2015 SUBARU OUTBACK Complaints

FRONT WINDSHIELD DEVELOPED A 20 INCH CRACK, RUNNING FROM PILLAR ON PASSENGER SIDE, TOWARD CENTER OF WINDSHIELD. NO APPEARANCE OF ROCK STRIKE. NO SOUND OF ROCK STRIKE WHEN CRACK FIRST DEVELOPED. CRACK STARTED AT AROUND 14 INCHES, AND CONTINUES TO GROW LONGER. CAR WAS BEING DRIVEN AT HIGHWAY SPEEDS WHEN CRACK FIRST APPEARED, AT AROUND 75 MPH.

WE TEST DRIVE A 2015 OUTBACK SUBARU AT THE DEALERSHIP. IT HAD A CRACK IN IT AND DIDN'T THINK TO MUCH OF IT 20K MILES. WE ENDED UP PURCHASING THIS ONE PRIVATELY AND IT HAS A CRACKED WINDSHIELD AS WELL. IT ONLY HAS 11K MILES. THE CRACK ON THE OUTBACK THAT WE PURCHASED STARTS AT THE TOP MIDDLE OF THE WINDSHIELD BEHIND THE REARVIEW MIRROW AND CUTS DOWN AND TO THE RIGHT ABOUT 8 INCHES. AFTER READING THE COMPLAINTS ON THIS SITE, IT SEEMS THAT THERE'S A HUGE DEFECT WITH THE WINDSHIELD AND DEFROSTER THAT NEEDS TO BE RECALLED. THIS IS A MASSIVE SAFETY ISSUE!

SHORTLY AFTER PURCHASING OUR VEHICLE, A PEBBLE HIT THE WINDSHIELD CAUSING A CHIP IN DRIVERS SIDE. CHIP WAS REPAIRED BY OUR DEALERSHIP, BUT WAS IN LINE OF VISION. WAS EXCEPTING THIS REPAIR, BUT THOUGHT THE WINDSHIELD MATERIAL WAS TOO SOFT OR BRITTLE FOR THIS SMALL REPAIR, NOW HAVE A BROKEN WINDSHIELD FROM CHIP ON LEFT SIDE, NEEDS REPLACING.

CRUISE CONTROL (CC) CAUSED WHAT I THOUGHT AT THE TIME OF THE INCIDENT WAS UNINTENDED ACCELERATION. OPERATION OF CC IS DIFFERENT FROM ANY CC I USED IN THE PAST. THE CC WAS ALREADY ENGAGED AND I WAS GOING ABOUT 40 MPH ON A HIGHWAY. I DECIDED TO INCREASE MY SPEED, SO I PRESSED THE 'SET +' BUTTON. AFTER A COUPLE OF SECONDS WHEN I REACHED 43 MPH, I RELEASED THE BUTTON. THE CAR CONTINUED TO ACCELERATE TO 70 MPH. LUCKILY THE HIGHWAY WAS EMPTY AND I WAS ABLE TO DISENGAGE THE CC. THE PROBLEM IS THAT THE CC 'SET +' (AND 'SET -') HAS 2 POSITIONS - PUSHING IT HALF WAY INCREASES YOUR SPEED LIKE A TRADITIONAL CC, AND PUSHING IT ALL THE WAY ACTUALLY INCREASES THE SET SPEED OF YOUR CC BY 5 MPH INCREMENTS. HENCE WHEN I THOUGHT I WAS JUST ACCELERATING TO 43 MPH, I WAS ACTUALLY SETTING THE CC SPEED TO 70 MPH. ONE OF THE OPTION PACKAGES WITH THE CAR ADDS THIS 5 MPH INCREMENT 'FEATURE'. THE QUICK REFERENCE GUIDE AND THE REGULAR MANUAL DO NOT MENTION THIS 'FEATURE' - IT IS ONLY MENTIONED IN ONE OF THE AUXILIARY MANUALS FOR THE OPTION PACKAGE. I THINK UNDER DIFFERENT CIRCUMSTANCES THAT THIS INCIDENT COULD HAVE TURNED OUT MUCH WORSE THAN IT DID. THE CC DOES NOT WORK LIKE TRADITIONAL CC, AND THE CONTROLS LOOK LIKE A TRADITIONAL CC.

TWICE IN SNOWING CONDITION , THE WINDSHIELD ICED AT THE BOTTOM AND DID NOT CLEAR EVEN THOUGH THE DEFROSTER HAD BEEN ON. WE WERE NOT ABLE TO COMPLETE OUR JOURNEY. EVEN THOUGH WE STOPPED EVERY TEN MINUTES OR LESS TO SCRAPE THE WINDSHIELD CLEAR. I'VE HAD MANY CARS IN MANY CONDITIONS AND NEVER SAW THIS LACK OF VISIBILITY. IT TOOK 4 HOURS ON ROUTE 270 FROM FREDRICK TO GO 20 MILES OUT AND RETURN. VERY SCARY.

I HAVE A SURGING ISSUE WITH MY 3.6R AFTER COLD STARTS. UPON START-UP, THE IDLE WILL BE ~1800 AND WHEN I PUT THE CAR IN DRIVE, IT WILL DROP TO 800-1000RPM. THEN, AS I SLOWLY PULL INTO THE GARAGE, OR PULL INTO A STOPPED LINE OF TRAFFIC, THE ENGINE WILL SURGE BACK TO THE HIGHER RPM, CAUSING THE VEHICLE TO PUSH THROUGH THE BRAKES. I HAVE HAD THIS RETURN TO HIGH IDLE OCCUR AFTER I HAVE COME TO A COMPLETE STOP, CAUSING THE VEHICLE TO PUSH THROUGH THE APPLIED BRAKES AND REQUIRING ADDITIONAL BRAKE PRESSURE TO STOP THE VEHICLE. I HAVE ALSO HAD IT OCCUR WHEN SLOWLY ROLLING FORWARD. I BELIEVE THIS IS AN UNSAFE SITUATION THAT COULD RESULT IN DAMAGED PROPERTY AND/OR INJURY. I SEE THAT THERE IS AT LEAST ONE ADDITIONAL NHTSA COMPLAINT FOR THIS ISSUE, WHICH SUBARU DEEMED "NORMAL" OPERATION. I DID CONTACT MY DEALER REQUESTING A FIRMWARE UPDATE, IF ONE WAS AVAILABLE, AND THEY SAID THERE WAS NOT ONE. I HAVE OWNED THIS VEHICLE SINCE 3/23/2015 AND THIS ISSUE HAS OCCURRED SINCE NEW, BUT IT MORE COMMON IN COLDER WEATHER. I HAVE 18K MILES ON THE VEHICLE.

WHILE I WAS DRIVING I HEARD A POP, DID SEE OR NOTICE ANYTHING. NEXT DAY I HAD A CRACK IN MY DRIVER SIDE WINDSHIELD, ABOUT 8-10 INCHES CRACK. THOUGHT I HAD GLASS COVERAGE BUT ITS $1000 DEDUCTIBLE. SAFELITE COST IS $461.55. I HAVE THE 2015 SUBARU OUTBACK WITH EYESIGHT, THAT MEANS AFTER SAFELIGHT REPAIRS THE WINDSHIELD I THEN NEED TO BRING THE CAR TO MY SUBARU DEALER TO HAVE THE EYESIGHT RECALIBRATE FOR ABOUT $200. MY CAR ONLY HAS 8700 MILES. LOOKING AT OTHER COMMENTS, THIS SEEMS TO BE A BIG PROBLEM WITH 2015 SUBARU OUTBACKS. IF I HAD FULL GLASS COVERAGE I WOULD HAVE CARED OR WROTE ABOUT THIS. HOPE SUBARU FIXES THIS PROBLEM. THANKS AND HOPE EVERYONE STAYS SAFE. AFTER SEEING THE NOTE BELOW I WAS IN MOTION ON A 2 LANE STREET. I DO DRIVE FROM NY TO FLORIDA TWICE A YEAR AND DON'T KNOW WHAT I WOULD DO IF THIS HAPPENED ON A LONG TRIP. DOESN'T SEEM SAFE IF SUBARU HAS DEFECTIVE WINDSHIELDS

THE BACKING ON THE STEERING WHEEL CORE IS MISSING AND WHEN TURNING IT IS VERY EASY TO PLACE PART OF A FINGER INTO THE RECESS THAT WOULD RESULT IN EITHER LOSING PART OF THE FINGER OR HAVING A FATAL ACCIDENT WHEN STRAIGHTENING OUT THE STEERING WHEEL.

WHILE PARKED OVERNIGHT THE FRONT WINDSHIELD DEVELOPED A18 INCH HORIZONTAL CRACK AT EYE LEVEL STARTED FROM THE DRIVERS SIDE. THE CRACK IS TRAVELING. AIR TEMP WAS IN THE 70'S, NO RAIN OR HAIL, HAPPENED SOMETIME BETWEEN DEC 24-26, 2015. ODOMETER WAS 9200. I SAW ON A CAR COMPLAINTS WEBSITE MANY OTHER 2015 OUTBACKS WITH THE SAME ISSUE.

DURING A RECENT TRIP TO COLORADO, THE FRONT WINDSHIELD ON MY NEW 2015 SUBARU OUTBACK DEVELOPED A DOZEN SMALL PITS IN THE EXTERIOR GLASS SURFACE FROM CONTACT WITH VERY TINY PEBBLES. TWO OF THE PITS HAVE DEVELOPED LARGE CRACKS THAT HAVE GROWN TO LENGTHS EXCEEDING 15 INCHES. THE TINY PEBBLE STRIKES SHOULD NOT HAVE CAUSED SUCH PITS BASED ON MY EXTENSIVE DRIVING EXPERIENCE. I BELIEVE THERE TO BE A DEFECT IN THE GLASS ITSELF, MAKING IT UNUSUALLY BRITTLE. THE PEBBLE STRIKES OCCURRED WHILE DRIVING AT HIGHWAY SPEEDS (I.E. 55-65 MPH) ON PAVED ROADWAYS. THE TEMPERATURE OUTSIDE DURING THE PEBBLE STRIKES, WHICH TOOK PLACE OVER SEVERAL DAYS OF DRIVING, RANGED FROM 20 TO 45 DEGREES F. THE CRACKS APPEAR TO STILL BE GROWING.