2017 Subaru Outback Steering Problems

On Monday [XXX] were driving on [XXX] going north up [XXX]. I was doing about 60-65 mph in traffic which was flowing in both directions. While ascending the pass, the car suddenly started to misfire, rapidly lost power, power steering failed and all dash lights lit up. With no shoulder to pull out this was a very scary experience. Eventually managed to limp to a spot where I could pull out off the pavement. Car was dead. Popping the hood showed significant battery corrosion. I had a toolkit with me. The voltmeter measured the battery voltage at 9.3V. Thinking maybe cleaning the battery terminals would allow the car to be restarted, I managed to get the cables off and cleaned everything with a wire brush. But still no power. After a while a state trooper passed by and hung on while I contacted a towing service. After another 1.5 hours, the tow truck arrived and towed the car the 60 miles or so to the dealership in Denver with my wife and I in the cab of the tow truck. Dealer repair invoice indicated Data Control Module (DCM) "causing excessive draw on electrical system." More significantly, the battery had drained below the the operating threshold voltage required for vehicle drivability (understood to be 10-10.5V). There was no mention of this by the dealer service adviser. Although dealer diagnostic was carried out, no computer codes were provided. Vehicle mileage at time of incident 73,456. I have owned the car since new and have all service records. Car was repaired and picked up from dealership on 06/10/26 with a replacement DCM. Battery was charged up but not replaced and left in corroded state. Battery will probably have been weakened by such a total discharge with reduced life expectancy. I have uploaded the dealer repair invoice. I have reported this incident to Subaru of America. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

NHTSA ID

11745736

Incident

Jun 8, 2026

Ignition key not releasing after turning engine off. Put shifter in park, foot on brakeii, turn Ignition key off. Key will not release. Have to cycle multiple times to get key released.

NHTSA ID

11737057

Incident

Oct 15, 2025

Had new tires installed and on the way home kept feeling wheel pulling to the right. Eyesight/lane assist feature was turned off. At one point the steering wheel dramatically jerked right and locked, completely immoveable. It jerked me into the other lane and almost into the median of the highway. I got to safety and had it towed to the dealership. I originally thought it was an issue with the tire alignment or the AWD system. They took it on a test drive and confirmed lane assist was malfunctioning in a dangerous way. They confirmed that eyesight/lane assist was turned off when this issue happened. They reset the system and said they couldn't guarantee the vehicle was safe to drive and suggested bringing it in if it happened again. I asked them to document everything they said over phone calls and voicemail. They agreed, but it took them weeks to provide a repair order. When they wrote up the repair order it included none of the information that was previously given and they said the car was, and always had been in perfect working order. I opened a case with Subaru of America and they were unable to get the information they needed from the dealership to proceed with the investigation. Upon further research, I found many similar accounts of this happening with Subarus of the same and similar year(s) and model(s). There is a class action lawsuit open for this but currently there are so many plaintiffs they cannot accept more. I refuse to drive this car as I feel that this malfunction is of life and limb consequence. I do not feel it would be ethical to sell this car without full disclosure and then would be out 30k on the car I purchased just three years ago. Reliable Subaru and Subaru of America refuse to offer a solution or help me in any way.

NHTSA ID

11528521

Incident

Feb 20, 2023

In the morning of Jan 28th, I drove this car off highway(North bound MoPac) to the ramp to frontage road to 360 in Austin TX. the vehicle lost control out of sudden and crashed to the left side of the road. the accident caused total loss of the vehicle but luckily a>the passages and the the driver on the car are OK. b>no other vehicle was involved . As the drive of this vehicle , I feel the crash was so strange so later on I requested both insurance company (AAA) and Subaru to investigate the possibility of malfunctions of the car. AAA -- claim number 015641968 Subaru --case 230128-1800367 AAA claimed the total lost but refused to do further investigation. Subaru took my request in March. Early this month, Subaru said their finished the comprehensive inspection and simply claimed the car was running normal when the accident happened. They don't want to share any further information about what they've found and they also don't want the inspect technician to talk to me about the results. I would like ask NHTSA, as the regulatory authority, to look into the their inspection report to make sure this vehicle does not have any abnormalities as their claimed. Thanks!

NHTSA ID

11523077

Incident

Jan 28, 2023

On January 24th, 2022, during a regularly scheduled maintenance services appointment at a Subaru dealership, the service technician discovered that the steering rack on my 2017 Subaru Outback needed replacement. At that time, I was advised it would be unsafe/dangerous to continue to drive my vehicle, unless I immediately replaced the steering rack. Therefore, at the guidance of the Subaru dealership, namely Freehold Subaru, I gave my consent for them to proceed with replacement of the steering components, which cost $2,223.86 (plus tax). Evidence of the cost is a copy of the detailed invoice and proof of payment is available upon request. At the time when the steering components were replaced, I was not aware of the Subaru Outback recall which involved steering components, nor did the Subaru dealership bring it to my attention, perhaps because they were also not aware of this specific recall. The recall I’m referring to is described under NHTSA Campaign Number 16V292000 (dated May 11th, 2016). As I paid for the steering rack replacement out of my own pocket, on November 29th, 2022, I contacted Subaru of America to seek reimbursement because this should’ve been covered under the steering components recall mentioned above. On December 15th, 2022, I received a message from Subaru of America stating that my particular Subaru’s VIN was not included in the recall. In my mind, this may have been an unintentional oversight on the part of the Subaru dealership by not including my Subaru’s VIN in the recall, when clearly other SAME Year Make and Model as my car (2017 Subaru Outback) were included in the recall.

NHTSA ID

11502337

Incident

Jan 24, 2022

Paddle shift levers--which are positioned on the steering wheel as opposed to the steering column--are too square-edged (shape), which is a design defect that can cause loss of steering control. Specifically, the sharp corner can catch on coat zippers. I was driving East, took a right turn, and intended to procced with driving South. When I attempted to straighten out the wheel, however, I was unable to do so. The paddle shifter corner "hooked" my coat zipper, along the track. This caused me to lose control of my vehicle steering, which resulted in collision with a bus stop/stand and a citation for failure to stay within my driving lane. The coat was a bit longer since it was fairly cold that morning. The zipper mechanism was made of a plastic material. The zipper was fully zipped, not half zipped and half unzipped. If the paddle shift levers were more round in shape/design, then the risk of the lever "hooking" onto clothing decreases significantly. I found examples of where other Subaru Outback drivers expressed concerns about the positioning and shape of the levers posing as a safety hazard, too.

NHTSA ID

11500642

Incident

Dec 27, 2022

Upon turning off my 2017 Subaru Outback Touring, the engine turned off via the push start/stop button. However, when I went to use the vehicle later the same day, the car would not start (starter would not engage). I determined that the steering wheel was NOT locked. The transmission was in Park, and I could not move the shift lever out of Park. I attempted engage the steering wheel lock by moving the steering wheel back and forth, but without success. Vehicle now totally inoperative. Vehicle is available for inspection at my residence upon request. The safety of owner and others is compromised as follows: Because of living in a semi-rural area, I rely on this vehicle to safely transport me and my family members everywhere (grocery store, doctor appointments, emergency room visits, etc.); Failure of the vehicle to operate property could expose operator and/or passengers to extremely cold weather, such as that recently experienced in December 2022. This is the second occurrence of the same malfunction. First was in July 2022. Vehicle was serviced by Subaru of Georgetown who informed me that the problem (car would not start because steering wheel lock was not engaged) was "fixed", but that they could not duplicate. No other entity, other than the dealer, has examined the vehicle. No warning lights, messages or symptoms prior to either occurrence. Driving was normal, engine shutdown appeared normal, but subsequent restarts were not possible due to the steering wheel lock not engaging (which is what the dealer informed me was the problem at the first occurrence).

NHTSA ID

11499699

Incident

Dec 31, 2022

System does not recognize the car is in park mode correctly. The side effect of this is ignition key gets locked in the key hole and cannot be pulled out. Repeated problem in all weather situation once the failure started to show symptom. This issue is common enough across multiple product line of Subaru vehicles with a service bulletin reference 16-112-18R with google search. Plenty of website postings and you tube videos showed different work around to resolve the issue. Dealer charges parts and labor cost to repair each vehicle request for service that could possible is a design or sensor defect issue from production quality issue. The trigger point of my vehicle having this problem could be due to recent cold weather, but this issue does not go away even after the temperature gets warmer. Trying to fix the car key situation with a young child in the back seat wanting to get out daily makes this a repeated challenge. Reference link below to share and please consider this is a case for possible safety and manufactuer defects problem that impacts a good group of Subaru fans. https://www.subaruoutback.org/threads/key-stuck-in-ignition.495265/

NHTSA ID

11454242

Incident

Feb 5, 2022

2017 SUBARU OUTBACK 2.5 LIMITED HAS LOOSE STEERING IN THE RAIN AND GOING DOWN HILLS. DRIFTS A LOT WITH CROSS WINDS VEHICLE HAD ALIGNMENT AND TIRE INSPECTION AND SUSPENSION CHECKED AND ALL WAS FINE BUT CAR STILL IS UNSTABLE IN BAD WEATHER. FEELS LIKE IT IS SWAYING AND THE TIRES ARE NOT ON THE GROUND. TIRES HAVE 13K MILES ON THEM AND ARE IN GOOD SHAPE. SHOCKS ARE FINE. REPAIR SHOPS CAN NOT DETERMINE THE PROBLEM

NHTSA ID

11450394

Incident

Dec 1, 2021

After the transmission is in park and the key is turned to turn-off the engine, the key will not advance to the "LOCKED" position and cannot be removed. Also, the steering wheel does not lock. This apparently can be remedied by repeatedly shifting from drive to park forcefully. Also, disconnecting the car battery seems to allow turning the key to "LOCKED."

NHTSA ID

11418498

Incident

May 24, 2021

KEY GET STUCK IN THE IGNITION LATELY WHEN I TURN OFF THE ENGINE AND IT TAKES AWHILE BEFORE IT'S RELEASED FROM THE IGNITION. I HAVE 52K PLUS MILES NOW ON MY 2017 SUBARU OUTBACK.

NHTSA ID

11391143

Incident

Feb 1, 2021

Mileage

7 mi

WHILE TRAVELING THROUGH MICHIGAN'S UPPER PENINSULA AND NORTHERN WISCONSIN DURING SNOW FALL WITH A FULLY PACKED CAR ON THE HIGHWAY I EXPERIENCED THE REAR END "GHOST WALKING" OR "STEERING" OR "PULLING" TO THE LEFT AND TO THE RIGHT. I HAD TO DRIVE 40MPH WHILE TWO-WHEELED DRIVE CAMRYS, CIVICS, VANS, ETC. PASSED US BY. GROWING UP IN NORTHERN MICHIGAN, I'M NO STRANGER TO WINTER CONDITIONS AND ALL WHEEL DRIVE VEHICLES. I DON'T THINK ALL-WHEELED DRIVE VEHICLES MAKE ME INVINCIBLE, BUT THEY DO MAKE DRIVING IN WINTERY CONDITIONS BETTER. AFTER OUR TRIP, I TOOK THE CAR INTO THE SUBARU DEALER AND THEY SAID AT 37K MILES, THE SUSPENSION LOOKED GREAT, ALIGNMENT LOOKED GREAT, AND THAT THEY WOULD RECOMMEND NEW TIRES (TIRES ARE AT 4/32 AND HAVE EVEN WEAR AND TEAR). I ASKED TO SPEAK DIRECTLY TO THE TECH WORKING ON MY CAR AND HE SAID THAT THERE WAS NOTHING WRONG WITH THE VEHICLE AND THAT ALTHOUGH THEY WERE RECOMMENDING NEW TIRES, THE CURRENT TIRE CONDITION WOULD NOT CAUSE WHAT I WAS DESCRIBING. MY WIFE AND I THEN RESEARCHED AND CAME ACROSS SEVERAL ONLINE FORUMS WITH OTHER DRIVER'S EXPERIENCING THE SIMILAR ISSUES, BUT WITH PRIOR YEAR MODELS. I CALLED SUBARU'S MAIN CUSTOMER SERVICE LINE TO SEE IF THEY COULD HELP AND THEY SAID THAT THEY WOULD MAKE NOTE OF MY COMPLAINT, BUT THAT IF THE SUBARU DEALER TECH SAID THE VEHICLE WAS FINE OTHER THAN SUGGESTING NEW TIRES, I SHOULD GET NEW TIRES AND THE VEHICLE WOULD BE FINE. SUBARU ALSO SAID THERE WERE NO "CAMPAIGNS" OPEN WITH RESPECT TO THIS PROBLEM AND THAT THEY WERE SORRY I "FELT LIKE I HAD THIS EXPERIENCE" AND THERE WAS NOTHING THEY COULD DO. HERE'S A LINK TO A FORUM, WHERE THE PEOPLE SEEM TO KNOW WHAT IS GOING ON: HTTPS://WWW.SUBARUOUTBACK.ORG/THREADS/2005-2009-GHOSTWALKING-ABNORMAL-WINTER-HANDLING-FIXES.30747/PAGE-2. WE PLAN TO BUY NEW TIRES, BUT ARE WILLING TO OFFER OUR CAR UP FOR TEST DRIVING TO SEE WHAT IS GOING ON.

NHTSA ID

11385757

Incident

Dec 27, 2020

Mileage

37,000 mi

WHILE DRIVING AT HIGHWAY SPEEDS ON CLEAR DRY ROADWAYS, THE STEERING FEELS AS IF I HAVE A BRIEF LOSS OF CONTROL. I LIKEN IT TO HITTING A PATCH OF ICE AND HAVING A SLIGHT LOSS OF STEERING CONTROL. I'VE NOTICED IT TWICE WHILE ENTERING A CURVE AND DECELERATING FROM 55 MPH TO 45 MPH (THE REDUCED SPEED LIMIT OF THE CURVE). THIS ISSUE HAPPENS ONLY INTERMITTENTLY AND IS ONLY NOTICEABLE AT HIGHWAY SPEEDS. WE HAD THE SUBARU DEALER LOOK AT IT AND THEY SAID NOTHING WAS WRONG.

NHTSA ID

11291749

Incident

Dec 28, 2019

Mileage

30,000 mi

THE KEY GETS STUCK IN THE IGNITION AND WILL NOT RELEASE. HAVE TO LEAVE THE KEY IN IGNITION ALL THE TIME.

NHTSA ID

11282400

Incident

Oct 8, 2019

Mileage

26,000 mi

ON MULTIPLE OCCASIONS (WHEN STARTING IN DRIVEWAY - STOPPED, WHILE DRIVING IN PARKING LOT - 5 MPH, DRIVING IN TOWN - 25 MPH, WHILE DRIVING ON HIGHWAY - 60 MPH) ALL ADVANCED SAFETY FEATURES ARE DISABLED INCLUDING (BUT NOT LIMITED TO) EYE SIGHT (FAB - FORWARD AUTO BRAKE, ACC - ADAPTIVE CRUISE CONTROL, LAS - LANE ASSIST STEERING), RAB - REAR AUTO BRAKE, REAR CROSS TRAFFIC ALERT, BLIND SPOT DETECTION, PARK BRAKE, ABS, TRACTION CONTROL, POWER STEERING. NOTE THAT THE FAILURE OF THESE SYSTEMS DOES NOT CAUSE A CHECK ENGINE CONDITION AND NO ERROR CODES ARE LOGGED. THE DEALER INDICATED THAT THE FIRST 4/5 FAILURES LEFT NO CODES. THE NEXT FAILURE WAS DELIVERED TO DEALER WHILE RUNNING IN A FAILED STATE. DEALER REPORTED NO CODES FOUND. SINCE THE DEALER DID NOT REPORT THIS TO SUBARU I WILL BE REPORTING THIS PROBLEM TO SUBARU.

NHTSA ID

11280159

Incident

Nov 9, 2019

Mileage

14,000 mi

NOT ABLE TO TAKE KEY OUT OF THE IGNITION, KEY IS BEING STUCK 50% OF THE TIME. SECOND ISSUE IS THE ENGINE IS MAKING BIRD CHIRPING NOISE, IT COMES AND GOES BUT IT GETS LOUDE!! TOOK IT TO DEALER A YEAR AGO BY THE TIME I GOT THERE THE NOISE STOPPED SO THEY COULD NOT FIGURE OUT THE ISSUE, TOOK IN THE SECOND TIME ABOUT 8 MONTHS AGO THE SERVICE TECH HEARD IT AND BOOKED ME FOR AN APPOINTMENT. BY THE TIME MECHANIC GOT TO IT NEXT DAY IT STOPPED. THIS WAS ALL UNDER WARRANTY AND NOW I AM OUT OF WARRANTY AND HAVE NO SUPPORT FROM A LOCAL DEALER FROM WHERE I BOUGHT THE CAR. I DID SOME RESEARCH ON THIS ISSUES AND THERE IS A HUGE PROBLEM WITH THIS AND SUBARU IS NOT DOING ANYTHING ABOUT IT.

NHTSA ID

11186826

Incident

Mar 3, 2018

Mileage

51,000 mi

VEHICLE WOULD NOT START ERROR MESSAGE INDICATED STEERING OVER HEATED THIS HAS HAPPENED ON TWO OCCASIONS

NHTSA ID

11180054

Incident

Feb 14, 2019

Mileage

37,000 mi

WHEN LANE KEEP ASSIST IS ON AT NIGHT (USES EYESIGHT TO KEEP YOU IN YOUR LANE) THE CAR STEERING WHEEL HAS ON TWO SEPARATE OCCASIONS SUDDENLY JERKED TO THE RIGHT. THE FIRST TIME THERE HAD BEEN SOME ROAD REPAIRS WITH SOME PARTS OF THE ROAD HAVING NEW ASPHALT AT SOME NOT, AND THE ROAD WAS STILL WET FROM A PREVIOUS RAINSTORM. THE MOST RECENT TIME THE ROAD WAS DRY AND THIS HAPPENED WHEN THE CAR REACHED AND EXIT WHERE THE PAINTED STRIPE ON THE RIGHT SIDE OPENED AT THE ANGLE FOR CARS TO DEPART THE INTERSTATE TO ALLOW FOR THE EXIT. THE FIRST TIME THERE WERE TWO IMMEDIATE JERKS TO THE RIGHT. THE LAST TIME A SINGLE JERK. EACH TIME I HAD TO FORCIBLY JERK BACK THE CAR BACK TO THE MIDDLE OF THE LANE I WAS IN, OR WE WOULD HAVE LEFT THE ROAD AT 65 MPH. I HAVE STOPPED USING LANE KEEP ASSIST - THIS WAS VERY DANGEROUS. THE FIRST TIME I ASKED THE SALESMAN AT SUBARU OF CHAMPAIGN ABOUT THIS, AND HE DIDN'T KNOW ABOUT IT. AFTER THE SECOND OCCURRENCE I DECIDED IT WAS A DANGEROUS DEFECT AND HAD TO REPORT IT. THANK YOU.

NHTSA ID

11163362

Incident

Dec 15, 2018

Mileage

27,500 mi

IGNITION KEY BECOMES LOCKED IN THE STEERING COLUMN WHEN THE CAR IS TURNED OFF. MANY TIMES WHEN I TURN THE CAR OFF THE KEYS BECOME STUCK IN THE STEERING COLUMN. IT IS NECESSARY TO TURN THE CAR OFF AND ON AND SOMETIMES EVEN MOVE THE CAR AND PARK A 2ND OR 3RD TIME BEFORE THE KEYS CAN BE REMOVED FROM THE COLUMN. ITS HELPS TO TURN THE CAR OFF QUICKLY AND THEN REMOVE THE KEYS'EVEN THEN YOU CAN FEEL THE KEYS WANTING TO STICK.

NHTSA ID

11149826

Incident

Nov 1, 2018

Mileage

19,966 mi

THE VEHICLE HAS EXCESSIVE WANDER. THE VEHICLE HAS VERY HIGH STEERING EFFORT. DURING HIGH SPEED (60+ MPH) AND CROSS WINDS, THE VEHICLE WILL OCCASIONALLY FEEL AS IF IT'S DRIVING ON ICE. IT FEELS AS IF IT'S SLIPPING AND SLIDING WITH LITTLE OR NO CONTROL THROUGH THE STEERING SYSTEM. ALSO, WHEN EXECUTING A TURN WHILE DRIVING AT MODERATE SPEEDS, THE STEERING WILL NOT TRY TO RETURN TO STRAIGHT AHEAD AS MOST VEHICLES DO, WHEN COMPLETING THE TURN.

NHTSA ID

11073057

Incident

Feb 15, 2018

Mileage

12,000 mi

SINCE PURCHASE ON 2/19/17 FROM PARKER SUBARU CDA, COMPLAINT OF SHAKING FRONT END, WANDERING ON HIGHWAY AND FREEWAY FROM SIDE TO SIDE IN A DANGEROUS MANNER, FROM COMPLETE LOSS OF STEERING IN SNOW, SLUSH AND GRAVEL AS OF 2/28/17. I HAVE BEEN VERY SPECIFIC ABOUT THE INCIDENCE. GOING IN MY DRIVEWAY AT LEAST 8 INCCIDENTS; IN SNOW OR SLUSH CONDITIONS, IN DEPTS ON ONLY A COUPLE INCHES OR LESS IN THE WINTER OF 2017. IN THE SUMMER OF 2017 THREE INCIDENTS OF COMPLETE FAILURE WAS REPORTED ON GRAVE ROAD AT SPEEDS OF 15-MPH, I HAVE HAD THE VERY SAME COMPLAINT EVERY VISIT: 2/28/17, 3/23/17, 4/6/17. 9/13/17, 10/22/17, 1/22/17- @ PARKER SUBARU CDA.

NHTSA ID

11065219

Incident

Feb 23, 2017

Mileage

250 mi

MY OUTBACK WAS PURCHASED NEW IN APRIL 2017. MY CONCERN IS THAT STEERING IS IMPRECISE, PARTICULARLY AT HIGHWAY SPEEDS. THE VEHICLE WANDERS/REQUIRES NEARLY CONSTANT "CENTERING" AND DOES NOT TEND TO RETURN TO CENTER AFTER TURNING. I HAVE SOMETIMES FELT A FEAR THAT A GUST OF WIND OR ROAD ANOMALY AT THE WRONG TIME WILL CAUSE THIS VEHICLE TO LEAVE THE ROAD SURFACE UNEXPECTEDLY.

NHTSA ID

11033352

Incident

May 10, 2017

Mileage

300 mi

I PURCHASED MY 2017 SUBARU OUTBACK BRAND NEW IN JANUARY, 2017. CURRENTLY, IN MAY 2017, THE VEHICLE HAS 3200 MILES OF OPERATION. THE PROBLEM I AM HAVING IS THREE-FOLD. 1. AROUND TOWN IN CITY TRAFFIC, THE STEERING IS HEAVY AND DIFFICULT TO CONTROL. IT IS VERY TIRING TO DRIVE THE VEHICLE UNDER THESE CONDITION. AT TIMES, IT FEELS AS IF YOU MAY SUDDENLY LOOSE CONTROL OF THE STEERING. 2. THE VEHICLE WANDERS. AT HIGHWAY SPEEDS, IT IS DIFFICULT TO KEEP THE VEHICLE ON CENTER OF THE LANE. YOU MUST CONSTANTLY CORRECT FROM LEFT TO RIGHT IN ORDER TO KEEP THE CAR ON-TRACK. AT ONE TIME DURING ONE OF THESE CORRECTIONS, THE VEHICLE CROSSED THE LANE DIVIDER AND ALMOST IMPACTED THE VEHICLE DRIVING ADJACENT TO ME. 3. STEERING WHEEL DOES NOT RETURN TO STRAIGHT AHEAD. THE VEHICLE DOES NOT "RETURN TO CENTER" UNDER ANY OPERATING CONDITIONS. ON MOST CARS, IF YOU TURN THE WHEEL LEFT OR RIGHT, THE STEERING GEOMETRY TRIES TO RETURN THE STEERING WHEEL TO CENTER POSITION TO KEEP THE VEHICLE TRAVELING IN A STRAIGHT LINE. THE SUBARU OUTBACK DOES NOT EXHIBIT THIS CAPABILITY.

NHTSA ID

10983554

Incident

May 4, 2017

Mileage

3,200 mi