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 9, 2022
Purchased my 4 tires, Good Year Assurance WeatherReady in Dec 2019 with 42,304 miles. My tire indicator light came on alerting of low tire pressure. Upon inspection of rear passenger tire, substantial dry rot on tire sidewall, inside. I only have 39,800 miles on the tire. Tire is a 60,000 mile tire. Tire is defective due to dry rot. Dry rot is so bad, tire does not hold air.
Incident date: Apr 10, 2022
I was turning around a bend, going approximately 35mpg, when the wheels no longer were turning as if not responding to the direction of the wheel, almost like it was operating independently of the steering column. The automobile slammed into the curb on the left of the road, damaging the alignment.
Crash
Incident date: Mar 18, 2020
My 2019 Subaru Outback has electrical battery and key fob issues. Generally I drive this vehicle daily and the car battery is alright. We go to visit our children and I park in a airport parking lot for about a week and when we return the battery is either dead or indicates needs charge. The key fob does not operate and have to resort to actual key. Vehicle indicates key fob battery needs repl... Read more
Incident date: Apr 7, 2022
3 weeks ago the all of the warning lights came on. Had vehicle towed to dealership. Could not find out what was wrong. Saw there was a lot of carbon build up which was unusual since there is only 26,000 miles on vehicle. After a week a dealership a cleaning took it home. Went back the next day. They inspected and stated it was the spark plugs and needed new fuel injectors. Had replaced. Everything... Read more
Fire
Incident date: Apr 7, 2022
3 weeks ago the all of the warning lights came on. Had vehicle towed to dealership. Could not find out what was wrong. Saw there was a lot of carbon build up which was unusual since there is only 26,000 miles on vehicle. After a week a dealership a cleaning took it home. Went back the next day. They inspected and stated it was the spark plugs and needed new fuel injectors. Had replaced. Everything... Read more
Fire
Incident date: Apr 7, 2022
3 weeks ago the all of the warning lights came on. Had vehicle towed to dealership. Could not find out what was wrong. Saw there was a lot of carbon build up which was unusual since there is only 26,000 miles on vehicle. After a week a dealership a cleaning took it home. Went back the next day. They inspected and stated it was the spark plugs and needed new fuel injectors. Had replaced. Everything... Read more
Fire
Incident date: Apr 9, 2022
The windshield cracked without any reason
Incident date: Apr 7, 2022
The windshield cracked 8+ inches due to a small rock that wouldn’t have cracked most other vehicle’s windshields. This happened the day after I bought it.
Incident date: Apr 1, 2022
Front windshield crack, around 10-15 inches of length, located at passenger area. Inspection is not necessary since the glass has been replaced, though pictures of glass crack on first appearance has been provided for reference. It is a safety risk due to obstruction of driver’s visibility also the possibility of glass crack expansion or shutter. The incident has been reported to the dealership ... Read more
Incident date: Mar 8, 2022
The contact owns a 2015 Subaru Forester. The contact stated that while the vehicle was parked outside during a snowstorm; while removing snow from the windshield, she noticed that the windshield was severely cracked. Additionally, the contact stated that the crack originated from the driver's side of the windshield to the passenger's side. The dealer and the manufacturer were not notified of the f... Read more
Incident date: Apr 7, 2022
The radio/touch screen unit has lost its contrast. In bright sunlight I can see an underlying circuit pattern on the screen that makes it hard or sometimes impossible to see the back up camera. Instead of seeing the image from the backup camera all I see are lines. I can no longer rely on the camera for safety support.
Incident date: Apr 7, 2022
The radio/touch screen unit has lost its contrast. In bright sunlight I can see an underlying circuit pattern on the screen that makes it hard or sometimes impossible to see the back up camera. Instead of seeing the image from the backup camera all I see are lines. I can no longer rely on the camera for safety support.
Incident date: Dec 2, 2019
It did not take more than one week after buying my new 2019 Subaru Forester in November 2019 when the windshield cracked for no reason. Due to the cost I have not replaced the windshield even today. I just read that there is a court case that forces Subaru to replace my windshield but requires me to file with a complaint through the NHTSA. Please accept this as my complaint.
Incident date: Apr 6, 2022
Large crack appeared in windshield. Car was parked at the time and was not hit by anything. Filed claim with insurance company and they are going to replace windshield. Called Evanston Subaru about incident about warranty coverage and they have not returned my call. I have read that this is a problem for Subarus.
Incident date: Apr 7, 2021
The contact owns a 2017 Subaru Legacy. The contact stated that there was air noises coming into the vehicle from the vents of the vehicle. The contact took the vehicle to the dealer who stated that they believed the noises were coming from near the mirrors of the vehicle. The vehicle had not been repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the issue. The approximate failure mileage was 20,000.
Incident date: Dec 2, 2021
The contact's wife owned a 2020 Subaru Legacy. The contact stated while his wife was driving approximately 3 MPH in a parking lot the vehicle suddenly accelerated and jumped the curb into woods and collided with a tree. The contact said his wife was not aware of any warning lights being illuminated. The vehicle front bumper and hood hit in the center and were both crumpled back about six inches. T... Read more
Crash
1 injured
Incident date: Apr 4, 2022
When trying to put the vehicle in park, the key will not release from the engine. After 10-15 minutes of trying, finally it will release, but in reading forums, thousands of customers have had similar issues. It seems to be a very known problem.
Incident date: Apr 4, 2022
When trying to put the vehicle in park, the key will not release from the engine. After 10-15 minutes of trying, finally it will release, but in reading forums, thousands of customers have had similar issues. It seems to be a very known problem.
Incident date: Mar 2, 2022
Car will repeatedly will not start. This has happened many times. New battery and with in weeks would not start again. Had battery checked and alternator both work fine. This is a safety issue if you need your vehicle for and emergency and it will not start.
Incident date: Feb 15, 2022
I was backing out of my driveway very slowly as usual. I checked the road both ways several times. A US mail truck evidently traveling at a high rate of speed came up behind me while I was looking in the opposite direction. The automatic braking did not kick in, the warning system didn't work. After the accident the green, yellow, red lines on the camera and the warning beeping stuff-all were not ... Read more
Crash
Incident date: Feb 15, 2022
I was backing out of my driveway very slowly as usual. I checked the road both ways several times. A US mail truck evidently traveling at a high rate of speed came up behind me while I was looking in the opposite direction. The automatic braking did not kick in, the warning system didn't work. After the accident the green, yellow, red lines on the camera and the warning beeping stuff-all were not ... Read more
Crash
Incident date: Feb 15, 2022
I was backing out of my driveway very slowly as usual. I checked the road both ways several times. A US mail truck evidently traveling at a high rate of speed came up behind me while I was looking in the opposite direction. The automatic braking did not kick in, the warning system didn't work. After the accident the green, yellow, red lines on the camera and the warning beeping stuff-all were not ... Read more
Crash
Incident date: Apr 4, 2022
This is the 4th battery in my 2016 Outback limited. Three battery replacements in 6 years. See mechanic's report that the charging system tested good but the battery was bad. He found that there is a constant draw on the battery of .726 amps after 20-30 minutes after shut down of the car. There should not be more than .05 amp draw. He said he'd have to test every line of electrical draw on the... Read more
Incident date: Apr 5, 2022
Battery spontaneously drains, disengaging all safety features with no warning.
Incident date: Apr 5, 2022
Battery spontaneously drains, disengaging all safety features with no warning.
Incident date: Apr 5, 2022
Battery spontaneously drains, disengaging all safety features with no warning.
Incident date: Apr 6, 2022
The battery has continued to discharge and today it was dead. Accepted a jump to start however I'm not sure it will hold a charge. I understand that battery drain is a common problem. I am also on my third windshield and this seems strange, unon investigating a see where other owners have reported windshield problems.
Incident date: Apr 6, 2022
The battery has continued to discharge and today it was dead. Accepted a jump to start however I'm not sure it will hold a charge. I understand that battery drain is a common problem. I am also on my third windshield and this seems strange, unon investigating a see where other owners have reported windshield problems.
Incident date: Apr 5, 2022
Windshield cracked for no apparent reason. Car was in garage. No impact to windshield observed.
Incident date: Dec 17, 2021
Design flaw-2022 Subaru Forester, Antenna placements inside body of car result in pacemaker interference and make it impossible to drive in and avoid. Antennas are built into frame of car and cannot be disabled to accommodate for disabled persons who have implantable medical devices. Inability to be able to permanently and completely disable technology that can interfere with implantable medical... Read more
Incident date: Dec 11, 2020
What component or system failed or malfunctioned, and is it available for inspection upon request? WINDSHIELD How was your safety or the safety of others put at risk? CRACKED WINDSHIELD Has the problem been reproduced or confirmed by a dealer or independent service center? YES Has the vehicle or component been inspected by the manufacturer, police, insurance representatives or others? NO Were ther... Read more
Incident date: Apr 6, 2022
Constant dead battery No start
Incident date: Apr 4, 2022
The windshield cracked across the whole front of the car while it was parked in a private lot. There is no sign of impact.
Incident date: Mar 1, 2022
The contact owns a 2021 Subaru Outback. The contact stated that while his wife was driving at an undisclosed speed, she noticed a crack on the center passenger’s side of the windshield. The contact took the vehicle to the local dealer, where it was diagnosed with needing the windshield to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired but continued to experience the failure with the new windshields. The ... Read more
Incident date: Apr 4, 2022
The battery drains regularly, causing the vehicle to be inoperable. Battery is dead after 3 days of non use, leaving vehicle unable to be used.
Incident date: Jan 1, 2022
Infotainment system went into a continuous boot loop where screen went blank then subaru bootup screen appeared, then menu started to load then process repeated. During this process the Eyesight driver assistance system would produce an error saying all of it's functions were disabled while the infotainment system was rebooting. Also the display in center of the dashboard that shows vehicle info w... Read more
Incident date: Jan 1, 2022
Infotainment system went into a continuous boot loop where screen went blank then subaru bootup screen appeared, then menu started to load then process repeated. During this process the Eyesight driver assistance system would produce an error saying all of it's functions were disabled while the infotainment system was rebooting. Also the display in center of the dashboard that shows vehicle info w... Read more
Incident date: Jan 1, 2022
Infotainment system went into a continuous boot loop where screen went blank then subaru bootup screen appeared, then menu started to load then process repeated. During this process the Eyesight driver assistance system would produce an error saying all of it's functions were disabled while the infotainment system was rebooting. Also the display in center of the dashboard that shows vehicle info w... Read more
Incident date: Mar 1, 2022
About three years ago; there was a recall for the headlights. Subaru did replace the headlights, but I have replaced the headlights two additional times since then. And I currently have a headlight out a marker light out. I also last year had all of my marker lights burn out.
Incident date: Mar 31, 2022
Vehicle has under 90k miles been regularly maintained and serviced. While driving engine light came on for engine overheating. Stopped driving vehicle. Called local Subaru dealer for diagnostic. Diagnostic revealed several unknown problems including transmission needs to be replaced. Since vehicle has under 100 k miles and is only 11 years old. I could not believe that this problem occurred ( note... Read more
Incident date: Apr 4, 2022
I have only had my car for about a month and already there are three chips in the windshield that weren't present when I bought it. The latest one appeared today.
Incident date: Apr 4, 2022
My windshield on my car cracked randomly overnight from the edge of the windshield coming outward. No chips or any road debris seems to have caused the problem. It just cracked at random about 2 weeks ago now my passenger side window just had the same thing happen overnight
Incident date: Apr 2, 2022
Driving on a rural road with no traffic in front of us, the Windshield cracked about 10 inches right in our line of sight. I am a retired aircraft mechanic and home auto mechanic, so I have some experience with this. I suspect that the black heating strip around the SMART windshield is the malfunctioning component. The windshield is too thin for this design flaw. Drove the 8 month old 8K mile new ... Read more
Incident date: Apr 1, 2022
My 2022 Outback Limited with 4000 miles had a large spontaneous crack form in the bottom of the windshield. Without provocation by the impact of any stone or road bump or other apparent cause, the crack abruptly originated under the lower moulding near the center bottom between driver and passenger side, while at a stop light on a residential street near our home. The crack rapidly lengthened ve... Read more
Incident date: Mar 17, 2022
Windshield cracked on its own from bottom half edge on passengers side and approximately 14” long. Was in the driveway at my child’s daycare, went up to the door, and in that time, the windshield spontaneously cracked. Daycare checked cameras and no branch or object struck the windshield. The crack is in my line of sight part of the time, is extremely noticeable, and at times is an obstruction... Read more
Incident date: Apr 4, 2022
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 w... Read more
Incident date: Apr 2, 2022
My vehicle battery died and I replaced it. The next day the new battery was found to be dead. I check the car battery terminals and found a parasitic drain of the battery. I have tried charging the battery several times and within 30 minutes the battery is dead. This issue can cause the driver of the vehicle to be stranded and put them in a dangerous situation.
Incident date: Apr 1, 2022
I started having battery issues with my car. I had my car at the mechanic for a regular state inspection. They told me that I had a bad battery that it had died numerous times. I was shocked because I had never jumpstarted my car in the past. I began to believe the dealership sold me the car with a bad battery. I knew this because I tried to drive the car out of the lot when I first purchased and ... Read more
Incident date: Apr 1, 2022
I started having battery issues with my car. I had my car at the mechanic for a regular state inspection. They told me that I had a bad battery that it had died numerous times. I was shocked because I had never jumpstarted my car in the past. I began to believe the dealership sold me the car with a bad battery. I knew this because I tried to drive the car out of the lot when I first purchased and ... Read more
Incident date: Feb 20, 2022
My windshield cracked from top center, with no impacts, it happened on a cold snowy evening, just cracked……