2026 Subaru Outback

I have owned this vehicle since January 2026. It's the first vehicle I have owned with a forward collision warning system and active emergency braking. And this is the first time this "failure" has happened, so far... On a 60mph 2 lane rural road with traffic behind me the forward collision warning system and active braking triggered of off a disabled vehicle parked safely on the side of the road on a sweeping left hand curve at 60 mph. There was nothing I could do as the vehicle actively emergency braked for no reason and unexpectedly, and the traffic behind me had to swerve into oncoming traffic to avoid colliding with me. With no automatic collision avoidance system, this situation would have NEVER occurred. In 45 years of driving I have never collided with anything in front of me and the closest to an accident I have been is due to the automatic "safety" system included in my new car. I am actively considering looking for a 10 year old replacement vehicle as these new safety systems appear to be VERY dangerous... So now I have a solution to a problem I have never had, and it has created problems I never expected and I have NO control over.

NHTSA ID

11764559

Incident

Sep 12, 2026

New car with only 965 miles. At 580 miles the car when I started it said safety eyesight system not working. I shut off car and restarted it and system connected itself. Today I was on highway doing 62mph and the entire dashboard, information and safety features displays went completely black without any warning. I was able to control car and system rebooted itself after a minute or so. I Contact Subaru and have a case number #260909-1500526. Called dealer and was told not to drive car and have it towed to dealership. Since I need a rental car the dealership will notify me when a rental car is available. It scared the hell out of me when it happened. I went online and see now that this is an issue Subaru is having with 2026 Outbacks (many reported) even though Subaru of America and dealership said they had not heard of any complaints.

NHTSA ID

11763152

Incident

Sep 9, 2026

Incident Summary: On August 23, 2026, a multi-occupant injury event occurred during routine city braking due to an inherent occupant packaging design defect in the vehicle’s front seating and sun visor layout. The vehicle exhibits a static seat-to-visor clearance of 79 cm versus a standard median adult sitting height of 95 cm, result of negative 16cm headroom clearance. During normal city deceleration (0.2g–0.4g), seatbelt inertia reels remain unlatched under FMVSS 209 tolerances, allowing normal forward upper-torso pitch. This causes adult occupants' foreheads to strike the lower edge of the stowed sun visor, resulting in head impacts, neck strain, and concussion symptoms. A service representative at Capitol Subaru personally observed the hazard during intake. Subaru Quality Assurance inspected the vehicle but closed the file by relate it to quality issue as claiming no "part manufacturing defects" exist, while ignoring the negative physical clearance envelope as saftey issue. Subaru's recommended workaround—sliding the seat back and make seat lean backward—does not eliminate visor contact during forward torso pitch and severely compromises rear-cabin legroom, causing physical leg entrapment and impact injuries to rear passengers during this same deceleration event. On the driver side, sliding rearward prevents safe operational reach to the brake and accelerator pedals, even with these saftey issue highlighted to Subaru, they keep insist to slide seat back to clear the sunvisor even with been notified multiple times that doing so, the driver cannot press the pedal and sterring wheel or reach to the control panel.

NHTSA ID

11762630

Incident

Aug 23, 2026

I'm new to this automotive technology. When I was introduced to the car, one of the "features" indicated was the ability to sense and slow down for curves, if the system sensed the need, when operating under the cruise control option. In testing my different options of my new car, I was using the cruise control on a 65 mph road in TX set to 60 mph. As I entered the curve the car did not slow down. This was a surprise to me. I contacted a Subaru dealer about this. I was told that my trim level did not have this "option". Before I contacted the dealer I did look in the Subaru EyeSight Drivers Assist Technology Owners Manual. On pages 280 and 281 of this manual in the Cruise Control, Pre-curve Speed Control*, ON/OFF. The *note is "if equipped". My car is not equipped. I was not informed or cautioned about this when I went through the delivery process. I did not know I did not have this feature. My complaint is this. If the car is equipped to assist steering when in cruise control, for safety, all models should come standard with the Pre-curve Speed Control. It only takes one instant for a new driver to loose control if expecting this feature to be present. I am an experienced driver. I was able to take corrective action to avoid trouble. But, I did anticipate the car to slow and was startled when it did not.

NHTSA ID

11757505

Incident

Jul 11, 2026

The driver’s side mirror vibrates excessively at speeds above 20 mph, causing the reflected image to become blurry and difficult to focus. This creates a safety hazard during lane changes and especially at night, when blurred headlight/taillight reflections make it hard to judge the distance and speed of approaching vehicles. I brought this to the dealership’s attention and was told the vibration is normal, but I believe this significantly impairs the mirror’s intended safety function under real driving conditions.

NHTSA ID

11755770

Incident

May 20, 2026

I was in an automatic car wash, approaching the end of the tunnel. The car was running but in neutral. I put my foot on the brake pedal and shifted into drive. As I moved the shifter, I heard a scraping sound followed by a clink sound, then the car surged forward and accelerated toward a stone wall directly ahead. I turned hard right as I hit and held the brakes. I missed the wall but hit a pickup truck that was coming up the drive. My car hit the left front fender of the truck with my left front fender. The truck, which appears to have been "lifted" rode over the top of my fender and both vehicles scraped down the left side of each other. I finally got the car stopped some distance beyond the truck. Both vehicles had to be towed away from the scene. My car is currently in the Caliber repair shop with nearly $23,000 damage. The Knox County Sheriff's office responded but they did not file a report as the incident took place on private property. Even so, the Deputy did interview both drivers and several witnesses in front of his body camera. I understand those videos are maintained at the Sheriff's office.

NHTSA ID

11755659

Incident

Jul 16, 2026

See attached letter

NHTSA ID

11753353

Incident

Jul 21, 2026

See attached letter

NHTSA ID

11753352

Incident

Jul 21, 2026

This Announcement provides diagnostic assistance for CVT issues.

This service bulletin announces a repair procedure for the weatherstrips on the front of the rear doors. This is an revised version of the original bulletin.

This Service Information Bulletin announces the release of a new diagnostic assistance application for TR690 and TR580 CVT-equipped vehicles. This is an revised version of the original bulletin.

This Service Information Bulletin outlines a systematic procedure for diagnosing parasitic draw (dark/standby current) in vehicles experiencing battery drain when the ignition is off, leading to no-start conditions or frequent jump-starts.This is an revised version of the original bulletin.

This bulletin provides guidance when diagnosing chain slip, judder, shudder, and hesitation concerns on the TR580 model CVT transmissions used in the models listed.

This service bulletin outlines the diagnostic and repair procedure for white smoke emitted from the exhaust after startup. This is an revised version of the original bulletin.