What 505 owners told NHTSA about the 2015 Subaru Outback Wilderness

The contact owns a 2015 Subaru Outback. The contact stated that while driving 67 MPH with the cruise control activated, the vehicle suddenly decelerated to approximately 25-30 MPH while depressing the brake pedal. The contact stated that the vehicle stalled. After pulling over to the side of the roadway, the contact was able to restart the vehicle and drove to the residence. The vehicle was taken to the dealer however, the cause of the failure could not be determined. The contact's wife stated that the failure had occurred a year prior while driving approximately 55 MPH. The failure only lasted for several seconds. The vehicle had not been diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 80,700.

NHTSA ODI 11528332

The issue below has occurred previously and was addressed by a completed recall "EPB Reprogramming" - WTB63. However, issue has reappeared. Issue: The parking brake engages without engaging parking brake switch while parked and also blinks a red warning while driving. We had an issue a few days ago where brake engaged by itself in parking lot (even though parking brake light never came on). I managed to get the car out of park by turning the car on and off several times and also pressing parking brake switch. The car is scheduled for Subaru service on 5 June, they will be able to do more diagnostics after reading error codes. The dealer told me that parking brake should not engage while driving which is my main concern...but I'm also concerned about possibility of being stranded somewhere because I cannot turn off the parking brake.

NHTSA ODI 11524016

Wheel Lug bolts continue to snap off. Have had 5 so far and this could effect the ability of the wheel to stay attached to the vehicle. I have several friends with the same vehicle (different years) that have had the same issue multiple times. In 50 years of vehicle ownership have never had this happen once, let alone 5 times.

NHTSA ODI 11522605

CONSTANT CHECK ENGINE, NO ADAS FUNCTIONS AND MULTIPLE CODES AND HUD INDICATORS INCLUDING CKENGNE, XMODE FLASHING, ADAS DISABLE AND MAJOR ELECRTICAL PARASITIC DRAW AND TRANSMISSION AND OVERHEATING. I believe the past major leg relay was replaced during first recall, it was not performed correctly and tied into accesssorry aux into same wiring. defrost/ ac failure and clutch hums upon shutting down

NHTSA ODI 11518655

The child safety lock on the passenger side will not disengage. Our child is old enough now to operate the door safely but she cannot open the door from the inside. I feel that this is a great safety concern and the dealer should take care of the cost. When we asked if it could be fixed the dealer expressed that it would be on us for all charges. This is a manufacturer defect and should be rectified immediately. Thank you.

NHTSA ODI 11517034

The battery has been in need of replacement at least every year if not twice a year since purchase. This has led to issues with the rear hatch and other fuses being blown.

NHTSA ODI 11516097

The contact owns a 2015 Subaru Outback. The contact stated while driving 60 MPH and activating the windshield washer on intermittent mode, he noticed that the windshield was significantly dry as the washer mechanism was not supplying fluid to the windshield at the nozzle. The contact stated that as the failure impaired his visibility of the road, he veered to the side of the road. Upon investigating the failure, the contact discovered a puddle of fluid underneath the driver’s side fender of the vehicle and concluded there was a leak of windshield washer fluid through the windshield washer tubing. The contact manually cleaned the windshield and drove to his residence, where he noticed that the windshield washer tubing was fractured about 6 inches from the point at which it entered the cowl housing located at the base of the windshield. The dealer and the manufacturer were not notified of the failure. The vehicle was not diagnosed nor repaired. The failure mileage was approximately 95,000.

NHTSA ODI 11516031

Oil consumption issues. The oil is burning more then it should. Oil light would come after 2 to 3 more after an oil change. The dealership has been notified and is working on ordering new parts for the engine. Replacing the small block of the engine. Had less the 100k miles when this problem accured. Electrical issues. The battery is being drained after the car is turned off. Car would not start in the morning and need to be jumped. Additionally, battery eventually dies and needs to be replaced. Dealership has been notified.

NHTSA ODI 11512993

On my drive in to work this morning, the sunroof on my outback shattered with a loud bang. Fortunately the inside sun shade was closed, otherwise I would have been showered with glass while driving 50mph on the expressway. How does this happen? There were no trees overhead, no cars or trucks near me, the temperature was not especially hot or cold. And, I would think the glass would have a film or something that would hold the pieces together in the unlikely event that it would break!

NHTSA ODI 11511045

The horn in my car quit working about a month ago. I have checked the fuses and relay involved in the horn fiction. I have also tested the horns themselves and they are working. All signs point to the clock spring in the steering column being bad.

NHTSA ODI 11509178

Around 8 am on 1/4/2022, driving the car on I85 in Durham County, NC, at a normal highway speed, the sunroof glass shattered suddenly and without warning. The sunroof was fully closed at the time, but the inside cover was open. Shards of glass were sprayed within the cabin. This was a dangerous distraction to the driver, and could have been much more serious if he had gotten glass in his eyes from looking up to see what had happened. There was no apparent impact to the sunroof glass from a rock or other object outside the car, and the sunroof was not being opened or closed at the time. We contacted Subaru of America and our local dealer. The car is no longer under warranty, and Subaru refused to cover the cost of repair (though I see online we are not the only ones to have this problem). The local dealer could not perform the repair for another week, so we bought a new sunroof glass and installed it ourselves. There was no apparent damage to the surrounding metal frame or roof. The car and shattered sunroof were not examined by anyone else. I have the damaged sunroof, but was planning to discard it. I am attaching an email we received from Subaru of America, along with photos of the sunroof.

NHTSA ODI 11500628

My sunroof exploded. Sounded like a gunshot. On the highway, 12/12 1pm. 50+- degrees partly sunny day.

NHTSA ODI 11497130

while attempting to come to a complete stop, depressing the brakes, the vehicle continued to accelerate even though the brake was depressed to the floor. At no time was the driver's foot on the accelerator. This is one of 2 incidents with the vehicle.

NHTSA ODI 11496422

I am on my 3rd battery since May 2015 when the Outback was purchased in El Cajon, California. There have been multiple instances when I prepare to venture out and am unable to as the result of a dead battery. In every instance there was not an obvious instigating factor such as a light inadvertently left on. This situation is extremely disruptive resulting in my belief that I have an unreliable vehicle that has caused me to miss appointments and meetings. There is also a significant monetary loss in that this is a known and well- publicized issue that will render me unable to recoup market value upon sale of the vehicle. '

NHTSA ODI 11492726

While driving on 55mph road, sunroof suddenly shattered for no apparent reason (no sudden impact from rock or other debris), producing a loud bang, startling driver. Driver momentarily swerved due to being startled by noise from next to head before correcting. No other cars were around on the road at the time and driver is sure no rocks or other objects fell onto sunroof (covered by rooftop cargo box, no trees near street to drop debris). Pieces of glass went upwards and ended up on roof of vehicle.

NHTSA ODI 11490479

I have had to replace battery sooner than it should have. Also, it seems to be causing an electrical issue with the computer board where all the dashboard warnings are blanking. I have been disconnecting the battery and reconnecting to reset the computer board.

NHTSA ODI 11489815

1st time battery died when car was not in use at least for three days, back in Jan 2022. was replaced. on 10/11/22, after the car was not in use for 4 days, 8 month old battery was died, had to replace, again. Recently received a Subaru Battery settlement letter of a design defect that cuase battery drain.

NHTSA ODI 11489640

Intermittant engine acceleration or engine surge while braking at very low speeds.

NHTSA ODI 11487349

I am reporting this deficiency as it is related to: Subaru Battery Drain Products Liability Litigation, No. 1:20-cv-03095-JHR-MJS Deficiency: Battery will discharge to an unusable degree within a relatively short amount of time (10 to 20 min.) when any power is used (radio, cabin lights) while engine is off. This has happened 4 times since my purchase of my new 2015 Subaru Outback. I now carry an emergency battery jump starter power unit so as to not be stranded. As the amount of power used is so small there is no warning from the car's system that the discharge is causing such a power drain as to make starting the car not possible. Although I have been contacted by the above class action suit sponsors I am mostly interested in Subaru fixing the electrical system from this obvious deficiency.

NHTSA ODI 11486438

On multiple occasions I have had the tailgate open and the light has drained the battery to the point that it needs a jump start or a battery charging to get it to start back up. On one occasion the tailgate was only left open for 30 minutes and the car would not start due to the battery being drained from it. The battery is in perfect condition as it would start fine any other time.

NHTSA ODI 11486285

The car experienced sudden reverse acceleration when the gear was switched to reverse. I had to floor the brake pedal to have the car stop. I was fortunate behind me was enough of grassy area for the car to stop. Yes, I am sure I wasn't pushing gas because eventually after hard pressing the brakes the car stopped. Afterwards I tried pushing both and it was impossible to push both hard as the foot slips off the brake pedal.

NHTSA ODI 11485718

Entering a residential garage to park; experienced sudden acceleration while braking. Vehicle went through drywall/wall about 2 feet. Placed vehicle in park to stop vehicle. No airbags went off. Driving vehicle to repair shop later; experienced same rapid unexpected acceleration with different driver. No issue with floor mats. OEM mats. Service center cannot provide any insight or reproduction of event.

NHTSA ODI 11483793

Failure on multiple lug nuts due to rust and corroding bolts. The vehicle is mostly garaged, and exposed to the elements only when driven. For a < 68000 mile vehicle, this type of failure is on the higher side. Additionally, the lug nuts break when trying to open using company specific torque. The repair facilities advise me that it is a known Subaru issue. This is a safety hazard in that, if I am stranded due to a flat tire, I will not be able to change my tire.

NHTSA ODI 11480497

The electronic parking brake disengages on it's own after being set. After putting the vehicle in park and pulling on the EPB switch, the light comes on for a short time, then turns off. Attempting to re-engage it results in the same thing, it comes on briefly then disengages without being touched.

NHTSA ODI 11480004

Replaced 2 new batteries in 6 months. Batteries went totally dead. Batteries wer replaced by independent shop. Dealer changed battery to a subaru oem battery, checked system, said everything ok. Read about complaints about subaru batteries going dead months apart. Want to find out if there is a defect in subarus.

NHTSA ODI 11479335