Consumer Safety Complaints
Search 2,245,377 safety complaints filed by vehicle owners with NHTSA, including 140,173 crashes, 56,794 fires, and 8,580 deaths.
What is a NHTSA consumer complaint?
A consumer complaint is a free-form report filed by a vehicle owner directly to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) describing a safety concern about their vehicle. NHTSA collects these reports through its Vehicle Owner Defect Report (VOQ) system and publishes them publicly. Each complaint includes the affected component, the date and circumstances of the incident, whether the failure caused a crash or fire, and any reported injuries or deaths. The owner's full narrative description is included verbatim, NHTSA does not edit or moderate the descriptions.
The database below contains over 2,245,377 individual complaints. NHTSA's investigators monitor it for clusters of similar reports, when enough owners describe the same failure mode on the same vehicle, NHTSA may open a Preliminary Evaluation that can lead to a recall. Many of the largest recalls in U.S. history, including the Takata airbag recall and the Hyundai/Kia engine fire recalls, started as patterns visible in this complaint database years before they became formal recalls.
How to interpret what you read
A few principles for reading consumer complaints usefully:
- One complaint is anecdote; a hundred similar complaints is data. NHTSA does not investigate the truthfulness of any individual report, that's the job of the Office of Defects Investigation, which looks at the full pattern. When evaluating a vehicle, look for whether multiple owners describe the same chain of events.
- Crash, fire, injury, and death flags are owner-set. They are not verified by NHTSA. They are still useful as a filter, because owners who tick those boxes are typically reporting more serious incidents than those who don't.
- Component categories are NHTSA-assigned, not owner-assigned. NHTSA standardizes the component field so that complaints can be aggregated. The owner narrative often goes into more detail than the component category captures.
- Complaint volume scales with sales volume. A best-selling model will accumulate more raw complaints than a niche model even at the same defect rate. To compare across vehicles, look at complaints per 100,000 units sold, not raw counts.
If you've experienced a defect
File a complaint. NHTSA's investigators rely on this database to detect emerging defects, and useful complaints, specific, concrete, with dates and mileage and clear descriptions of what happened, feed directly into the agency's pattern detection. The form takes about 10 minutes and is at nhtsa.gov/recalls under "Report a Safety Problem." Your complaint becomes part of the same public record that this page is built from. Owners filing detailed VOQs are how recalls get triggered.
Read more from our blog
Showing 35,035 complaints for SUBARU
Incident date: Nov 8, 2022
We have owned two 2015 Subaru Legacy sedans. Both of them have had major battery problems. We've had to have battery tenders (trickle-chargers) installed on both cars, and we're still having battery problems. We've been stuck in various parking lots, unable to start the car, and had to get jumps from others. This is a royal pain, and a potential safety hazard if we are stuck in a remote locati... Read more
Incident date: Apr 4, 2020
Complete Battery drainage started when the car had about 30k miles. Batery was replaced around December 2020 at owners expense. Within a year the baterry drainage started happening again, randomly, after parking. Subaru dealer suggested to keep replacing baterry. Issue has not been reproduced by service department; it randomly happens. It has not been inspected by others.
Incident date: Oct 2, 2022
Having a problem with battery draining while the car is turned off. Experienced it previously 24,095 miles and 3 years on the first battery. Had to call AAA and get a jump start, and simply replaced the battery (9/18/19). Over the last year started experiencing similar problems with the replacement battery, and bought a battery charger, so when it would not start in the morning, I would put it ... Read more
Incident date: Nov 7, 2022
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 ve... Read more
Incident date: Nov 5, 2022
Summary of Electrical system issues: 1.pertaining to battery draining and 2. eyesight randomly goes out and other dash board lights flash and later goes away. As well as, 3. Windows that can not completely close at times. Details: I purchased 2016 Subaru outback - 4 cylinder in 2019 with 64,000 miles. By 2020, the car experienced random dashboard lights indicator flashing that would resolve itse... Read more
Incident date: Nov 5, 2022
Summary of Electrical system issues: 1.pertaining to battery draining and 2. eyesight randomly goes out and other dash board lights flash and later goes away. As well as, 3. Windows that can not completely close at times. Details: I purchased 2016 Subaru outback - 4 cylinder in 2019 with 64,000 miles. By 2020, the car experienced random dashboard lights indicator flashing that would resolve itse... Read more
Incident date: Nov 3, 2022
The contact owns a 2009 Subaru Forester. The contact stated that he had initially received a recall notice for NHTSA Campaign Number: 14V830000 (Service Brakes, Hydraulics). The vehicle was taken to the dealer where it was serviced. Recently, the contact stated that while going downhill in the reverse(R) position, he heard an abnormal popping sound upon depression of the brake pedal without warnin... Read more
Incident date: Nov 6, 2022
My brand new Subaru ignited in the engine compartment, burst into flames and exploded while I was driving it.
Fire
Incident date: Nov 6, 2022
My brand new Subaru ignited in the engine compartment, burst into flames and exploded while I was driving it.
Fire
Incident date: Nov 6, 2022
My brand new Subaru ignited in the engine compartment, burst into flames and exploded while I was driving it.
Fire
Incident date: Nov 1, 2022
Spontaneous cracking of windshield. There is no evidence of any damage on inside or exterior of windshield. The crack appears to be in the interior fabric of the glass projecting down from the dotted portion adjacent to the rear view mirror. The car was in the garage, temperatures outside were moderate. We had a similar problem with a 2015 Subaru Forrester that had the windshield replaced under a ... Read more
Incident date: Oct 4, 2022
In the winter of 2021-22, while parallel parking, backing up, then pressing the brake, my Crosstrek spontaneously accelerated in reverse and rammed into the truck already parked behind me. The Crosstrek paused, then rammed again, as I pressed harder on the brake. I put the car into “park” and turned off the engine. I was baffled and had no explanation for what happened. Thank goodness a person... Read more
Crash
1 injured
Incident date: Nov 5, 2022
Windshield cracked on driver’s side - appeared while at a stop. no debris on road, no accidents. Vehicle is 2 weeks old.
Incident date: Oct 18, 2019
I have had to replace the battery multiple times since purchasing the vehicle in 2017. Each time the battery was determined to be unusable by qualified service staff. Battery replacements occurred on (1) 2019-10-18 at 34,877 miles and on (2) 2022-02-24 at 67,339 miles. The first occurrence left me stranded at a hotel on a sub-freezing day. The second occurrence left me stranded in a parking lot. B... Read more
Incident date: Sep 9, 2022
Navigation screen is delaminating and bubbling under the touch screen. It would cause navigation touch screen to detect phantom inputs and cause radio/telephone to do random actions (ie. calling random people, cycle radio stations, map zoom in) that is very distracting to driver. Screen would be completely unresponsive to touch input or button input.
Incident date: May 1, 2022
The audio unit is malfunctioning, it constantly makes distracting intermittent tone sounds, continuously flashes and changes between AM, FM, Sirius and Bluetooth modes, makes random autonomous phone calls, touchscreen doesn't respond to touch, sound will randomly spike at high volumes. All of this makes it extremely distracting to safely drive the car. This has been happening since last June 2022.... Read more
Incident date: Nov 2, 2022
While I was doing parallel parking, the car on its own went into involuntary, sudden, uncontrolled acceleration & hit a tree & bushes resulting into considerable body damage. Then I called Subaru national customer relations representative & I was told to go to the local Subaru dealer where I had purchased the car about four and a half years ago. The mechanic there told me that he had never heard... Read more
Crash
Incident date: Nov 2, 2022
While I was doing parallel parking, the car on its own went into involuntary, sudden, uncontrolled acceleration & hit a tree & bushes resulting into considerable body damage. Then I called Subaru national customer relations representative & I was told to go to the local Subaru dealer where I had purchased the car about four and a half years ago. The mechanic there told me that he had never heard... Read more
Crash
Incident date: Nov 2, 2022
While I was doing parallel parking, the car on its own went into involuntary, sudden, uncontrolled acceleration & hit a tree & bushes resulting into considerable body damage. Then I called Subaru national customer relations representative & I was told to go to the local Subaru dealer where I had purchased the car about four and a half years ago. The mechanic there told me that he had never heard... Read more
Crash
Incident date: Nov 3, 2022
Rock chip on windshield spread across whole windshield in 2 days. Had to pay $1200 to have it replaced with a third party windshield.
Incident date: Nov 2, 2022
I purchased a 2021 Subaru Forester with approximately 9000 miles on the odometer. Purchase was made on October 18, 2022, then on October 19, 2022 I experienced unintended acceleration on my way home that day with the car. The car just seemed to have a mind of its own and just "took off" at high speed and quickly it returned to normal. I simply thought I did something wrong and kept driving the car... Read more
Crash
Incident date: Nov 3, 2022
Left town for 3 weeks and upon return the battery was dead. This happened the last time the car was not driven for several weeks, in Spring of 2020. A new battery was purchased at that time, even though the original battery was only ~3.5 years old. The current battery is only 2.5 years old and should be able to hold a charge for 3 weeks. Every time the car goes for an extended time without being d... Read more
Incident date: Oct 1, 2022
I walked out to my car in garage and there was a crack from the driver's side corner over 50 percent across the windshield. only 3k miles and NOT hit by a rock etc. windshield to be replaced and while waiting driving home w loud explosion...other side of glass has a huge break with no rocks or cars around.
Incident date: Oct 28, 2022
Some of the starling services associated with my 2023 Subaru Outback are not functioning as they should. The vehicle was purchased on 10/28/2022 and on 10/29/2022 I took it back to the dealer. I was told by the service department that the issue would have to be dealt with by the sales department since it was a Starling issue. The sale team then looked into the issue and I was told that the softwar... Read more
Incident date: Sep 13, 2022
The battery in my 2019 Subaru WRX failed after buying it brand new from the dealer, after less than 2 years of owning the vehicle. Almost one year later, my car now won't start if I leave it off for more than 24 hrs. In 2019 I left the car powered off for over a week and it started right up no hesitation. This is a huge problem now as I work remotely and don't need to drive my car every day howeve... Read more
Incident date: Sep 13, 2022
The battery in my 2019 Subaru WRX failed after buying it brand new from the dealer, after less than 2 years of owning the vehicle. Almost one year later, my car now won't start if I leave it off for more than 24 hrs. In 2019 I left the car powered off for over a week and it started right up no hesitation. This is a huge problem now as I work remotely and don't need to drive my car every day howeve... Read more
Incident date: Nov 2, 2022
Took in 2 yr old car relating to vehicle veering to the right, ticking helicopter noise on driver side. Took to Continental Subaru Anchorage Alaska on 11/2/22. For tire change over, alignment, oil change and for diagnostics on noise. I was told that my vehicle needed a complete driver side cx axle replacement. After axle was installed, they said they heard another noise and that it was my transmi... Read more
Incident date: Nov 2, 2022
Took in 2 yr old car relating to vehicle veering to the right, ticking helicopter noise on driver side. Took to Continental Subaru Anchorage Alaska on 11/2/22. For tire change over, alignment, oil change and for diagnostics on noise. I was told that my vehicle needed a complete driver side cx axle replacement. After axle was installed, they said they heard another noise and that it was my transmi... Read more
Incident date: Aug 5, 2019
One morning when I got my car from the garage, it had a cracked windshield near the driver size bottom glass. Happened overnight while in the garage. Took it to Subaru and they agreed to replace it under warranty. They put in a new one, and as I was driving on the freeway, I heard a huge boom sound from the windshield, which startled me! They another boom/cracking sound. The windshield didn't crac... Read more
Incident date: Jun 30, 2016
I have had to replace my Subaru Forester battery at least 4 times since I have owned it. The battery dies within a few days of replacing and I am forced to jumpstart the vehicle every time I want to drive. This has been happening since the day I bought the vehicle...
Incident date: Nov 3, 2022
My dashboard for the past several months has intermittently indicated that there is an issue with my front passenger airbag. I just discovered there was a recall for this issue for cars manufactured with heated seats the same year as my vehicle but my vehicle is not part of the recall. This recall may need to be expanded.
Incident date: Nov 3, 2022
My dashboard for the past several months has intermittently indicated that there is an issue with my front passenger airbag. I just discovered there was a recall for this issue for cars manufactured with heated seats the same year as my vehicle but my vehicle is not part of the recall. This recall may need to be expanded.
Incident date: Nov 3, 2022
Car is continually draining battery, causing vehicle to fail twice now due to a completely dead battery, once was while parked, once while idling with car in drive on road.
Incident date: Nov 3, 2022
Windshield cracked for no apparent reason. It is cracked from the passenger side to the middle of the vehicle. The car was parked when this occurred. There isn’t an object near the crack.
Incident date: Oct 29, 2022
The contact owns a 2015 Subaru Forester. The contact stated upon pulling into a parking space, the brake pedal was depressed, however, the vehicle accelerated unintendedly and crashed into the side of the apartment building of her friend. The contact stated that the crash damaged the apartment of her friend located on the first floor. There was no warning light illuminated. The air bags failed to ... Read more
Crash
Incident date: Nov 1, 2022
TCV valve failed and as a result RAB and Eyesight were disabled. The TCV has a known defective design and there is a bulletin about it. MC-10208664-0001 https://static.nhtsa.gov/odi/tsbs/2022/MC-10208664-0001.pdf
Incident date: Nov 1, 2022
TCV valve failed and as a result RAB and Eyesight were disabled. The TCV has a known defective design and there is a bulletin about it. MC-10208664-0001 https://static.nhtsa.gov/odi/tsbs/2022/MC-10208664-0001.pdf
Incident date: Nov 1, 2022
TCV valve failed and as a result RAB and Eyesight were disabled. The TCV has a known defective design and there is a bulletin about it. MC-10208664-0001 https://static.nhtsa.gov/odi/tsbs/2022/MC-10208664-0001.pdf
Incident date: Jul 15, 2020
Loud cabin roar since purchase. Diagnosed on 11/1/2022 to be front right wheel bearing being bad (not damaged/worn) at 40k miles
Incident date: Oct 1, 2022
Started having issue with the engine making loud rattle noises and oil pressure was not consistent. Upon further investigating I removed the oil pan and removed the oil pickup. The oil pickup screen was full of RTV sealant causing the oil pickup to struggle with maintaining proper oil pressure and flow to the engine. I ended up having to change my timing belt tensioners because one went bad. Proba... Read more
Incident date: Nov 2, 2020
The contact owns a 2018 Subaru Legacy. The contact stated that the windshield fractured without impact on the lower passenger’s side of the windshield. The fracture started to spread up the windshield. The contact had not taken the vehicle to a dealer. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 65,000.
Incident date: Jun 17, 2022
Vehicle is failing to shift correctly causing low acceleration and road safety issues. Cruise control and manual shift paddles not working, multiple warning lights on.
Incident date: Jun 17, 2022
Vehicle is failing to shift correctly causing low acceleration and road safety issues. Cruise control and manual shift paddles not working, multiple warning lights on.
Incident date: Jun 17, 2022
Vehicle is failing to shift correctly causing low acceleration and road safety issues. Cruise control and manual shift paddles not working, multiple warning lights on.
Incident date: Jul 19, 2020
This car is having constant problems with the battery failing. It especially fails when we are going to any type of trip where packing the car is a process that takes time. The battery dies on us often and is unpredictable, leaving us stuck often. I bought this car because I want a RELIABLE car. At any moment we could be stuck somewhere with my kids. No warning comes on to prevent this from h... Read more
Incident date: Jul 19, 2020
This car is having constant problems with the battery failing. It especially fails when we are going to any type of trip where packing the car is a process that takes time. The battery dies on us often and is unpredictable, leaving us stuck often. I bought this car because I want a RELIABLE car. At any moment we could be stuck somewhere with my kids. No warning comes on to prevent this from h... Read more
Incident date: Nov 1, 2022
Brake fluid low (light on), added fluid. A week later the fluid is low again. Found recalls for this year Outback with similar potential problem. Upon inspection it appears that fluid is leaking at or near the coupler near the passenger rear wheel well. The BAJA is mechanically the same as the Outback. This model should be included on theses recalls. NHTSA Campaign Number: 13V110000 NHTSA Cam... Read more
Incident date: Oct 20, 2022
The other day, the check engine light came on & Eyesight was disabled. I take it to the nearest mechanic who tells me that the cooling fans are running too long at idle & this could drain the battery. He also tells me to watch for the engine overheating. The recently checked coolant level had dropped lower than the minimum. I take it to dealer who keeps it for day. Similar to the 2 other compla... Read more
Incident date: Oct 29, 2022
1. Fragile windshield, easily get cracks on it. It is available for inspection upon request. 2. Could cause serious problem if the crakes are bigger and on the diver's side. 3. Not yet. But a lot other Subaru Forester owners have experienced the same problem. 4. Not yet. 5. No.
Incident date: Oct 27, 2022
The contact owns a 2013 Subaru Forester. The contact stated that while coasting downhill into his carport to park his vehicle, the vehicle independently accelerated forward and crashed his camper. The vehicle became wedged underneath the camper and all four legs of the camper to fold. The airbags did not deploy upon impact. The contact was not injured and a police report was not filed. The dealer ... Read more
Crash