2023 Subaru Ascent: What to check before buying

Front brakes shake and pulse during stops, sending vibration through the steering wheel. Dealers trace it to warped rotors with hot spots. Early cases show up around 10,000 miles. Several owners say new rotors and pads did not last, with the shaking back within 9,000 miles and repeat dealer visits for the same fault. Other reports describe squealing from new, a soft pedal, and a loose caliper bolt after a pad change. One complaint is about design: the brake pedal sits high and forward of the gas, so shorter drivers' shoes catch on it.

Windshields crack easily, often within the first few thousand miles. Small rock chips spread into long cracks quickly. Some cracks appear with no impact at all, including at the lower center and just above the dash vent while the heater warms the glass on a cold day. Reported mileages run from 240 to 4,000. Some owners say the replacement glass from Subaru cracked again, which led to repeat replacements.

Blowouts and sudden air loss strike at highway speed with no debris or impact. Reports describe a rear tire blowing out or coming off in one piece, pressure dropping to zero in seconds, and the vehicle shaking or fishtailing on the way to the shoulder. The tires named are the factory-fitted Falken 245/50R20. The failures came early, on vehicles a few months old with under 10,000 miles. One report notes sidewall damage with no obvious cause. A failure like this in heavy traffic can cause loss of control.

Tire pressure warnings come on falsely and keep coming back. They often appear on drives longer than about 25 miles and then clear themselves, even though the tires check out fine. Dealers see stored fault codes but cannot find a cause, and clearing and resetting the modules has not fixed it. The other complaint here repeats a real, fast pressure loss on a factory Falken tire on the highway, which is covered under tires.

Sudden unintended acceleration at very low speed is the main theme. In two crash reports, the vehicle surged into a building or garage while the driver was braking to park. Owners say no warning lights came on, automatic braking did not step in, and the airbags did not deploy. A separate report describes the passenger airbag status light flickering on and off with a light passenger in the seat. The dealer confirmed it, but recalibration, a new seat bottom, and a software update did not fix it.

Two very different failures appear. In one, warning lights flashed, the car shut down on the highway, and the engine caught fire within a minute. In the other, the battery goes dead overnight and needs repeated jump starts on a car with only 3,500 miles. With just two complaints on file, neither is a broad pattern. Still, the fire happened while the car was being driven on the highway.

Automatic braking engages without a reason. One report describes a hard stop from 40 mph to a full standstill on an open bridge, with no warning and little time to react. A sudden stop like that invites a rear-end collision. The EyeSight system also switches itself off now and then, showing a disabled message and an icon with a line through it. Dealers could not reproduce the fault, and one report says no remedy was offered.

Steering assist jerks the vehicle toward the next lane while EyeSight is active. Reports describe a violent pull toward oncoming traffic and drifting close to a semi-truck, and these events repeat with more than one driver. EyeSight also shuts off on its own after a brief stop and restart, then stays off with an orange indicator. Dealers read the codes and called it normal operation, so the risk of an unwanted steering input stays unresolved.

Heated seats only get lukewarm. Dealers find no fault and tell owners the seats are not meant to get hot. Some owners in online groups report the same weak heat, while others with the same model say theirs get very hot. The other complaint is a design limit: the front passenger seat has no height adjustment, so shorter passengers sit low or use a cushion. Neither issue involves a breakdown or a crash.