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: Jan 8, 2022
The battery drains after not using the vehicle for 48hrs+. We've replaced the battery 3 times and have had to jump start the vehicle more than 10 times in the last 18mos. This causes a safety concern as there have been times where the vehicle wouldn't start in unsafe areas and late at night not to mention a major hassle to get transportation while stranded in the middle of an airport parking lot... Read more
Incident date: Jan 6, 2022
On three separate occasions, most recently on 01/06/22 , my Subaru Outback began to accelerate without touching the gas pedal. My wife and myself were both fortunate to have a foot covering the brake pedal when this occurred . We fortunately avoided the potential collision hazard. The UNEXPECTED ACCELERATION is alarming and continues to occur !
Incident date: Jan 6, 2022
On three separate occasions, most recently on 01/06/22 , my Subaru Outback began to accelerate without touching the gas pedal. My wife and myself were both fortunate to have a foot covering the brake pedal when this occurred . We fortunately avoided the potential collision hazard. The UNEXPECTED ACCELERATION is alarming and continues to occur !
Incident date: Jan 7, 2022
The Subaru Eyesight system malfunctioned while I was driving. All Eyesight components were enabled at the time of the incident, including pre collision braking and forward collision warning. I had been stopped at a red light at a four way intersection. I was the first car waiting at the red light, with other cars behind me and to each side. The intersection had multiple lanes in each direction. Th... Read more
Incident date: Jan 7, 2022
The Subaru Eyesight system malfunctioned while I was driving. All Eyesight components were enabled at the time of the incident, including pre collision braking and forward collision warning. I had been stopped at a red light at a four way intersection. I was the first car waiting at the red light, with other cars behind me and to each side. The intersection had multiple lanes in each direction. Th... Read more
Incident date: Jan 7, 2022
The passenger air bag alert on the dashboard indicates the air bag is off when my wife who is elderly and weighs approximately 95 pounds is seated in the front passenger seat .Sometimes it changes to " air bag on" during our journey but other times it remains off .I am concerned the air bag won't deploy in the event of a crash potentially causing serious injury .I have e mailed sales representa... Read more
Incident date: Jan 7, 2022
The passenger air bag alert on the dashboard indicates the air bag is off when my wife who is elderly and weighs approximately 95 pounds is seated in the front passenger seat .Sometimes it changes to " air bag on" during our journey but other times it remains off .I am concerned the air bag won't deploy in the event of a crash potentially causing serious injury .I have e mailed sales representa... Read more
Incident date: Jan 7, 2022
Battery won’t hold a charge, randomly leaves driver stranded
Incident date: Jan 7, 2022
The windshield on my 2018 Impreza car cracked on the lower left drivers side. The crack was unexpected and was not triggered by anything. It arrived out of no where. There is no chip or indentation. Crack is about the length of 2 dollar bills. I feel this is a manufacturing defect and should be paid for by Subaru. This is absolutely faulty craftsmanship and I am extremely disappointed with the dur... Read more
Incident date: Jan 7, 2022
When operating the vehicle at low and high speeds, the EyeSight system intermittently turns off with a "check owner's manual" message and the system remains off until at least the next vehicle restart. Additionally, after the EyeSight system disengages, when making turns at low speeds (turning corners), the steering shudders (quick violent turns to the left and right), the EyeSight warning light ... Read more
Incident date: Jan 7, 2022
When operating the vehicle at low and high speeds, the EyeSight system intermittently turns off with a "check owner's manual" message and the system remains off until at least the next vehicle restart. Additionally, after the EyeSight system disengages, when making turns at low speeds (turning corners), the steering shudders (quick violent turns to the left and right), the EyeSight warning light ... Read more
Incident date: Jan 7, 2022
When operating the vehicle at low and high speeds, the EyeSight system intermittently turns off with a "check owner's manual" message and the system remains off until at least the next vehicle restart. Additionally, after the EyeSight system disengages, when making turns at low speeds (turning corners), the steering shudders (quick violent turns to the left and right), the EyeSight warning light ... Read more
Incident date: Nov 20, 2021
The battery drains prematurely. I have been stranded waiting for 3 + hours for roadside assistance due to dead batter 3 times in December 2021. The dealer told me that due to the number of computers in the 2019 Subaru Acsent that it had to be driven at least twice a week to avoid this problem. The dealer had to replace the battery under the warranty because it burned up when they tried to char... Read more
Incident date: Jan 5, 2022
Battery randomly failed on 1/5/22. Had it jumped, kept it on for an hour. When I went to start the car on 1/6/22 the battery is dead again. 7,000 miles on the car, no signs of any issue prior to the failure. My safety was at risk because it was freezing outside. I attempted to contact subaru's roadside assistance per their 3 year 36K mile warranty but when calling the automated message said there ... Read more
Incident date: Nov 5, 2021
The contact owns a 2010 Subaru Forester. The contact stated that while driving, the check engine warning light had illuminated. The vehicle was taken to a dealer who advised him that the fuel tank was rusted and needed to be repaired as well as fuel lines. The vehicle was repaired. The contact stated that he contacted the manufacturer who gave him a goodwill help credit to help contribute to the r... Read more
Incident date: Dec 19, 2021
Valve spring broke dropping a valve into the engine and causing engine to seize. This is the same problem as the recall that was issued for other 2013 Subaru models, but it doesn't cover the Outback at this time. Instead, there's only a TSB (#10154425) that they've changed specifications for the valve springs.
Incident date: Jan 5, 2022
The battery has gone completely dead 3 times over 6 years since I purchased this car new. The battery dies, like clockwork, every 2 years. I have purchased 2 new replacement batteries so far on 5/16/2017 (mileage 25,895) and 2/5/2019 (mileage 40,017). The third instance just occurred 1/5/2021 and I have not yet had a chance to take the car to a shop to determine whether the current jump-started ba... Read more
Incident date: Feb 18, 2021
Windshield has cracked twice with no dings. The crack starts at the top and goes down and then horizontal. The car only has 18,500 miles on it. There is currently a class action law suit against Subaru on this subject. Subaru requires a special type of glass because of the cameras that look thru the windshield. It is very expensive to replace.
Incident date: Jan 6, 2022
Brakes become soft and sometimes depression of brake pedal to floor to activate brakes. Master cylinder appears to be in need of replacement
Incident date: Dec 29, 2021
A very small chip in the windshield has now turned into a large crack. The chip is 1-2mm in depth. I have never seen such a small chip turn into a crack like this.
Incident date: Aug 21, 2021
When packing the car for a trip, if any of the doors are left open for a period of 15 minutes to 20 minutes the battery will drain. I am unable to start the car. This has happened three times. I have mentioned this to the dealer who remarked that I am not driving the car enough to keep the battery charged. On one occasion it happened after driving for over three hours (148) miles.
Incident date: Jan 4, 2022
While driving at a slow speed (<15mph) I had to stop quickly at an intersection. A small board inside the car (<1 lb, 2'x12") connected with the windshield causing a substantial crack approximately 10 inches in diameter. The windshield is absolutely unsafe and will need to be replaced(although has not yet been seen by the dealer.)
Incident date: Jan 5, 2022
Purchased my outback in January of 2020, Sometime in that same month I noticed a small crack in the windshield, down at the bottom on the passenger side. No idea how it cracked. by the next day the crack had grown to over 8 inches. I called subaru dealership and they stated that wasnt covered under warrantee and that they didnt deal with insurance companies directly so I would have to get it fixed... Read more
Incident date: Jan 4, 2022
The contact owns a 2021 Subaru Outback. The contact stated while driving 50 MPH approaching a traffic light, the contact heard an abnormal cracking sound coming from the front windshield. The contact noticed a small crack on the driver’s side of the windshield that spread to the middle of the windshield. The contact took the vehicle to a local dealer who stated that the failure was related to a ... Read more
Incident date: Dec 27, 2021
While driving in below zero temperatures I received a warning "Headlights Disabled" and my headlights were inoperable. I was able to use the high beams otherwise, complete darkness causing an immanent safety concern and potential for financial loss in terms of legality and ticketing. The failure remained in effect for approximately 10 minutes and then the warning disappeared and the light regained... Read more
Incident date: Dec 31, 2021
While turning in a parking lot car accelerated and hit a tree. Foot was on brake and airbags didn’t deploy despite extensive damage. Body shop estimator said computer wouldn’t confirm problem. It was not caused by floor mat! No warning lights prior to incident.
Crash
1 injured
Incident date: Dec 31, 2021
While turning in a parking lot car accelerated and hit a tree. Foot was on brake and airbags didn’t deploy despite extensive damage. Body shop estimator said computer wouldn’t confirm problem. It was not caused by floor mat! No warning lights prior to incident.
Crash
1 injured
Incident date: Dec 31, 2021
While turning in a parking lot car accelerated and hit a tree. Foot was on brake and airbags didn’t deploy despite extensive damage. Body shop estimator said computer wouldn’t confirm problem. It was not caused by floor mat! No warning lights prior to incident.
Crash
1 injured
Incident date: Dec 15, 2021
The windshield on our 2020 Subaru Forester recently cracked, with no warning or obvious reasons for it to crack. When we began to try to repair it, we realized that because of the Eyesight technology connected to it, it would be a more expensive and complex replacement. We also found out that this was a common problem with this make and model, and that there had been other complaints about it. We ... Read more
Incident date: Dec 25, 2021
Front windshield developed a 12 inch stress fracture with no invisible sign it was due to a rock chip. The crack first appear below the windshield wiper in the center.
Incident date: Jan 5, 2022
I leased a 2021 Forester in April, and around September, I got a J shape crack in the bottom center of the windshield. Subaru dealership in Glendale, CA told me they would replace the windshield free for the first time. Had to wait until mid-December for the backordered replacement to come in. Today, 1/5/22, was driving on the highway and a small projectile on the road caused a starburst crack on ... Read more
Incident date: Jan 4, 2022
Battery repeatedly fails every 2 years since new vehicle purchased. New vehicle purchased in 2015, had to replace battery in 2017 and replaced again in 2019. It is now Jan 2022 and battery had insufficient charge to start car. I have now had to purchase a $110 battery charger to hopefully maintain the charge on my battery. There were no accessories left on or other unusual circumstances that would... Read more
Incident date: Jan 5, 2022
The contact owns a 2015 Subaru Outback. The contact stated that the front windshield cracked without impact. The vehicle was not taken to be inspected. The manufacturer was not informed of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 130,000.
Incident date: Jan 1, 2022
Parasitic Battery Drain left battery dead and unable to start vehicle. This was caused by a defective DCM (Data Communication Module). This problem first surfaced within weeks of new car purchase and took about 6-months and several visits to dealer to remedy. I also replaced the oem battery with a new upgraded battery at my own expense. Recently the problem reoccurred as the DCM module again faile... Read more
Incident date: Dec 12, 2021
The contact owns a 2019 Subaru Outback. The contact noticed that the windshield was cracked from the middle going upward. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic where it was diagnosed that the windshield needed to be replaced. The dealer was not contacted. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 46,000.
Incident date: Jan 4, 2022
In Feb, 2021, I went to start my car in the garage. It was totally dead. It had just been in for 6 month svc 2 weeks earlier. I called dealership, they sent a tech to my home to get the car started. He said it was totally drained, left and came back later with a jumper system and got it started and drove it to the dealership. They installed a new battery and the tech said they were having tro... Read more
Incident date: Jan 4, 2022
We have had 4 windshields on this vehicle and now the current one that was just replaced last October ( 3 months ago) just broke too. If we have this replaced it will be the 5th windshield in 4 years. It is unsafe because visibility is reduced. This is a common problem with Subarus, as evidenced by the many online discussions regarding the faulty windshields. Subaru did lose a lawsuit for 2015-20... Read more
Incident date: Jan 4, 2022
We have had 4 windshields on this vehicle and now the current one that was just replaced last October ( 3 months ago) just broke too. If we have this replaced it will be the 5th windshield in 4 years. It is unsafe because visibility is reduced. This is a common problem with Subarus, as evidenced by the many online discussions regarding the faulty windshields. Subaru did lose a lawsuit for 2015-20... Read more
Incident date: Jan 1, 2022
The contact owns a 2020 Subaru Outback. The contact stated that after parking the vehicle, the next morning it was discovered that the front windshield had cracked on the passenger’s side. The contact indicated that no object had struck the vehicle to cause the failure to occur. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The local dealer was not yet notified of the failure. The failure mileag... Read more
Incident date: Jan 2, 2022
Battery dies and vehicle is unable to start after short periods of being turned off. This has left me stranded in unsafe areas and can pose a major safety hazard. Vehicle has been inspected and no issues found by Subaru dealer. No warning lights or other notifications, vehicle simply does not start.
Incident date: Jan 2, 2022
The contact owns a 2005 Subaru Outback. The contact stated while driving downhill at 40 MPH, the check engine warning light was illuminated. The accelerator pedal was depressed however, the vehicle failed to respond. The contact parked on the side of the road and restarted the vehicle after 3-4 minutes and continued driving to his destination. The contact stated that the check engine warning light... Read more
Incident date: Nov 13, 2021
The windshield has cracked on the passenger side. It has not put anyone at risk however, this seems to be an issue with many Subaru owners yet Subaru has not done anything about this issue. The vehicle has yet to be inspected.
Incident date: Dec 7, 2021
BACKED CAR OUT OF THE GARAGE AND WAS UNABLE TO TURN THE WHEEL PROPERLY. THERE WAS NO POWER STEERING AND A LIGHT ON THE DASH INDICATED SAME. CALLED MY SON, WHO ASKED ME TO PULL FRONT, BACK, AND THEN PARK AND TURN OFF ENGINE AND RESTART. THIS CAUSED THE POWER STEERING TO WORK PROPERLY. APPT W SUBARU FOUND FAILURE OF GEARBOX. THEY STATE, WARRANTY ONLY COVERS IF BOX IS CRACKED DUE TO ROAD SALT. ... Read more
Incident date: Dec 30, 2021
Windshield cracked
Incident date: Jan 2, 2022
I have a 2019 Subaru Impreza and my windshield cracked for the second time in two years. I was driving and heard a loud pop and the windshield cracked from the top about a foot down. Nothing hit the windshield. The first time this happened, the car was sitting in the driveway. I have an appointment with the dealer tomorrow. I verified that this is happening to others and that there is a class acti... Read more
Incident date: Mar 1, 2021
The contact owns a 2009 Subaru Outback. The contact stated that both the driver’s and passenger’s side seat belts failed to retract upon release. The contact had taken the vehicle to the dealer where the parts to repair both seat belts were ordered. When the vehicle was returned to the contact, both the driver’s side seat belt and the passenger’s side seat belt were replaced. The manufactu... Read more
Incident date: Dec 21, 2021
While driving the car on or about 12/21/2021 at about 6 or 7 pm at night, I experienced a catastrophic failure of the transmission. The car lost drivetrain power and began to shudder and limp along the road. All the warning lights on the dashboard lit up at once. Fortunately, I was not on a highway, and I was able to safely pull over to the side of the road. But the incident did leave me unsettled... Read more
Incident date: Jan 3, 2022
Battery continues to die. We have had our vehicle for a year and had to get to replace our battery 3 times including today! Multiple jumpstarts. Even had it die from leaving out trunk open once. How does that make sense?
Incident date: Jan 3, 2022
I parked in my garage for 2 weeks, and I couldn’t start my car again. I had to jumpstart it. This is the third time it happened. The battery checked out fine. I drove around and now able to start again.