2022 Subaru Ascent: What to check before buying

The CVT shudders, slips, and hesitates, most often when pulling away from a stop and sometimes while holding speed on flat roads. Some drivers press the accelerator in traffic and get no response. Others describe the car lunging forward, with near-collisions and one rear-end crash. Onset ranges from new to about 23,000 miles. Dealers often cannot reproduce it, and software updates do not end the problem in these reports. One report describes harsh downshifting on a downhill that left the car hot and smoking. Another car needed a new transmission at 9200 miles.

Front brakes shake, pulse, or chatter when applied, and dealers repeatedly diagnose warped rotors. The vibration starts as early as about 3,000 miles and is worst on long mountain descents. Dealers resurface or replace rotors and sometimes pads and calipers, and some owners report the noise coming back. A second group hears squealing, grinding, or rumbling within the first few thousand miles, often with no fault found. One report describes the car taking longer to stop.

Windshields chip and crack easily, often from small pebble strikes, and the cracks spread fast across the glass. Some crack in cold weather with no impact at all. Several owners replace or repair the windshield more than once within about a year, and some report higher insurance rates after claims. The manufacturer treats the damage as environmental and declines coverage. Moonroof glass is also affected: one report describes the front panel cracking from the inside with no impact, and coverage was declined.

In these reports, airbags fail to deploy in frontal crashes. One was a head-on collision at 32 MPH, and another involved a car that ran a red light. Three of the four reports involve crashes, with three people injured. In one, a deer strike led to an engine bay fire that destroyed the vehicle, and no airbags deployed. The opposite failure also appears: side airbags going off at about 35 mph with no impact and no warning light beforehand.

Reports are scattered. One describes a total electrical failure at 392 miles: dash lights, headlights, and horn flickering, a car that could not be jump-started, and a burning smell. Another covers hesitation when pulling into traffic and an intermittent power hatch even after a motor replacement. That same report describes the parked car slowly creeping 6 to 8 feet. The third report involves no failure at all, only a long wait for a repair part the dealer did not have.

Oil leaks dominate. A camshaft carrier leak is resealed under warranty at 36,000 miles and returns by 80,000. A separate report cites a leak at the oil pan. A third describes light white smoke rising from under the hood after shutdown, along with a low oil warning and a strong oil smell. There are only three reports, so the pattern is thin, but each one involves oil escaping the engine.

The EyeSight camera can throw errors and stop working, and in one case a diagnostic scan confirmed a camera fault. Separately, lane keeping steers the car toward or across lane lines at highway speed when the lane width changes, and the owner reports this happens regularly. There are only two reports, but unexpected steering at highway speed is a loss-of-control risk.