2020 Subaru Outback

Automatic Braking system has almost caused a rear-end collision 5 times, because it thinks a shadow is an object. We’ve brought the car to the dealership but they told us twice that they can’t replicate the problem. That doesn’t change the issue. I don’t want to wait until we have a collision and have to go through physical therapy and repairs to address this. Front headlights are blinding other drivers causing them to flash their brights at us regularly on the freeway and local roads which then blinds us and causing us to slow down and break. The dealership say that the lights can be adjusted but this is a serious risk to us and something that happens every night. It’s stressful to drive the car anticipating this all the time. We’ve replace the starter last year and having issues again. The car struggles to start. Last year they said this was a known issue and also replaced the battery. But it’s happening again. This indicates a more complicated issue in the electrical. I don’t want to have to replace the starter every year.

On Dec. 20, 2022, my Outback totally stopped working while sitting at a red light, causing traffic to be forced to maneuver around my car. A kind policeman put out flares until the tow truck arrived. I could not shift into park, nothing electric would work, except the radio continued to play and the flashers worked until it all died. I could not turn the radio off and the seat would not adjust. The electronic screen flashed on and off until it went totally black, after about an hour. This vehicle only has about 21,000 miles on it and was under warranty until 3 weeks prior to the incident. Every time I took it to the dealership, I explained that the electronics had glitches. They always said it was fixed but it never was right. The TomTom navigation system was totally unreliable from day one; the screen went blank and the radio would not work at all, as well as all the screen functions, without warning. The screen would read out that I should keep my hands on the wheel, although both hands were on the wheel. Over and over it had problems which were not resolved.

Headlights do not have a true low beam. When low beam is selected it partially blocks the top of the high beam. OK if on a dead flat road. On one that undulates at all at some point cars coming the other way are blinded by the full brightness of the headlight. Often because of this oncoming cars are flashing their high beams at me thinking that I haven't dimmed mine. If a driver is blinded by the high beam brightness it could cause an accident. Or it could cause a road rage incident by someone offended by my high beam. In my state the Police have fined drivers for not dimming their lights. Selecting low beam creates a very obvious horizontal cut off of the high beam. But a bounce or by meeting another vehicle while I going up a grade will shine the full high beam in their face.

my subaru has 12,ooo miles on it and in the past week has died on me. When you try to start the car and depress the brake, the brake locks and you cannot push it anymore, in addition, the battery does not turn over. On the first occasion, we tried to jump start the car but the battery read as normal activity and the car would not start after that. The car just started up for no apparent reason the following day. thankfully we were at home when this happened and we have a 2nd car. The second time, same thing with the brake when we tried to start car and no turnover with the battery but and the car still will not start on the following day but this time it looks like the battery has died. Taking it in to Subaru dealership where supposedly the have never heard of these problems before!

The TomTom navigation system quits unexpectedly while driving and if the Adaptive Cruise Control is on it will stop working and the car will begin to slow down. The computer screen will go black and then a message will come on saying the Navigation System is starting. The system will then reboot. This has been reported to Subaru and Subaru tried to replicate the problem at the dealership, but they were unsuccessful. Subaru Corporate has acknowledged the problem, but offers no solution. Safety was impacted because you suddenly start to slow down and any car following you may not know you are slowing down because the brake lights do not come on.

1.) Headlights. They are extremely bright to oncoming traffic and oncoming traffic is always flashing or beaming you with their high beams as they think your brights are on when they are not. This is dangerous. Also LED lights do not put off enough heat and the headlamp body itself freezes over in cold rain or snowy conditions severely reducing your ability to see during low light situations. Wipers. The windshield wipers do not last. They should be silicone and they are rubber which is terrible for longevity.

IN THE FIRST YEAR OF OWNERSHIP OF MY 2020 SUBARU OUTBACK, I HAVE EXPERIENCED MANY GLITCHES IN THE OPERATION OF THE ELECTRONICA SAFETY DEVICES. THE LATEST HAS BEEN RETURNING TO THE CAR AND FINDING THE BATTERY FULLY DISCHARGED DESPITE NOTHING BEING LEFT IN THE “ON POSITION“. YESTERDAY, AFTER FULLY CHARGING THE BATTERY, FOUR HOURS LATER THE BATTERY WAS FOUND TO BE FULLY DRAINED. I BOOSTED THE CAR AND BEGAN TO DRIVE IT WHEN AT THE FIRST TRAFFIC LIGHT THE AUTO-START-STOP FEATURE SHUT THE CAR OFF AND I COULD NOT RE-START IN THE MIDDLE OF AN INTERSECTION.

HEADLIGHTS ARE AIMED TOO HIGH - THEY ARE SIMILAR TO HIGH BEAMS ON OTHER CARS. WHENEVER I AM DRIVING AT NIGHT - ESPECIALLY WHEN OUTSIDE THE CITY, ALMOST EVERY CAR PASSING ME FLASHES BRIGHT LIGHT BECAUSE THEY THINK I HAVE MY HIGH BEAMS ON. THEY ARE POINTED TOO HIGH OFF THE GROUND AND CAUSE GLARE FOR OTHER DRIVERS (WHICH I ALSO EXPERIENCED WHEN MY WIFE WAS FOLLOWING ME IN THE SUBARU WHILE I DROVE OUR OTHER CAR. IT IS REALLY OBNOXIOUS AND DOES NOT SEEM SAFE TO OTHER VEHICLES ON THE ROAD. DEALERSHIP SAID THERE WAS NOTHING WRONG AND THERE IS NO WAY TO ADJUST LIGHTS TO POINT DOWN TOWARDS THE ROAD.