Owner-reported complaints naming the driver-assistance system, filed with NHTSA
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Reports naming forward-collision avoidance, lane keeping, back-over prevention, cruise control and related electronic driver-assistance systems. Every record below is an owner-reported complaint about the 2021 Subaru Crosstrek submitted to NHTSA — not a confirmed defect, not a recall and not a manufacturer bulletin. 20 reports on file name it.
Complaints are reports submitted by owners and drivers to NHTSA. They are not verified and do not establish that a defect exists.
Shown in the owner’s own words, exactly as filed
Was driving on highway when all of the lights on my dash illuminated. Eventually I got a warning for oil at temp alarm. Was giving code P2757 and P0700. Looks like this a common issue in Subarus but doesn’t look like it covers anything after 2020.
Power train automatic transmission park/neutral start interlock Reverse lights not illuminating increasing risk of collision Recall was issued not listed here WRQ-23 Recall issued 1/8/23 My issue started in 2026 off and on Why is this Recall not listed Subaru service department states not able to provide service without the recall on file Car purchased August 2025
The car in front of me was about a two car's lengths away. It was very cold and that car's exhaust plume was larger than normal. The exhaust plume was highlighted by sunlight, and I believe my car thought it was an object. The auto braking system alerted and immediately slammed on the brakes in the middle of heavy traffic. There was no time for me to respond. Thankfully no one hit me. If I'd been on the highway it could have been catastrophic. The problem has not been reproduced or inspected.
The backup camera on my Subaru Crosstrek started to a stop working a few weeks ago. It first started to intermittently transmit a video feed that was fuzzy and the colors were completely incorrect. That started to follow with the camera not working about half the time at all on my head unit. Now it's completely not showing up at all on my head unit when I go into reverse. I live near a school and when I back out, I'm concerned that I won't be able to see a child behind my car. Same for parking garages and parallel parking. The Subaru dealership is saying they have checked all the wiring and modules and have isolated it to the backup camera. There were no other messages besides the camera starting to malfunction.
Traveling at speed of 30MPH. A tocoma truck in front of me suddenly stopped in road lane. Driver said that his vehicle made an auto assist stop were the brakes lock. My 2021 Crosstrek eyesight/braking system failed. I saw the truck stop but the system failed and I went into the back of a large truck. There is a witness who is happy to talk with you. He saw the truck's sudden stop and my crosstrek failure to stop. My car is totaled. I have the police report and have reported this to my insurance company.
Check engine light came on while idling. "Eyesight" tech turned off along with certain associated safety features. Next day, vehicle struggled to ignite. Came to a complete stop at an intersection, released brake, stepped on gas, and the car rolled forward as if in neutral and bucked up and down like a rodeo bull.
While driving in the left lane on a three lane highway (about 70mph) the car's automatic braking system engaged. The car would not accelerate creating a very dangerous situation on a congested highway at night. Luckily, we are able to navigate to a brake down lane without a collision. The check engine light, Eyesight light and RAB light turned on. The car would not function normally and was towed to a Subaru dealer (Patrick Subaru, Shrewsbury MA). Diagnosis was a failure of the Engine Coolant Bypass Valve P26A6. Other failure codes were: P0087, P2004, P2005, B2806, B2C22. I was told this is a known problem in Subarus of certain years, but, instead of recalling, the company has extended the warranty on the malfunctioning part. This incident happened without any previous warning and caused a life threatening situation for us and those around us.
Suddenly warning light "Check Engine" came on along with Eye Sight malfunction warning. "i RAB off" "Check Engine" Automatic Emergency Braking not working. Yes, available for inspection. Not confirmed yet by dealer. It is the weekend. There were no unusual symptoms prior to ADAS malfunction.
Subaru Eyesight system engaged randomly with no forward obstacles. Dashboard lit up, signaled alarm, and brakes engaged causing the car's nose to bottom-out. This has happened twice, thankfully at low speeds and thankfully without another car rear ending me. I'm worried this will happen on the highway. Eyesight system is generally unreliable. Random lane departure warnings and obstacles detected where there are none.
Check engine light came on while driving. All Advanced Driver Assistance Systems were disabled. Code is P26A3: Thermo Control Valve is faulty. This is a known problem and Subaru has addressed it by redesigning the Thermo Control Valve in 2021. Unfortunately there is no recall on the models fitted with the prior design that have a high rate of failure.
There are occasional times (perhaps once or twice a month) where the vehicle does not respond with the expected acceleration of a depression of the accelerator pedal. Specifically, the vehicle "lags" when I depress the accelerator pedal. While I have not experienced a dire situation or collision because of it, I believe it might cause other drivers to experience a safety incident: a driver might want to perform a fast maneuver with elevated risk but not receive the expected acceleration. For example, I was once making a U-Turn with traffic oncoming about 2,000 feet away. I needed to make the maneuver swiftly but my vehicle lagged. I would like to report this issue in case other owners of the Subaru Crosstrek Plug-In Hybrid are also experiencing.
While driving on the highway in the slow lane (furthest to the right), traveling at approximately 50 mph, I came to be behind a tractor trailer. Before I had a chance to pass the tractor trailer, it switched lanes abruptly. My vision past/beyond (in front of) the tractor trailer was heavily obstructed by the massive vehicle itself, so I could not see that in front of the 18-wheeler there was a mid-size sedan traveling at approximately 5-10 mph in the same active highway lane I was in. I had almost no time to react, and neither the Automatic Emergency Braking system nor the Forward Collision Warning system engaged. Both of these systems should have activated to prevent the collision and/or minimize injuries and damage. I subsequently collided (harshly) with the aforementioned sedan.
I was driving my 2021 Subaru Crosstrek slowly in a parking lot when it unexpectedly accelerated on its own without me pressing the gas pedal. I believe the Crosstrek was now going 40mph. I tried to shut off the engine and brake at the same time but neither one had any effect. I thought maybe I had two options. Either hit another vehicle or pedestrian or turn my car into the curb. I decided to turn into the curb which resulted in the breaking of both axels, flattening all the tires, and sustaining damage to the front fender and headlight. The car was then towed to a garage we’re it was declared totaled. I checked the internet to see if this had occurred to any other Crosstrek. It turns out their is a class action suit pending for the same reason. Police records will show I was not drunk, sleeping, and the car mat was off gas pedal.12
My brand new Subaru ignited in the engine compartment, burst into flames and exploded while I was driving it.
Subaru Pre-collision braking activates when no danger present. It detects exhaust steam or smoke as an obstacle. Approximately February 25th of 2021: While acceleration from a stop light in winter, Eyesight falsely detected the exhaust of the car in front of me as a danger and slammed on the brakes to a full stop causing the car behind me to bump into me. Thankfully this driver was paying attention and no damage was caused. This function overrode my foot being on the accelerator. Late Spring of 2021: While using cruise control on the highway, 70+mph, a diesel truck accelerated to merge. The eyesight again detected the exhaust as a hazard and slammed on the brakes causing the drivers behind me to take evasive actions and put them at risk for no reason. During both incidents, the collision warning lights fully activated. I spoke to the dealership about these incidents and was told to turn off the pre-collision system on cold days and watch out for diesel exhaust.
The automatic braking system engaged at highway speed while changing lanes with no other vehicle or object in front of the vehicle. I was accelerating to change lanes when the sensor started beeping and the car slammed on the brakes causing a sliding skid. I was able to maintain control and fortunately there was no one behind me. I believe the eyesight control malfunctioned. I do not believe this is a safe feature as it not only puts my safety at risk but also the safety of anyone on the road around me.
I just leased a new '21 Crosstrek Limited. With only 90 miles on the car, while driving on the highway using the adaptive cruise control and lane keep assist, the vehicle started aggressively jerking over towards semi trucks (while going 70mph)- I had to give significant input to not be pulled into a semi truck. I turned off the feature then turned back on. Again, it was hard jerking only towards semi trucks. Drove back to the dealership. Their mechanic took for a drive and said the exact same thing, that it was "sketchy" and jerking towards semi trucks. It was suggested I bring back if the "condition persists" which would mean risking a fatal collision with a semi. I contacted the GM of the dealership and explained what was happening and he said to being back again and they'd get a field tech from Subaru to test. Their service manager test drove and noted the same thing, as did the field tech. "Severely pulls to the right as trucks pass. Test drive vehicle and found that when using lane centering, vehicle is quite jerky and pushes towards centerline, especially when larger vehicles like a semi trailer is present. Recommended calibrating eyesight camera and test driving again". They calibrated the Eyesight and I picked back up. Drove back on the highway and turned on LKA, this time the steering was completely taken over and jerking all over the lane and flashing telling me to keep hands on the wheel when both hands were very tight on the wheel. It's continued to jerk all over while using lane keep assist and when I try to override the steering to avoid a collision the wheel feels like it's fighting me. It's extremely dangerous. The car now has 300 miles and I'm terrified it's going to kill me and it's putting everyone on the road at risk. I had the same tech in my '19 Impreza Limited and didn't have a single issue. I fear there is a serious defect with the Eyesight and LKA. No codes are present. They said vehicle is operating as designed, it's now more more erratic
Problem 1)Had my '21 Sport for 7 days. Started stalling few times when shifting from P to R while on a slight incline (dash lights up like in Acc mode) after driving it for about 30 min before and then turning it off to go inside of the store, etc. after about 2-5 minutes of idling, the car engine stopped like I was in auto stop, but didn’t kick back on when I shift gears to reverse or when I applied gas. But then I hit the on/off button and engine turns over just fine. Problem 2) But today it started making a whirring sound with difficulty accelerating & quick decelerating/speed drop off upon release of gas, even when going down a big hill. It felt like resistance and pulling feeling almost? Like how a car feels when It doesn’t want to shift. Also felt a little jittery the longer I drove & loud clunk shifting gears. Got louder when I would press on the gas more. It continued even after starting the car again when leaving my location. It wasn’t doing it before yesterday, and then while positioning the car for the tow truck. But the back up cam started going crazy at me like I was about to hit something??? But nothing was there. Then eyesight was “disabled, check manual” a couple times today upon starting it. But no codes thrown thrown outside of the eyesight thing. I’ve seen a transmission issues and stalling and ECU issues with the 2018 & 2019 but quite a few people on Facebook and Reddit similar issues in '21. Dealer found no codes and couldn't recreate it so they told me to come get it.
MY VEHICLE IS EQUIPPED WITH EYESIGHT, WHICH IS A SUBARU TECHNOLOGY THAT INCLUDES ADAPTIVE CRUISE CONTROL, FORWARD COLLISON WARNING/BREAKING, LANE DEPARTURE WARNING, REAR AUTOMATIC BRAKING, ETC. SUBARU CLAIMS THAT WINDSHIELD REPLACEMENTS MUST USE SUBARU GLASS DUE THE OPTICAL CLARITY OF THE WINDSHIELD AND THAT THE EYESIGHT SYSTEM MUST BE RECALIBRATED. THIS IS A $1339 COST (VIA SAFELIGHT) TO REPLACE THE WINDSHEILD. I HAVE 8400 MILES ON MY VEHICLE, AND I AM GETTING READY TO HAVE THE SECOND WINDSHIELD PUT ON THE CAR. THE GLASS SIMPLY BREAKS TO EASILY. FIRST INCIDENT, A ROCK HIT THE WINDSHIELD AND IT CRACKED ABOUT INCHES WHILE TRAVELING THROUGH ALBUQUERQUE, NM ON I-25. SECOND INCIDENT HAPPENED TODAY ON I-25 WITH A BARELY PERCEPTIBLE SOUND, AND THE WINDSHIELD HAS A CRACK ABOUT 6.6 INCHES LONG. I AM NOT SURE WHAT THE ISSUE IS WITH SUBARU WINDSHIELDS, BUT LOOKING IN OWNER FORUMS, IT'S A PRETTY COMMON OCCURRENCE. THE FACT THAT I AM AVERAGING A NEW WINDSHIELD EVERY 4200 MILES IS RIDICULOUS. I HAVE BEEN DRIVING FOR 35+ YEARS AND HAVE HAD TO REPLACE A WINDSHIELD LESS THAN THREE TIMES. WITH THE SUBARU, I AM DOING IT ALMOST EVERY 4-5 MONTHS (SO FAR).
THE LANE KEEPING FEATURE WILL RANDOMLY CAUSE THE VEHICLE TO VEER TOWARDS THE CENTER LINE AT A VARIETY OF SPEEDS AND UNDER A VARIETY OF CONDITIONS, REQUIRING IMMEDIATE DRIVER CORRECTION TO AVOID CROSSING THE CENTER LINE. NO ACCIDENT HAS OCCURRED BUT THE SYSTEM IS NOW DEACTIVATED. IN ADDITION, THE COLLISION AVOIDANCE SYSTEM DOES NOT RELIABLY ACQUIRE A VEHICLE AHEAD IF THAT VEHICLE IS STOPPED AND THE SPEED DIFFERENTIAL IS >30-40 MPH. WITHOUT DRIVER MANUAL BRAKING, A CRASH WOULD OCCUR.
Higher-selling and older vehicles accumulate more reports. Counts are not failure rates and are not directly comparable between vehicles that sold in very different numbers.
Categories with enough reports to have a page of their own
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