Home · 2014 Subaru Outback Wilderness · Complaints

What 208 owners told NHTSA about the 2014 Subaru Outback Wilderness

These are the actual owner complaints behind this car’s reliability verdict, filed with the federal government, unedited. They’re unverified reports, not confirmed defects: read them as leads for your pre-purchase inspection, not a diagnosis.

All (208)Crash / fire / injury (18)Airbags (38)Engine (35)Electrical system (32)Transmission & drivetrain (25)Brakes (22)Steering (17)Speed control (14)Fuel system (13)Body & structure (11)Visibility & wipers (10)

4 of 208 complaints match · Speed control · crash/fire/injury only · clear filters

Aug 27, 2022Speed controlBrakesCrash

I was driving home on a road I drive on regularly at 40 mph. The car unexpectedly accelerated to a high rate of speed causing me to go off the road. I was unable to stop. The brake pedal went to the floor. The car went airborne, just missing a huge tree. It slammed into the ground & continued on to crash into 3 cars & someone’s garage! The car continued to rev & was bouncing back & forth between the 2 vehicles in the garage. The engine continued to rev after I got out. The homeowner shut it off. He said my brake lights were flashing on and off on the dash. The air bags never deployed. I have a witness. I wasn’t able to do anything!! I’ve since learned there’s a class action lawsuit against Subaru for this problem. Please do something about this. I could be dead, that homeowner that was in his garage could be dead right now. All I want is for people to be aware of this & for Subaru to get held accountable. It’s not right that they are aware of this and doing nothing about it!!

NHTSA ODI 11481494

Jul 2, 2017AirbagsSpeed controlCrash

WE HAVE HAD THREE ACCIDENTS INVOLVING THE SAME THING. YOU CAN'T SEEM TO SLOW THE CAR DOWN ENOUGH TO STOP IT. TWO OF THE TIMES, WE HAVE PULLED INTO A PARKING PLACE,GOING AT A LOW SPEED,AND WHEN YOU STEP ON THE BRAKE,THE CAR ACCELERATES AND JUMPS FORWARD INSTEAD OF STOPPING. ALSO THE AIR BAGS DOESN'T COME ON.

NHTSA ODI 11002734

Jul 11, 2016Transmission & drivetrainSpeed controlFuel systemCrash

PULLING CAR INTO PARKING SPACE AT SLOW SPEED WHEN CAR, WITHOUT DRIVER INPUT, SUDDENLY ACCELERATED. HEAVY PRESSURE ON BRAKES, DRIVER FELT THE ABS CYCLING, DID NT STOP VEHICLE. FINALLY, AFTER COLLIDING WITH A PARKED CAR, NOSE TO NOSE AND PUSHING OTHER CAR OUT OF ITS PARKING SPOT, DRIVER WAS ABLE TO STOP THE CAR MY MOVING TRANSMISSION GEAR SELECTOR TO PARK

NHTSA ODI 10884119

Mar 8, 2015Body & structureSpeed controlElectronic Stability Control (esc)Crash

I WAS PULLING UP TO PARK BEHIND A TOYOTA PRIUS ON A ROAD THAT WAS PARTIALLY COVERED WITH SNOW & ICE. THE WHEELS ON THE RIGHT SIDE OF THE VEHICLE WERE ON SNOW & ICE AND THE WHEELS ON THE DRIVER'S SIDE OF THE CAR WERE ON DRY ROADWAY. I WAS DRIVING SLOWLY TO PARK WHEN THE CAR SUDDENLY ACCELERATED INTO THE REAR BUMPER OF THE TOYOTA PRIUS. THE ENGINE WAS RACING WILDLY AND MY ATTEMPT TO BRAKE WERE INEFFECTIVE. THERE WAS DAMAGE TO THE REAR TRUNK & BUMPER OF THE PRIUS AND DAMAGE TO THE FRONT OF THE SUBARU. I SUSPECT THAT THE SUBARU TRACTION/SPEED/STABILITY/ELECTRONIC THROTTLE CONTROLS HAD MALFUNCTIONED. *TR

NHTSA ODI 10692840

Working with the data? Download all 208 complaints as CSV · fetched from NHTSA July 19, 2026

How to use these: a complaint is one owner’s report, filed voluntarily and published unverified. Patterns matter more than any single story. If several owners describe the same failure at similar mileage, put that system at the top of your pre-purchase inspection list. Back to the full 2014 Subaru Outback Wilderness verdict →