Thermo control valve failure. Would not cover it
2021 Subaru Outback
Owner reports · Recalls · Investigations
Similar to other model years
Owner complaints for the 2021 Subaru Outback do not stand out strongly from the model-year median of 207.5.
About this comparison →How this year compares
Owner complaints by model year
Compare all Outback years →Counts vary with age, sales and reporting. They are not failure rates.
What owners reported most
All reported categories
Tap a category to read its complaints. One report may name several components.
When problems were reported
Mileage at the reported incident
Limited mileage data: 61 of 296 reports include usable mileage. There isn’t enough coverage to show a useful chart.
NHTSA’s mileage field refers to the reported incident, not necessarily the filing date. This shows report counts, not the likelihood of a failure.
What to inspect
Issues worth paying extra attention to based on owner reports.
- Visibility/wiper. Review the 97 owner reports in this category and discuss these concerns during a pre-purchase inspection. Read reports →
- Electrical System. Review the 75 owner reports in this category and discuss these concerns during a pre-purchase inspection. Read reports →
- Forward Collision Avoidance. Review the 29 owner reports in this category and discuss these concerns during a pre-purchase inspection. Read reports →
NHTSA owner reports · September 18, 2026 snapshot.
What owners actually said
296 reportsSince owning this vehicle, we have replaced the windshield at least once a year. The first due to a 1/16th inch chip that evolved into a 10 inch crack over the course of a day. The second was a crack from driver side pillar that appeared overnight, no chips prior. Third was a 8" crack from passenger pillar that appeared overn…
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Since owning this vehicle, we have replaced the windshield at least once a year. The first due to a 1/16th inch chip that evolved into a 10 inch crack over the course of a day. The second was a crack from driver side pillar that appeared overnight, no chips prior. Third was a 8" crack from passenger pillar that appeared overnight while garage parked, after a day, it grew to reach the center of the windshield. I think it's unacceptable that windshields can just crack overnight less than a year after install. It's beyond concerning knowing that our windshield could crack at anytime, or that superficial chips must be taken care of IMMEDIATELY or we run the risk of replacing the entire windshield.
Battery keeps draining if car isn't driven for a few days battery is drained to point of it being dead, cannot get into car, will not start, leaves you stranded. This is the fourth time this year, dealer checks it out tells me nothing is wrong. I have read many problems with parasitic battery drain with subaru's even that the al…
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Battery keeps draining if car isn't driven for a few days battery is drained to point of it being dead, cannot get into car, will not start, leaves you stranded. This is the fourth time this year, dealer checks it out tells me nothing is wrong. I have read many problems with parasitic battery drain with subaru's even that the alternator is programed not to fully charge the battery to save gas. getting tired of the issue to the point where I am thinking of selling the car and finding something that will not leave me stranded. This time when I checked the battery voltage it was 5.80 volts and .29 amps.
The auto restart does not work and requires a car restart to fix. The latest software update caused this is to happen.
Parasitic Draw on battery: Original battery was dead after sitting 5 days; Bought new AMG and it has also died after 4 days sitting.
ON thursday night at about [XXX] i was driving in the carpool lane going north.in the [XXX] , with full tank of gas ; suddenly i felt and here a noise, and the vehicle (2021outback base) start losing power, at the point that totally stop. call 911, and few minutes after the hway patrol came and push us out of the freeway, ther…
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ON thursday night at about [XXX] i was driving in the carpool lane going north.in the [XXX] , with full tank of gas ; suddenly i felt and here a noise, and the vehicle (2021outback base) start losing power, at the point that totally stop. call 911, and few minutes after the hway patrol came and push us out of the freeway, there was not any shoulder to be safe out. when the police officer try to turn it on the vehicle star but no power was available even when the vehicle was on.. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)
The car flashed “eye sight off” before flickering and shutting off while I was braking at a stop light. I tried putting my car into park and then turning it off and restarting it but it would not turn back on. I tried this a few more times but I was in the middle lane of a heavily trafficked street. The steering wheel was locked…
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The car flashed “eye sight off” before flickering and shutting off while I was braking at a stop light. I tried putting my car into park and then turning it off and restarting it but it would not turn back on. I tried this a few more times but I was in the middle lane of a heavily trafficked street. The steering wheel was locked and I was not able to immediately remove it from the road and maybe an hour later it was able to be shifted into neutral and moved out of the street. However, it would still not turn on and when I did open my power gate, the gate would not secure closed. I took it to the dealership that I purchased it at and where it is also regularly serviced (with the last service date only over one week ago,) and they were not able to determine what happened but instead mentioned that my car had no internal data of any errors occurring and that the car was able to be started when they serviced it. I took a picture of the dash as it was flashing with all of the error codes and submitted that to the tech that was working on my car, but they asked me if I’d had someone “clear my codes” which is not something I’m familiar with or even capable of doing- I don’t even know anyone that would be capable of doing that for me. The whole ordeal cost me a day of work and now my peace of mind as I am unsure of if this may happen again and now I am worried it may happen while my kids are in the car. I’ve had similar issues with my center console messing up but nothing as urgent as my whole car shutting down and my steering wheel locking in the middle of traffic.
Battery drains quickly and renders the car inoperable. Possibly due to Controller Area Network (CAN) not entering sleep mode when vehicle is not being used resulting in a parasitic battery drain.
Today while waiting at a stop light the auto start stop engaged. When the light went green I put my foot on the gas and the vehicle stalled. The car was on but not running, several alarms were on the dashboard. I had to put the car in park, turn it off and then restart the car. This is a repeated issue and has been going …
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Today while waiting at a stop light the auto start stop engaged. When the light went green I put my foot on the gas and the vehicle stalled. The car was on but not running, several alarms were on the dashboard. I had to put the car in park, turn it off and then restart the car. This is a repeated issue and has been going on at least once a month since we purchased the car in 2021. We've brought it to the dealer and they said there was nothing wrong because there was no OBD code. I have checked myself and I have not found any code. This is extremely unsafe
2021 Subaru Outback Limited | ~13000 miles | Component: Battery | Car suddenly stopped and ALL warning lights started flashing at a busy traffic signal, while I was waiting to take a left turn (lucky to have escaped safely from that situation). I had to turn the car off and restart it. 2 days later, the car would not start at …
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2021 Subaru Outback Limited | ~13000 miles | Component: Battery | Car suddenly stopped and ALL warning lights started flashing at a busy traffic signal, while I was waiting to take a left turn (lucky to have escaped safely from that situation). I had to turn the car off and restart it. 2 days later, the car would not start at all. Tried jumping it multiple time in vain. Had to tow the car to the nearest Subaru service center. Technician ran a diagnostic and concluded that the battery was not holding any charge at all and it was deemed faulty. Reading many posts on reddit and other forums of many Subaru owners facing the same issue from older (2015) to newer models. Many of them also complained of Parasitic drain on the battery due to faulty DCM on Starlink. Note: there was no warning lights/messages or any other symptom before this. This was a Subaru certified pre-owned car that went through a 152 point inspection in 2023.
Official recalls
424V227000 · Air Bags:sensor:occupant Classification:front Passenger
Mar 22, 2024
Subaru of America, Inc. (Subaru) is recalling certain 2020-2022 Outback and Legacy vehicles. A capacitor in the sensors for the Occupant Detection System (ODS) may crack and short circuit, which can prevent the front passenger air bag from deploying in a crash.
Consequence & remedy
Consequence: An air bag that does not deploy during a crash can increase the risk of injury.
Remedy: Dealers will replace the ODS sensors on the front passenger seat, free of charge. Owner notifications were mailed February 3, 2025. Owners may contact Subaru customer service at 1-844-373-6614. Subaru's number for this recall is WRA-24.
23V755000 · Power Train:automatic Transmission:park/neutral Start Interlock Switch
Nov 9, 2023
Subaru of America, Inc. is recalling certain model year 2021 Crosstrek, 2022 Forester, 2021-2023 Legacy, and Outback vehicles. An insufficient weld may allow water to enter the inhibitor switch, causing it to fail.
Consequence & remedy
Consequence: An inoperative inhibitor switch may prevent the reverse lights from illuminating and the rearview camera image from displaying, increasing the risk of a crash.
Remedy: Dealers will replace the inhibitor switch, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed January 8, 2024. Owners may contact Subaru customer service at 1-800-782-2783. Subaru's number for this recall is WRQ-23.
22V485000 · Power Train:automatic Transmission:control Module (tcm/pcm/tecm); Power Train:driveline:chain/belt
Jul 8, 2022
Subaru of America, Inc. (Subaru) is recalling certain 2020-2021 Outback and Legacy vehicles. A programming error in the Transmission Control Unit (TCU) may allow the clutch to engage before the drive chain is completely clamped.
Consequence & remedy
Consequence: An improperly secured drive chain may slip and break, causing a loss of drive power and increasing the risk of a crash.
Remedy: Dealers will reprogram the TCU, inspect TCU data for chain slip, and visually inspect the chain guide. If evidence of chain slippage or damage is found, the transmission will be replaced. Repairs will be performed free of charge. Owner notification letters are expected to be mailed August 24, 2022. Owners may contact Subaru's customer service at 1-844-373-6614. Subaru's number for this recall is WRK-22. This recall is an expansion of previous recall number 21V-955.
Additional source detail variants (2)
Power Train:driveline:chain/belt
Subaru of America, Inc. (Subaru) is recalling certain 2020-2021 Outback and Legacy vehicles. A programming error in the Transmission Control Unit (TCU) may allow the clutch to engage before the drive chain is completely clamped.
Consequence: An improperly secured drive chain may slip and break, causing a loss of drive power and increasing the risk of a crash.
Remedy: Dealers will reprogram the TCU, inspect TCU data for chain slip, and visually inspect the chain guide. If evidence of chain slippage or damage is found, the transmission will be replaced. Repairs will be performed free of charge. Owner notification letters are expected to be mailed August 24, 2022. Owners may contact Subaru's customer service at 1-844-373-6614. Subaru's number for this recall is WRK-22. This recall is an expansion of previous recall number 21V-955.
Power Train:automatic Transmission:control Module (tcm/pcm/tecm)
Subaru of America, Inc. (Subaru) is recalling certain 2020-2021 Outback and Legacy vehicles. A programming error in the Transmission Control Unit (TCU) may allow the clutch to engage before the drive chain is completely clamped.
Consequence: An improperly secured drive chain may slip and break, causing a loss of drive power and increasing the risk of a crash.
Remedy: Dealers will reprogram the TCU, inspect TCU data for chain slip, and visually inspect the chain guide. If evidence of chain slippage or damage is found, the transmission will be replaced. Repairs will be performed free of charge. Owner notification letters are expected to be mailed August 24, 2022. Owners may contact Subaru's customer service at 1-844-373-6614. Subaru's number for this recall is WRK-22. This recall is an expansion of previous recall number 21V-955.
21V024000 · Power Train:shift Linkage/cable/rod
Jan 26, 2021
Subaru of America, Inc. (Subaru) is recalling certain 2021 Outback and Impreza vehicles. The continuously variable transmission (CVT) select lever cable nut may not have been tightened properly, allowing the nut to loosen.
Consequence & remedy
Consequence: A loose nut can lead to a lost of retention in the CVT select lever cable and the gear selector not functioning properly, increasing risk of crash.
Remedy: Subaru will notify owners, and dealers will inspect, and, if necessary, tighten the nut, free of charge. The recall began February 12, 2021. Owners may contact Subaru customer service at 1-844-373-6614. Subaru's number for this recall is WRA-21.
Model-level recall history does not show whether a particular VIN is affected or has received a repair. Check a VIN with NHTSA ↗
NHTSA investigations
0No exact-year investigations in this snapshot.
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