2018 Subaru Outback — Problems & Complaints
NHTSA has 813 owner complaints on file for this vehicle. Every report below was filed by a real owner with the US government's road-safety agency.
Subaru Outback — Complaints by Model Year
Years flagged AVOID have at least twice this model's average complaint count — the strongest public-data signal of a bad year.
652 complaints
292 complaints
297 complaints
208 complaints
509 complaints
642 complaints
917 complaints
813 complaints
1,035 complaints
899 complaints
296 complaints
464 complaints
89 complaints
2 complaints
81 complaints
What Owners Complain About Most
Recent Owner Reports
This is a Base model automobile with manual seats. The right front passenger seat unlocked without warning during a quick deceleration. The seat slid forward on mounting rails and caused the front passenger to be squished between forward motion of seat and the seat belt. Lucky this was not a collision, but weight of seat moving forward & smashing passenger against seat …
P225 65/R17 Multiple Sensor leaks, false TPM readings, on/off TPM signals.
Battery continues to drain prematurely. It's been an issue since the very beginning of out ownership in June 2018. We replaced the battery after it would not hold a charge for more than two days. The replacement battery still wouldn't last for more than a day or two. Now in the cold weather it won't even last a day. Two days ago, I went in the grocery store for about 45 mi…
WIFE WAS DRIVING AND A SMALL STONE HIT THE WINDSHIELD, LEAVING A SMALL CHIP IN THE GLASS. UPON TURNING ON THE DEFROSTER LATER, THE WINDSHIELD CRACKED.
The infotainment system freezes randomly causing screen to freeze including while backing up. This causes it to appear as though the back up camera is working when in reality it is not. Serious safety concern if cross traffic or children are not seen.
Recalls & Crash Tests
Complaints are one half of the picture — see the official recalls and NHTSA crash-test stars for the 2018 Subaru Outback, or check your exact car by VIN with the free VIN lookup.
Problems Checker
Any year, make and model: open the Car Problems Checker. Data: NHTSA (US DOT, public domain), cached up to 7 days.