2022 SUBARU OUTBACK Complaints

Vehicle windshield shattered without noticeable impact from object, producing a 12 inch crack on center of glass. Dealership refused to warranty the glass, claiming that they did not see the damage occur and cannot verify it was spontaneous. Repair costs were egregiously high given that a camera recalibration is mandatory to ensure safety, quoted at $675 - more than the price of the replacement glass itself.

Windshield spontaneously cracked on lower right side. Crack spread within minutes across entire windshield. This happened in May 2022 in fairly decent temperatures in the upper 60’s

On January 28, 2023 at approximately 1930 hours, vehicle battery was dead after being in a parking garage for a week. Vehicle was jump started and being driven on a highway for about 10 miles at highway speeds. At a location on the NYC Harlem River Drive, traffic came to a stop for a minute or so. The 'Auto Start Stop System' stopped the motor as designed. When traffic started to move again, the motor would not restart and the battery was dead. We were disabled in the left lane of an unlit high speed, high volume highway in the dark with our emergency flashers rapidly going dim. After about 45 minutes and numerous near serious collision misses, a tow truck arrived to tow us off of the highway. The system that failed was the 'Auto Start Stop System' and the vehicle is available for inspection. I have 40 years of investigating and reconstructing fatal and serious motor vehicle collisions and this defect put the safety of the motoring public at a serious risk. It is unknown if the problem has been reproduced and the component has not been inspected by the manufacturer. There was not any warning indicators or other symptoms of the problem. To the contrary, the vehicle operator had the false assumption that all systems were operating properly. This defect presents a high risk of serious injury to highway users.

The windshield cracked during a severe weather incident where outside temperature was -24 degrees. There were no stone chips or any other issues with the windshield. I drove the car for approximately 20 minutes with the defroster on, when I got home I pulled the car into the garage, when I got back into the vehicle the windshield was cracked from the bottom left of the driver’s side across the windshield toward the middle. I took the vehicle to safelite first, they said the sandwich piece of glass between the exterior section and interior section of the windshield had suffered a failure to to extreme temperature differential. They had seen a number of similar failures since from the prior weekend. They said it is a manufacture issue and said to take it to the dealer for a warranty issue. I took it the the Subaru dealer where I purchased the vehicle, they inspected the windshield and took a number of photographs to submit to Subaru. I was told their windshield experts would examine the photos and get back to them with an answer, that will be four weeks ago tomorrow, Friday the 27th. Meanwhile I’m driving a vehicle with a broken windshield which is not safe. I called Subaru customer care and they are trying to contact the dealership about the claim submission but haven’t been successful. I can certainly pay to replace the windshield, however, if it is a manufactured error I believe Subaru should honor the claim and replace it. I searched the Subaru Outback owners portal and found numerous similar incidents where owners claimed the windshield failed under similar circumstances. According to safelite, Subaru windshields are softer than most manufacturers in an effort to save weight and expense.

I was driving to work, temps in the mid-thirties, and I heard a crack. It was confusing because there was nobody else on the roadway with me. That's when I looked and saw a 12" crack, beginning at the bottom-middle of the windshield and extending upward.

I woke up in the morning and my windshield crack with no apparent damage by an outside object. It started on the left side where the black meets the clear glass. Please look into this.

The windshield cracked on its own overnight (temperatures in the low 30s). The crack starts at the bottom of the window at the center and goes upward and towards the passenger side. The crack is roughly 14" long, but has extended another 2" since the initial crack started. It impairs the view for most drivers. The dealer confirmed that there was no impact mark and have submitted photos to Subaru of America. Subaru has come back with stating it was caused by 'external influence' even though there is no evidence of that. The dealer is doing their best to appeal this with Subaru.

A 6" crack appeared on the front windscreen at the passenger side at the bottom right corner extending towards the center.

Ive been through 2 windows already. They have cracked randomly and with no damage. It always happens in the winter when I turn my car on to pre heat before I drive it and the heat change cracks it. The OEM glass and the Safelite glass are inferior.

2022 Subaru Outback Wilderness - 20k Windshield crack develop -Rain and wind, but no other cars / obstructions visible, defroster on, loud bang sound, windshield shows 8” x 5” curving crack near rear view mirror. -No impact / dent / uneven indentations visible.