What 41 owners told NHTSA about the 2025 Subaru Crosstrek

I am reporting a possible power train/drivetrain issue with a 2025 Subaru Crosstrek Wilderness. At steady highway speeds, most noticeably around 72–76 mph under light accelerator load, the vehicle produces a persistent high-frequency ringing/whining tone throughout the cabin. The noise stops when I lift off the accelerator and rarely occurs when traveling downhill, which suggests it may be related to drivetrain load rather than ordinary wind, road, or tire noise. The suspected component or system is UNKNOWN, but based on the operating conditions it may involve the CVT, differential, or related drivetrain/power train components. The vehicle is available for inspection upon request. The issue has been reproduced and confirmed by a Subaru dealer. The vehicle was previously inspected by the dealer, and the rear differential was replaced during an attempted repair, but the noise persisted. The vehicle was returned for additional diagnosis, and dealership personnel confirmed the same noise. The manufacturer later stated that the condition was considered a normal characteristic after comparison with another like-model Crosstrek Wilderness, but no specific root cause or technical explanation was provided. My safety concern is that a persistent, load-dependent drivetrain noise at highway speeds could indicate abnormal wear, resonance, or mechanical instability in the CVT, differential, or related power train components. If the condition reflects an unresolved defect, it could potentially lead to premature drivetrain failure or loss of power while driving at highway speeds. There have been no warning lamps or dashboard messages associated with the condition. The issue first appeared while the vehicle was still very new and under factory warranty, and it remains unresolved.

NHTSA ODI 11749212

The contact owns a 2025 Subaru Crosstrek. The contact stated that while driving approximately 50 MPH with his wife inside the vehicle, the contact experienced a medical emergency and blacked out, causing the vehicle to accelerate to approximately 70 MPH. The vehicle crashed into a culvert pipe in a ditch and launched into the air, landing front-first before landing on all four wheels in a patch of grass. The air bags did not deploy, and the driver's side seat belt unlatched, causing the contact to hit the windshield head-first. The contact sustained a blunt force forehead injury, eyebrow cuts, right knee cuts, and small cuts on the left arm. The contact’s wife sustained a fractured back (T4) and injuries across the shoulder and abdomen from the seat belt. Medical attention was needed, and the contact and wife were transported to the hospital. The vehicle was towed to a tow yard and had not been diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 10,000.

NHTSA ODI 11745558

Suddenly lost power steering, almost impossible to steer car to shoulder lane and stop. the car was taken to Fitzgerald Subaru, where technician found fault code C2532. Failure in Steering Gearbox assembly. Per Subaru techline case 260518-1300094. Advised to replace assembly. Parts used/replaced: 34110FN03A Need 023212010 x 2 051030300 x2 2 of 023212010. Nut castle 2 of 051030300. Cotter pin 2 of 44616AA291 Gasket - exhau

NHTSA ODI 11744713

The Sirius XM advertisement creates an unsafe experience. The only way to safe way close it requires the driver to pull over to touch the “X”, or to risk taking eyes off the road in order to use the interface, including the climate control.

NHTSA ODI 11741717

Sirius XM radio pop up advertisement disables the touch screen and features until the little red x button is hit in the top right corner away from the driver.

NHTSA ODI 11741737

The EyeSight system always pulls the car toward highway exits when you’re driving on the right lane of a highway. You have to fight the steering to keep the car centered in the lane.

NHTSA ODI 11741751

Subaru’s infotainment system and GPS system has advertising pop ups which cover the map while driving. This has happened multiple times and it is incredibly distracting and dangerous. There is no way to opt out.

NHTSA ODI 11739448

I was driving on a Texas highway on May 2 at the speed limit of 75 mph with the car on cruise control. It was a sunny day and traffic was light. Suddenly, without warning, or apparent cause the car went into a hard brake and the collision avoidance signals were beeping and flashing. The car behind me had to hard brake to avoid collision. I pulled over to the shoulder but as soon as I put my foot on the brake the flashing and beeping stopped. I eased back onto the highway but as soon as I got up some speed, the same thing happened again. I thought it might be related to the cruise control so I turned off the cruise control and it stopped. I drove the rest of the way without cruise control and there were no further incidents. I took the car to dealer. The service department ran diagnostics and test drove it but said they could not duplicate the problem. They said the car was operating "normally." I called Customer Advocacy at Subaru and spoke to woman on a recorded line. She clearly stated that sometimes the EyeSight feature can cause the car to "think there's something in front of you" and activate the collision avoidance hard braking. She claimed this was "normal." Still Subaru refused to do anything about it or buy back my car for more than trade-in value. I got the car from the dealer on May 18. On May 21, I discovered a class action lawsuit (Hall et. al. v. Subaru of America, Inc.) had been filed against Subaru on May 11, for the very same problem. The lawsuit covers most recent Subaru models including mine. I also discovered that "phantom braking" is a frequent complaint here and that Subaru settled a previous class action lawsuit for older models in Nov. 2025 . NHTSA needs to force a recall and warn consumers of this very dangerous defect. I would be surprised if it hasn't resulted in serious injury or death.

NHTSA ODI 11739643

When driving under windy conditions and/or at highway speeds (55mph+), the side mirror vibrate excessively. This causes blurring and obscuring of images in the mirror, sometimes to the point where you cannot see anything clearly. This thankfully has not cause any accidents for me, but I have heard many other owners have the same problem. I have heard owners claim Subaru is aware of this problem and their repair is subpar

NHTSA ODI 11738991

my sunroof exploded. I was on the highway, no trucks around to shed debris, when I heard a pop and then the sound of glass breaking. I was near my home so I got there and then inspected the sunroof. The glass was pushed upward at the center of the sunroof. No rocks inside the interior of the sunroof. This sunroof had only been opened once, when checking operation at the dealership. This car was new and I have had it less than a month. The milage is less than 500 miles.

NHTSA ODI 11734289

See attached document for complaint.

NHTSA ODI 11731609

On two occasions, the vehicle has activated the forward collision warning although there was no nearby vehicle or obstruction. The date of incident is not precise.

NHTSA ODI 11724288

This a second report following a visit to the dealer for system check. At that service, we were advised that no issues were identified, we were told that sunlight could cause the Subaru “EyeSight” system to disengage. Today, 25 February, the vehicle EyeSight system continues to disable and enable itself seemingly at random. This morning, we travelled on well marked roadways with overcast skies (no sunlight to cause problems). The system repeatedly disabled and enabled itself. In addition, on a street with vehicles parallel parked along the curb, the vehicle reported an obstacle and began braking for no apparent reason. This has been reported to the dealer. We are awaiting a response. It does seem as if there are some faults within the EyeSight system.

NHTSA ODI 11720394

Vehicle lane keeping assistance switches itself off and on while driving. After first occurrence, dealer response was that such behavior is not unusual when sun is in front of the vehicle. Second occurred while driving with sun behind the vehicle and on either side of vehicle. This has been reported to dealer but there has been no response.

NHTSA ODI 11719893

To Whom It May Concern; Again having ongoing issues and problems with my 2025 crosstrek.  Just got it back from the dealership after it being there for over 3 weeks.  I was returned to me with a nail in the tire. And they even lost my keys at the dealership. I've had my car back not even 24 hours and have 2 maintenance sensors come on. And the driver asst is only working one one side. Of course I contact the Subaru dealership - only to get dumped into a voicemail that doesn't get checked.  I'm yet to hear from anyone from Subaru.  Most likely won't.  At this time it seems like the only way to get anything resolved is to seek legal action.  That's sad because it really shouldn't have to come to that. Starting to wonder honestly if anyone actually works or does their job at Subaru. (or at least there job title on the person's business card) This has really gotten so ugly and out of hand all because Subaru "REFUSES" to follow up and "REFUSES" to follow through.Such an easy fix, Subaru have a service department. just fix my car. Geezzz - I know the mechanics have got to be certified.Just seems to be a never ending laundry list of maintenance issues with this vehicle. Clearly it's a lemon.  It's a 2025 model - just swap it out already!  This is utterly ridiculous! I can no longer make payments on [XXX]   So I guess Subaru wont be getting my money for my lease on a car that seldomly works. Guess that's one way of getting out of payments.  So that better not be getting my credit dinged because of this mess either.I am literally counting the days down to turn this hunk of junk back to Subaru.  This has been the ultimate WORST experience of my entire life!  And your dealership refuses to do anything about it at all!  I even have multiple cases open with Subaru of America - they to REFUSE to do anything to address my issues at all.  Never following up on phone calls or emails.  I can't believe they're still in business!!! [XXX] INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

NHTSA ODI 11718546

I noticed that when I am driving on the freeway/highway for extended periods of time (30+ minutes) the wheel will start locking up. It stiffens enough that I have to force the wheel in a different direction. When it occurs there is no warning lights or messages from the car, it just suddenly stiffens. Other than driving on the freeway for 30+ minutes there does not seem to be any particular trigger for it to happen. This is a 2025 subaru crosstrek sport with 14,000 miles that we bought new. I noticed the first instance of it maybe a month into having the car.

NHTSA ODI 11717698

Automatic Emergency Braking engaged unnecessarily. It was triggered by a plastic trash bag being blown in front of the vehicle. I was driving about 70 mph and was fortunate to avoid being rear-ended by another vehicle.

NHTSA ODI 11707619

The infotainment system periodically displays full-screen advertisements for SiriusXM during car operation, interrupting navigation and all other functions that occur on the infotainment system. This was a free trial service that I did not sign up for and has caused my safety to be at risk by interrupting my navigation system at a crucial junction where many navigation instructions needed to be followed one after another, causing my ability to successfully navigate the correct direction to my destination to be interrupted and nearly resulting in an accident with other drivers. This is something that other Subaru owners have also experienced, and there are no warnings or messages prior to the advertisement appearing on the screen. This is absolutely unacceptable and ridiculous that unwanted advertisements can be pushed to the car while it is in motion and during navigation.

NHTSA ODI 11706106

Right blind spot detection does not work 96% of the time. Almost caused two collisions. Dealership said it either works or it doesn't, no in between. Since it works 4% of the time, they are not going to replace it or figure out what is wrong.

NHTSA ODI 11705768

I got a pop-up message while attempting to back up using my rear backup camera that almost caused an accident. This blocked view of the camera and locked up the entire infotainment system until I could clear it. The pop up was: "Enjoy SiriusXM FREE thru 12/1." This kind of distraction while operating a vehicle that weighs almost a ton while the vehicle is in motion is dangerous and irresponsible. This advertisement disables and interferes with safety features on this vehicle.

NHTSA ODI 11703064

Sirius XM advertizing obscures the entire screen making car data and navigation unavailable unless a driver takes their eyes of the road to press a tiny X on a corner. There are some offers when I bought the care where I had to shut the car off to get the ad to disappear. I do not want to have driver distraction from Ads that could lead to an accident or have me pull over in traffic to shut off. Please ask them to stop this behavior

NHTSA ODI 11703109

The contact owns a 2025 Subaru Crosstrek. The contact stated that while driving 65 MPH, an advertisement for a product that the contact had never purchased suddenly took over the infotainment system, which required the driver to interact with the infotainment screen and to return the screen to normal functionality. The contact was concerned that the issue was a distraction for the driver and was temporarily preventing access to the infotainment system safety features. Upon investigation, the contact learned that the manufacturer had enabled product advertisement on the infotainment screen of the vehicle while driving. The dealer and the manufacturer were not notified of the failure. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The failure mileage was approximately 11,000.

NHTSA ODI 11702672

Advertisement pops up for Siri’s radio while driving. Distracts from navigation and other primary functions

NHTSA ODI 11701125

Infotainment screen pops up ads at random times, whether I'm parked or actively driving. This distraction causes me to look away from the road and figure out how to close it so I can get my GPS back. It is always SiriusXM ads, which I did not agree to be enrolled into and have since cancelled. There is no way to turn off or disable these distractions. They happen roughly once every couple of months.

NHTSA ODI 11701139

Pop up ads for SiriusXM while driving are a dangerous distraction. They pop up with a sound from the speakers, making me think somethings wrong with my car and distracting me from the road. It also doesn't close by itself.

NHTSA ODI 11701171