOWN OR OTHER | The front window cracked from what sounded like a small object. The vehicle is only a few months old. A co-worker also had a new 2023 Outback and her window cracked w/in the beginning few months. I recall an extra warranty purchase option when initially buying the vehicle. Makes me suspension of this being a known issue and trying to take advantage of customers. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Apr 2023 | FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | Automatic Emergency Braking applied violently and unnecessarily when pulling into a parking space on two separate instances in the last week. I was pulling into the parking space this morning as normal. I was applying the brakes, and just before stopping, my car stabbed the brakes. It felt like a car crash, but my car was 3ft from hitting the other car. Immediately after, a message appeared indicating that automatic emergency braking was applied. The same thing happened to my wife last week. In both instances, we both got headaches from the jarring stop. We are taking the car to the dealership tomorrow. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Apr 2023 | SERVICE BRAKES,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | I purchased the vehicle about a month ago and almost on a daily basis the precollision breaking system would cause the car to break when there was nothing there. It has picked up parked cars on the side of the road as well as breaked for no apparent reason. I have been almost rear ended a number of times. The precollision breaking system takes several steps to turn off and needs to be turned off every time the car is started. I spoke to the dealership and brought the car in to be looked at. I thought maybe the cameras were too sensitive. I requested for the precollision breaking system to be disconnected since I felt like it was a safety concern. They were unable to reduce the sensitivity or disable the system. They said they could disable it but in doing so I would lose several other features on the car. They could not tell me which ones. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Apr 2023 | VISIBILITY/WIPER | Driving on highway to my home on I 80 and ridge road, Illinois,a small tick noise was heard and the spider chip noticed on the passenger side windshield. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Apr 2023 | VISIBILITY/WIPER | Dear NHTSA, I am writing to report an issue I have experienced with the windshield of my Subaru vehicle. Recently, I noticed a crack on the passenger side of the windshield, which initially measured around 5 inches in length. To my surprise, the crack expanded to over 10 inches in just a day and continued to grow thereafter. Upon visiting the dealership, I was informed that the crack was likely caused by a small impact point on the windshield. However, I am not satisfied with this explanation as the "hit point" is extremely small and not commensurate with the size of the crack. I am also concerned about the quality of the Carlex windshield glass used by Subaru, as I have seen numerous complaints regarding the same on various websites. It is worth noting that Subaru does not allow customers to choose better quality aftermarket glass and refuses to perform recalibration if customers opt to use third-party glass. Furthermore, the Carlex glass costs approximately $1000 (without recalibration) and is of lower quality. I respectfully request that you investigate this issue further and take any necessary measures to address this problem for the safety of all vehicle owners. Thank you for your attention to this matter. Sincerely, [XXX] INFORMATION Redacted PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6). | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Mar 2023 | UNKNOWN OR OTHER | Moonroof shattered with a loud boom while driving on highway. Window and shade was in closed position and window had not been operated/open. Owned at 4 mi odometer and occurred at approximately 300 mi odometer. The loud boom was frightening. No glass came into the driver/passenger are because the shade was closed. I assumed the window had been hit by rock. However, a couple of hours earlier on the drive, I heard a clicking/torquing sound that I could not determine location. The clicking sound only occurred a few times and then was not heard again. No way to determine if this occurred from a rock or was a tempered glass failure. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Mar 2023 | VISIBILITY | The contact owns a 2023 Subaru Outback. The contact stated while driving at an undisclosed speed, he became aware that hundreds of tiny air bubbles had formed over the front windshield. Additionally, there were air bubbles on a portion of the front driver’s and passenger’s side windows. The contact took the vehicle to a dealer where a service technician inspected the vehicle with a pen and claimed that the windows had been sandblasted which caused the failure. The contact disputed the claim and said that no work had been performed on the windows. The manufacturer was also notified of the failure and a case was filed. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was approximately 2,500. | Crash: No Fire: No | 2,500 |
| Mar 2023 | FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | As I was pulling in to park my vehicle, the car accelerated and after running over three small trees, finally stopped. Both my feet were on the brakes; I could not stop the car. Luckily, no one was hurt. The car was towed and Subaru had the car for close to 7 weeks for inspection; they reported no abnormalities with the car. I know that the car accelerated on its own- I had no control as I avoided hitting the cabin and plowing through the woods. I had my new car for 32 days and did not see any warning signs. It was towed on December 12, 2022, the day after the incident. Then Subaru had my car for inspection and repairs and it was picked up on March 22, 2023. I will not drive this car and Subaru has denied my request for a buyback. I will be trading it in for a loss. | Crash: Yes Fire: No Towed | Unknown |
| Mar 2023 | UNKNOWN OR OTHER,VISIBILITY/WIPER | I've had the vehicle less than 6 months and have already had 3 Safelite repairs for cracks and chips from road debris hitting the windshield. Windshields are fragile and prone to cracking. Attached the latest example, dead-center of photo. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Mar 2023 | EXTERIOR LIGHTING | Issue with low beams. I live in a rural area with limited street lighting. Low beam Visibility approx.15 ft. or less. Once or if I would observe an object or person on the roadway my stopping distance would be limited. A hooded shadow from the lighting limits the visibility. E mailed Subaru who suggested I have the dealer could help with my problem. They adjusted the lights. Now I have oncoming traffic flicking their high beams. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Mar 2023 | STRUCTURE,UNKNOWN OR OTHER | This incident occurred on January 20, 2023. I was driving alone on I-73 in Greensboro, NC. It was around 5:45 AM and was about 40 degrees outside. I had no vehicles in front of me and a very large separation to the vehicles in the oncoming traffic direction. The car was still new as it only had 4k miles on it. I was driving at 65mph merging onto I-73. Suddenly, I heard what sounded like an explosion followed by what sounded like flapping and "pebbles hitting roof" sound. I knew something had broken so I pulled off the road. My moonroof had shattered. I took pictures while I was trying to determine my next step. There was a hole in the center and part of the right side of the glass. I did not have any way to contain the damage when it was put on the flat bed trailer to take it to the dealership. I dropped by the dealership later that day. The hole had grown significantly while being towed to the dealer (wind damage expanded the hole). The dealership said it was the second Outback they had seen that week for an exploding moonroof. They stated it would not be covered under warranty, but they did replace it as a one-time goodwill gesture. Searching online, this seems to be way more common of an experience than it should be with Subaru Outbacks. If I had had the interior closeout panel open, I would have been covered in glass. I feel this was not damage induced by any impact as there were no cars near me within at least 100 yards in any direction. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Mar 2023 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | I purchased a new 2023 Subaru Outback in December 2022. The two displays on my 2023 Subaru Outback (both the main entertainment one and the tiny dash one) randomly restart without notice and/or freeze and are unresponsive. This disables adaptive cruise control, EyeSight warnings, lane departure warnings, front collision warnings, rear back up camera, navigation, Apple Car Play, phone capabilities, and electrical display odometer. Even in reverse, the backup camera will appear at times and then freeze, so the image I am looking at on the display is not true. I noticed this the other day when I was in reverse and saw a mother and child walking outside of my review mirrors that never appeared on the camera. I have taken it to my Subaru dealer where they had trouble twice uploading new software onto the car. They finally uploaded the "new" software and the issue persists. This last issued occurred today 3/22/2023 - I was on a 10 minute drive and the software restarted at least 11 times in the short 10 minutes. I am unsure what else this electrical/software issue impacts but it seems to be a safety one if I cannot trust the rear camera, departure or collision warnings, or cruise control. Luckily, I have never been in cruise control when the system malfunctions, as I'm not sure what the result would be. This has occurred at random speeds, as slow as 12mph, as fast as 60mph. It has happened when I have been on phone calls and when I have not been on phone calls. I have photos and videos of the unresponsiveness, and have attached the invoice for when I got it serviced on 3/20/2023. This is a serious issue and it seems Subaru does not have a fix at this time. Since this is a new car, I was also told that if this happens after my warranty, it will be MY responsibility to pay for the updated software and to fix this glitch, and that they will charge me for service and the update. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Mar 2023 | STRUCTURE | The rear driver side door popped open so as to be not fully closed, but not fully open (door not fully secure/ajar) while driving. The vehicle was being driven on a highway with speed no more than 55 mph, exiting an off ramp and approaching a stop light. When the brakes were depressed to ease into the off ramp stop there was a loud pop and the instrument panel displayed the door open warning for the drivers side rear door. It was necessary to fully stop the vehicle and re-secure the door from the outside. There were no passengers in the rear seat during this occurrence. The dealer inspected the door hinges observing no abnormalities and was not able to reproduce the error when test driving the vehicle. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Mar 2023 | FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | The contact owns a 2023 Subaru Outback. The contact stated while driving 35 MPH and coming to a green light with no vehicles nearby, the Eyesight Driver Assist camera malfunctioned and the vehicle came to an abrupt stop. The Collision Prevention braking system activated with the warning light displayed on the instrument panel. The contact immediately deactivated the fuel saving button and depressed the accelerator pedal for the vehicle to respond. The contact stated that the message displayed that the Eyesight camera had unintendedly become disabled. The contact took the vehicle to the dealer however, the mechanic was unable to determine the cause of the failure. The vehicle had not been repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 9,000. | Crash: No Fire: No | 9,000 |
| Mar 2023 | FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | They EyeSight continuously disables. Dealership cannot find any codes or issues with it. They say it is the weather, dirty windshield, clouds. It has been happening since week 3 of ownership. I clean the windshield all the time, there is no clouds. I have another Subaru with EyeSight and it doesn’t disable like this one. 90% of the time the system disables itself as soon as I turn it on. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Feb 2023 | LATCHES/LOCKS/LINKAGES | The contact owns a 2023 Subaru Outback. The contact stated while driving at an undisclosed speed, the liftgate would independently open without assistance. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired by an independent mechanic or dealer. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 1,700. | Crash: No Fire: No | 1,700 |
| Feb 2023 | SERVICE BRAKES | The contact owns a 2023 Subaru Outback. The contact stated that while parked with the brake pedal depressed when the vehicle suddenly lunged forward and jumped the curb onto the sidewalk. The vehicle ended up in the glass of the store in front of the parking space. The air bags did not deploy. The vehicle was towed to the dealer. There were no warning lights. A police report was filed. The front end, bumper, hood, side panels, and fog lights were all damaged. The storefront, a nearby pillar, and decorative stone were also damaged. There were no injuries. No medical attention was needed. The dealer had not been diagnosed and or repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 268,000. | Crash: Yes Fire: No Towed | 268,000 |