Owner-reported complaints naming the steering system, filed with NHTSA
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Reports naming the steering system — racks, columns, power-steering assist and steering linkage. Every record below is an owner-reported complaint about the 2020 Subaru Outback submitted to NHTSA — not a confirmed defect, not a recall and not a manufacturer bulletin. 12 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
Car lurches when put into gear, Transmission make loud chirping noise when place into gear from park, vehicle shudders when turning. Car has had all recalls updated. Symptoms have been reported to two different dealers. Dealer in Traverse City MI indicates this is "normal". Issue has continued since first noticed.
The contact owns a 2020 Subaru Outback. The contact stated that their daughter was driving approximately 35 mph when the dashboard displayed that an electronic power steering failure had occurred. The driver then lost control of the vehicle and ended up going over a curb hitting some rocks on the landscaping. The air bags did not deploy due to only the undercarriage being the only part that hit the curb and rocks on the landscaping. The vehicle was towed to the dealer. A police report was filed. As a result, the transmission as well as other parts of the vehicle to be damaged. There were no injuries or medical attention needed. The dealer diagnosed that the steering gearbox needed to be replaced. The vehicle had not been repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 37,000.
I was stopped at a light in a 3 Lane St. It was approximately 930 at night. The auto start stop feature had turned off the engine and when I removed my foot from the brake to begin moving forward the entire electrical system shut off. I tried switching into park and restarting the car but the car locked the steering wheel at this point and killed all of the lights inside and outside of the vehicle. This meant that I was in a car in the middle lane of traffic with no lights and I was not able to turn on the flashers either. I had to use the emergency neutral setting in order to unlock the steering wheel and roll the car to safety. While we were rolling the car I attempted to turn on the vehicle again and it began running. This is the second time that the car shut off when i released my foot from the brake. The first time I was able to shift into park and restart the car.
On April 13th 2022, me and my wife were returning home. We were at a complete stop on a left only turn intersection red light (Spring-Cypress Rd & Telge Rd in Cypress, TX. Coordinates: 29.985660988461188, -95.65465736615674). There was a vehicle ahead of us and also behind us at the light. It was raining lightly and the roads were wet. When the light turned green we started slowly accelerating making our left turn and as we were doing so, the vehicle skid causing uncontrolled acceleration, non-responsive braking and non responsive steering. I tried my very best to save us from running over the curb into the ditch ahead and succeeded to do so resulting in the vehicle hitting the curb at probably 15-20 mph. The steering and brakes were non-responsive and it took a lot of effort on my part to save us from running over the curb into the ditch ahead. This accident resulted in the right front passenger wheel, suspension, axle etc. to break. No other vehicle was involved in the accident. No warning or safety lights were displayed to the best of my knowledge. The vehicle was disabled and could not run, it was blocking the intersection and traffic. I called the police who then arrived to redirect traffic and also help with the tow. Currently, my car is being repaired through my insurance. My vehicle was purchased in Jan 2020 and has approx. 9500 miles on it. The reason i brought a Subaru was because of its capability to handle most weather conditions and also its great safety ratings. This unfortunately wasn't the case for me and wife and we were left stranded in the road because of some safety feature/software/mechanical malfunction of the vehicle. I request the NHTSA administration to look into this issue with Subaru and help me reach closure on the safety of this vehicle. Thank you.
My 2020 Outback Touring has had several issues including the infotainment system rebooting and turning off all safety features: ABS, Forward Collision Warning, EyeSight, Adaptive Cruise Control randomly turning off (not just adjusting speed), I lose control of ALL electronics including the digital speedometer. A new infotainment system had been installed and the problems STILL exist. The date below was the most serious as I was on the highway traveling at high speeds when the system decided to fail and the screens went black. Subaru of America has been informed of these issues but there is no resolution.
Lane Departure feature malfunction at higher speeds: will reactivate a few seconds after physically deactivating the control; spontaneously activates and inactivates or activates on one side only - pulls aggressively to one side or the other, even though vehicle is centered in highway. Will not stay inactivated but fluctuates on/off. It is dangerous and causes fatigue in wrestling with the steering.
THE BATTERY STARTED FAILING AFTER LESS THAN 8000 MILES ON THE CAR THAT IS LESS THAN A YEAR OLD. IT LEFT US STRANDED MULTIPLE TIMES AND JUMP START WAS REQUIRED. ONCE UPON JUMP STARTING THE CAR THE POWER STEERING WAS NOT FUNCTIONAL. MULTIPLE TIMES THE AIRBAG FAILURE INDICATOR STAYED ON FOR THE ENTIRE TRIP. INITIALLY IT WAS NOT CLEAR TO ME WHAT IS GOING ON AS THE WHOLE ELECTRICAL SYSTEM WENT HAYWIRE AND THE CAR WAS PRODUCING A CLATTERING NOISE INSTEAD OF THE USUAL STARTING NOISE. EVENTUALLY I TESTED THE BATTERY AND IT BECAME EVIDENT THAT IT FAILED. THERE ARE MANY SUCH REPORTS ON THE INTERNET AND ALSO CLASS ACTION LAWSUITS AGAINST SUBARU DUE TO THEIR FAILURE TO ADDRESS THE UNDERLYING DESIGN FLAWS OF THE CAR. I HOPE THAT THE NHTSA WILL FORCE SUBARU TO PROPERLY ANALYZE THE PROBLEM, COME UP WITH A PROPER FIX AND ISSUE A RECALL TO ADDRESS THIS ISSUE WITH OBVIOUS SAFETY ASPECTS.
TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2020 SUBARU OUTBACK. THE CONTACT STATED THAT WHILE STOPPED, THE STEERING CEASED. THE CONTACT STATED THAT THE FAILURE WAS INTERMITTENT. THE CONTACT STATED THAT THE FAILURE WAS ALSO EXPERIENCED WHILE DRIVING AT APPROXIMATELY 20 MPH, WITH THE STEERING BEING DIFFICULT TO OPERATE. NO WARNING LIGHT WAS ILLUMINATED. THE CONTACT STATED THAT THE VEHICLE WAS TOWED TO STOHLMAN SUBARU SERVICE LOCATED AT 8435 LEESBURG PIKE, VIENNA, VA 22182 AND WAS MADE AWARE OF THE FAILURE. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT DIAGNOSED NOR REPAIRED. THE MANUFACTURER WAS INFORMED OF FAILURE. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 2,300.
DEC 7TH. LANE CENTERING AND CRUISE CONTROL FUNCTIONS ON. WHILE TRAVELING SOUTH ON I-75 IN THE CENTER LANE MY WIFE MOVED TO THE LEFT LANE TO PASS ANOTHER CAR. AFTER PASSING THE CAR SHE HAD TO FIGHT THE STEERING WHEEL TO STAY IN THE LEFT HAND LANE. AFTER SEVERAL MINUTES SHE TOOK HER HANDS OFF THE WHEEL AND THE CAR VEERED SHARPLY TO THE RIGHT AND ACROSS THE DASHED WHITE LINE INTO THE CENTER LANE. AS SHE RIGHTED HERSELF BACK INTO THE LEFT HAND LANE I REACHED OVER AND TURNED THE LANE CENTERING FUNCTION OFF. ABOUT 15 MINUTES LATER SHE WAS FOLLOWING A BROWN VAN. THE CRUISE CONTROL WAS STILL ON, WAS MAINTAINING A SPEED OF 68 MPH AND SAFE DISTANCE. CRUISE WAS SET AT 70MPH AND DISTANCE AT 4 BARS. THE VAN EXITED THE INTERSTATE AT WHICH TIME THE OUTBACK STARTED A HARD ACCELERATION AND HAD REACHED A SPEED OF 87 MPH BEFORE I REALIZED WHAT WAS HAPPENING AND TURNED OFF CRUISE CONTROL. ACCELERATION FACTOR WAS SET TO NORMAL, I THEN SET IT TO ECO DEC 19TH. CRUISE CONTROL ON, LANE CENTERING ON CRUISE SET AT 70 MPH, DISTANCE AT 2 BARS. PASSED A SEMI THAT WAS DOING LESS THAN 70 MPH. I NOW HAD A PACK BEHIND ME AND ANOTHER PACK A GOOD WAYS IN FRONT OF ME. MOVED BACK INTO THE CENTER LANE WHERE I PASSED THE TRUCK. CRUISE STARTED ACCELERATING, AT 77MPH TURNED THE CRUISE OFF. MY FOOT WAS NOT ON THE ACCELERATOR. CRUISE ACCELERATION WAS STILL ON ECO MODE. SPEED THEN DECREASED AS EXPECTED. I NOW HAVE 2 INSTANTANEOUS OF WHERE THE CRUISE CONTROL ACCELERATED THE VEHICLE PASSED THE SET SPEED. I NOW HAVE 1 INSTANTANEOUS OF WHERE THE VEHICLE WOULD NOT STAY IN ITS LANE. NOTE. I LIKE MY SUBARU OUTBACK VERY MUCH. IT IS QUIET, COMFORTABLE AND EASY TO DRIVE. HOWEVER, I BELIEVE THE INCORRECT FUNCTIONING OF THE VEHICLE ON THE ABOVE TWO DATES WARRANT DOCUMENTATION FOR FURTHER SAFETY INVESTIGATION. NEITHER THE DEALER OR SUBARU HAS YET BEEN INFORMED
MY WIFE AND I WERE DRIVING HOME ON I35 IN OKLAHOMA. THE ROAD WAS STRAIGHT. IT WAS NIGHTTIME. I HAD ALL THE SUBARU EYESIGHT SAFETY SYSTEMS ENABLED. BOTH HANDS WERE ON THE STEERING WHEEL, WITH ADAPTIVE CRUISE CONTROL SET AT 70MPH. LANE CENTERING WAS AMONG THE FEATURES OPERATING. I SUDDENLY EXPERIENCED AN INSTANTANEOUS AND VERY ABRUPT, UNCOMMANDED ~30-40 DEGREE CLOCKWISE ROTATION OF THE STEERING WHEEL. THE WHOLE EVENT LASTED JUST 2-3 SECONDS AND I QUICKLY RECOVERED BACK TO THE LEFT. FORTUNATELY, THE LATERAL DISPLACEMENT OF OUR TRACK WAS ONLY A FEW FEET INTO THE BREAKDOWN LANE ON THE INTERSTATE. MY MANUAL CONTROL INPUTS ON THE STEERING WHEEL EASILY OVERCAME THE ACTUATOR. I IMMEDIATELY DISABLED THE LANE CENTERING FUNCTION AND WE CONTINUED HOME WITHOUT FURTHER INCIDENT. THE TAKEAWAY THAT I WANT TO EMPHASIZE IS THAT THIS WAS AN EXTREMELY ABRUPT, SUDDEN HARD RIGHT DEFLECTION OF THE WHEEL. THIS WAS NOT THE NORMAL GENTLE NUDGE AND SLOW, SLIGHT STEERING WHEEL MOVEMENTS THAT THE LANE KEEP AND LANE CENTERING SYSTEMS NORMALLY PROVIDE. IMAGINE THAT YOUR PASSENGER REACHED OVER AND FORCEFULLY GRABBED THE STEERING WHEEL AND YANKED HARD DOWN ON IT - THAT'S AS CLOSELY AS I CAN DESCRIBE THIS.
WHILE DRIVING ON THE HIGHWAY I HAD ADAPTIVE CRUISE CONTROL AND LANE CENTERING TURNED ON. I WAS DRIVING ON A STRAIGHT STRETCH OF HIGHWAY WHEN MY STEERING WHEEL JUTTED LEFT VERY HARD. I HAD BOTH HANDS ON THE WHEEL WHEN THIS HAPPENED BUT WAS UNPREPARED FOR IT. THIS CAUSED ME TO VERGE INTO THE MEDIAN. I CORRECTED THE VEHICLE STEERING AND CONTINUED DRIVING. A FEW MINUTES LATER, MY VEHICLE DID THIS AGAIN WHILE STILL ON A STRAIGHT SECTION OF HIGHWAY CAUSING ME TO ALMOST HIT THE CAR NEXT TO ME. I STOPPED USING LANCE CENTERING AFTER THIS OCCURRED AND REACHED OUT TO SUBARU OF AMERICA. THEY REQUESTED I TAKE THE CAR INTO MY LOCAL SHOP WHICH I DID. THE DEALER DID NOT FIND ANY ISSUES WITH LANE CENTERING AND HAD NO REASON WHY THIS WOULD OCCUR.
TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2020 SUBARU OUTBACK. WHILE DRIVING 55 MPH WITH THE CRUISE CONTROL ENGAGED, THE CONTACT LOST CONTROL OF THE STEERING AND THE VEHICLE VEERED TO THE LEFT. THE CONTACT MANAGED TO REGAIN CONTROL OF THE STEERING. MILLER HILL SUBARU (4710 MILLER TRUNK HWY, DULUTH, MN 55811, (218) 722-5337) WAS CONTACTED AND SCHEDULED A DIAGNOSTIC TEST. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT REPAIRED. THE MANUFACTURER WAS NOT MADE AWARE OF THE FAILURE. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS APPROXIMATELY 600.
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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