2021 Subaru Legacy: What to check before buying

The windshield cracks without any impact, sometimes overnight while parked and sometimes while the defroster runs. Some cracks start at the bottom edge near the defrost line and keep spreading up the glass. Several owners report repeat cracks within a year, including on replacement windshields. Warranty help is inconsistent: some dealers deny the claim, others cover it as goodwill, and some approvals stall while the crack grows. A crack can also interfere with the EyeSight driver-assistance system, which owners count as a safety concern.

None of these reports describes an air bag that failed. Every complaint is about a recall repair that dealers could not do because the parts were not available. Owners describe waiting many months after the recall notice and worry about how the passenger air bag would perform in a crash while the fix is pending. No complaint describes a crash or a deployment problem. A shopper should look up the car's current recall status in federal recall records instead of relying on these reports.

The battery can die with little warning, even on a nearly new car with very low mileage. A dead battery leaves the car unable to start or shift out of park. The dealer blamed short trips and a key fob kept too close to the car. Infotainment faults are the other pattern. The screen goes black at random, the backup camera stops working, and the unit reboots itself. When it shuts off, the safety features can drop out too, and a warranty head-unit replacement did not fix it. Some reports here repeat the pending air bag recall.

Loud knocking or tapping can start suddenly inside the engine with no warning lights, misfires, or overheating. In the report that gives a mileage, it began near 65,000 miles, and the dealer recommended a full engine replacement. The car could not be driven safely and had to be towed. A separate complaint involves a service bulletin on the thermo control valve. The owner of a rebuilt-title car was told to pay more than $2,000 for that repair. With only two reports, there is no broad pattern yet.

The CVT can shudder, bog down, and nearly stall, then downshift hard or lunge forward with a spike in RPM. Power to the wheels can cut out for a few seconds before the car suddenly takes off again, which is a loss-of-control risk on hills and in traffic. The check engine and AT temp lights may come on, sometimes only now and then. In one case, a dealer found internal transmission failure at about 66,706 miles and called for replacement. Some dealers will not look at the car unless a warning light is on.