AutoUtility currently tracks 75 official NHTSA owner defect complaints for the 2025 Subaru Outback. Driver Assistance & Safety Tech issues are the most frequently reported category, appearing in 23 complaints (30.7% of submitted records). Among these NHTSA complaint records, 4 filings cite a crash, 2 cite a fire, 1 reports one or more injuries.
Factual proportion of owner complaints categorized by automotive subsystem in NHTSA records
23 owner complaints submitted to NHTSA ODI for this subsystem.
11 owner complaints submitted to NHTSA ODI for this subsystem.
7 owner complaints submitted to NHTSA ODI for this subsystem.
6 owner complaints submitted to NHTSA ODI for this subsystem.
Representative defect filings submitted by owners to the NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation
"Car battery has been failing since June it will not stay charged it started out losing power over weekends now it is every day. It is so bad I purchased a portable battery charger from auto zone to jump my car."
"Needed to move quickly out of way of oncoming traffic, but delay/hesitation in CVT made it almost impossible to avoid traffic."
"When engine auto-restarts after Auto Start-Stop has started engine, steering wheel jerks violently if it is not completely straight, dislocated my 5th finger."
"GPS goes out..dealer has tried to fix numerous times"
"NHTSA Complaint Narrative — Draft On July 9, 2026, in the evening, my leased 2026 Subaru Outback Touring caught fire while we were driving home. We were stopped in a left-turn lane waiting on a left-turn signal. When the light turned, the vehicle in front of us moved forward — which, in hindsight,..."
Reported defect complaint volume across sibling model years (2015–2026)
| Model Year | NHTSA Complaints | Crash Reports | Safety Recalls | Detailed Report |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 Subaru Outback | 509 | 19 | 5 | View 2015 Problems → |
| 2016 Subaru Outback | 642 | 22 | 4 | View 2016 Problems → |
| 2017 Subaru Outback | 917 | 32 | 4 | View 2017 Problems → |
| 2018 Subaru Outback | 807 | 27 | 3 | View 2018 Problems → |
| 2019 Subaru Outback | 1032 | 24 | 3 | View 2019 Problems → |
| 2020 Subaru Outback | 896 | 19 | 6 | View 2020 Problems → |
| 2021 Subaru Outback | 295 | 9 | 4 | View 2021 Problems → |
| 2022 Subaru Outback | 461 | 10 | 4 | View 2022 Problems → |
| 2023 Subaru Outback | 88 | 8 | 2 | View 2023 Problems → |
| 2024 Subaru Outback | 91 | 5 | 0 | View 2024 Problems → |
| 2025 Subaru Outback Current Page | 75 | 4 | 0 | Current |
| 2026 Subaru Outback | 0 | 0 | 0 | View 2026 Problems → |
Complete distribution of consumer defect reports across all 39 granular NHTSA system and subsystem classifications
| Vehicle Component / System | Total Complaints | Crash Reports | Fire Reports | Injury Entries | Fatality Entries |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Other / Uncategorized NHTSA category: UNKNOWN OR OTHER | 16 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Electrical System NHTSA category: ELECTRICAL SYSTEM | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Air Bags NHTSA category: AIR BAGS | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| LANE DEPARTURE,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| EXTERIOR LIGHTING | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Forward Collision Avoidance NHTSA category: FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Visibility & Wipers NHTSA category: VISIBILITY/WIPER | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Back Over Prevention / Camera NHTSA category: BACK OVER PREVENTION | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Seat Belts NHTSA category: SEAT BELTS | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| SERVICE BRAKES,LANE DEPARTURE,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Steering NHTSA category: STEERING | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| BACK OVER PREVENTION,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,ENGINE | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,ENGINE,FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| ENGINE,FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| ENGINE,LANE DEPARTURE,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Equipment & Accessories NHTSA category: EQUIPMENT | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE,LANE DEPARTURE | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Fuel System NHTSA category: FUEL SYSTEM, GASOLINE | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| LANE DEPARTURE,BACK OVER PREVENTION | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Doors, Latches & Locks NHTSA category: LATCHES/LOCKS/LINKAGES | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Powertrain NHTSA category: POWER TRAIN | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| POWER TRAIN,ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| POWER TRAIN,SERVICE BRAKES | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Seats & Restraints NHTSA category: SEATS | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| SERVICE BRAKES,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| STEERING,ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,AIR BAGS | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| STEERING,ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| STEERING,SERVICE BRAKES, HYDRAULIC,ENGINE | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| STEERING,WHEELS,LANE DEPARTURE | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Structure & Body NHTSA category: STRUCTURE | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Suspension NHTSA category: SUSPENSION | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| TIRES,ELECTRICAL SYSTEM | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| UNKNOWN OR OTHER,LANE DEPARTURE,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| UNKNOWN OR OTHER,VISIBILITY/WIPER,LANE DEPARTURE | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Vehicle Speed Control NHTSA category: VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE,BACK OVER PREVENTION | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Visibility / Glass NHTSA category: VISIBILITY | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| VISIBILITY/WIPER,LANE DEPARTURE,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Cross-reference safety recalls, crash test safety ratings, and EPA fuel economy for this model year
Key performance indicators, EPA fuel economy specs, powertrain variants, and summary ratings.
Official recall campaigns, safety defect descriptions, and manufacturer free remedy instructions.
NHTSA 5-Star NCAP crash test results, driver assistance systems, and rollover resistance ratings.
EPA fuel economy ratings, electric range, and annual energy cost benchmarks.
Direct, deterministic answers synthesized from verified United States government databases for the 2025 Subaru Outback
In official NHTSA consumer records, the most frequently cited issue area for the 2025 Subaru Outback is Driver Assistance & Safety Tech, appearing in 23 records (30.7% of submitted filings).
Secondary reported categories include Electrical System (11) and Air Bags & Restraints (7).
AutoUtility does not issue subjective reliability scores or commercial ratings. In official United States government records, NHTSA tracks 75 consumer defect complaints and 0 safety recall campaigns for the 2025 Subaru Outback.
Reviewing documented component complaint distributions, recall remedy notices, and active federal investigations provides an objective, evidence-based view of the vehicle's historical safety and defect record.
Among consumer complaint records on file with NHTSA for the 2025 Subaru Outback, 4 filings cite a crash, 2 cite smoke or fire, and 1 report one or more injuries.
Incident entries represent consumer descriptions at the time of submission to federal authorities and do not establish mechanical causation or legal liability.
The complaint records on this page are retrieved directly from the NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) public database under 49 CFR Part 576.
Local Production Store Compiled: August 2026 • Deterministic Audited Dataset • Zero Dynamic External API Runtime Latency.