2016 SUBARU LEGACY Complaints

While traveling approximately 70 mph, my 2016 Subaru Legacy experienced a sudden drivetrain failure. The vehicle made a loud bang, immediately lost acceleration/power, and approximately five seconds later the front drivetrain locked, causing the tires to skid and leaving a long skid mark. The engine remained running. After stopping, the vehicle would not move forward and felt as if it was stuck in Park, but it could roll backward. This occurred without warning and created a dangerous highway situation

The factory touchscreen infotainment system is experiencing severe screen delamination (internal adhesive failure). This defect causes uncontrollable 'ghost touching,' where the screen registers phantom inputs. The system cycles through radio stations, changes audio sources, and changes navigation without driver input, causing an extreme, sudden driver distraction. Furthermore, the system frequently freezes and crashes, which completely disables the backup camera display. This prevents a clear view behind the vehicle and creates a severe safety hazard for pedestrians. The dealer confirmed the issue. Contacted Subaru of America and they are unwilling to assist at all with fixing the issue, leaving the customer to pay full price to replace the screen. Does not seem like a fair business practice.

Battery dies all the time. Parasitic drain from the Starlink program in the car. There is/was a lawsuit. It involves some DCW fuse or something. Ive had to prematurely replace my battery. It also seems to be affecting the radio. It switches stations randomly.

Battery continuously dies, likely due to a parasitic drain, and it is extremely hard-taking up to 15 to 20 minutes to open the car door using the the wierd key you slide out of the key fob. As a woman, it is very dangerous when my battery dies and I am in a dark parking lot and I can't even get inside the car and lock the door for safety. Been happening for years lastest time was today 02/17/2026. For some reason, the class action suit said I was not a class member for the same problem.

THIS IS THE SECOND SUCH EXPERIENCE WITH THIS CAR! On Friday, September 12, 2025 at 3:32 p.m., I was driving slowly in a parking lot preparing to park. As I started to turn the car into the parking space, my car surged forward without my pressing on the gas pedal. I pressed on the brake, and the car came to a stop.

Sometimes when starting from a stop or slowing down to make a turn the engine revs up like I was pushing the gas pedal. When this happens ( 4 times in the last 6 months) luckily I was covering the break to slow down or going very slow from a stop. Each time I was turning left or right. I was able to push the shifter into neural. After applying the breaks the engine slows down

Unable to remove key when turning the engine off. Eventually works after several tries of turning the engine on and off.

Car battery dies after the vehicle sits for longer periods (approximately 2 weeks or more?). Roadside assistance has tested battery twice after jumping the vehicle and stated the battery is still healthy. Various Subara owners report similar situations in online forums, and the culprit seems to be a design flaw where the DCM module is trying to connect with the obsolete 3G cellular network, causing a parasitic battery drain.

purchased my 2016 legacy in 2022, I was offered the bronze warranty due to milage. My vehicle was bought back due to loud noises coming from the engine. Was told there was a peze recall and it was fixed. Brought it back to the dealership for the same sound and they found nothing wrong. A few weeks later leaving work, I noticed my muffler was hanging. I took it to a local muffler shop where the repaired it and repaired the heat shield which was loose and knocking up against the exhaust. Still taking my vehicle to the dealership for the warranty clear coat/ zetec and was told that I needed two-wheel bearings and that I was over milage, that it wouldn't be covered. I had both wheel bearing replaced and rear brakes within the first year of having the vehicle. Later part of 2024 my dashboard was lighting up, not allowing any of my safety features to work and I have no traction in the snow. I took the vehicle back to the dealership where I was told that it had a bad valve body, That the vehicle was over the milage for the extended warranty repair. I was sold a lemon, but there is nothing I can do about it.

I was driving on highway and engine failed light came on, along with low fuel sign. Engine shut off. Luckily I was able to safely pull over. The Dealer determined that the low fuel sensor failed thus shutoff the engine. Shutting engine off on a highway is dangerous and life threatening event. Need a different strategy to warn the driver with a time to safely pull over. It cost me over $1,500 to get the part repalce.