2012 SUBARU OUTBACK Complaints

Brakes failed completely due to excessive rust / corrosion on brake line junction area. Brake pedal suddenly went to floor and fluid leaked out near right rear quarter of vehicle in-front of right rear tire.

Driving on the highway was side swiped then rearended at high speed causing my driver seat to fly backwards. So the locking mechanism on the manual seat adjuster either failed or never locked

Odometer Fraud. The contact purchased a 2012 Subaru Outback. The contact discovered a mileage discrepancy after the purchase. The vehicle was a private sale. At the time of purchase, the mileage was 89,000. It was later discovered, when the title arrived, that the mileage on the title was 134,000.

The brake pedal suddenly went almost to the floor while attempting to stop. Researching I found there was a recall. NHTSA Recall No. 11V-562. My car was not apparently among the ones being recalled, yet this problem is exactly as described in the bulletin. The component in question is the master brake cylinder. It is available for inspection. It happened on Sat Sept 20 2025 returning from a trip approximately. 300 miles away. the symptom persists. There were no warning indicators.

I took my Outback to my local highly respectable mechanic on August 20, 2025 as I needed the oil changed and the concern I had about having to add brake fluid twice in the past 4 months. He inspected my car immediately and he refused to let me drive it out of his shop as there is a dangerous brake line leaking issue that could result in brake failure. He told me that my Outback is not the first that he had to repair this “Subaru manufacturing defect”. I had to get it repaired. I checked to see if there was a NHTSA recall on my Outback year and there was none, only prior years. Yet when I went online searching more, I found an article that stated that Subaru was going to recall the 2012 Subaru as well? The repair shop owner said to us that my wife is a "gentle driver" and that was good, because, if she had to apply the brakes very hard to avoid a collision, they probably would have failed. Please understand that I read the recall for previous years of Outbacks and other Subaru models, and my Subaru Outback had the exact same defect. I did contact Subaru of America and they responded that my Outback does not have a recall, only prior years. Unbelievable!!! The exact same make and model with the exact same defect and they just blow me off! I was lucky that we did not reach the point of a serious accident. I hope that NHTSA will evaluate my, and I am sure other safety issues with Subaru brakes, and take some action to give other owners the opportunity to make this very serious safety matter right, and avoid an accident. In a related question, can NHTSA somehow require auto manufacturers to inspect their vehicles that are still on the road after say 12 years to helpfully provide some safety assurance to the drivers of their vehicles?

The contact's girlfriend owns a 2012 Subaru Outback. The contact stated that the vehicle hesitated while starting. In addition, the contact attempted to jumpstart the vehicle; however, the vehicle failed to start. The check engine warning light was intermittently illuminated. The contact stated that during rainy weather, several unknown warning lights were illuminated. The contact scanned the vehicle with an OBD2 scanner and retrieved DTC codes: P0420 (Catalytic convertor) and P0057 (Ignition System). The vehicle was taken to a local dealer to be diagnosed. The contact was informed that there were failures with the rear brake pads, rotors, PCV valve, valve cover gasket, engine air filter, catalytic converter heat shield; and a cylinder #4 misfire. The DTC codes P0304, and P0420 (Catalytic convertor) were also retrieved. The contact was informed that the catalytic converter needed to be replaced first. The contact stated that several repairs were made prior; however, the failure persisted. Upon further investigation, the contact related the failure to Subaru Service Program Bulletin: WQC-39, WVY-35, WUF-91r, TKC-19R, and NHTSA Campaign Number: 20V003000 (Air Bags); however, the VIN was not included. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 97,803.

When coming to a stop, the car shudders and often stalls just like if you didn't press in the clutch on a manual transmission. No warning lights or messages. See details in TSB- 16-90-13R. Subaru knows about this issue and it has been reported in many vehicles. My car was at a Subaru dealership at least half a dozen times during 2017-2018 when this issue came to light and no one notified us to have it checked. Fast forward to now and for the last year my car has been shuddering when coming to a stop, and about 2-3 months ago, it started stalling. This is an absolute safety issue and should be a recall. I've been in many situations where it stalls and I am vulnerable to getting rear-ended because it takes time to restart the car and get moving again. This is particularly true in traffic or situations where you need to stop suddenly and others behind you are not anticipating you being stopped in the roadway.

Vehicle stalls when stopping. This is a huge safety issue because stalling at intersections can cause accidents. Dealership diagnosed a faulty torque converter. This torque converter (it should be part number 31100AB170) issue is widely known in this production series of the Subaru outback. After hundreds of complaints were filed with the NHTSA, Subaru extended the warranty on all their automatic transmissions to avoid a recall around 2017, but closed the extended warranty in 2022. Subaru now tries to convince their customers that these vehicles are too old for the issue to be attributable to them, despite knowing that they equipped these vehicles with defective parts. See the following: [XXX] [XXX] [XXX] INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

The last incident? I couldn't recover my intentions. (Incidents of random acceleration seem to only happen when I am turning). The last incident occurred in my mall parking lot.. I was about to turn and suddenly the car shot forward. I could have fought to maintain my turn but that would have been aggressive maneuvering. Nothing, thankfully, was in front of me, so this was the first time I was deviated off course. 1 - random acceleration 2 - if my reflexes were not quick enough, there would have been vehicular accident and/or pedestrian being struck 3 - no... not able to duplicate. 4 - no check engine lights prior. One instance, as I avoided a collision, that threw a code (CEL) but scanner didn't see any codes. CEL went away 3 days later. NOTE: I am in North Bay, Ontario, Canada

The contact owns a 2012 Subaru Outback. The contact stated that vehicle was consistently burning out the headlight bulbs. The contact stated that within 3-years he had replaced the driver's and the passenger’s side headlight bulbs 7 times, and following one failure the passenger’s side headlight housing was replaced. The contact stated that the bulb in the new housing was blown. The contact stated that a headlight bulb had blown while driving at night at an undisclosed speed. The contact had taken the vehicle to an independent mechanic who determined that the wiring and electrical system was working as designed. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was informed of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 120,000.