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: Mar 3, 2022
2nd Battery in two years is dying while car is off. 1st battery did the same, and the dealership replaced it under warranty. There is a parasitic drain somewhere, that bleeds the battery while not in use. Every start is sluggish, and if a week goes by without driving the battery is totally dead. All user related electronic possibilities have been accounted for, i.e. cabin lights, trunk latch, etc
Incident date: Mar 24, 2022
I drove my car at lunchtime to get lunch and returned to work. There was no issue. Then less than 5 hours later when I left work around 5:30 pm and went to my car there was a large crack from the base of my windshield almost in the center. It doesn’t go all the way to the top but curves in a sort of U shape. Obviously I now need a new windshield.
Incident date: Mar 22, 2022
My wife was pulling into a parking spot at a Safeway in Seattle. The car, instead of stopping, sped up when she stepped on the brakes, slamming into a brick wall. She shifted into reverse, and the car sped backwards, then shifted to drive, and sped forward and slammed into a wall again. She shifted to park and pulled on the parking brake. Then, after 5 minutes with the car off, she drove home wi... Read more
Crash
Incident date: Mar 22, 2022
My wife was pulling into a parking spot at a Safeway in Seattle. The car, instead of stopping, sped up when she stepped on the brakes, slamming into a brick wall. She shifted into reverse, and the car sped backwards, then shifted to drive, and sped forward and slammed into a wall again. She shifted to park and pulled on the parking brake. Then, after 5 minutes with the car off, she drove home wi... Read more
Crash
Incident date: Mar 23, 2022
My Subaru 2020 with 16,000 miles stalled in the middle of driving down the road in Town, I was driving 35 mph when out of nowhere the car stalled. I was able to coast/turn on to a side street. I’m lucky the car had enough momentum to keep going or we would have been hit by traffic as the street we were on is a busy road. The car flashed all the lights when it stalled and refused to crank over, i... Read more
Incident date: Mar 23, 2022
My Subaru 2020 with 16,000 miles stalled in the middle of driving down the road in Town, I was driving 35 mph when out of nowhere the car stalled. I was able to coast/turn on to a side street. I’m lucky the car had enough momentum to keep going or we would have been hit by traffic as the street we were on is a busy road. The car flashed all the lights when it stalled and refused to crank over, i... Read more
Incident date: Mar 23, 2022
My Subaru 2020 with 16,000 miles stalled in the middle of driving down the road in Town, I was driving 35 mph when out of nowhere the car stalled. I was able to coast/turn on to a side street. I’m lucky the car had enough momentum to keep going or we would have been hit by traffic as the street we were on is a busy road. The car flashed all the lights when it stalled and refused to crank over, i... Read more
Incident date: Mar 24, 2022
The 2020 Subaru Impreza hatchback was purchased new from a Subaru dealer. Approximately, one year after purchase the vehicle started to exhibit hard starting. That is when the key is turned on the engine did not immediately turn over but there began an increased hesitation overtime before engine would turn over. It demonstrated issues of electrical problems. Finally, on March 24, 2022 the e... Read more
Incident date: Feb 7, 2022
There seems to be an issue with the led headlights. When on they are projecting two dark shadows of something looking like rectangle objects. This is very unsafe and definitely very annoying because all you see are those two shadows right in front of your eyes.
Incident date: Jan 6, 2022
The contact owns a 2014 Subaru Impreza. The contact stated while the vehicle was parked, the driver’s side air bag exploded without warning or impact. The vehicle was towed to the dealer. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was informed of the failure but offered no assistance. The failure mileage was 105,000.
Incident date: Feb 24, 2022
The windshield on my 2019 Subaru has cracked for the second time. This has taken away many of the safety features that comes with the car due to the cameras not working properly or not at all. This second time it cracked its cost me money through my insurance company. No one has physically seen my windshield except me. I currently have photos with Progressive and they’re still reviewing my clai... Read more
Incident date: Mar 23, 2022
I just brought this car a few months ago and i have been having alot of problem with it from engine oil low when it not to tpms light coming on and going off to now eletric parking brake locked up now i cant move my car and i work seven days a week and always maintain my cars was getting checked its really weird
Incident date: Mar 23, 2022
I just brought this car a few months ago and i have been having alot of problem with it from engine oil low when it not to tpms light coming on and going off to now eletric parking brake locked up now i cant move my car and i work seven days a week and always maintain my cars was getting checked its really weird
Incident date: Mar 21, 2022
Unknown Windshield Cracked, No apparent reason, and can be inspected. Nothing has been reported or inspected as of yet.
Incident date: Mar 21, 2022
Unknown Windshield Cracked, No apparent reason, and can be inspected. Nothing has been reported or inspected as of yet.
Incident date: Mar 12, 2022
A small stone put a tiny mark on my windshield, I woke up the next morning and the windshield was spidered in a huge circle.
Incident date: Mar 21, 2022
Car accelerated while I was parking in a parking spot and hit fence and unoccupied storefront.
Crash
Incident date: Mar 21, 2022
Car accelerated while I was parking in a parking spot and hit fence and unoccupied storefront.
Crash
Incident date: Mar 21, 2022
Car accelerated while I was parking in a parking spot and hit fence and unoccupied storefront.
Crash
Incident date: Mar 10, 2022
No warning. At about 943 miles on my brand new 2022 Subaru Outback Limited XT the Windshield cracked from bottom center to the middle straight up approximately1 foot. After sitting in the driveway, not being driven at all, it has cracked more, from the center to each side, approximately 2 feet. Now it's a huge "T" crack.
Incident date: Mar 22, 2021
The contact owns a 2015 Subaru Outback. The contact stated while driving at 70 MPH, a small rock might have struck the windshield causing a crack on the driver's side of the windshield. The contact was able to continue to drive the vehicle though the crack was affecting his vision of the roadway. The contact became aware that an unknown manufacturer recall was associated with the failure. The vehi... Read more
Incident date: Mar 17, 2022
We went it because the ODS (Occupant Detection System)/SRS (supplemental restraint system lit up on our dashboard. I took it in to Subaru of America after seeing that there were no VIN specific recalls on this issue. They immediately said they would cover the parts but we would have to pay for the labor. I then checked for recalls again and found that there was this exact same issue with 2015-2018... Read more
Incident date: Mar 17, 2022
We went it because the ODS (Occupant Detection System)/SRS (supplemental restraint system lit up on our dashboard. I took it in to Subaru of America after seeing that there were no VIN specific recalls on this issue. They immediately said they would cover the parts but we would have to pay for the labor. I then checked for recalls again and found that there was this exact same issue with 2015-2018... Read more
Incident date: Mar 20, 2022
I got in my car one day and noticed a crack going up through the middle of my windshield - about 10 inches and went all the way to the bottom edge of the glass. After traveling a short distance (15ish min) and leaving it parked for a couple of hours, I came back and it had now turned horizontally across the windshield maybe 4-6 inches toward the driver's side. No impact or incident to cause the cr... Read more
Incident date: Mar 19, 2022
Unknown - noticed crack in windshield randomly over the weekend. No known damage to vehicle.
Incident date: Mar 20, 2022
I walked outside my house yesterday morning to find my 2021 Outback XT idling in the driveway. I may have failed to turn the engine off, or it may have started itself. Nonetheless, I calculate that it burned about five gallons of gasoline and probably ran all night. The car should not be able to run for hours on end! This is a clear problem--an overheated catalytic converter could start a fire, so... Read more
Incident date: Mar 20, 2022
I walked outside my house yesterday morning to find my 2021 Outback XT idling in the driveway. I may have failed to turn the engine off, or it may have started itself. Nonetheless, I calculate that it burned about five gallons of gasoline and probably ran all night. The car should not be able to run for hours on end! This is a clear problem--an overheated catalytic converter could start a fire, so... Read more
Incident date: Mar 19, 2022
I purchased a brand new 2022 subaru outback. Drove for 2 weeks. Absolutely nothing but raindrops have hit this windshield and a crack began to form at the edge of the windshield and slowly grow across the entire windshield over the course of 2 days. It's right in my eye-line. I went online to see what might be happening and am seeing tons of threads on various sites about this exact problem. I do... Read more
Incident date: Mar 8, 2022
The trunk does not stay open leading to sudden closing on body and head for anyone trying to use the trunk. Leading to a concussion and multiple injuries. Dealership said to place a complaint as there has not yet been a recall for this issue. There is no warning prior to this issue occurring.
1 injured
Incident date: Mar 8, 2022
The trunk does not stay open leading to sudden closing on body and head for anyone trying to use the trunk. Leading to a concussion and multiple injuries. Dealership said to place a complaint as there has not yet been a recall for this issue. There is no warning prior to this issue occurring.
1 injured
Incident date: Mar 13, 2022
Windshield cracked for no good reason!
Incident date: Mar 13, 2022
My husband, son, and I got into our parked 2018 Subaru Outback and closed our doors. My husband started the car and we immediately heard a loud “pop” and saw a crack spread in several directions from the driver’s side edge of the windshield across the driver’s line of vision. Upon closer inspection, we were able to see 3 tiny chips in the glass, one of which was incorporated into the crack... Read more
Incident date: Dec 21, 2021
Got 2 codes on secondary air system p2440,p0410. Witch restricted me from passing safety inspection and have a check engine light. It seems to be an on going common problem.
Incident date: Sep 19, 2019
When leaving a gas station with a slight dip in the pavement, I inched my vehicle forward as slowly as I could as to not “bottom out.” This 2015 Impreza model has an overall design flaw; it sits too low to the ground therefore compromising the entire structure of the body. The Impreza in fact bottomed out and my entire front end cracked and fell off as well as the side panel on the front of th... Read more
Incident date: Mar 19, 2022
I have had a crack develop in my windshield . This is distracting while driving.I have not reported this . It will be inspected by glass repair shop. There were no warning lights or lamps associated with this .
Incident date: Sep 15, 2021
I bought the car in August and on September 15, the windshield cracked. No flying stones or other debris from the road. No noise aside from the sound of the glass cracking. I had it replaced using my insurance, but thought it should be reported for complaint trending purposes.
Incident date: Mar 14, 2022
Found the windshield cracked starting in the middle of the ream on the passenger side. I did not feel any impact point when running my finger on the crack line. Subaru dealer already replaced the OEM windshield for me. I am filling the complaint because I think this is still a quality issue with Subaru not only on the models before 2020 but also on models in 2022. If it is still the quality issue,... Read more
Incident date: Mar 20, 2022
I purchased a used 2019 Forester in the summer of 2020. By September 2021, I was having electrical issues - the car wouldn't start and the battery died. I had the car taken to a dealership, they replaced the battery and the alternator (they told me that the alternator was defective and broke the battery). I got the car back in October 2021. In December 2021, I had just driven for 2 hours and sto... Read more
Incident date: Mar 18, 2022
This is the latest time in a series of incidents where the SUV would not start due to a problem with the main battery. New batteries drain very quickly after a series of electrical problems. So far, we have noticed keyless entry FOB says battery in the FOB is low and stops connecting (but then connects if we remove the key from it without us holding it to the button that turns the car on and off),... Read more
Incident date: Mar 18, 2022
This is the latest time in a series of incidents where the SUV would not start due to a problem with the main battery. New batteries drain very quickly after a series of electrical problems. So far, we have noticed keyless entry FOB says battery in the FOB is low and stops connecting (but then connects if we remove the key from it without us holding it to the button that turns the car on and off),... Read more
Incident date: Mar 19, 2022
There was a small rock kicked up by another car, and there immediately was a 6 inch curved crack in the windshield from the bottom-most part of the windshield. It quickly spread to 10+ inches and is still growing. The car is only at 9.8k miles
Incident date: Feb 16, 2022
While parking car in garage, car suddenly surged forward although my foot was off gas and nearly hit end of garage. Engine Temp was relatively cold as it had just been started. This has happened several times before. Reported to dealer service the first time it happened and they did not fix.
Incident date: Mar 19, 2022
Due to an improper program, the CVT chain may slip, resulting in breakage of the chain guide. If the chain guide breaks, fragments of the guide could inhibit the shift select mechanism. If the vehicle continues operation with the drive chain slipping, over time the CVT drive chain could break. No remedy offered/available by manufacturer.
Incident date: Sep 6, 2021
Front windshield cracked and there was no apparent ding from rock. Crack came from side and spread quickly. I had it replaced by Subaru and 4 months later it happened again. The crack again came from the side with no reason. Two replacements out of my own pocket. My 2020 Legacy windshield must be defective
Incident date: Mar 16, 2022
a tiny rock hit my window within the first 2,000 milesand created a 8in crack, with in 6 hours it head spread to over a foot long. Subaru is known for having windshield issues.
Incident date: Mar 13, 2022
Have had two instances of damaged windshields in a total of eight months of ownership. First incident was a cracked windshield that occurred overnight and required a full replacement that cost over $1000. The second was a minor rock hit that required repair at $155, and is still very visible post-repair by Safelite, most likely require replacement.
Incident date: Oct 15, 2021
Head unit shuts off while driving with no warning, and no clear cause. All safety features shut off including Eyesight and rear brake assist (shows as off in instrumental panel). It has happened multiple times in the past several months ( at least seven times) Head unit then appears to restart while underway, as if I had just entered and started the vehicle. Contacted dealer who said “the radio... Read more
Incident date: Oct 15, 2021
Head unit shuts off while driving with no warning, and no clear cause. All safety features shut off including Eyesight and rear brake assist (shows as off in instrumental panel). It has happened multiple times in the past several months ( at least seven times) Head unit then appears to restart while underway, as if I had just entered and started the vehicle. Contacted dealer who said “the radio... Read more
Incident date: Oct 15, 2021
Head unit shuts off while driving with no warning, and no clear cause. All safety features shut off including Eyesight and rear brake assist (shows as off in instrumental panel). It has happened multiple times in the past several months ( at least seven times) Head unit then appears to restart while underway, as if I had just entered and started the vehicle. Contacted dealer who said “the radio... Read more
Incident date: Mar 18, 2022
Front windshield had to be replaced the same day it was driven off the lot. 2 weeks after replacement the windshield cracked again. Dealership and safe lite both claim it’s not their problem. Insurance stated if I continue getting the windshield replaced after every break then they are going to keep raise my rates because of frequently claiming issues. I paid almost $50,000 for this vehicle whi... Read more