2026 Subaru Solterra Problems
Owner-reported complaints filed with NHTSA, grouped by component
Data refreshed
What this page shows
Everything below is an owner-reported complaint submitted to NHTSA about the 2026 Subaru Solterra, grouped by the component NHTSA recorded on the report. These are not confirmed defects, and they are not recalls. NHTSA does not verify most reports before publishing them, and a category with more reports in it is not evidence that a part is defective.
Complaints are reports submitted by owners and drivers to NHTSA. They are not verified and do not establish that a defect exists.
Reports by component
Ranked by how many owner reports name each component category
- Electrical952.9%
- Exterior lighting317.6%
- Driver assistance211.8%
- Brakes15.9%
- Engine15.9%
- Fuel system15.9%
Percentages are of component mentions. A single complaint can name more than one component, so these do not sum to the total complaint count.
Each component in detail
What the reports in each category say, in the owners' own words
Electrical
Reports naming the electrical system — wiring, battery, charging, control modules, infotainment and electrical accessories.
From owner reports, verbatim
The contact owns a 2026 Subaru Solterra. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 26V393000 (Electrical System); however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. The vehicle was taken to the dealer. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The dealer confirmed that parts were not yet available and informed the contact that many of the dealers were experiencing software system issues and were unable to complete the software update. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The manufacturer was made aware of the issue. The contact had not experienced a failure.
A1. 12 v Battery fail. A2 . Unable to use the car at 9:30 pm when I discovered it my safety was in risk not car to use, Subaru assistance never shows up calling them for two days. Dealer have to town truck the car A3.Dealer found the battery dead recharge the battery but not solution from the drain yet. A4. Yes vehicle inspected for the dealer A5. No no indication of the drainage before happening
Exterior lighting
Reports naming headlights, tail lights, turn signals and other exterior lighting.
From owner reports, verbatim
When driving at night over most roads, a slight bump will cause the headlights to jitter appearing to turn-off momentarily. This is a re-occurring incident
There is a major design flaw with the car. The headlights are mounted on the bumper which is plastic. Because there is not enough rigidity in the plastic bumper and the sharp cutoff of the LEDs, the headlights appear to flicker and strobe when going over small bumps or imperfections in the roads. Drivers on the imposing lane will sometimes flash their high beams as they think I'm flashing them.
Too few reports in this category for a page of its own — they appear in the full complaint list.
Driver assistance
Reports naming forward-collision avoidance, lane keeping, back-over prevention, cruise control and related electronic driver-assistance systems.
From owner reports, verbatim
On June 23rd, 2026, while driving my 2026 Subaru Solterra at approximately 35 mph on a clear, sunny day with no road obstructions or vehicles ahead, the vehicle suddenly and severely applied the brakes on its own. This unprompted, autonomous braking event brought the vehicle to an abrupt, unsafe slowdown, creating an immediate risk of a rear-end collision. No dashboard warning lights or error codes appeared prior to or during the event. The vehicle had recently been brought in for a safety recall related to the vehicle electronics/ECU. The vehicle was driven to the dealership, where it is currently undergoing diagnostic evaluation for automated pre-collision braking and sensor malfunctions.
Malfunction of the lane keeping assistance - I have had two incidents, where the second has resulted in damage to the vehicle. First incident, lane assist (passive) system jerked me off of an exit lane into the rumble strips before I could correct. (no damage done) This was approx. Mid-late January, and unknown conditions. I didn't think to report it until I was prompted by the Subaru Maintenance facility after incident #2. Second incident - active lane keeping assist was on (with adaptive cruise control) for my own testing on this new car. I was at low speeds, at ~6 am. The vehicle suddenly jerked hard to the right and collided with/drove over a curb at speed. It quickly displayed a warning on the driver cluster and short audible warning beeps but I did not see what it was because it was so fast. The car immediately corrected back into the lane before I could even react to the collision. Important context: This was on a concrete material road that was newly repaved (summer 2025) with road lines that were painted at the same time. It was also under winter conditions, not actively snowing, but there was lingering salt residue/coloration on the road surface as well as large snow banks along the grass strips due to plowing. The snow bank in the area was approx. 3 ft high at the location the car collided with the curb. There was also lingering salt and dried snow-sludge on the car that could have had an impact on the sensors. I did not, however, have any sensor obstruction warning. The vehicle was taken to the Subaru dealer for service, was determined to be out of alignment and fixed as a warranty request. The vehicle is available for inspection, however this was clearly a software failure and not a component failure, and the damage has been repaired. To my knowledge, the dealer service center did not attempt to reproduce the issue.
Too few reports in this category for a page of its own — they appear in the full complaint list.
Brakes
Reports naming service brakes, the antilock braking system, brake hoses, master cylinders or the parking brake.
From owner reports, verbatim
On June 23rd, 2026, while driving my 2026 Subaru Solterra at approximately 35 mph on a clear, sunny day with no road obstructions or vehicles ahead, the vehicle suddenly and severely applied the brakes on its own. This unprompted, autonomous braking event brought the vehicle to an abrupt, unsafe slowdown, creating an immediate risk of a rear-end collision. No dashboard warning lights or error codes appeared prior to or during the event. The vehicle had recently been brought in for a safety recall related to the vehicle electronics/ECU. The vehicle was driven to the dealership, where it is currently undergoing diagnostic evaluation for automated pre-collision braking and sensor malfunctions.
Too few reports in this category for a page of its own — they appear in the full complaint list.
Engine
Reports naming the engine itself — including stalling, misfires, oil consumption, cooling and internal engine components.
From owner reports, verbatim
A1. 12 v Battery fail. A2 . Unable to use the car at 9:30 pm when I discovered it my safety was in risk not car to use, Subaru assistance never shows up calling them for two days. Dealer have to town truck the car A3.Dealer found the battery dead recharge the battery but not solution from the drain yet. A4. Yes vehicle inspected for the dealer A5. No no indication of the drainage before happening
Too few reports in this category for a page of its own — they appear in the full complaint list.
Fuel system
Reports naming fuel storage or delivery — tanks, pumps, lines, injectors and fuel leaks.
From owner reports, verbatim
On XXX at approximately 1:20 PM, my 2026 Subaru Solterra (approx. 4,761 miles) experienced a sudden loss of motive power while I was driving on a 4 lane trunk highway at approximately 40mph. The vehicle's drive system shut down without warning and the instrument cluster displayed "EV system malfunction – Visit Your Dealer." The vehicle would not deliver any propulsion. I was able to coast to a safe location and park. After shutting the vehicle off and restarting it, it drove normally. The warning message remained on the dashboard and cleared on its own after 4–5 additional ignition cycles. No collision occurred, but the sudden power loss in traffic created a significant crash risk. After the incident, I read the diagnostic trouble codes with an OBD-II scanner. The vehicle had stored: U0111-87 (Lost Communication With Battery Energy Control Module "A"), P0A1F-94 (Battery Energy Control Module "A"), and two instances of U117B-87 (manufacturer defined). These codes indicate the battery ECU dropped off the vehicle's communication network at the time of the shutdown. This failure appears consistent with NHTSA Recall 26V393, which covers 2026 Toyota bZ, Lexus RZ, and Subaru Solterra vehicles for a battery ECU software fault that can shut down the electric drive system and cause loss of motive power while driving. I am reporting this as a real-world occurrence of the failure described in that recall. I have scheduled service with my Subaru dealer, White Bear Subaru ([XXX]), regarding the recall remedy. Photos of the dashboard warning and stored trouble codes are available. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)
Too few reports in this category for a page of its own — they appear in the full complaint list.
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.
Elsewhere on this vehicle
Data sources
- NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation — owner-reported complaints and the components recorded on them
Data on this page last refreshed .