Consumer Safety Complaints
Search 2,215,138 safety complaints filed by vehicle owners with NHTSA — including 138,663 crashes, 56,255 fires, and 8,561 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 2,215,138 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 34,453 complaints for SUBARU
Incident date: Jun 27, 2022
Two dead batteries in 5 days. Dealer is looking at it this week.
Incident date: Jul 1, 2022
The battery has had to be jumped 3 times in the last six months. And less than 29,000 miles. Took to dealership on July 5 and they said no issue and next time it happens would need to have it towed. Just worried it could happen in a remote place or in the evening.
Incident date: Jul 11, 2022
It has been since February and they still do not have a fix for recall 21V-955 I have called the dealership several times without a solution.
Incident date: Jun 27, 2022
The windshield is fragile- there have been 2 broken windshields in the last 3 months- one from a minor ding and one that is not confirmed as to why the crack started (dealer says a ding- we did not hear or see a ding prior to the crack popping into place as we were driving). In both cases the cracks extended to over 50% of the windshield rapidly and suddenly while driving. The sudden nature and ... Read more
Incident date: Jul 11, 2022
The key will not come out of the ignition when the engine has stopped. It has to be restarted (often multiple times) before the key will come out. Does not happen every time but is frequent. This could lead people to leave the key in place if they are in a hurry and result in the possibility of theft. Roommate has 2017 Outback that does the same thing and was told that it could be fixed but the co... Read more
Incident date: Jul 11, 2022
2015 SUBARU FORESTER. CONSUMER WRITES IN REGARD TO DEFECTIVE FIRESTONE TIRES. THE CONSUMER STATE THE TREAD SEPARATED FROM THE TIRE AND NEEDED TO BE REPLACED.
Incident date: Jul 5, 2022
The vehicle engine revved higher and would not stop even while applying the brakes. I was stopped in a parking lot waiting to take a left. As I took the turn, a mother and her two children exited the store quickly in my path. I took my foot off the gas and pressed on the brakes. The engine continued to accelerate and did not slow with the brake being applied. I slipped it into neutral while p... Read more
Incident date: Jul 9, 2022
Sitting in line to get gas and when I put car in Drive it went to full throttle and struck two vehicles in front of me. Car ended up on resting on driver's side and had to be towed.
Crash
Incident date: Sep 13, 2017
The contact stated that his girlfriend owns a 2018 Subaru Forester. The contact stated that when the vehicle was purchased, the front windshield seal dislodged and was visible by the dashboard. The contact stated that the seal should not be visible. The dealer was contacted and stated that they could not repair the windshield. The contact stated that a rock recently struck the windshield and a spi... Read more
Incident date: Jul 11, 2022
The vehicle has 27000 miles and the windshield shows multiple small chips and voids. The windshield is really thin and can’t take any wear and tear.
Incident date: Jul 11, 2022
The vehicle has 27000 miles and the windshield shows multiple small chips and voids. The windshield is really thin and can’t take any wear and tear.
Incident date: Jul 11, 2022
The glass sheet on the vehicle’s sunroof spontaneously exploded while I was driving on the freeway. Some broken shards fell onto myself and into the cabin as the interior pull cover was in the open position at the time of the explosion. Luckily no additional passengers were in the vehicle at the time of the incident. I was in shock as I heard and felt the explosion. As broken shards were fal... Read more
Incident date: Jul 11, 2022
The glass sheet on the vehicle’s sunroof spontaneously exploded while I was driving on the freeway. Some broken shards fell onto myself and into the cabin as the interior pull cover was in the open position at the time of the explosion. Luckily no additional passengers were in the vehicle at the time of the incident. I was in shock as I heard and felt the explosion. As broken shards were fal... Read more
Incident date: Jul 6, 2022
Windshield cracked for no reason at all. This vehicle had been parked on my driveway and had not been driven in about 3 days. There are no trees or anything near the driveway that could have fallen on the car. While the car was parked on my driveway, the car was facing away from the street. The next morning the crack had already expanded and covered most of the middle part of the windshield.... Read more
Incident date: Jun 1, 2022
Power adjustment of Driver's seat front left corner does not raise in synch with right side. This causes the seat to be uneven, resulting in an unsafe driving position. Apparently the weld of the adjustment arm breaking is a well known and documented issue based on even a cursory internet search.
Incident date: Jun 1, 2022
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.
Incident date: Jul 10, 2022
It has happened 3 times. I was approaching a traffic light about 200 yards away, and it was changing to yellow. I was in the left lane of a 3-lane small highway, there was a left turn lane, then my lane and the right lane. Someone started standing on their brakes in front of me, I looked into my rear-view and saw that someone was approaching me quickly, so I looked to my right and saw that I c... Read more
Incident date: Jul 6, 2022
We had a rock fly up and hit the windshield 7" below top center of windshield, on impact the crack was over 12" in length, now the Crack is now over 24" in length.
Incident date: Jul 7, 2022
Drive to visit family, no rock chips, no accidents; pulled in about 7pm. Next morning Woke up at 0600 to a severe crack in the windshield.
Incident date: Jul 9, 2022
Battery found dead 2x First time July 2021, replaced battery Second time July 2022, car will not start
Incident date: Jul 3, 2022
The car battery will drain completely when the car is not being driven. This has happened to us numerous times while camping leaving us in a remote area with a dead battery and no cell phone service to call for help
Incident date: Jul 1, 2022
Battery keeps dying. Replaced the battery and it’s already dead again.
Incident date: Nov 27, 2021
Sudden, without any warning, complete engine failure. Luckily I was in the right hand lane while ascending a major mountain pass. We were in the midst of a "atmospheric river" with rain coming from all directions when the engine just stopped. I muscled the car onto a very narrow shoulder and called for help, I knew we were in a very dangerous situation as this was the Saturday after Thanksgivin... Read more
Incident date: Jul 7, 2022
On 7/7/2022 I was traveling the Blue Ridge parkway and heard a pop sound and saw about 5 inch windshield crack from edge of my Driver A-post frame traveling horizontally toward the center of the vehicle. I did not see anything hit the windshield. By the time I got to a rest stop the crack continued to travel across toward the center of the vehicle. I saw no evidence of impact at the edge of wi... Read more
Incident date: Jul 6, 2022
A pebble hit my windshield and now there's a crack from the bottom all the way to the other side
Incident date: Jul 2, 2022
Touch screen began to get bubbles underneath factory glass and is causing spontaneous touch-activation and inability to use touch screen.
Incident date: Jun 11, 2022
The windshield cracked itself without being hit by anything. The crack grows visibly once in a while.
Incident date: Jul 4, 2022
Battery suddenly died. Would not start after being driven a short trip.
Incident date: Jan 10, 2022
I have videos. I have been having major issues with a lot of aspects of the car. However, the most concerning is the obstacle detection going off randomly when there is NOTHING in front of the car, and the other major issue is that the lane assist feature keeps pulling the car out of the lane I am in. Randomly throughout a cruise control drive, the car will pull towards an inner lane. I fight with... Read more
Incident date: Jan 10, 2022
I have videos. I have been having major issues with a lot of aspects of the car. However, the most concerning is the obstacle detection going off randomly when there is NOTHING in front of the car, and the other major issue is that the lane assist feature keeps pulling the car out of the lane I am in. Randomly throughout a cruise control drive, the car will pull towards an inner lane. I fight with... Read more
Incident date: Jan 10, 2022
I have videos. I have been having major issues with a lot of aspects of the car. However, the most concerning is the obstacle detection going off randomly when there is NOTHING in front of the car, and the other major issue is that the lane assist feature keeps pulling the car out of the lane I am in. Randomly throughout a cruise control drive, the car will pull towards an inner lane. I fight with... Read more
Incident date: Jul 7, 2022
The windshield cracked itself.
Incident date: Jun 8, 2022
On June 8 after waiting for my garage door to rise, my 2018 Subaru Forester suddenly shot through the door, across the garage, through a 7 ft high wooden cupboard, through the back wall, across the basement steps, into the wall that backs up to the kitchen, shoving my stove one and a half feet into the kitchen. I was able to back out because I believe the right front tire ran on the top basement s... Read more
Crash
Incident date: Feb 10, 2022
Battery, electrical system was doing funny things I noticed then a day or two later my wife and daughter got stranded at a gas station and I had to go jump the car to get them home in the middle of the night we called the dealership a few times and they said that all battery's die they just said to go buy a new battery no warning light nothing
Incident date: Jul 3, 2022
I purchased my 2019 Forester brand new and have had minimal issues… most are just annoyances. However, this past weekend I got in my car and there was a spontaneous crack through the middle of the windshield. By the second day, it has expanded to halfway or past halfway across. The crack in directly in the line of sight. When looking into replacement, I realized this is a common issue. I ha... Read more
Incident date: Jul 6, 2022
My car was parked outside on the street and when I went to drive it the next morning the windshield had a foot long crack in it. There is no obvious point of collision--it looks like it just split. I will need to replace the windshield for around $1300 since the crack is so large.
Incident date: Jul 4, 2022
Car stalls when coming to a stop. This is a known problem with an active tsb but Subaru will not support repairs. This is dangerous when engine quits unexpectedly
Incident date: Jul 6, 2022
I used my windshield washer fluid to wash my windshield and a crack appeared from the bottom driver side of my windshield. I took the car to a Subaru dealership to have the windshield replaced under the Subaru extended windshield warranty program since there was no impact. My claim was denied because the crack was too far towards the driver side of the car.
Incident date: Jan 6, 2020
Purchased the car used took to dealership for rattle from front end, they diagnosed and recommended replacement of steering rack as it was defective, so it was replaced, a month later same noise, same diagnosis, replaced again, repeated this 7 times and they have reconfirmed it is the rack, the dealership technician states it’s the rack and not as it should be. The manager however is trying to s... Read more
Incident date: Dec 9, 2021
The contact owns a 2020 Subaru Ascent. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 21V955000 (Power Train) however, the part to do the recall repair was unavailable. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The manufacturer was made aware of the issue. The contact had not experienced a failure. Parts distribution disco... Read more
Incident date: Jul 3, 2022
Without anything noticeable hitting the windshield, it was fine on July 2nd 2022 and when I went to get in to drive the next morning there was a crack in the windshield.
Incident date: Jun 22, 2022
The contact owns a 2020 Subaru Outback. The contact stated while driving approximately 25 MPH, the vehicle inadvertently stopped in the middle of the road. There was no warning light illuminated. The contact engaged the hazard lights; the police arrived on the scene and helped to move the vehicle safely to the side of the road. The vehicle was towed to the dealer. The dealer diagnosed the vehicle ... Read more
Incident date: Jul 5, 2022
My 2016 Subaru Outback has some kind of an electrical malfunction such that the battery drains rapidly. I have had to replace the battery in my car four times since purchase in 2016. I am now on my fifth battery in six years of ownership. Most recently, my battery died today 7/5/22, and required replacement.
Incident date: Jul 1, 2022
The windshield spontaneously cracked while driving at 60 mph. The crack is from the lower passenger side and extends approximately 8 inches. Did not notice a rock or object hitting the glass.
Incident date: Jun 8, 2022
Starlink Infotainment System has malfunctioned. I took the car to Bert Smith Subaru in St. Petersburg, FL and the assessment notes the screen has started to delaminate rendering the touchscreen and system inoperable. The dealer estimate to replace the unit was $2862.79. My 2019 Outback 2.5 Limited is equipped with the Harman Gen. 3.0 Audio and Navigation head unit. This is the same unit that was ... Read more
Incident date: Mar 1, 2022
Windshield started cracking. Affects EyeSight safety system.
Incident date: Jul 5, 2022
Three issues with the headlights. First, major shadowing. From the bumper to 6 feet out there is a dark spot. Second issue. Vehicle is two weeks old. We drive twisty windy roads. Headlights are almost a foot and a half low at 25ft. You can not see more than 50 feet on roads that are hilly due to the headlights being low and the auto level not correcting fast enough. I do not understand at all ho... Read more
Incident date: Mar 31, 2022
The contact owns a 2022 Subaru Forester. The contact stated that while driving at 60 MPH, a rock struck the bottom middle of the windshield glass. The rock became imbedded inside the windshield glass which caused water to leak inside the vehicle. The dealer was notified of the failure and insisted that the windshield glass be replaced with the same type of glass and not an aftermarket glass. The c... Read more
Incident date: Mar 31, 2022
The contact owns a 2022 Subaru Forester. The contact stated that while driving at 60 MPH, a rock struck the bottom middle of the windshield glass. The rock became imbedded inside the windshield glass which caused water to leak inside the vehicle. The dealer was notified of the failure and insisted that the windshield glass be replaced with the same type of glass and not an aftermarket glass. The c... Read more