What 208 owners told NHTSA about the 2014 Subaru Outback Wilderness

OIL SENSOR LIGHT ON DASH ILLUMINATES. OIL IS LOW. SENSOR MEASURES PRESSURE NOT LEVEL. OIL PUMP HAS NOT BEEN REPLACED. DEALER HAS ATTEMPTED TO FIX ISSUE(4 TIMES). REPLACED SENSOR, OIL CONSUMPTION TEST. VEHICLE IN AGAIN AT 34000 MILES FOR SAME ISSUE. DEALER MENTIONED SUBARU IS AWARE OF THE PROBLEM. LAST RESORT IS A COMPLETE ENGINE REPLACEMENT.

NHTSA ODI 10917326

ON OR ABOUT NOV 24, 2015, AN IGNITION PROBLEM DEVELOPED. WHEN TURNING THE IGNITION SWITCH THERE WAS NO POWER. WITH EACH TURN, MORE AND MORE POWER TURNED UNTIL IT FINALLY STARTED. ACCORDING TO SHEEHY SUBARU, SPRINGFIELD, VA, THERE WAS NOTHING WRONG WITH THE VEHICLE AND STATED "I NEEDED TO START THE CAR EVER COUPLE OF DAYS." ABOUT 2 WEEKS LATER, REYNOLDS GMC SUBARU CAME AND PICKED UP THE CAR AND SAID THERE WAS TECHNICAL BULLETIN OUT FOR THIS PROBLEM (I WAS NOT ABLE TO LOCATE) AND THEY HAVE FIXED TWENTY OTHER CARS WITH THIS SAME PROBLEM. THE CAR WAS FINE UNTIL JANUARY 11, 2016, THE CAR STARTED EXHIBITING THE SAME IGNITION ISSUES. I CONTACTED REYNOLDS WHO CONTACTED SUBARU ENGINEERS WHO SAID NOT TO HAVE MY FOOT ON THE GAS PEDAL WHEN I TURN THE IGNITION KEY. THE VEHICLE STARTS WITH A FOOT ON THE GAS PEDAL OR NOT. THEY STATED THE CAR WAS DESIGNED NOT TO START WITH A FOOT ON THE PEDAL. I WAS CALLED BACK AND THEN TOLD THE SUBARU ENGINEERS SAID THE PROBLEM IS INTERMITTENT, SOME VEHICLES HAVE THIS PROBLEM AND OTHERS DON'T. DEAL WITH IT. THE CAR HAS 15K MILES AND IS ALMOST BRAND NEW AND HAS MAJOR ELECTRICAL PROBLEMS. ON TUESDAY, JANUARY 12TH, 2015, DASH INSTRUCTIONS BEGAN FLASHING ON AND OFF. THAT IS NOT NORMAL. PRIOR TO HAVING NITROGEN PUT IN THE TIRES, THE CAR CONSTANTLY PULLED TO THE RIGHT AND LOST AIR PRESSURE WEEKLY. BUT NOW I AM VERY CONCERNED ABOUT THE ELECTRICAL PROBLEMS. SUBARU HAS BEEN NOTIFIED.

NHTSA ODI 10820411

AT APPROXIMATELY 29000 MILEAGE ON THE MY 2014 SUBARU OUTBACK, I WAS DRIVING ON THE HIGHWAY AND THE OIL LEVEL LAMP ILLUMINATED. I PULLED OVER AND CHECKED THE OIL LEVEL AND FOUND IT TO BE NOT READABLE ON THE DIPSTICK. I ADDED A QUART, WHICH BROUGHT THE LEVEL TO HALF. I THEN REPORTED TO THE DEALER, BEARDMORE SUBARU IN BELLEVUE, NE. THEY UPDATED THE SOFTWARE AND REPLACED THE OIL LEVEL SWITCH. THEY ALSO INITIATED A AN OIL CONSUMPTION TEST AND I HAVE TO RETURN IN 1200 MILES TO HAVE LEVEL RECORDED. HOWEVER, WHEN I LEFT THE DEALERSHIP, I CHECKED THE OIL A FEW WEEKS LATER (APPROX 400 MILES DRIVEN), WHILE THE ENGINE WAS COOL, AND NOTICED THE OIL LEVEL WAS WELL ABOVE THE FULL MARK. CLEARLY THEY OVERFILLED THE ENGINE. ADDITIONALLY, THE MECHANIC LEFT OPEN THE TOP OF THE COOLANT RESEVOIR (WHICH I DID NOT ASK THEM TO EVEN CHECK). I WILL BE CALLING THEM ON MONDAY TO REPORT THIS ISSUE.

NHTSA ODI 10817426

FROM THE TIME I HAVE HAD THIS CAR, THERE IS A LOT OF ENGINE HESITATION GOING FROM REVERSE TO DRIVE. WE LIVE ON A BUSY STREET AND IT IS A SAFETY HAZARD WHEN WE BACK OUT OF THE DRIVEWAY, SWITCH INTO DRIVE, AND STEP ON THE GAS PEDAL - NOTHING HAPPENS FOR APPROXIMATELY 2 SECONDS, THEN THE CAR STARTS GOING FORWARD. THE DEALER HAS TRIED TO TELL ME IT IS THE CVT, BUT I WATCH THE TACHOMETER, AND THE ENGINE DOESN'T REV UP. I HAD SOME OF THIS PROBLEM WITH MY PREVIOUS (NON-CVT) 2005 OUTBACK, BUT THOUGHT IT WOULD BE BETTER 10 YEARS LATER. IT ISN'T - IT'S WORSE. *TR

NHTSA ODI 10723778

VEHICLE HESITATES OCCASIONALLY ON ACCELERATION COMING OFF A STOP.

NHTSA ODI 10717533

CAR STOPS WITHOUT WARNING. A CLICKING SOUND IS HEARD AND THEN THE FRONT DISPLAY PANELS BECOME BLANK. THERE IS NO STEERING OR BRAKES. THIS HAS HAPPENED 10 TIMES. THERE IS NO WAY TO PREDICT WHEN THIS MIGHT HAPPEN AND THERE IS NO PRECIPITATING FACTORS. HAVE HAD THE CAR TO THE DEALERSHIP TWICE, BUT THE PROBLEM CANNOT BE FOUND AND AM STILL DRIVING THIS UNSAFE CAR. *TR

NHTSA ODI 10669957

BRAND NEW CAR AND ENGINE BURNING OIL ISSUE: SUBARU OF GEORGETOWN, TX, DEALER TOLD ME THAT I DID NOT HAVE TO CHANGE THE OIL UNTIL I REACHED 7500 MILES ON MY BRAND NEW 2014 SUBARU OUTBACK. AT 4900 MILES, OIL PRESSURE AND LOW OIL LIGHTS CAME ON BRIEFLY, THEN TURNED OFF 30 MILES LATER. I DIDN'T CHECK THE LEVEL SINCE THE LIGHTS TURNED OFF. THEN 50 MILES LATER, BOTH TURNED ON AGAIN. I CHECKED THE DIPSTICK, AND THERE WAS APPROX. 1MM OF OIL REGISTERING ON THE BOTTOM OF THE DIPSTICK. THE SUBARU OF BATON ROUGE, LA DEALER TOLD ME THIS WAS NORMAL AND CHANGED THE OIL AT 5400 MILES. *TR

NHTSA ODI 10668476

THERE IS A HESITATION WHEN ACCELERATING, IT HAPPENS FROM COMPLETE STOPS BY STEPPING ON THE GAS, AND WHILE TURNING YOUR VEHICLE. I WAS ON A 35MPH. BACK ROAD AND WENT TO TURN LEFT ONTO A SIDE STREET, I YIELDED FOR 2 CARS AND THEN WENT INTO THE TURN AND STEPPED ON THE GAS, IT HESITATED AND THEN I WAS HIT IN THE REAR SIDE OF MY VEHICLE. IF IT WOULD HAVE RESPONDED CORRECTLY I WOULD NOT HAVE GOTTEN INTO THE ACCIDENT. *TR

NHTSA ODI 10643635

DRIVING AT APPROXIMATELY 20MPH, THE CAR SUDDENLY BEGINS TO SMELL OF GASOLINE. SOON THEREAFTER, ACCELERATION BECOMES HESITANT AND THE LOW-FUEL WARNING LIGHT ILLUMINATES. THE VEHICLE QUICKLY BECAME INOPERABLE IN THE MIDDLE OF A BUSY ROAD. THE VEHICLE IS A MODEL YEAR 2014 AND WAS PURCHASED BRAND NEW, LESS THAN SEVEN [7] MONTHS AGO (FROM THE DATE THIS COMPLAINT WAS POSTED). THE VEHICLE HAS ONLY APPROXIMATELY 9,000 MILES ON THE ODOMETER AND HAS NOT BEEN DRIVEN UNDER ANY ESPECIALLY SEVERE WEATHER CONDITIONS OR THROUGH TREACHEROUS TERRAIN. *TR

NHTSA ODI 10629818

ZERO OIL PRESSURE (RED) INDICATOR LIGHT ILLUMINATED AT SAFE AND PRUDENT OPERATING SPEED. LOW OIL INDICATOR LIGHT (YELLOW) NEVER ILLUMINATED. LIGHT REMAINED ON FOR THREE MILES, ONE AT SPEED 55 MPH TO ZERO AND TWO AT 20 MPH. THEN WENT OUT. INSPECTION OF OIL LEVEL SHOWED LEVEL APPROXIMATELY ONE CENTIMETER ABOVE LOW LEVEL MARKER ON DIPSTICK. ADDITION OF .5 QUART US RAISES LEVEL TO APPROXIMATELY ONE CENTIMETER BELOW FULL LEVEL MARKER ON DIPSTICK. VEHICLE RETURNED TO DEALERSHIP; HAD FULL OIL SERVICE PERFORMED 2,500 MILES AHEAD OF SCHEDULED SERVICE. DEALERSHIP CLAIMS "SENSOR RESISTANCE IS HIGH, WILL R&R." DEALER FAILED TO PROVIDE EMPIRICAL OIL PRESSURE PSI READING DESPITE REQUEST. PART REPLACEMENT YET TO BE DONE. *TR

NHTSA ODI 10611107