2016 SUBARU OUTBACK Complaints

Key intermittently stuck in ignition. Unable to lock car doors with key stuck in the ignition. Problem started early on occasionally and now happens nearly every other time and requires a few tries up to 10 minutes of trying to get it out. This is a known issue among my model - Service Bulletin 16-112-18R

While driving on the highway at about 60mph my 2016 Outback suddenly accelerated much faster. The only way to avoid collision with another car or cars or end up in a ditch was to drive around them. The brake did not work! After a minute or more(?) I eventually was able to stop using the brake.

Motorized power liftgate is failing (diagnosed by dealer on 7/7/23) apparently because motor is undersized or 2 motors should have instead been used/designed to deal with load. Safety issue if motor failure causes trunk not to open. Newer models have been redesigned.

Something is draining the battery when the car is not in use. This left me stranded and that is a safety issue. On 12/01/21 I had a new battery installed at the Subaru dealership. The battery wasn't dead at the time but I had the car long enough that I thought it was time for a replacement. Late last year my husband took the car for an emission inspection and when they turned the car off, it wouldn't start and they had to boost it off and the same thing happened a few times when the car was parked in the garage I took it to the dealership and they said they were unable to make the battery fail so they could not replace it at no charge. I had them check more items and they said everything was fine. We bought a new battery 3/17/23 and exactly 3 months later it was dead again. From reports online people seem to think it's the starlink system. At the time they had to have an upgrade, I took the car to the dealership twice to upgrade 3G in starlink and Starlink never worked again. There are no warning lights, the battery just dies.

The software is designed not to allow the alternator to charge the battery fully. Subaru was made aware of this issue and came out with a software update which they are charging $200 for. This is a defect that causes the car to die every time the car is turned off, they should be updating the software for free.

The contact owns a 2016 Subaru Outback. The contact stated while the was stationary at a traffic light, the vehicle accelerated independently while depressing the brake pedal. The contact stated no warning light was illuminated. The contact stated that the RPM’s was elevated to 5,000. The contact stated that he turned off and restarted the vehicle and was able to continue driving to his destination. The contact called the local dealer and made them aware of the failure. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer had not been informed of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 35,000. The consumer stated the vehicle was inspected and didn't find anything wrong with the vehicle.

Cam Carrier leak due to a factory design. Yes it is available for a inspection. This causes a lot of oil to leak, oil is flammable and the dealer told me there is a high risk of an engine fire due to this. Yes the dealer confirmed the problem, this is a common problem with Subaru Outbacks, there are tons of reports and complains about this. The vehicle has been inspected by Subaru dealership No warnings or lamps, Subaru dealer has known about this issue with oil leaking from the cam carrier since back in 2019 when they first brought it up to me, they only wiped the leaking fluid and never proceed to complete warranty repair to fix the issue.

At 59,000 miles, engine developed “heavy leak from cam carriers” by dealer service department. It was recommended that it be resealed. Engine was removed and serviced. At 112,000 miles same diagnosis was observed, along with a recommend reseal. It appears that the dealer repair was not done properly, or the repair was only temporary. This is a very labor intensive and expensive repair that needs to be done to avoid leaking oil that could ignite and cause engine fire. This seems to be a chronic problem and redesign of the repair and cam carriers are needed immediately. Subaru of America has offered to cover about 1/3 of the cost.

At low rate of speed, while parking vehicle accelerated without warning and damaged 3 cars . This happened previously with separate family drivers without damage. This is a serious defect and could potentially cause serious injury or death. This was not driver error. the car lurched forward with absolutely no gas pedal involvement. The previous times it happened at a stoplight with enough room in front to hit the brake. Not this time.

A crack appeared across the upper middle of the windshield. There was no event, damage, or accident involved. The crack just appeared one day. The crack runs across the windshield in the area of the rear view mirror and in front of the mounted cameras used for the collision avoidance, lane departure system.