2015 Subaru Outback Complaint Log

Around 8 am on 1/4/2022, driving the car on I85 in Durham County, NC, at a normal highway speed, the sunroof glass shattered suddenly and without warning. The sunroof was fully closed at the time, but the inside cover was open. Shards of glass were sprayed within the cabin. This was a dangerous distraction to the driver, and could have been much more serious if he had gotten glass in his eyes from looking up to see what had happened. There was no apparent impact to the sunroof glass from a rock or other object outside the car, and the sunroof was not being opened or closed at the time. We contacted Subaru of America and our local dealer. The car is no longer under warranty, and Subaru refused to cover the cost of repair (though I see online we are not the only ones to have this problem). The local dealer could not perform the repair for another week, so we bought a new sunroof glass and installed it ourselves. There was no apparent damage to the surrounding metal frame or roof. The car and shattered sunroof were not examined by anyone else. I have the damaged sunroof, but was planning to discard it. I am attaching an email we received from Subaru of America, along with photos of the sunroof.

My sunroof exploded. Sounded like a gunshot. On the highway, 12/12 1pm. 50+- degrees partly sunny day.

while attempting to come to a complete stop, depressing the brakes, the vehicle continued to accelerate even though the brake was depressed to the floor. At no time was the driver's foot on the accelerator. This is one of 2 incidents with the vehicle.

The child safety lock on the passenger side will not disengage. Our child is old enough now to operate the door safely but she cannot open the door from the inside. I feel that this is a great safety concern and the dealer should take care of the cost. When we asked if it could be fixed the dealer expressed that it would be on us for all charges. This is a manufacturer defect and should be rectified immediately. Thank you.

I am on my 3rd battery since May 2015 when the Outback was purchased in El Cajon, California. There have been multiple instances when I prepare to venture out and am unable to as the result of a dead battery. In every instance there was not an obvious instigating factor such as a light inadvertently left on. This situation is extremely disruptive resulting in my belief that I have an unreliable vehicle that has caused me to miss appointments and meetings. There is also a significant monetary loss in that this is a known and well- publicized issue that will render me unable to recoup market value upon sale of the vehicle. '

While driving on 55mph road, sunroof suddenly shattered for no apparent reason (no sudden impact from rock or other debris), producing a loud bang, startling driver. Driver momentarily swerved due to being startled by noise from next to head before correcting. No other cars were around on the road at the time and driver is sure no rocks or other objects fell onto sunroof (covered by rooftop cargo box, no trees near street to drop debris). Pieces of glass went upwards and ended up on roof of vehicle.

The car experienced sudden reverse acceleration when the gear was switched to reverse. I had to floor the brake pedal to have the car stop. I was fortunate behind me was enough of grassy area for the car to stop. Yes, I am sure I wasn't pushing gas because eventually after hard pressing the brakes the car stopped. Afterwards I tried pushing both and it was impossible to push both hard as the foot slips off the brake pedal.

Intermittant engine acceleration or engine surge while braking at very low speeds.

Entering a residential garage to park; experienced sudden acceleration while braking. Vehicle went through drywall/wall about 2 feet. Placed vehicle in park to stop vehicle. No airbags went off. Driving vehicle to repair shop later; experienced same rapid unexpected acceleration with different driver. No issue with floor mats. OEM mats. Service center cannot provide any insight or reproduction of event.

Failure on multiple lug nuts due to rust and corroding bolts. The vehicle is mostly garaged, and exposed to the elements only when driven. For a < 68000 mile vehicle, this type of failure is on the higher side. Additionally, the lug nuts break when trying to open using company specific torque. The repair facilities advise me that it is a known Subaru issue. This is a safety hazard in that, if I am stranded due to a flat tire, I will not be able to change my tire.

The electronic parking brake disengages on it's own after being set. After putting the vehicle in park and pulling on the EPB switch, the light comes on for a short time, then turns off. Attempting to re-engage it results in the same thing, it comes on briefly then disengages without being touched.

Replaced 2 new batteries in 6 months. Batteries went totally dead. Batteries wer replaced by independent shop. Dealer changed battery to a subaru oem battery, checked system, said everything ok. Read about complaints about subaru batteries going dead months apart. Want to find out if there is a defect in subarus.

The continuously variable transmission failed at 114,000 miles. The unexpected lack of proper shifting on the roadway causes impediment to traffic expecting a continual flow of traffic. This causes the vehicle and drivers sharing the rode to have to make sudden braking or lane shifts without sufficient notice. The CVT was inspected by the dealer. There were no warning lamps or symptoms prior to failure.

Purchased this car in 2019 from dealer as a pre certified vehicle. Replaced original battery(dealer said it was)in 8/2021. As I had to have it jumped, battery drain. 6 years old. So I replaced. I have had numerous battery drain since, jumped numerous times. Dealer will say I left something on, NO I didn't. They check and can't find issues. So, I purchased a battery jumper pack. I'm 64yrs old female. Don't need this worry, is my cr going to start. Please help. As I've read numerous other 2015 outback owners are having same issues and Subaru won't address them.

The battery has been in need of replacement at least every year if not twice a year since purchase. This has led to issues with the rear hatch and other fuses being blown.

On multiple occasions I have had the tailgate open and the light has drained the battery to the point that it needs a jump start or a battery charging to get it to start back up. On one occasion the tailgate was only left open for 30 minutes and the car would not start due to the battery being drained from it. The battery is in perfect condition as it would start fine any other time.

On multiple occasions the car battery was drained and required a jump to start. Battery replaced less than 5 months ago. Service technicians unable to identify problem with alternator or parasitic drain.

Battery repeatedly drains when vehicle not used. Have replaced multiple batteries. Alternator checked and functioning.

The electrical system failed to go into sleep mode after parking the car. The battery was totally drained by morning causing us to find someone to use jumper cables to juice it up again.

Inoperative horn. Traced to continuity failure in steering roll connector, part #83111AL13. No indication of fault and no other apparent continuity failure in adjoining wire paths.

The contact owns a 2015 Subaru Outback. The contact stated that she noticed that there was a crack on the passenger's side windshield after a small rock struck the windshield. The contact stated that the windshield shouldn't have cracked from such a small rock impacting the windshield. The vehicle was not diagnosed nor repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was 69,460.

Repeated battery drain, causing premature failure of the battery. Frequent replacement of the battery and reduced reliability have increased the cost of ownership. It has occurred multiple times over the duration of ownership.

Windshield spontaneously cracked. No impact or accident.

My battery has continually been dead, despite replacing the battery twice. I just had to call roadside assistance last weekend on Saturday. Yesterday (Sunday), the battery was dead again - 8 days later. This happened several times when I first got my car, and Subaru replaced the battery, as the car was still under warranty. I have since replaced the battery twice, and am still having the same issues. This is extremely frustrating, considering one of the main reasons I bought this car was for the reliability.

Subaru Outback windshield cracks again within 2 months after warranty replacement pursuant to windshield settlement agreement. The claimed enhanced windshield from Subaru is exposed to the issue reported from the windshield settlement agreement, and Subaru refused to provide warranty replacement to fix this issue. Carter Subaru replaced my windshield on 02/15/2022. The new windshield placed by Carter Subaru crack on 4/24/2022 while I stop at a restaurant and there is no obvious external influence in my windshield.

On multiple occassions, I have been unable to start my Outback b/c the battery is dead. Note that I have not left any lights on, doors open etc. and, when I have taken my car in for routine services, the battery is deemed to be in proper working condition. In addition to being extremely inconvenient when I cannot use my car as needed, this is a safety issue. What if I was not in a safe location when my car wouldn't start? What if I needed to use my car to get a pet to urgent medical care? When I purchased my Outback, I was confident in the Subaru brand for reliability. However, it no longer consider my Outback, or Subaru as a brand, reliable when I can't count on my car starting when I need it to. The date I provided in the additional details of this form is just the latest incident. I purchased this car in 2015 and my battery has been drained more than 5 times.

Our 2015 Subaru Outback has had 4 batteries in 4 years. After some research, a parasitic battery drain issue is common with this year Outback and other Subaru models. Some sites call out the Subaru CAN network as the culprit. Whatever the case, we have had the car to Subaru who changed firmware ostensibly to provide more charging at lower rpm. After that software change was made the problem has apparently gotten worse. Now the car's battery will drain in 2 days of use (the current battery is 4 weeks old). There are numerous complaints about this on line and the common opinion is that Subaru is not addressing the issue.

On my 2015 outback limited my SRVD off warning light is on and I have lost its function. I have not been in any kind of fender bender, it was taken to a state licensed shop and was told and have read in its Manuel it is a dealer repair issue. I have read other posts regarding same issue and the run around the dealer mechanics give to it’s customers. My car is available for inspection anytime if I do not incur a service charge!

There is some kind of electrical malfunction or drainage that the battery drains even when car is turned off. Replacement of new battery results in the same problem after a few days

While parking car in garage, car suddenly surged forward although my foot was off gas and nearly hit end of garage. Engine Temp was relatively cold as it had just been started. This has happened several times before. Reported to dealer service the first time it happened and they did not fix.

When shifted into drive or reverse, with brakes applied, and after initial start the vehicle will surge forward or reverse with force enough to overcome standard braking.

The car regularly drains the battery. We are the original owners and have had to purchase 3 car batteries thus far. The car does not provide any warning messages or report any issues. Every time the battery has been drained it happens without explanation, over a dozen times since we’ve owned the car. We’ve always had the batteries inspected, and they’ve been in good contention with life left in them, just drained, needing a recharge. Unfortunately, the car counties to drain the battery, leaving me stranded, including at night away from home. The details for the incident I will be providing below will be for the most recent, this morning.

Battery drain over night, dead battery in the morning. Alternator output normal, terminal post clean and battery will charge with external charger. Battery is less than 2 year old

On three separate occasions, most recently on 01/06/22 , my Subaru Outback began to accelerate without touching the gas pedal. My wife and myself were both fortunate to have a foot covering the brake pedal when this occurred . We fortunately avoided the potential collision hazard. The UNEXPECTED ACCELERATION is alarming and continues to occur !

The contact owns a 2015 Subaru Outback. The contact stated that the front windshield cracked without impact. The vehicle was not taken to be inspected. The manufacturer was not informed of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 130,000.

The battery has gone completely dead 3 times over 6 years since I purchased this car new. The battery dies, like clockwork, every 2 years. I have purchased 2 new replacement batteries so far on 5/16/2017 (mileage 25,895) and 2/5/2019 (mileage 40,017). The third instance just occurred 1/5/2021 and I have not yet had a chance to take the car to a shop to determine whether the current jump-started battery will reliably hold a charge. Clearly, there is a problem in the Subaru electical system causing a constant drain on their batteries. A quick internet search uncovers that this has been a common occurrence among many Subaru owners over several model years.

Battery repeatedly fails every 2 years since new vehicle purchased. New vehicle purchased in 2015, had to replace battery in 2017 and replaced again in 2019. It is now Jan 2022 and battery had insufficient charge to start car. I have now had to purchase a $110 battery charger to hopefully maintain the charge on my battery. There were no accessories left on or other unusual circumstances that would cause the battery to drain. The vehicle is driven regularly and kept in a garage. There appears to be an ongoing problem with the vehicle routinely prematurely draining the battery over time.

1st time battery died when car was not in use at least for three days, back in Jan 2022. was replaced. on 10/11/22, after the car was not in use for 4 days, 8 month old battery was died, had to replace, again. Recently received a Subaru Battery settlement letter of a design defect that cuase battery drain.

Outback 2015 Windshield cracked with no obvious reason even at about 30 mph.

On four occasions over the past five months my car needed a jump start for no apparent reason. I had a new Subaru battery installed last July, and a check up at a Subaru dealer last month which found no problems with the battery or alternator. I recently read about a battery drainage problem that other owners of this model have been experiencing as well.

Engine consistently burns oil. Adding pints between factory recommended oil change interval when low oil light comes on. On average, one pint is burned every 1500 miles.

I have had to have my battery replaced almost every year since I bought this car and there is always a large amount or corrosion no matter how often I clean it. I just read that this has been a known issue of Subaru. I literally just had the dealership in late November tell me at an oil change that I needed to replace my battery. When I informed them that I had just replaced it in February of of this year when I stopped for gas in the middle of the Texas winter storm and my car would not start back up (That battery was only about a year and a half old), they blamed the cold weather and suddenly backpedaled saying it just seemed low so I should keep an eye on it. Yesterday, my car took two tries to start so I am going to have the battery tested again but this means I haven't even gotten a full years worth out of it.

local mechanic doing standard maintenence at 62,861 miles, checking high rpms at startup, noticed that the crankshaft pully was moving up and down , slight variance , when it should be straight. apparently a recall issue on 2016 outbacks.

My 2015 Subaru Outback has continually experienced random battery drain. I have replaced the battery 3 times since purchasing the car from a dealership in 2017. In all cases, there was no advanced warning indicating that the battery was low, the car had been driven regularly with an average amount of mileage and no lights were left on nor was there extreme weather. Most recently (11/7/2021) the tailgate was up with the car off for 30-45 minutes. It was jump started, we made it home and the next morning it had zero power. That last battery was purchased in April of 2021. The car is regularly maintained by the dealer and/or a certified mechanic.

On multiple occasions the battery completely dies over night for no apparent reason and with no warning. Nothing that draws power was left on. This is a hazard as we can be stuck someplace with no way to start our car. The battery and alternator always check out as normal (by local mechanic), yet it keeps dying to the point that there are no dash lights, horn, emergency blinker or anything else functioning. Most recently I can't even jump start the Outback. Some design defect, (electronic/ computer) is causing the vehicles' battery to drain quickly which renders the car inoperable.

This car has repeatedly drained the battery when completely off. I have replaced the battery thinking it was a faulty battery, only to have this occur repeatedly with a new battery. I am certain the doors are shut, lights are off, car is off and locked and nothing I have left on is in anyway draining the battery. I have even experienced this when driving the car for an hour, parking it for 30 minutes and coming back to a dead battery. The battery drops to 5v and car won’t start. The battery does charge and holds 13.5v. This is not an error with the battery as I have replaced the battery.

Vehicle had recent periodic service performed prior to event at Gwinette Subaru, Gwinette, GA. Vehicle currently has 54K miles. The Vehicle was purcashed this year as a Dealer Certified pe-owned vehicle. While leaving the Walmart parkinglot and entering a busy intesection I lost control of the vehicle steering and I her severe knocking sounds against body of vehicle I barley was able to drive vehicle out of traffic. When I tried to exit Vehicle the driver's door would not open. I exited from the passenger door and walked around vehicle and found that my driver side tire was up aginst fender and had pust fender up agains driver door. the tire was at wired angle . When the tow truc arrived the technician removed the tire in order to move vehicle. Once tire was removed it was obvious that there was a catostrophic steering Ball Joint failure. the vehicle was taken to Gwinette Subaru where they denied it being a component failure and treated me as if it was my fault. The car did not collide with anything not have I hit any potholes to cause this failure. Gwinette Subuaru failed to take proper steps to report this component failure, But I am and will be contacting The State of Georgia Public Safety. I was actually on my way to Interstate 85 a very congested Interstate that moves at about 75-80 mph. I could of been Killed at that speed and worse there would of been multiple cars involved in a collision. Please Help Me! Damage was estimated at $4016.75

I have had to change my car battery three times in four years. A couple times it seemed like my battery went bad soon after having service on my car even though my battery tested okay and given a green symbol. The last date I had to replace the battery is below.

This car has had 5 batteries. The charging system tests fine. It’s not safe.

Bought 2016 model December 29, 2015. Battery consistently drains. It has had at least 3 replacement batteries in 5 years. Car has less than 46k miles on it. Had to get jump started twice within a two week period, with a battery from February of 2020. Battery issues 3/2018 26k miles 2/2020 37k miles 8/2021 45k miles 9/2021 45k miles