2022 Subaru Outback: What to check before buying

Windshields crack with little or no impact. Many cracks appear while the car sits parked or in a garage, or a tiny chip spreads across the glass within minutes or overnight. Cold mornings and defroster use come up often. Most first cracks show up within the first few thousand miles, and several cars need two or three replacements. Each replacement requires camera recalibration, and lane sensing and automatic braking can stop working once the glass cracks. Reported costs run from $1100 to $2500 per windshield, and warranty and extended-warranty claims are often denied.

Windshields crack without a visible impact, often discovered on a car that sat overnight or in a garage. Others crack while driving with the defroster on, and one shop attributes the failure to thermal shock in extreme cold. Mileages are spread widely, from under 2,000 to about 41,000. Replacement glass frequently cracks again, with some cars on their third windshield. Dealers and the manufacturer usually decline to cover it, and some blame a microscopic chip. One owner links the problem to recall campaign 22V712000.

Batteries drain while the car sits for a few days, leaving it dead in the driveway, sometimes at a few hundred miles. A more dangerous pattern is the engine failing to restart after auto start-stop, stranding cars in intersections and highway lanes. Dealers often replace the battery, update software, or find no fault, and the problem returns. The center screen freezes or reboots repeatedly. In 3 fire-related reports, the car loses all power, then smoke appears and the engine compartment burns. One crash report blames a wiring harness fault that disabled the driver-assist systems.

Transmission complaints include a high-pitched whine that led to a full replacement at 3,500 miles, plus jerking on deceleration, high RPM during acceleration, and rough take-off that dealers cannot replicate. Several reports describe sudden acceleration from a stop or in reverse, including a crash with a head injury at about 3,000 miles. Engine failures also appear here: knocking after a failed auto restart, and a broken intake valve that seized the engine at about 52,000 miles. Other reports cover a car rolling while in Park and waiting for parts for recall 23V755000.

The thermal control valve fails before 40,000 miles, causing the engine to shut down and overheat while every warning light comes on. The repair falls under recall 23V755000, but owners report long waits because dealers cannot get parts. Another report describes rattling, loss of acceleration, an oil pressure warning, and then an engine fire. Other complaints cover safety systems shutting off one by one at highway speed, hesitation after auto stop, leaking oil pans, and a crash blamed on unintended acceleration in a garage.

Brakes fail to slow the car at a red light or while parking, and 2 reports involve crashes, one into a store. In one case a shop found air in the brake line and flushed it. Warped front rotors are a separate pattern: the pedal and the whole car shake under braking, especially downhill, and rotors and pads need replacing repeatedly starting around 10k miles. Some cars also have a soft pedal with play, a thump at startup, and clicking before the brakes engage, which dealers say tests normal.

Sunroof glass shatters on its own at city and freeway speeds, and in one case shards fall into the cabin. Windshield cracks show up here too, with one car on its fourth windshield at about 50k miles. The power liftgate drops with force without warning, and one report describes a concussion; that car also had power windows reversing partway up. A smaller complaint involves plastic trim at the bottom of the driver's door coming loose.

Two crash reports describe serious injuries, including broken ribs and a fractured breastbone, to a short driver seated close to the wheel when the airbags deployed. The other reports concern airbags that may not work. An SRS sensor fault turns on the airbag warning light and disables the airbags. The owner says it matches recall 24V227000, but the car's VIN is not covered. In another car, the passenger airbag status indicator flips between on and off for a light adult, even after the seat sensor is recalibrated.

At walking speed, while pulling into a parking space, the car hesitates or shudders and then surges forward, and both reports end in crashes into a wall or pole. One happened at about 700 miles and the other at 13,947. Neither the dealer nor a manufacturer investigator could reproduce or explain the surge. A separate complaint says the pedals cannot be adjusted, with the brake set higher than the gas and the gas needing a hard press, which caused joint pain.