What 295 owners told NHTSA about the 2013 Subaru Outback Wilderness

I purchased this car may 28th 2025 and had it over the weekend and check engine light came on and took it Monday once shop opened and came back for catalytic converter and o2 sensor I letted the dealership know about it and said its not much that i can fix it but I figured would say that since was a as is car and just had to come up with money... only thing month later it stalled on me and had to take to a shop to see what it is and came back for transmission but that shop told me the car never should have been sold I never try to let them know about that its been sitting since July when that happened I been trying to talk to consumer protection services but Noone willed to help but since last year was so rough I just wanted to try again once year is up

NHTSA ODI 11708999

I was driving on a highway when my car started to suddenly stutter, hesitate, and jerk after about an hour on the road. I pulled over on the shoulder immediately and tried to better position the car further off the highway with the same vehicle behavior. Initially I thought a tire had blown so sudden was the impact but after exterior inspection I realized the tires were fine and the problem was probably under the hood. The CVT transmission and TCM malfunctioned, and electric parking brake engaged creating a noise. My ability to steer the vehicle in a predictable direction was gone creating a safety hazard on the highway or any road. The car had to be long-distance towed back to where I live; it could not be safely driven. The problem has been reproduced and confirmed by two independent service centers, one a general service center and the other a foreign car expert service center. The vehicle has not been inspected by anyone else. There were dashboard warning lights that came on at the time the vehicle started to shake. The lights were the vehicle dynamics control warning light and the check engine warning light. A " boat load" of transmission codes that lead to the vehicle being assessed at the foreign car service center. I am asking for Subaru’s assistance in resolving this matter. I purchased a Subaru based on recommendations from other family members and their experience of having multiple Subaru vehicles some of which lasted 300,00 miles. If this is a manufacturing problem I believe that Subaru has a responsibility to notify their owners of the potential problem (which didn’t happen in my case) and a responsibility to resolve the problem when it occurs. I took my vehicle into my nearest Subaru dealership for a warranty repair that I was notified of approx. three years ago. No one notified me of the potential CVT transmission problem at that time. My vehicle cannot be driven in its current state and it is dangerous to drive because of this problem.

NHTSA ODI 11564224

At all speeds vehicle shudders when letting off accelerator then nearly stalls. This is extremely dangerous when entering expressways or crossing oncoming vehicles. Dealer identified transmission as the problem and could reproduce, but not determine reason. Said drive until Check Engine light comes on then bring back. Light has never lit up. Dealer says Subaru stopped using this transmission because of problems, but is not allowed to rebuild or repair transmission. Says it cannot get new or rebuilt transmission from Subaru or anyone else just from totaled car auction. Dealership is offering $2500 trade in. This problem is well documented online regarding 2013 Subaru Outback’s with 2.5L engine.

NHTSA ODI 11557355

Like many other Subaru Outback owners, the torque converter, valve body tied to the transmission has put my Subaru out of commission at only 127k miles. There are many listservs and threads of Subaru owners who were duped by Subarus marketing of Subarus lasting into 200k miles who only reached half that because of these faulty transmissions and like myself have experienced car shuttering, stalling, and having to tow and chunk their allegedly safe cars that died half into their marketed lifespan. These cars are unsafe, have left my stranded and needing a tow and with many costly repairs https://www.cargurus.com/Cars/Discussion-t37876_ds770713

NHTSA ODI 11529439

Valve body on transmission is bad. Apparently this is a common occurrence, unfortunately I’m over the extended warranty they put on the car when they new they had a problem. Why wasn’t this a recall

NHTSA ODI 11499910

The contact owns a 2013 Subaru Outback. The contact stated while driving 35 MPH, she heard an error alert with several unknown warning lights illuminated. The vehicle was driven to an independent mechanic to be diagnosed. The contact was informed that the transmission needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired. A dealer was not contacted. The manufacturer had been informed of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 114,000.

NHTSA ODI 11465005

When backing out of garage, car seemed to rev up and increase speed. I was unable to stop the car while applying the brakes. Car went down over an embankment and stopped only after I put transmission into Park and car was slowed down by running over a large shrub. Luckily, I was unhurt, but easily could have been. This is the second time a similar incident has happened. I have not reported the incident previously nor had the car inspected yet.

NHTSA ODI 11460615

I bought this car on 3/1/22 from a dealer, and took it for several test drives - everything was great. Carfax report is clean. On 3/3/22, I was driving on a windy road with cliffs and ledges, 45 mph when all of a sudden the brakes slammed, the tires screeched, and I heard grinding. Every alarm went off and the car fishtailed and skidded over to the side - almost going off the side of the road. Every light was blinking and alarms going off. Once I came to a stop, I tried turning the key off and turning it back on. It turned on fine - but it would not go into drive or accelerate, and all the alarms and lights were still going off. I was stranded on the side of a curvy country road where it was not easy to be seen, and easy to be hit. I had to walk 30 min, leaving the car in the middle of the road to the closest store, at which I looked up a tow truck and service station. I had it towed to a service station, and the gentleman ran diagnostics and said that his machine is coming back showing transmission issues. I literally just bought this car - and paid good money for it - I am shocked that this is a known issue and Subaru won't do a general recall to fix this! This is dangerous - because the car LITERALLY went out WHILE I WAS DRIVING. I am calling Subaru dealers today and seeing what they plan to do to fix this, or if I am going to be stuck with paying for it

NHTSA ODI 11455291

Vehicle was at a stop light on a 45mph road at which time the car shook very badly, the engine stalled, and almost every dashboard light illuminated. Vehicle was unable to move putting the passengers at extreme risk of a rear end collision on a major thoroughfare. The situation was safely resolved after shutting down the vehicle for a minutes and restarting it. Following the incident, the vehicle shudders often, and the car shakes very badly again if the transmission approaches 4000RPM. Vehicle will be taken in for service next week and it is suspected that Subaru will be required to replace the transmission under the extended warranty offered to all customers because of high transmission failure rates observed on this make/model of car. The NHTSA needs to require a recall on all Subaru CVTs due to unreliability and stalling putting passengers and the public at risk.

NHTSA ODI 11453051

2013 SUBARU OUTBACK. ENTIRE SET OF WARNING LIGHTS CAME ON FIVE MINUTES AFTER STARTED DRIVING VEHICLE. MECHANIC SAID TO HAVE IT TOWED. DIAGNOSIS: CVT TRANSMISSION TOTALLY FRIED AT A MERE 106,600. SHOULD BE ABLE TO GET A LOT MORE MILES FROM THIS TRANSMISSION. LEMON LAW BUT SHOULD BE A RECALL. $8000 REPAIR BILL.

NHTSA ODI 11364048

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2013 SUBARU OUTBACK. THE CONTACT STATED THAT WHILE DRIVING 55 MPH, THE BRAKE PEDAL WAS DEPRESSED AND THE VEHICLE STALLED WITHOUT WARNING. THE CONTACT ALSO MENTIONED THAT ON A SEVERAL OTHER OCCASIONS, THE VEHICLE STALLED WITHOUT WARNING. THE VEHICLE RESUMED NORMAL OPERATION AFTER THE VEHICLE WAS TURNED OFF AND RESTARTED. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO THE LOCAL DEALER AUTONATION SUBARU SPOKANE VALLEY LOCATED AT 10000 E. SPRAGUE AVE, SPOKANE VALLEY, WA 99206 WHERE IT WAS DIAGNOSED WITH NEEDING THE TRANSMISSION VALVE BODY AND SOLENOID TO BE REPLACED. THE MANUFACTURER WAS CONTACTED HOWEVER, NO ASSISTANCE WAS OFFERED. THE VEHICLE HAD NOT BEEN REPAIRED AS OF YET. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS APPROXIMATELY 122,000.*DT SUBARU CONTRIBUTED $1000 TOWARDS REPAIR AND DEALER SERVICE CENTER REPLACED VALVE BODY AND SOLENOID. AFTERWARDS NOISE FROM THE TRANSMISSION WAS WORSE THAN BEFORE REPAIR AND DEALER NOW REPORTS THAT THE ENTIRE TRANSMISSION NEEDS TO BE REPLACED AT A COST OF $9,300. SUBARU USA OFFERED ONLY $1,500 TOWARDS THIS REPLACEMENT.*DT*JB*LN*JB

NHTSA ODI 11349241

DURING A 120,000 SERVICE AT THE SUBARU DEALER (ODOMETER AT 121,333 MILES) I WAS INFORMED THAT METAL FILINGS HAD BEEN OBSERVED IN THE DIFFERENTIAL FLUID, INDICATING A PROBLEM WITH THE TRANSMISSION. NOT LONG AFTER THAT, MY VEHICLE EXPERIENCED AN ISSUE WITH THE TRANSMISSION. I ACCELERATED TO PASS ON THE FREEWAY, AND AFTER HAVING DONE SO, THE TRANSMISSION KEPT ACCELERATING AND WOULD NOT KICK DOWN FOR ABOUT 5 SECONDS. I TOOK THE VEHICLE INTO AN INDEPENDENT REPAIR SHOP WHERE THEY CONFIRMED THE TRANSMISSION IS INDEED FAILING. THIS EVENT SET UP A POTENTIAL SAFETY ISSUE, AT THE LEAST BEING DISTRACTED IN TRYING TO GET THE TRANSMISSION KICKED DOWN AGAIN, AND, AT MOST, HAVING A FAILURE ON THE THE HIGHWAY, WITH THE POTENTIAL FOR SERIOUS CONSEQUENCES. A TRANSMISSION SHOULD NOT BE GOING BAD AFTER ONLY 121,000 MILES. ALL THE REQUIRED MAINTENANCE AND SERVICING HAD BEEN DONE FOLLOWING SUBARU'S RECOMMENDATIONS. THIS IS A KNOWN DEFECT. SUBARU'S WEAK EXTENDED WARRANTY IS JUST THEIR WAY OF AVOIDING THE COSTS OF FIXING THIS DEFECT, TO THE DETRIMENT OF THEIR CUSTOMERS.

NHTSA ODI 11342091

HEARD SOME NOISE COMING FROM THE CAR AND BROUGHT IT TO SUBARU. THEY TOLD ME I NEEDED A NEW TRANSMISSION FOR $9,000. I CHECKED ONLINE AND FOUND THIS TYPE OF TRANSMISSION HAS HAD NUMEROUS PROBLEMS. I ONLY HAVE 129,000 MILES ON THE CAR. I SERVICE IT REGULARLY AS I HAVE DONE ALL MY VEHICLES IN MY LIFETIME. I HAVE NEVER REPLACE A TRANSMISSION ON ANY CAR I OWED IN THE +50 YEARS OF PURCHASING CARS. *TR

NHTSA ODI 11328163

THIS CAR GUZZLES OIL, LIKE A QUART EVERY THOUSAND MILES MAKING IT A [XXX] CAR FOR ROAD TRIPS. I BOUGHT THIS FOR ROAD TRIPS SO THANKS SUBARU. IT HAS CVT ISSUES THAT SUBARU WON'T ACKNOWLEDGE OR REPAIR, DANGEROUS ONES TOO SUCH AS LOSS OF POWER WHILE IDLING, AND FEELING THE ENGINE IS GOING TO DIE WHEN IN STOP AND GO TRAFFIC. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6). *TR

NHTSA ODI 11324773

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2013 SUBARU OUTBACK. THE CONTACT STATED THAT WHILE DRIVING AT AN UNDISCLOSED SPEED, THE BRAKE PEDAL WAS DEPRESSED AND THE VEHICLE SHUDDERED AND STALLED WITHOUT WARNING. THE CONTACT STATED THAT THE FAILURE WAS INTERMITTENT. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO DREYER & REINBOLD SUBARU (1301 SOUTH, US-31 STE 2, GREENWOOD, IN 46143), TO BE DIAGNOSED. THE CONTACT WAS INFORMED THAT THE TRANSMISSION NEEDED TO BE REPLACED. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT REPAIRED. THE VEHICLE WAS THEN TAKEN TO AN INDEPENDENT MECHANIC AND WAS DIAGNOSED THAT THE TRANSMISSION NEEDED TO BE REPLACED. THE MANUFACTURER WAS MADE AWARE OF THE FAILURE. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS APPROXIMATELY 104,000.

NHTSA ODI 11322115

CVT TRANSMISSION MANY ISSUES INCLUDING THE TRANSMISSION OVERHEATING AND CAUSING THE CAR TO COMPLETELY SHUT OFF. PROBLEMS PERSEIST AND DEALERSHIP CAN FIND NOTHING WRONG INITIALLY , BUT THE TRANSMISSION HAS BEEN BECOMING WORSE AND WORSE SICNCE THESE ISSUES STARTED AND THE TRANSMISSION STALLS THE CAR.

NHTSA ODI 11282567

I WAS DRIVING HOME FROM WORK AND A WARNING LIGHT CAME ON. THE WARNING LIGHT INDICATED THAT THE TRANSMISSION FLUID WAS OVERHEATING. I NOTICED STEAM WAS COMING FROM UNDER THE HOOD. THE CAR CEASED FORWARD MOMENTUM AND CAME TO A HALT IN THE MIDDLE OF THE ROAD (CURVY AND HILLY COUNTRY ROAD). INSPECTION SHOWED TRANSMISSION FLUID GUSHING OUT OF THE TRANSMISSION. A LARGE PUDDLE JOINED WHAT I LATER DISCOVERED TO BE NEARLY TEN MILES OF TRANSMISSION FLUID TRAIL. THIS IS THE FOURTH TRANSMISSION TO GO INTO THE CAR.

NHTSA ODI 11278129

HAVING MAINTAINED MY SUBARU OUTBACK AT A SUBARU DEALER SINCE PURCHASE, I EXPECTED FEW MAJOR PROBLEMS. OVER THE LAST FEW MONTHS, A SMALL BUZZING SOUND FROM THE TRANSMISSION HAS GROWN TO A LOUD SOUND. THE SUBARU TECH SAID MY TRANSMISSION WAS DONE. 133000 MILES AND SUBARU OFFERED $1000 TOWARD A NEW CAR OR NEW $8000 TRANSMISSION. THE CAR IS NOW WORTHLESS.

NHTSA ODI 11258542

I HAVE A 2013 SUBARU OUTBACK AND IT STUTTERS DRIVING BETWEEN 20-40 MPH. IT SEEMS TO LOOSE POWER WHEN DRIVING ON CITY STREETS. DOESN'T HAPPEN EVERY TIME

NHTSA ODI 11254991

116,700 MILES AND NEED TO REPLACE VALVE BODY. CONCERN RAISED AT 83,000 MILES BUT WAS ADVISED TO FLUSH TRANSMISSION. AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION TEMPERATURE WARNING LIGHT COMES ON EVERY SUMMER, AND CONCERN RAISED BUT WAS ONLY ADVISED TO PULL OVER AND LET IT COOL. ALSO HAVING PROBLEM WITH LOW ENGINE OIL WARNING AND NEED TO ADD 1 - 2 QUARTS BETWEEN 6000 MILE OIL CHANGE. THIS IS A KNOWN ISSUE AND THE SHORT BLOCK MAY NEED TO BE REPLACED TO REPAIR THIS

NHTSA ODI 11234456

"TAKATA RECALL" THE TRANSMISSION STARTED FAILING AT AROUND 105K. IT TURNS OUT THIS IS A KNOWN PROBLEM BY SUBARU AND AFTER TALKING TO CUSTOMER SERVICE, THEY REFUSED TO FIX THE ISSUE OWING TO THE FACT THAT IT WAS OVER 100K MILES. THEY GAVE EXTENDED WARRANTIES FOR VEHICLES BUT ONLY UP TO 100K. I THINK THAT THIS SHOULD HAVE BEEN AN ACTUAL RECALL AND NOT AN EXTENDED WARRANTY. ITS A MAJOR SAFETY CONCERN THAT SUBARU IS AWARE OF.

NHTSA ODI 11222789

WHILE DRIVING ON I 10 AT 70 MPH, 30 MILE'S EAST OF TALLAHASSEE. FL, THE TRANSMISSION FAILED. LUCKILY, I COASTED TO THE SHOULDER. IT EASILY COULD HAVE ENDED IN A FATALITY. IN FEBRUARY, 2019, THE AT OIL TEMP LIGHT CAME ON. AT THAT TIME FITZGERALD SUBARU IN CLEARWATER FL (MY HOMETOWN) CHECKED OUT MY CAR AND SAID NOTHING IS WRONG. SO, I WAS DRIVING THE CAR FOR MY VACATION IN MICHIGAN AND THE AT OIL TEMP CAME ON AGAIN WITH SUBSEQUENT TRANSMISSION FAILURE. COME TO FIND OUT, THESE BAD TRANSMISSIONS ARE A KNOWN PROBLEM. THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT NEEDS TO MAKE SUBARU DO A RECALL BEFORE SOMEONE GETS KILLED BECAUSE OF THEIR NEGLIGENCE.

NHTSA ODI 11219097

ISSUE IS ONGOING FOR THE LAST 6 MONTHS. VEHICLE INTERMITTENTLY STALLS WHEN AT IDLE AND PLACED IN GEAR. HESITATION WHEN ACCELERATING WHILE DRIVING (ACTS AS IF IT NOT GETTING ENOUGH POWER.) I HAVE TAKEN THE VEHICLE TO 3 DIFFERENT DEALERSHIPS AND CONTACTED SUBARU OF AMERICA AND I AM NOT GETTING ANYWHERE. DEALERSHIPS CAN'T DUPLICATE THE PROBLEM, SO THEREFORE CAN'T DIAGNOSE THE PROBLEM. I HAVE VIDEO RECORDS OF THIS ISSUE OCCURRING.

NHTSA ODI 11189965

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2013 SUBARU OUTBACK. WHILE DRIVING 60 MPH, THE BRAKES SEIZED WITHOUT WARNING. LAST WEEK, THE TRANSMISSION SEIZED WHILE IN TRAFFIC ON THE GOLDEN GATE BRIDGE. ON BOTH OCCASIONS, THE CONTACT HAD TO PULL THE VEHICLE OVER TO PREVENT A CRASH. THE TRANSMISSION WARNING INDICATOR WAS ILLUMINATED. THE VEHICLE WAS TOWED THREE TIMES TO MARIN SUBARU (595 FRANCISCO BLVD E, SAN RAFAEL, CA 94901, (415) 454-9240) WHERE IT WAS DIAGNOSED THAT A NEW TRANSMISSION WAS NEEDED. THE VEHICLE WAS REPAIRED, BUT THE FAILURE RECURRED. THE VEHICLE WAS REPAIRED FIVE ADDITIONAL TIMES, BUT THE FAILURE CONTINUED. THE MANUFACTURER WAS MADE AWARE OF THE FAILURES AND DID NOT ASSIST. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 250,000.

NHTSA ODI 11187060

MY CAR HAS BEEN CONSUMING OIL TO THE POINT WHERE IT HAS A D MINUS ACCORDING TO THE DEALERSHIP BUT HAS NOT FIXED THE PROBLEM AND IT KEEPS HAPPENING. THE FIRST TIME THEY SAID IT WAS ALMOST AN F. I HAVE ABOUT 3000 MILES ON IT WHEN IT NEEDS OIL .

NHTSA ODI 11187125