2020 Subaru Outback Exterior lighting Problems

Automatic Braking system has almost caused a rear-end collision 5 times, because it thinks a shadow is an object. We’ve brought the car to the dealership but they told us twice that they can’t replicate the problem. That doesn’t change the issue. I don’t want to wait until we have a collision and have to go through physical therapy and repairs to address this. Front headlights are blinding other drivers causing them to flash their brights at us regularly on the freeway and local roads which then blinds us and causing us to slow down and break. The dealership say that the lights can be adjusted but this is a serious risk to us and something that happens every night. It’s stressful to drive the car anticipating this all the time. We’ve replace the starter last year and having issues again. The car struggles to start. Last year they said this was a known issue and also replaced the battery. But it’s happening again. This indicates a more complicated issue in the electrical. I don’t want to have to replace the starter every year.

NHTSA ID

11556311

Incident

Nov 18, 2023

On Dec. 20, 2022, my Outback totally stopped working while sitting at a red light, causing traffic to be forced to maneuver around my car. A kind policeman put out flares until the tow truck arrived. I could not shift into park, nothing electric would work, except the radio continued to play and the flashers worked until it all died. I could not turn the radio off and the seat would not adjust. The electronic screen flashed on and off until it went totally black, after about an hour. This vehicle only has about 21,000 miles on it and was under warranty until 3 weeks prior to the incident. Every time I took it to the dealership, I explained that the electronics had glitches. They always said it was fixed but it never was right. The TomTom navigation system was totally unreliable from day one; the screen went blank and the radio would not work at all, as well as all the screen functions, without warning. The screen would read out that I should keep my hands on the wheel, although both hands were on the wheel. Over and over it had problems which were not resolved.

NHTSA ID

11502235

Incident

Dec 20, 2022

Headlights do not have a true low beam. When low beam is selected it partially blocks the top of the high beam. OK if on a dead flat road. On one that undulates at all at some point cars coming the other way are blinded by the full brightness of the headlight. Often because of this oncoming cars are flashing their high beams at me thinking that I haven't dimmed mine. If a driver is blinded by the high beam brightness it could cause an accident. Or it could cause a road rage incident by someone offended by my high beam. In my state the Police have fined drivers for not dimming their lights. Selecting low beam creates a very obvious horizontal cut off of the high beam. But a bounce or by meeting another vehicle while I going up a grade will shine the full high beam in their face.

NHTSA ID

11458808

Incident

Jan 31, 2020

my subaru has 12,ooo miles on it and in the past week has died on me. When you try to start the car and depress the brake, the brake locks and you cannot push it anymore, in addition, the battery does not turn over. On the first occasion, we tried to jump start the car but the battery read as normal activity and the car would not start after that. The car just started up for no apparent reason the following day. thankfully we were at home when this happened and we have a 2nd car. The second time, same thing with the brake when we tried to start car and no turnover with the battery but and the car still will not start on the following day but this time it looks like the battery has died. Taking it in to Subaru dealership where supposedly the have never heard of these problems before!

NHTSA ID

11449451

Incident

Jan 28, 2022

1.) Headlights. They are extremely bright to oncoming traffic and oncoming traffic is always flashing or beaming you with their high beams as they think your brights are on when they are not. This is dangerous. Also LED lights do not put off enough heat and the headlamp body itself freezes over in cold rain or snowy conditions severely reducing your ability to see during low light situations. Wipers. The windshield wipers do not last. They should be silicone and they are rubber which is terrible for longevity.

NHTSA ID

11445496

Incident

Nov 17, 2021

The sixth time the car has failed to start due to dead battery. 3 of the 6 were times when the car was driven less than 5 miles and only turned off for a short duration.

NHTSA ID

11441337

Incident

Nov 21, 2021

IN THE FIRST YEAR OF OWNERSHIP OF MY 2020 SUBARU OUTBACK, I HAVE EXPERIENCED MANY GLITCHES IN THE OPERATION OF THE ELECTRONICA SAFETY DEVICES. THE LATEST HAS BEEN RETURNING TO THE CAR AND FINDING THE BATTERY FULLY DISCHARGED DESPITE NOTHING BEING LEFT IN THE “ON POSITION“. YESTERDAY, AFTER FULLY CHARGING THE BATTERY, FOUR HOURS LATER THE BATTERY WAS FOUND TO BE FULLY DRAINED. I BOOSTED THE CAR AND BEGAN TO DRIVE IT WHEN AT THE FIRST TRAFFIC LIGHT THE AUTO-START-STOP FEATURE SHUT THE CAR OFF AND I COULD NOT RE-START IN THE MIDDLE OF AN INTERSECTION.

NHTSA ID

11416673

Incident

May 9, 2021

Mileage

15,000 mi

BATTERY REPEATEDLY DIES AFTER VERY SHORT PERIODS OF TIME, NO LIGHTS LEFT ON OR DOORS LEFT OPEN. VEHICLE BATTERY HAS DIED A TOTAL OF 4 TIMES IN 7 MONTHS WHEN LEFT OVERNIGHT.

NHTSA ID

11408178

Incident

Apr 15, 2021

Mileage

6,500 mi

HEADLIGHTS ARE AIMED TOO HIGH - THEY ARE SIMILAR TO HIGH BEAMS ON OTHER CARS. WHENEVER I AM DRIVING AT NIGHT - ESPECIALLY WHEN OUTSIDE THE CITY, ALMOST EVERY CAR PASSING ME FLASHES BRIGHT LIGHT BECAUSE THEY THINK I HAVE MY HIGH BEAMS ON. THEY ARE POINTED TOO HIGH OFF THE GROUND AND CAUSE GLARE FOR OTHER DRIVERS (WHICH I ALSO EXPERIENCED WHEN MY WIFE WAS FOLLOWING ME IN THE SUBARU WHILE I DROVE OUR OTHER CAR. IT IS REALLY OBNOXIOUS AND DOES NOT SEEM SAFE TO OTHER VEHICLES ON THE ROAD. DEALERSHIP SAID THERE WAS NOTHING WRONG AND THERE IS NO WAY TO ADJUST LIGHTS TO POINT DOWN TOWARDS THE ROAD.

NHTSA ID

11365927

Incident

Oct 22, 2020

Mileage

20,000 mi

LOW BEAMS NEED TO BE ADJUSTED, AS THEY ARE TOO BRIGHT FOR ONCOMING TRAFFIC. I GET FLASHED AT NIGHT MULTIPLE TIMES, EVEN BY TRUCKERS WHO SIT HIGHER IN THEIR VEHICLES. THIS IS A SAFETY CONCERN BECAUSE IT IMPAIRS THE VISION OF ONCOMING TRAFFIC, AS WELL AS HAD DRIVERS HAVE ROAD RAGE TOWARDS ME, BY THEM SHINING THEIR HIGH BEAMS AT ME.

NHTSA ID

11365209

Incident

Oct 8, 2020

ELECTRICAL ISSUES, FLICKERING INTERIOR AND EXTERIOR LIGHTS, UNABLE TO UNLOCK/ LOCK DOORS. CAR WON'T START, DEAD BATTERY

NHTSA ID

11343548

Incident

Aug 4, 2020

Mileage

179 mi

THE LOW BEAM'S ANGLE ON THE SELF-LEVELING HEADLIGHT UNITS IS TOO FLAT BLINDING ONCOMING TRAFFIC (EVERY OTHER CAR AND THIRD TRUCK FLASHES THEIR HIGH BEAMS AT ME). THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE HANDSFREE BLUETOOTH PROTOCOL IS INADEQUATE AS INCOMING CALL VOLUME IS TOO LOW (EVEN AFTER INCREASING SPEAKER VOLUME TO MAXIMUM). IT MAKES HANDSFREE OPERATION OF YOUR MOBILE PHONE ALL BUT WORTHLESS WHILE HANDSFREE OPERATION IS REQUIRED BY LAW IN MY STATE. BOTH ISSUES ARE SAFETY ISSUES AS FAR AS I AM CONCERNED.

NHTSA ID

11316511

Incident

Mar 5, 2020

Mileage

10,000 mi

THE LOW BEAM HEADLIGHTS ARE TOO BRIGHT, OR ANGLED TOO HIGH. I'M CONSTANTLY HAVING OTHER VEHICLES "FLASH" ME AT NIGHT THINKING I HAVE HIGH BEAMS ON. THIS HAS HAPPENED WORTH PEOPLE I KNOW TELLING ME AND STRANGERS. BOTH ON HIGHWAY AND CITY STREETS.

NHTSA ID

11290658

Incident

Dec 21, 2019

Mileage

2,700 mi

MY 2020 SUBARU OUTBACK HEADLIGHTS ARE TOO BRIGHT AND APPEAR TO BE AIMED TOO HIGH. DRIVING AT NIGHT IS A VERY REAL PROBLEM DUE TO THE NUMBER OF OTHER DRIVERS WHO KEEP PUTTING ON THEIR HIGH BEAM LIGHTS THINKING MINE ARE ON WHEN THEY ARE NOT.ALSO I CAN SEE MY BEAMS POINTING HIGHER DOWN THE ROAD THEN FOR ANY OTHER CAR I HAVE OWNED. I CONTACTED FIRST THE DEALERSHIP AND THEN SUBARU OF AMERICA, THE DEALER WAS APOLOGETIC AND EXPLAINED THERE ARE NO ADJUSTMENTS TO BE MADE ON THE AIM OF LIGHTS BECAUSE NONE WERE BUILT INTO THE CAR AT THE FACTORY. SUBARU OF AMERICA CONFIRMED THIS WHEN I CONTACTED THEM AND SAID, WITHOUT EVEN SEEING MY PARTICULAR CAR THAT MY HEADLIGHTS ARE ALIGNED PROPERLY AND THERE IS NO WAY TO MAKE ANY ADJUSTMENTS TO BRIGHTNESS OR AIM. THIS IS A HAZARD DUE TO BLINDING ONCOMING DRIVERS AND THEY IN TURN PUTTING THEIR HIGH BEAM LIGHTS ON BLINDING ME. HOW CAN THEY MAKE LIGHTS WITH NO ADJUSTMENT AVAILABLE?

NHTSA ID

11290255

Incident

Oct 20, 2019

Mileage

400 mi

THE HEADLIGHTS ON THIS CAR ARE TOO BRIGHT OR NOT ADJUSTED CORRECTLY. I HAVE BEEN HIGH BEAMED ON MANY OCCASIONS. 9 TIMES ONE EVENING, 13 TIMES ANOTHER EVENING, AND 17 TIMES ON ANOTHER EVENING. THIS IS A SAFETY CONCERN NOT ONLY FOR ME BUT FOR THE OTHER DIVERS AS WELL. I HAVE COMPLAINED TO SUBARU EVERY TIME THIS HAS HAPPENED TO ME. I HAVE ALSO HAD IT IN FOR SERVICE AND WAS TOLD "THAT'S JUST THE WAY THEY ARE" "JUST IGNORE THE OTHER DRIVERS" WELL, I CAN'T DO THAT WHEN I AM CONSTANTLY BEING HIGH BEAMED FROM SO MANY OTHER VEHICLES. NOT JUST CARS. CARS, FULL SIZE PICKUP TRUCKS, SEMI'S, SUV'S ETC. I HAVE EVEN BEEN HIGH BEAMED NOT ONLY ON OUR 2 LANE HIGHWAYS BUT ON A 4 LANE HIGHWAY WITH ME IN THE FAR RIGHT LANE AND THE OTHER DRIVER GOING THE OPPOSITE DIRECTION IN THE FAR RIGHT LANE. THIS IS NOT ACCEPTABLE. I TALKED WITH SUBARU AGAIN TODAY AND WAS TOLD "IF YOU TAKE IT IN FOR SERVICE, AND THE TECHNICIAN SAYS THAT THERE IS NOTHING WRONG WITH THE HEADLIGHTS THEN, THERE IS NOTHING WE CAN DO." AGAIN, THIS IS NOT ACCEPTABLE. I HAVE NEVER IN ALL MY YEARS OF DRIVING BEEN HIGH BEAMED SO MANY TIMES.

NHTSA ID

11289323

Incident

Dec 13, 2019

Mileage

5,550 mi