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What 915 owners told NHTSA about the 2017 Subaru Outback

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 (915)Crash / fire / injury (37)Electrical system (391)Visibility & wipers (233)Transmission & drivetrain (46)Engine (43)Speed control (28)Body & structure (26)Brakes (24)Driver assistance (23)Steering (23)Airbags (16)

3 of 915 complaints match · Visibility & wipers · crash/fire/injury only · clear filters

Sep 27, 2020Visibility & wipersCrash

THE WINDSHIELD CRACKED AFTER A COLLISION TO A DEAR. THE CRACK HAS BEEN PROGRESSIVELY GETTING WORSE

NHTSA ODI 11361422

Apr 24, 2019AirbagsSeat beltsVisibility & wipersCrash

I HIT A LARGE DEER ON IH 10 AT 75 MPH. ALL AIRBAGS DEPLOYED SAFELY BUT CONPLETELY BLOCKED MY VISION AND PREVENTED ME FROM EXITING THE VEHICLE AS THE BAGS BLOCKED DOOR HANDLES, WINDOW CONTROL SWITCHES AND MY SEAT BELT RELEASE. ANOTHER MOTORIST CUT AIR BAG STRIPS AND HELPED ME TO EXIT THE CAR. FORTUNATELY, NO FIRE.

NHTSA ODI 11203480

Jun 22, 2018Visibility & wipers1 injury

> THE AUTO IN THIS COMPLAINT IS EQUIPPED WITH SUBARU'S "EYESIGHT" DRIVER ASSIST TECHNOLOGY. > JUNE 18, 2018 - DRIVING ON DIVIDED INTERSTATE HIGHWAY, THERE WAS A VERY LOUD "BANG," - THE NEW REPLACEMENT WINDSHIELD CRACKED AND INSTANTLY THE CRACK EXTENDED 2/3 OF THE WAY ACROSS THE FULL WIDTH OF THE WINDSHIELD. AFTER PULLING OVER TO THE SIDE OF THE HIGHWAY AND TAKING A LOOK AT THE WINDSHIELD TO DETERMINE WHAT CAUSED THE CRACK, I SADLY DISCOVERED THAT ONE SECTION OF THE OUTSIDE GLASS HAD SEPARATED FROM PLASTIC BEHIND IT TO THE DEGREE, THAT WHEN RANNING MY HAND AGAINST THE OUTSIDE GLASS SURFACE, IT CUT MY HAND. THE SEPARATION WAS ENOUGH THAT I QUESTIONED WHETHER IT WAS SAFE TO CONTINUE TO DRIVE THE CAR. I DID DRIVE THE CAR HOME. THE NEXT DAY I TOOK THE CAR TO MY DEALERSHIP'S SERVICE DEPT. - THEY POINTED TO A MINUTE NICK ON THE VERY BOTTOM OF THE WINDSHIELD, SO SMALL THAT I DID NOT SEE IT UNTIL IT WAS POINTED OUT TO ME, AS THE "OUTSIDE SOURCE" CAUSING THE CRACK. I DON'T BUY WHAT THEY ARE SAYING. I BELIEVE THE THE GLASS IS SO FRAGILE THAT IT SIMPLY CRACKS FROM STRESS FROM NORMAL DRIVING MOVEMENT OF THE AUTO. AND THAT THE FRAGILE GLASS BEGINS TO SEPARATE FROM THE PLASTIC SECURELY HOLDING IT IN PLACE. > MY COMPLAINT IS THIS: 1) THIS PARTICULAR SUBARU MODEL HAS A RECORD OF "CRACKED WINDSHIELD" COMPLAINTS. BASED ON MY LAST EXPERIENCE WITH A CRACKED WINDSHIELD, THE GLASS IS NOT STRONG ENOUGH TO WITHSTAND NORMAL CAR IMPOSSED STRESS WHILE DRIVING .... AND, THE SUBSEQUENT SEPARATION BETWEEN THE GLASS AND THE PLASTIC BEHIND THE GLASS HOLDING IT IN PLACE IS LARGE ENOUGH THAT IT CONSTITUTES A DRIVER SAFETY HAZARD. WORTHY OF YOUR INVESTIGATION. NOTE - A PHOTO CANNOT ADEQUATELY SHOW THE SEPARATION.

NHTSA ODI 11103462

Working with the data? Download all 915 complaints as CSV · fetched from NHTSA July 7, 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 2017 Subaru Outback verdict →