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: Apr 24, 2021
Crack in windshield, line of sight of driver.
Incident date: Jun 7, 2021
Windshield accumulated a small crack in the lower passenger side, about 6in long and a quarter up from the bottom of windshield. It's now continued to grow and is now half of the windshield.
Incident date: May 15, 2022
Windshield cracked while driving.
Incident date: May 10, 2022
1. The electrical system/battery failed after only 392 miles. Car could not be jumped. When the cables were put on the battery, the tech said they got real hot (which leads us to believe it was shorting out.) Even though Subaru blamed the battery, the dashboard lights, the horn, and the headlights were all flickering and flashing like a Christmas tree. The car had also just been driven 45 minut... Read more
Incident date: May 10, 2022
1. The electrical system/battery failed after only 392 miles. Car could not be jumped. When the cables were put on the battery, the tech said they got real hot (which leads us to believe it was shorting out.) Even though Subaru blamed the battery, the dashboard lights, the horn, and the headlights were all flickering and flashing like a Christmas tree. The car had also just been driven 45 minut... Read more
Incident date: May 5, 2022
vehicle about 14 months old, I purchased new Tried to start vehicle battery dead, no lights or other acc. had been left on. two weeks later battery would not start car, I jump started car according to directions in owners manual. After jump start several check engine lights came on, cruise control did not work. lane control and "EYESIGHT" failure warning light was on. Subaru dealer replaced bat... Read more
Incident date: May 16, 2022
In my many years of driving quite a number of different cars, I've never had a car's windshield perform so poorly. In only 10k miles of just daily commuting my windshield has accumulated 8 chips. Luckily the windshield hasn't cracked yet, but I fear its only a matter of time. It seems just the smallest impact WILL chip the windshield if not crack it. This seems to be an ongoing problem with the Ca... Read more
Incident date: Jan 15, 2022
The contact owns a 2020 Subaru Outback. The contact stated that while the vehicle was parked at the residence underneath the carport, she noticed there was a crack on the front driver’s side windshield. The contact took the vehicle to the dealer and the dealer replaced the windshield. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 20,000.
Incident date: Sep 1, 2021
Battery drains quickly and car dies, even after replacing with a brand new battery.
Incident date: May 2, 2022
Windshield - Randomly cracked while parked in garage (no rock or road damage). Windshield crack started at bottom middle passenger side, spread across entire windshield. Second time windshield cracked in same location with no evidence of rock or road damage. Windshield was replaced with OEM windshield when the crack happened again.
Incident date: May 9, 2022
There have been three cracks in the front windshield in 18 months with little to no provocation. These have required replacement of the front windshield and re-calibration of eyesight. With each crack, there was little to no cause. On one occasion, there was a tiny piece of gravel that resulted in a crack that extended across 50% of the front windshield. My concern is for my personal safety shoul... Read more
Incident date: May 14, 2022
I was driving at approximately 5 mph, on a road with several steep speed bumps, with no cars around and no overhanging trees, and suddenly a 24-inch hairline crack popped across the driver's side of my windshield. There's no evidence of any impact at all on the windshield--the crack is entirely in between the laminate. Entire windshield now needs to be replaced and I assume the EyeSight recalibrat... Read more
Incident date: May 16, 2022
I picked up my vehicle that was made to order from the factory on 2/18/22. I drove the car for 12 days and found the steering to be over sensitive. The steering wheel felt disconnected from the car. I returned the car to the dealer from which it was purchased. The service advisor test drove the car and documented on the invoice that the car felt like” it wanders”. He also verbally stated on ... Read more
Incident date: May 14, 2022
Vehicle was parked in sunlight for approximately 4 hours on a private driveway. Came back and there was a 12+ inch crack in the windshield. No evidence of rock chips. Glass will not be able to be inspected because it needed to be replaced.
Incident date: May 15, 2022
Battery is going dead after short periods of time. Replaced battery 3x in the last year and a half. After researching, this is a big problem with the 2017 Subaru Outback
Incident date: May 15, 2022
Three times for no apparent reason the battery has drained completely after car was sitting fir a day. Subaru replaced the battery after 2nd time but now it is happening again with new battery.
Incident date: May 15, 2022
Spontaneous crack of the windshield
Incident date: May 15, 2022
I bought a 2022 Subaru Outback and have had it for 3 months. It wav very hot yesterday and I took it through a car wash. When it came out of the car wash the windshield was cracked. It has several spider cracks coming down from the roof. Each of the 3 cracks were about 4 inches long. By the time i drove home the cracks are now 12 inches. This is very disheartening.
Incident date: Apr 28, 2022
While driving on highway using cruise control at 70 mph my car suddenly stalled …. I was able to get to apron of road , but my steering locked and I had no brakes.. I could put car into neutral but had to “jam” it into park , trying to get it to stop rolling . It would not restart . I had it towed to an auto repair center as there was no Subaru dealer in the area. Because I had kept try... Read more
Incident date: Apr 28, 2022
While driving on highway using cruise control at 70 mph my car suddenly stalled …. I was able to get to apron of road , but my steering locked and I had no brakes.. I could put car into neutral but had to “jam” it into park , trying to get it to stop rolling . It would not restart . I had it towed to an auto repair center as there was no Subaru dealer in the area. Because I had kept try... Read more
Incident date: Apr 28, 2022
While driving on highway using cruise control at 70 mph my car suddenly stalled …. I was able to get to apron of road , but my steering locked and I had no brakes.. I could put car into neutral but had to “jam” it into park , trying to get it to stop rolling . It would not restart . I had it towed to an auto repair center as there was no Subaru dealer in the area. Because I had kept try... Read more
Incident date: May 12, 2022
Our battery continually dies if we don’t drive it for 2 days. At first we thought it was just the battery but it keeps doing it. Our mechanic tried to fix it but it still happens. We had to buy a portable jumper because it happens so much. I see this also happens to Outback’s and other Subarus.
Incident date: May 10, 2022
The battery drains while the vehicle is off. The car is frequently dead after being off for a short period of time, requiring jump starts and replacement batteries far more often than with a typical vehicle.
Incident date: May 14, 2022
After the Second battery gave us a problems I asked for a larger battery with extended warranty. They couldn’t do that so I bought an Interstate battery for $115 plus $125 bracket March 16,2022. We had paid Subaru $160 for the original battery replacement in 10/16/19.
Incident date: May 13, 2022
For the third time this Spring, my 2020 Subaru Outback has failed to start. It appears that something within the electrical system of the car is draining the battery. Each time I have been unable to start the car the car has sat unused for 3-4 days. Fortunately I have not been stranded ... yet. I have had to call road service each time. The car has only 23000 miles on it and the car has been garag... Read more
Incident date: May 14, 2022
2020 outback with just over 2,000 miles. Batteries (two) have completely fails twice. Six times we have had to jump these batteries. My wife had to be given a ride home from the “Y” once. I am now on my 3rd battery. Dealer says there is nothing wrong with this car. They say I need to disconnect battery if car is not to be used for a length of time. This is unacceptable, however, there seems t... Read more
Incident date: Apr 28, 2022
While a relative was driving my 2 week old 2022 subaru outback, he had a minor impact from a very small rock that left no visible damage. The next day, a large crack had appeared in the middle of the driver’s side from the edge to the rear view mirror. I could not get an appointment to get it replaced until next saturday and over the last 3 days the crack has grown significantly, including a p... Read more
Incident date: Nov 12, 2021
Windshield cracked on its own while parked inside home garage.
Incident date: May 13, 2022
While attempting to make a left turn the car stalled and lost all power. The car had to be restarted and was able to drive back home. Took the car to dealership who stated it was a battery issue and a plugged air filter. NO check of the transmission was completed. This is the CVT transmission. The battery is 6 months old and the battery was tested multiple times by other locations and teste... Read more
Incident date: May 9, 2022
On highway speeds, the hood, which is shut, rattles. I have not had the hood inspected nor I have brought it to the manufacturer.
Incident date: May 12, 2022
My car did not start and the anti-theft light came on the dashboard (the one with the car and lock symbol). I know battery issues have been a known problem with my subaru model and i bought the car in oct 2019 so it's been less than 3 years. The battery should not be dying this quickly. I had to get a jump start to get the car on. After a few hours, i tried starting it again and it did not work. I... Read more
Incident date: May 10, 2022
My 11 month old was able to reach underneath the headrest and scratch at the styrofoam. Chunks of styrofoam came out and she ate the styrofoam during a 4-hour car ride. The next day I found styrofoam in her stool.
Incident date: May 13, 2022
Windshield loud pop then cracked feom bottom up.
Incident date: May 11, 2022
Windshield is very susceptible to cracking. I had a small stone hit our windshield in spring 2020 that made a huge crack in the windshield and required replacement and re-calibration of eyesight which was quite an expense. Yesterday, I was driving and a very small stone hit the windshield and again the windshield is cracked and will need replacing. I was not behind a truck or any construction... Read more
Incident date: May 12, 2022
The battery continually drains due to some electrical leak in the system (particularly when the rear liftgate is left up and the interior lights are on for several hours), requiring jump starting of the vehicle on several occasions. I have had the battery serviced and checked several times, at my expense, with results being the battery was okay. Eventually, I had the battery replaced by a Subaru d... Read more
Incident date: Aug 18, 2021
Battery got drained many times, especially after leaving car not running for a couple weeks. One time car did not start. Had to replace battery for a better one. Better battery (Optima) works better but still drains.
Incident date: Dec 9, 2021
The contact owns a 2020 Subaru Outback. 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 not made aware of the issue. The contact had not experienced a failure. VIN tool confirms p... Read more
Incident date: May 1, 2022
The contact owns a 2020 Subaru Outback. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 21V955000 (Power Train) however, the part to do the recall repair was unavailable. The local dealer was contacted and confirmed that the part was not available. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The manufacturer was made aware of... Read more
Incident date: May 11, 2022
Vehicle has 10,800 miles and this is the third broken windshield. The smallest road debris results in failure of the Carlex factory equipped windshield. I have never replaced a windshield in 35 years of driving many vehicles, this 2022 Subaru Outback appears to break continually. It is a costly repair.
Incident date: May 12, 2022
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 local dealer was contacted and confirmed that the part was not available. The contact stated that the manufacturer exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The manufacturer was not made aware of ... Read more
Incident date: May 11, 2022
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.
Incident date: Feb 9, 2022
Similar to recall notice WUM-98R (NHTSA 19V-701). Passenger seat occupancy sensor is intermittent indicating no passenger when one is present or, at times, indicating a passenger when none is present causing the seat belt warning and air bag system to malfunction. Currently, this occurs about 80% of the time. When I queried the internet about this issue, I found the referenced recall. Subaru c... Read more
Incident date: Feb 9, 2022
Similar to recall notice WUM-98R (NHTSA 19V-701). Passenger seat occupancy sensor is intermittent indicating no passenger when one is present or, at times, indicating a passenger when none is present causing the seat belt warning and air bag system to malfunction. Currently, this occurs about 80% of the time. When I queried the internet about this issue, I found the referenced recall. Subaru c... Read more
Incident date: May 6, 2022
On a hot day, 90F my window cracked after i turned on the AC unit. Next day it cracked even further.
Incident date: Feb 28, 2022
Experienced intermittent starting problems, with other odd warning light behaviors, including unable to turn them off to try again. I know another 2016 Outback owner that was given a new battery at no charge. I paid $203.60 for new battery on 03/02/2022
Incident date: Feb 28, 2022
Experienced intermittent starting problems, with other odd warning light behaviors, including unable to turn them off to try again. I know another 2016 Outback owner that was given a new battery at no charge. I paid $203.60 for new battery on 03/02/2022
Incident date: May 8, 2022
The contact owns a 2017 Subaru Outback. The contact stated that the windshield cracked on the upper driver’s side windshield and extended to the center of the windshield. There was no impact to the windshield to cause the crack. The contact had not informed a dealer of the failure. The windshield had not been replaced. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The approximate failure m... Read more
Incident date: May 1, 2022
While car was parked overnight the windshield cracked. The windshield was not cracked and there were no signs of any damage when I left the car 12 hours prior. The next morning it was cracked with no sign of any debris or solid matter that may have caused it. I am happy it did not happen while driving. I have an appointment to get it fixed May 10, 2022 at 10 am. I was told by an independent ser... Read more
Incident date: May 9, 2022
Cracked for no apparent reason on Monday 5/9/2022
Incident date: Jan 25, 2019
The day I bought the car new I left the tailgate open all night the next day the battery was dead. This should not have happened to a brand new car. The next incident occurred this year on 3/18. I was sitting in the car waiting for my husband. I was there for about an hour. I was listening to the radio and talking on the phone. When I tried to start the car the battery was dead. The AAA person sa... Read more