2018 SUBARU LEGACY Complaints

ON JUNE 6, 2019, WE TOOK OUR CAR IN FOR REGULAR MAINTENANCE AND TO PERFORM TWO OUTSTANDING RECALLS THAT INVOLVED "SOFTWARE REPROGRAMMING" -- ONE FOR THE FUEL GAUGE (WHICH APPARENTLY MAY NOT PROPERLY REFLECT LOW GAS LEVELS) AND ONE FOR THE HEAD UNIT (WHICH MAY FAIL TO INITIALIZE AND ACTIVATE THE BACKUP CAMERA). WE HAD _ZERO_ PROBLEMS WITH THE HEAD UNIT (OR FUEL GAUGE TO OUR KNOWLEDGE) PRIOR TO THE RECALL WORK. NOW THE HEAD UNIT FAILS TO INITIALIZE FOR SEVERAL MINUTES EVERY FEW TIMES WE START OUR CAR -- THE _EXACT_ ISSUE THAT THE RECALL WAS INITIATED TO ADDRESS. I AM ALSO CONCERNED THAT THE FUEL GAUGE REPROGRAMMING MAY NOT HAVE REMEDIED THAT SENSING ERROR EITHER. I CONTACTED THE MANUFACTURER, WHICH HAS INSTRUCTED US TO RETURN TO THE SAME DEALER TO HAVE THEM TRY TO FIX IT AGAIN. WE SCHEDULED THEIR NEXT AVAILABLE APPOINTMENT ON JULY 3RD, BUT NOW HAVE NO CONFIDENCE THAT THE SOFTWARE REPROGRAMMING ROLLED OUT BY SUBARU ACTUALLY REMEDIED THE MANUFACTURING DEFECTS. INDEED, IT APPEARS TO HAVE INTRODUCED A DEFECT INTO OUR HEAD UNIT SYSTEM.

WHILE EXITING OFF HIGHWAY, THE CAN UNEXPECTEDLY SHUT OFF NEARLY CAUSING A WRECK. CAR WOULD NOT RESTART. THE ENTERTAINMENT SCREEN REMAINED WORKING THE ENTIRE TIME. THE INSTRUMENT CLUSTER WENT BLACK AND REMAINED THIS WAY. AUTOMATIC WINDOWS, ENTERTAINMENT SCREEN, RADIO ALL WORKED BUT CAR WOULD NOT START. A SIMILAR ISSUE HAD HAPPENED TWO WEEKS AGO BUT WE WERE NOT DRIVING... THE CAR WOULD NOT START AND A MASTER SUBARU TECH LOOKED AT CAR AND THEY SAID NOTHING WAS WRONG WITH IT.. OBVIOUSLY THEY WERE WRONG. VERY DISAPPOINTED IN SUBARU. THIS IS A VERY DANGEROUS ISSUE.

TL* THE CONTACT STATED THEY RENTED A 2018 SUBARU LEGACY. THE CONTACT STATED THAT WHILE DRIVING THE VEHICLE AT AN UNDISCLOSED SPEED, THE COLLISION AVOIDANCE SYSTEM ACTIVATED CAUSING THE VEHICLE TO STOP INDEPENDENTLY AND THE WHEEL TO TURN. AS A RESULT, THE VEHICLE HIT A CURB. THERE WAS MINOR DAMAGE TO THE PASSENGER SIDE BUMPER. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT TAKEN TO BE DIAGNOSED. THE RENTAL AGENCY WAS NOT INFORMED. NEITHER A DEALER NOR THE MANUFACTURER WAS CONTACTED OR MADE AWARE OF THE FAILURE. THE CONTACT STATED THAT THE FAILURE OCCURRED THREE TIMES. THE APPROXIMATE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 20,000. THE VIN WAS NOT AVAILABLE.

THE SAFETY RECALL REGARDING FUEL HAS BEEN COMPLETED. I FILLED THE GAS TANK WITH THE GAUGE ON HALF. I PUT 12 GALLONS IN THE 16 GALLON TANK. YESTERDAY I REPEATED THIS BY AGAIN FILLING THE TANK WITH THE GAUGE READING HALF. I PUT 11.4 GALLONS IN THE 16 GALLON TANK. I ALSO NOTED THAT THE MPG CALCULATOR IS NOW ONLY USING THE DATA SINCE THE RECALL. TIRE PRESSURE WOULD NOT REGISTER. I AM NOT SURE IF THERE ARE ANY OTHER SYSTEMS AFFECTED BY THIS RECALL. I FEEL THAT THEY VEHICLE IS UNRELIABLE.

AFTER FILING TANK I TOOK A DRIVE...DROVE ABT 30 MILES TO DO SOME SHOPPING THEN ABT 2 HOURS LATER I DROVE THE 30 MILES BACK HOME WITH THE FUEL GUAGE NOT MOVING....AFTER SEVERAL HOURS AT HOME GETTING READY TO GO OUT FOR THE EVENING I GOT INTO CAR..PRESSED THE BUTTON AND STARTED CAR...NOTICE THAT THE FUEL GUAGE WAS AT 3/4....WHEN I PARKED IT WAS ABOVE FULL...THIS HAPPENED SEVERAL TIMES DURING THE MONTH OF JUNE 2018 (PURCHASED CAR NEW ON MAY 26 2018) CONTACTED DEALERSHIP ON JULY 3, 2018...THEY RECEIVED IT ON JULY 7, 2018....AFTER BEING AT THE DEALER FOR 11 WEEKS THE CAR WAS RETURNED TO ME WITH A NEW CLUSTER (DEALER WAS AWARE THE A RECALL WAS IN THE WORKS FOR A PREMATURE EMPTY TANK WHEN LOW FUEL LIGHT CANE ON)..RECEIVED CAR BACK ON SEPTEMBER 21, 2018 AND ON SEPTEMBER 22, 2018 I ONCE AGAIN EXPERIENCED THE SAME ISSUE....DROVE HOME FROM DEALERSHIP 21ST WENT TO WORK MORNING 22ND CAME HOME AND GOT READY TO GO OUT...GOT INTO CAR WITH AGAIN A FULL TANK WHEN PARKED AND NOW UPON IGNITION IT WAS A BIT OVER 7/8 LOWER...THE DTE IS AND HAS BEEN ALL OVER THE PLACE.... DEALERSHIP HAD NEVER DRIVEN CAR SO THAT WAS RECENTLY DONE....NEW SENSORS PUT IN....TOOK OFF FROM DEALERSHIP 4-3-2019 WITH FULL TANK...DROVE ABT 49 MILES AND DECIDED TO TOP OFF TANK TO TEST MILES/FUEL CONSUMPTION...NOW THE GUAGE REMAIN IN THE SAME POSITION AS PRIOR TO ADDING FUEL...ALSO IN THE SAME 49 MILES THE DTE DROPPED FROM 610 TO 460.... WHEN I RECEIVED VEHICLE BACK IN SEPTEMBER IS WHEN I STARTED IMAGE DOCUMENTING....WITHOUT AN ACCURATE FUEL GUAGE IT IS IMPOSSIBLE TO FEEL SAFE ON THE ROAD....SUBARU AND DEALERSHIP ARE AWARE OF THIS ISSUE WITH NO SOLUTION...

THE SUBARU LEGACY WINDSHIELD IS EXTREMELY BRITTLE, SMALL SALT DEBRIS CAUSED THE WINDSHIELD TO HAVE SEVERAL CHIPS ALL OVER THE WINDSHIELD, IN ALL MY YEARS I'VE NEVER SEEN WINDSHIELDS BEING THIS BRITTLE. THERE ARE THOUSANDS OF COMPLAINTS ON SUBARU FORUMS ABOUT WINDSHIELDS THAT HAVE THE EYESIGHT EQUIPPED THAT THEY ARE PRONE TO CRACKING AND CHIPPING EASILY. RECENTLY SUBARU LOST A LAWSUIT ABOUT THEIR WINDSHIELD CRACKING ON THE 2015 AND 2016 SUBARU OUTBACKS, I BELIEVE SUBARU HAS NOT ADDRESSED THIS ISSUE YET. WHILE I WAS DRIVING ON THE HIGHWAY ON MY WAY TO VACAVILLE CALIFORNIA MY WINDSHIELD ENDED UP WITH AT LEAST DOZENS OF CHIPS ALL OVER MY WINDSHIELD. THIS IS UNACCEPTABLE BECAUSE I'VE MADE THIS TRIP COUNTLESS AMOUNT OF TIMES ON MY OLD CAR AND NEVER HAD THIS ISSUE.

I TOOK THE CAR TO THE DEALER FOR THE RECALL ON THE FUEL GAUGE. SUPPOSEDLY THE WORK WAS DONE. THE WEBSITE LISTS IT AS INCOMPLETE. I DON'T KNOW WHAT THIS MEANS OR WHAT I SHOULD DO ABOUT IT. PLEASE ADVISE.

MY SUBARU STARLINK INFOTAINMENT SYSTEM HAS EXPERIENCED 5 EVENTS OF TOTAL BLACKOUT TO THE INFOTAINMENT SCREEN OVER THE 9-MONTH PERIOD SINCE PURCHASING. THIS HAS RESULTED IN LOSS OF FUNCTIONALITY TO THE PHONE, BLUETOOTH, RADIO AND BACKUP CAMERA CAPABILITIES. SAFETY WAS THE NUMBER ONE REASON WHY I CHOSE THIS CAR (BACKUP CAMERA, LANE DEPARTURE ASSIST, ADAPTIVE CRUISE CONTROL). TO KNOW THAT ROUGHLY 30% OF ALL MINOR VEHICLE ACCIDENTS OCCUR DUE TO BACKUP-RELATED ISSUES, IT SCARES ME THAT MY CAR IS NOT PROTECTING ME FROM THIS POTENTIAL RISK. NOT ONLY IS THIS A RISK TO BASIC SAFETY PRINCIPLES, BUT IT ALSO MAKES MY EVERYDAY TRAVEL CHAOTIC AND STRESSFUL. I DRIVE FOR UP TO 2-3 HOURS AT A TIME, AND TO HAVE ZERO ACCESS TO BASIC FM RADIO, SIRIUSXM RADIO, BLUETOOTH-CONNECTED PODCASTS / E-BOOKS MAKES FOCUSING DIFFICULT. ADDITIONALLY, WITH NO BLUETOOTH PHONE CONNECTION AVAILABLE, I AM FORCED TO HOLD MY PHONE WHILE DRIVING, TAKING ONE OF MY HANDS OFF THE WHEEL, AND DISTRACTING ME FROM FOCUSING ON DRIVING. IT'S ABSURD TO ME THAT THIS ISSUE HAS BEEN RAISED BY HUNDREDS OF SUBARU OWNERS ACROSS MULTIPLE MODEL VEHICLES, AND IT HAS NOT BEEN ADDRESSED. IF, GOD FORBID, SOMETHING WAS TO HAPPEN TO ME OR MY WIFE WHILE DRIVING THIS CAR DUE TO AN ISSUE THAT SUBARU KNEW ABOUT, I DON'T KNOW WHAT I WOULD DO. TO MAKE MATTERS WORSE, I WAS JUST INFORMED AFTER 2 HOURS IN THE SERVICE WAITING AREA THAT THE SUBARU-ISSUED SOFTWARE UPDATE WILL NOT FIX THE ISSUE, AND I HAVE TO COME BACK IN 2-3 WEEKS AFTER THE DEALERSHIP RECEIVES A COMPLETELY NEW RADIO DISPLAY BOARD SYSTEM FOR INSTALL. WHEN THERE IS SOMETHING SAFETY-RELATED AT HAND, AND THE COMPANY IN QUESTION MAKES NO ESCALATED EFFORT TO EXPEDITE THE SOLUTION, IT HEIGHTENS MY CONCERN WITH THE COMPANY'S COMMITMENT TO SAFETY. THIS SITUATION IS FRUSTRATING, YES; BUT MORE THAN ANYTHING, IT QUESTIONS WHETHER OR NOT I AM BEST PROTECTED WITHIN THE CONFINES OF A SUBARU.

THE DRIVERS SIDE MIRROR OF 2018/2019 LEGACY'S WITH BLIND SPOT DETECTION WILL NOT ADJUST OUT FAR ENOUGH TO SEE BLIND SPOT OF VEHICLE FOR SEAT POSITION ADJUSTED FOR AVERAGE TO TALL DRIVERS. WHILE THE MIRROR DETECTION LIGHT WORKS THERE IS NO WAY TO PHYSICALLY CONFIRM SIDE TRAFFIC POSITION. DANGEROUS, ESPECIALLY IN CONGESTED MULTI-LANE ENVIRONMENTS. IT WAS DETERMINED THAT ALL MIRRORS AT A DEALERSHIP WITH BLIND SPOT DECTION HAS THE SAME ISSUE. THIS ISSUE MAY EXIST FOR OTHER YEARS AND MODELS AS WELL. VEHICLES USING MIRRORS WIITHOUT BLIND SPOT DETECTION FUNCTION ADEQUATELY.

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2018 SUBARU LEGACY. THE CONTACT STATED THAT NHTSA CAMPAIGN NUMBER: 18V773000 (ELECTRICAL SYSTEM) EXCEEDED A REASONABLE AMOUNT OF TIME FOR REPAIR. THE CONTACT RECEIVED THE RECALL NOTIFICATION IN NOVEMBER OF 2018. PRESTIGE SUBARU (4271 E BLACK HORSE PIKE, TURNERSVILLE, NJ) STATED THAT THE PARTS WERE NOT AVAILABLE FOR THE REPAIR. THE MANUFACTURER WAS NOT CONTACTED. THE CONTACT STATED THAT THE FUEL GAUGE DISPLAYED THAT THE VEHICLE HAD 40 MILES LEFT. AFTER THE CONTACT DROVE 10 MPH, IT RAN OUT OF FUEL. PARTS DISTRIBUTION DISCONNECT.