There are 2 owner-reported powertrain & transmission complaints for the 2024 Subaru Outbackin NHTSA's database. These are unverified consumer reports and may not reflect confirmed defects.
String wheel locked and couldn't start engine. Called dealer, who said to jiggle the transmission while attempting to turn the steering wheel. After three or four tries, everything freed up and everything ran normally. The dealer rep in the service dept said that that had happened to her "a few times"and there wasn't any way to fix it. Dealer doesn't want to see or inspect, no warning lights or anything else associated with this failure. First happened on Friday 13 July 2024. Hasn't happened since. What would prevent the steering wheel from locking up while driving? The dealer service rep said if we couldn't fix it by jiggling things, we would have to have it towed in. This doesn't seem to agree with the prior statement that there wasn't any way to fix the problem.
The contact owns a 2024 Subaru Outback. The contact stated that while driving and coming to a stop, the vehicle shuddered and jerked unexpectedly. There was no warning light illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer and was test-driven, and the failure was duplicated. The dealer replaced the transmission control module and reprogrammed the transmission; however, the failure persisted. The vehicle was taken back to the dealer, where it was test-driven, but the failure could not be duplicated, and no diagnostic trouble codes were found. The contact requested a more thorough diagnostic test of the vehicle; however, the dealer declined. The manufacturer was contacted, and a case was filed. The contact stated that the manufacturer had not approved the request for a thorough diagnostic test due to the cost. The failure mileage was approximately 1,000.
Complaints are unverified consumer reports submitted to NHTSA. A high complaint count may reflect vehicle popularity, not defect severity. Data sourced from NHTSA public records.
Data synced from NHTSA on Apr 26, 2026