IllustrationI was driving on the highway going 70 MPH when the hood latch suddenly came unlatched. The hood flew up and smashed into the windshield, blocking my view. I was able to slow down and pull onto the shoulder, but there was damage to my hood, windshield, rear view mirror, body panels, sunroof, roof, and trim.
2018 Subaru Outback
Owner reports · Recalls · Investigations
More warning signs than most Outback years
Owner complaints for the 2018 Subaru Outback are substantially higher than the model-year median of 207.5.
About this comparison →How this year compares
Owner complaints by model year
Compare all Outback years →Counts vary with age, sales and reporting. They are not failure rates.
What owners reported most
All reported categories
Tap a category to read its complaints. One report may name several components.
When problems were reported
Mileage at the reported incident
3130–25K
13625–50K
2850–75K
875–100K
2100–150K
1150K+
488 reports with mileage · 323 unknown
NHTSA’s mileage field refers to the reported incident, not necessarily the filing date. This shows report counts, not the likelihood of a failure.
What to inspect
Issues worth paying extra attention to based on owner reports.
- Electrical System. Review the 265 owner reports in this category and discuss these concerns during a pre-purchase inspection. Read reports →
- Visibility/wiper. Review the 233 owner reports in this category and discuss these concerns during a pre-purchase inspection. Read reports →
- Fuel/propulsion System. Review the 43 owner reports in this category and discuss these concerns during a pre-purchase inspection. Read reports →
NHTSA owner reports · September 18, 2026 snapshot.
27 crash reports4 fire reports10 injury reports
Structure complaints
15 reportsInfotainment screen is delaminated and doesn’t work
OUR SUNROOF EXPLODED AND SHATTERED. IT COULD HAVE CAUSED A BAD ACCIDENT AS THE SPEED LIMIT IS 65-70 FULL OF CARS AND TRUCKS ON I-95 NORTH. THERE WAS NO WARNING, JUST A LARGE EXPLOSION AND SHATTERED GLASS. LUCKILY OUR SUNSHADE WAS CLOSED SO THE GLASS WAS CONTAINED. IT WAS RAINING AND ABOUT 50 DEGREES.
Rock hit windshield and cracked windshield, from a small rock cracking the windshield and leaving this much damage if it was a bigger one it could have gone through and hurt us. This will be the second time I’ll have to repair the windshield.
The front windshield (driver's side) cracked out of nowhere. Now there's a large crack that runs from the driver's side through the middle of the windshield. There were no visible chips on the front windshield prior to the incident.
MOONROOF EXPLODED.
SUBARU OUTBACK 2018 HAVE AN ISSUE WITH THE RESIDUE LEAK FROM THE WINDSHIELD NEAR THE EYE SIGHT IT HAPPENED TWICE TO MY VEHICLE FIRST TIME WHEN I TOOK THE VEHICLE THEY SAID IT MIGHT BE A LEAK FROM THE GLUE IN EYESIGHT AND THEY SAID THEY HAVE EYESIGHT MIGHT BE LOOSE AND THEY HAVE TIGHTEN IT AND SECOND TIME IT HAPPENED AND THEN THE…
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SUBARU OUTBACK 2018 HAVE AN ISSUE WITH THE RESIDUE LEAK FROM THE WINDSHIELD NEAR THE EYE SIGHT IT HAPPENED TWICE TO MY VEHICLE FIRST TIME WHEN I TOOK THE VEHICLE THEY SAID IT MIGHT BE A LEAK FROM THE GLUE IN EYESIGHT AND THEY SAID THEY HAVE EYESIGHT MIGHT BE LOOSE AND THEY HAVE TIGHTEN IT AND SECOND TIME IT HAPPENED AND THEN THEY SAID NO NO THE EYESIGHT DOESN'T HAVE ANY GLUE AND THIS IS COMING FROM SOME GLUE USED IN THE WINDSHIELD. SUBARU DOESN'T SEEM TO BE WORRY ABOUT IT AND ALL THEY SAY IS THEY ARE NOT ABLE TO DUPLICATE THE ISSUE. THIS ISSUES STARTED HAPPENING IN THIS SUMMER WHEN THE TEMPERATURE IS EXTREME HOT THE GLUE WHAT THEY USED TO STICK THE WINDSHIELD TO THE BODY OF THE CAR MELTS AND IT COMES OUT WHEN I TOOK IT TO THE DEALERSHIP ALL THEY SAY IS WE ARE NOT ABLE TO REPLICATE THE ISSUE. CONTACTED SUBARU CUSTOMER SERVICE AND THEY SAID WE HAD OUR MASTER TECHNICIAN HAD A LOOK AT THE CAR AND THE FIELD ENGINEER THEY ARE NOT ABLE TO SEE THIS AS AN ISSUE. WHEN I BOUGHT A BRAND NEW CAR FROM SUBARU AND WITH IN 2 YEARS THE GLUE IS MELTING BECAUSE OF HEAT NOT SURE WHAT KIND OF CAR SUBARU MANUFACTURES. THE SUPERVISOR FROM SUBARU CUSTOMER SERVICE DOESN'T SEEM TO HAVE ANY CONCERN ON THE ISSUE AND KEEP SAYING WHEN WE ARE NOT ABLE TO REPLICATE THE ISSUE ITS NOT OUR CONCERN. I AM GETTING SCARED IF THE GLUE CAME OUT AND THE WINDSHIELD BREAKS OR CRACKS WHEN I AM DRIVING WHAT WILL HAPPEN TO THE SAFETY OF ME AND MY FAMILY. I TOOK IT TO 2 SEPARATE DEALERSHIPS. SUBARU OF AMERICA AND COLONIAL SUBARU. SUBARU AMERICA SAID IT MIGHT BE A LEAK FROM THE GLUE OF THE WINDSHIELD AND COLONIAL SUBARU SAID THEY ARE NOT ABLE TO FIND THE PROBLEM. *TR
1. DEFECT IN WINDSHIELDS OR FRAMING AREA. I'VE HAD 4 WINDSHIELD CRACK IN THE BOTTOM RIGHT AND HAVE REPLACED 3 SO FAR SINCE I BOUGHT IT. ADDING MY NAME AND CAR TO THE COMPLAINTS SAYING THE WINDSHIELDS IN THEIR SUBARU VEHICLES ARE DEFECTIVE AND ARE SPONTANEOUSLY CRACKING, AND BREAKING, SOMETIMES 'WITHIN WEEKS OR A FEW MONTHS OF P…
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1. DEFECT IN WINDSHIELDS OR FRAMING AREA. I'VE HAD 4 WINDSHIELD CRACK IN THE BOTTOM RIGHT AND HAVE REPLACED 3 SO FAR SINCE I BOUGHT IT. ADDING MY NAME AND CAR TO THE COMPLAINTS SAYING THE WINDSHIELDS IN THEIR SUBARU VEHICLES ARE DEFECTIVE AND ARE SPONTANEOUSLY CRACKING, AND BREAKING, SOMETIMES 'WITHIN WEEKS OR A FEW MONTHS OF PURCHASE.' I USUALLY NOTICE UPON RETURNING TO MY CAR IN THE MORNING TO LEAVE FOR WORK OR RETURNING FROM BEING AWAY FROM IT ALL DAY. MY CAR INSURANCE HAS COVERED ALL BUT $100 OF THE BILLS OVER THE SPAN OF 2 YEARS, LUCKILY. BUT MY TIME IS VALUABLE. 2. RADIO/MULTIMEDIA SCREEN SOMETIMES DOESN'T COME ON WHEN I START THE CAR AND WON'T WORK UNTIL I TURN THE CAR OFF AND BACK ON LATER. 3. CHINCY MATERIAL, SEEMS TO DENT VEEEERY EASILY, DOES NOT LIVE UP TO HIGH STANDARDS AND DURABILITY THEY RAVE ABOUT. I'M NOT SURE WHAT ALL HAS DINGED MY CAR BUT IT IS WAY MORE FREQUENT THAN ANY OTHER CAR I'VE OWNED. I USUALLY NOTICE WALKING UP TO IT FROM BEING PARKED. COULD BE FROM DRIVING DOWN ROAD THOUGH. 4. BATTERY LIFE IS SHORT. CAR WAS NOT RUN FOR 5 DAYS AND BATTERY WAS DEAD. CLAIMS TO BE AN OUTDOORSY CAR SO WHY WOULD IT BE SET UP TO KILL THE BATTERY SO QUICKLY? MY DEALERSHIP UPDATED THE SOFTWARE AND GAVE ME A BIGGER BATTERY TO HELP "FIX" THAT ISSUE. *TR
MY WINDSHIELD SPONTANEOUSLY CRACKED STARTING AT THE VERTICAL EDGE ON THE PASSENGER SIDE. THERE WAS NO EVENT THAT CAUSED THIS. IT JUST HAPPENED ONE DAY. I'M BARELY DRIVING MY CAR BC OF THE PANDEMIC SO I'M ASSUMING IT HAPPENED WHEN IT WAS STATIONARY.
I JUST DRIVEN HOME FROM WORK ON THE FREEWAY FOR 20 MINUTES. GOT HOME AND PARKED MY CAR ON THE STREET IN FRONT OF MY HOME. I WENT INTO MY HOME AND CAME OUT ABOUT 30 MINUTES LATER TO DO SOME YARD WORK. A CRACK IN MY WINDSHIELD CAUGHT MY EYE. I LOOKED AT IT AND IT WENT FROM ONE SIDE TO THE OTHER IT WAS NOT THERE WHEN I PARKED MY C…
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I JUST DRIVEN HOME FROM WORK ON THE FREEWAY FOR 20 MINUTES. GOT HOME AND PARKED MY CAR ON THE STREET IN FRONT OF MY HOME. I WENT INTO MY HOME AND CAME OUT ABOUT 30 MINUTES LATER TO DO SOME YARD WORK. A CRACK IN MY WINDSHIELD CAUGHT MY EYE. I LOOKED AT IT AND IT WENT FROM ONE SIDE TO THE OTHER IT WAS NOT THERE WHEN I PARKED MY CAR 30 MINUTES EARLIER AND NOTHING HIT THE WINDSHIELD ON THE FREEWAY. THIS HAPPENED 9 MOS AFTER I BOUGHT MY CAR. IT WAS STILL UNDER WARRANTY BUT THEY MADE ME PAY $1118.33 OUT OF MY POCKET AND THEN TOLD ME TO GET REIMBURSED BY MY INSURANCE.
Official recalls
321V587000 · Fuel System, Gasoline:delivery:fuel Pump
Jul 29, 2021
Subaru of America, Inc. (Subaru) is recalling certain 2019-2020 Ascent, 2018 Forester, 2018-2020 Impreza, Legacy, Outback, 2018-2019 BRZ, WRX, and Toyota 86 vehicles. The low-pressure fuel pump inside the fuel tank may fail.
Consequence & remedy
Consequence: Fuel pump failure can cause an engine stall while driving, increasing the risk of a crash.
Remedy: Dealers will replace the low-pressure fuel pump, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed September 24, 2021. Subaru and Toyota owners may call customer service at 1-844-373-6614. Subaru's number for this recall is WRG-21.
18V935000 · Visibility:rearview Mirrors/devices
Dec 31, 2018
Subaru of America, Inc. (Subaru) is recalling certain 2018 Legacy, Outback, and BRZ vehicles. In the affected vehicles, a software issue may cause the audio display system to not initialize, resulting in the camera display remaining blank. If this occurs, the rearview image will not display while backing up the vehicle. As a result, the vehicles fail to comply with requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety (FMVSS) number 111, "Rearview Mirrors."
Consequence & remedy
Consequence: Failure to display the rearview image while backing up increases the risk of crash.
Remedy: Subaru has notified owners, and dealers will reprogram the audio system display software, free of charge. The recall began on February 5, 2019. Owners may contact Subaru customer service at 1-844-373-6614. Subaru's number for this recall is WTZ-85.
18V773000 · Electrical System:software; Fuel System, Gasoline
Nov 1, 2018
Subaru of America, Inc. (Subaru) is recalling certain 2018 Subaru Legacy and Outback vehicles. Due to a software error, the low fuel warning light may not illuminate at the intended remaining fuel level and the miles-to-empty display may incorrectly indicate a positive number despite the tank being empty.
Consequence & remedy
Consequence: The inaccurate fuel display may cause a driver to unexpectedly run out of fuel and the vehicle to stall, increasing the risk of a crash.
Remedy: Subaru will notify owners, and dealers will reprogram the combination meter software, free of charge. The recall began February 20, 2019. Owners may contact Subaru customer service at 1-844-373-6614. Subaru's number for this recall is WTW-82.
Additional source detail variants (2)
Electrical System:software
Subaru of America, Inc. (Subaru) is recalling certain 2018 Subaru Legacy and Outback vehicles. Due to a software error, the low fuel warning light may not illuminate at the intended remaining fuel level and the miles-to-empty display may incorrectly indicate a positive number despite the tank being empty.
Consequence: The inaccurate fuel display may cause a driver to unexpectedly run out of fuel and the vehicle to stall, increasing the risk of a crash.
Remedy: Subaru will notify owners, and dealers will reprogram the combination meter software, free of charge. The recall began February 20, 2019. Owners may contact Subaru customer service at 1-844-373-6614. Subaru's number for this recall is WTW-82.
Fuel System, Gasoline
Subaru of America, Inc. (Subaru) is recalling certain 2018 Subaru Legacy and Outback vehicles. Due to a software error, the low fuel warning light may not illuminate at the intended remaining fuel level and the miles-to-empty display may incorrectly indicate a positive number despite the tank being empty.
Consequence: The inaccurate fuel display may cause a driver to unexpectedly run out of fuel and the vehicle to stall, increasing the risk of a crash.
Remedy: Subaru will notify owners, and dealers will reprogram the combination meter software, free of charge. The recall began February 20, 2019. Owners may contact Subaru customer service at 1-844-373-6614. Subaru's number for this recall is WTW-82.
Model-level recall history does not show whether a particular VIN is affected or has received a repair. Check a VIN with NHTSA ↗
NHTSA investigations
0No exact-year investigations in this snapshot.