2017 SUBARU OUTBACK Steering Problems
21 NHTSA complaints on file
Steering Issues in the 2017 SUBARU OUTBACK
21 steering complaints have been filed with NHTSA for the 2017 SUBARU OUTBACK. Of these, 2 involved a crash, 0 involved a fire, and 0 resulted in injury.
21
Complaints
2
Crashes
0
Fires
0
Injuries
0
Deaths
All Steering Complaints
Had new tires installed and on the way home kept feeling wheel pulling to the right. Eyesight/lane assist feature was turned off. At one point the steering wheel dramatically jerked right and locked, completely immoveable. It jerked me into the other lane and almost into the median of the highway. I got to safety and had it towed to the dealership. I originally thought it was an issue with the tire alignment or the AWD system. They took it on a test drive and confirmed lane assist was malfunctioning in a dangerous way. They confirmed that eyesight/lane assist was turned off when this issue happened. They reset the system and said they couldn't guarantee the vehicle was safe to drive and suggested bringing it in if it happened again. I asked them to document everything they said over phone calls and voicemail. They agreed, but it took them weeks to...
In the morning of Jan 28th, I drove this car off highway(North bound MoPac) to the ramp to frontage road to 360 in Austin TX. the vehicle lost control out of sudden and crashed to the left side of the road. the accident caused total loss of the vehicle but luckily a>the passages and the the driver on the car are OK. b>no other vehicle was involved . As the drive of this vehicle , I feel the crash was so strange so later on I requested both insurance company (AAA) and Subaru to investigate the possibility of malfunctions of the car. AAA -- claim number 015641968 Subaru --case 230128-1800367 AAA claimed the total lost but refused to do further investigation. Subaru took my request in March. Early this month, Subaru said their finished the comprehensive inspection and simply claimed the car was running normal when the accident happened. They...
On January 24th, 2022, during a regularly scheduled maintenance services appointment at a Subaru dealership, the service technician discovered that the steering rack on my 2017 Subaru Outback needed replacement. At that time, I was advised it would be unsafe/dangerous to continue to drive my vehicle, unless I immediately replaced the steering rack. Therefore, at the guidance of the Subaru dealership, namely Freehold Subaru, I gave my consent for them to proceed with replacement of the steering components, which cost $2,223.86 (plus tax). Evidence of the cost is a copy of the detailed invoice and proof of payment is available upon request. At the time when the steering components were replaced, I was not aware of the Subaru Outback recall which involved steering components, nor did the Subaru dealership bring it to my attention, perhaps because they were also not aware of this specific recall. The recall I’m referring to...
Paddle shift levers--which are positioned on the steering wheel as opposed to the steering column--are too square-edged (shape), which is a design defect that can cause loss of steering control. Specifically, the sharp corner can catch on coat zippers. I was driving East, took a right turn, and intended to procced with driving South. When I attempted to straighten out the wheel, however, I was unable to do so. The paddle shifter corner "hooked" my coat zipper, along the track. This caused me to lose control of my vehicle steering, which resulted in collision with a bus stop/stand and a citation for failure to stay within my driving lane. The coat was a bit longer since it was fairly cold that morning. The zipper mechanism was made of a plastic material. The zipper was fully zipped, not half zipped and half unzipped. If the paddle shift levers were more round...
Upon turning off my 2017 Subaru Outback Touring, the engine turned off via the push start/stop button. However, when I went to use the vehicle later the same day, the car would not start (starter would not engage). I determined that the steering wheel was NOT locked. The transmission was in Park, and I could not move the shift lever out of Park. I attempted engage the steering wheel lock by moving the steering wheel back and forth, but without success. Vehicle now totally inoperative. Vehicle is available for inspection at my residence upon request. The safety of owner and others is compromised as follows: Because of living in a semi-rural area, I rely on this vehicle to safely transport me and my family members everywhere (grocery store, doctor appointments, emergency room visits, etc.); Failure of the vehicle to operate property could expose operator and/or passengers to extremely cold weather,...
System does not recognize the car is in park mode correctly. The side effect of this is ignition key gets locked in the key hole and cannot be pulled out. Repeated problem in all weather situation once the failure started to show symptom. This issue is common enough across multiple product line of Subaru vehicles with a service bulletin reference 16-112-18R with google search. Plenty of website postings and you tube videos showed different work around to resolve the issue. Dealer charges parts and labor cost to repair each vehicle request for service that could possible is a design or sensor defect issue from production quality issue. The trigger point of my vehicle having this problem could be due to recent cold weather, but this issue does not go away even after the temperature gets warmer. Trying to fix the car key situation with a young child in the back...
2017 SUBARU OUTBACK 2.5 LIMITED HAS LOOSE STEERING IN THE RAIN AND GOING DOWN HILLS. DRIFTS A LOT WITH CROSS WINDS VEHICLE HAD ALIGNMENT AND TIRE INSPECTION AND SUSPENSION CHECKED AND ALL WAS FINE BUT CAR STILL IS UNSTABLE IN BAD WEATHER. FEELS LIKE IT IS SWAYING AND THE TIRES ARE NOT ON THE GROUND. TIRES HAVE 13K MILES ON THEM AND ARE IN GOOD SHAPE. SHOCKS ARE FINE. REPAIR SHOPS CAN NOT DETERMINE THE PROBLEM
After the transmission is in park and the key is turned to turn-off the engine, the key will not advance to the "LOCKED" position and cannot be removed. Also, the steering wheel does not lock. This apparently can be remedied by repeatedly shifting from drive to park forcefully. Also, disconnecting the car battery seems to allow turning the key to "LOCKED."
KEY GET STUCK IN THE IGNITION LATELY WHEN I TURN OFF THE ENGINE AND IT TAKES AWHILE BEFORE IT'S RELEASED FROM THE IGNITION. I HAVE 52K PLUS MILES NOW ON MY 2017 SUBARU OUTBACK.
WHILE TRAVELING THROUGH MICHIGAN'S UPPER PENINSULA AND NORTHERN WISCONSIN DURING SNOW FALL WITH A FULLY PACKED CAR ON THE HIGHWAY I EXPERIENCED THE REAR END "GHOST WALKING" OR "STEERING" OR "PULLING" TO THE LEFT AND TO THE RIGHT. I HAD TO DRIVE 40MPH WHILE TWO-WHEELED DRIVE CAMRYS, CIVICS, VANS, ETC. PASSED US BY. GROWING UP IN NORTHERN MICHIGAN, I'M NO STRANGER TO WINTER CONDITIONS AND ALL WHEEL DRIVE VEHICLES. I DON'T THINK ALL-WHEELED DRIVE VEHICLES MAKE ME INVINCIBLE, BUT THEY DO MAKE DRIVING IN WINTERY CONDITIONS BETTER. AFTER OUR TRIP, I TOOK THE CAR INTO THE SUBARU DEALER AND THEY SAID AT 37K MILES, THE SUSPENSION LOOKED GREAT, ALIGNMENT LOOKED GREAT, AND THAT THEY WOULD RECOMMEND NEW TIRES (TIRES ARE AT 4/32 AND HAVE EVEN WEAR AND TEAR). I ASKED TO SPEAK DIRECTLY TO THE TECH WORKING ON MY CAR AND HE SAID THAT THERE WAS NOTHING WRONG WITH THE...
WHILE DRIVING AT HIGHWAY SPEEDS ON CLEAR DRY ROADWAYS, THE STEERING FEELS AS IF I HAVE A BRIEF LOSS OF CONTROL. I LIKEN IT TO HITTING A PATCH OF ICE AND HAVING A SLIGHT LOSS OF STEERING CONTROL. I'VE NOTICED IT TWICE WHILE ENTERING A CURVE AND DECELERATING FROM 55 MPH TO 45 MPH (THE REDUCED SPEED LIMIT OF THE CURVE). THIS ISSUE HAPPENS ONLY INTERMITTENTLY AND IS ONLY NOTICEABLE AT HIGHWAY SPEEDS. WE HAD THE SUBARU DEALER LOOK AT IT AND THEY SAID NOTHING WAS WRONG.
THE KEY GETS STUCK IN THE IGNITION AND WILL NOT RELEASE. HAVE TO LEAVE THE KEY IN IGNITION ALL THE TIME.
ON MULTIPLE OCCASIONS (WHEN STARTING IN DRIVEWAY - STOPPED, WHILE DRIVING IN PARKING LOT - 5 MPH, DRIVING IN TOWN - 25 MPH, WHILE DRIVING ON HIGHWAY - 60 MPH) ALL ADVANCED SAFETY FEATURES ARE DISABLED INCLUDING (BUT NOT LIMITED TO) EYE SIGHT (FAB - FORWARD AUTO BRAKE, ACC - ADAPTIVE CRUISE CONTROL, LAS - LANE ASSIST STEERING), RAB - REAR AUTO BRAKE, REAR CROSS TRAFFIC ALERT, BLIND SPOT DETECTION, PARK BRAKE, ABS, TRACTION CONTROL, POWER STEERING. NOTE THAT THE FAILURE OF THESE SYSTEMS DOES NOT CAUSE A CHECK ENGINE CONDITION AND NO ERROR CODES ARE LOGGED. THE DEALER INDICATED THAT THE FIRST 4/5 FAILURES LEFT NO CODES. THE NEXT FAILURE WAS DELIVERED TO DEALER WHILE RUNNING IN A FAILED STATE. DEALER REPORTED NO CODES FOUND. SINCE THE DEALER DID NOT REPORT THIS TO SUBARU I WILL BE REPORTING THIS PROBLEM TO SUBARU.
NOT ABLE TO TAKE KEY OUT OF THE IGNITION, KEY IS BEING STUCK 50% OF THE TIME. SECOND ISSUE IS THE ENGINE IS MAKING BIRD CHIRPING NOISE, IT COMES AND GOES BUT IT GETS LOUDE!! TOOK IT TO DEALER A YEAR AGO BY THE TIME I GOT THERE THE NOISE STOPPED SO THEY COULD NOT FIGURE OUT THE ISSUE, TOOK IN THE SECOND TIME ABOUT 8 MONTHS AGO THE SERVICE TECH HEARD IT AND BOOKED ME FOR AN APPOINTMENT. BY THE TIME MECHANIC GOT TO IT NEXT DAY IT STOPPED. THIS WAS ALL UNDER WARRANTY AND NOW I AM OUT OF WARRANTY AND HAVE NO SUPPORT FROM A LOCAL DEALER FROM WHERE I BOUGHT THE CAR. I DID SOME RESEARCH ON THIS ISSUES AND THERE IS A HUGE PROBLEM WITH THIS AND SUBARU IS NOT DOING ANYTHING ABOUT IT.
VEHICLE WOULD NOT START ERROR MESSAGE INDICATED STEERING OVER HEATED THIS HAS HAPPENED ON TWO OCCASIONS
WHEN LANE KEEP ASSIST IS ON AT NIGHT (USES EYESIGHT TO KEEP YOU IN YOUR LANE) THE CAR STEERING WHEEL HAS ON TWO SEPARATE OCCASIONS SUDDENLY JERKED TO THE RIGHT. THE FIRST TIME THERE HAD BEEN SOME ROAD REPAIRS WITH SOME PARTS OF THE ROAD HAVING NEW ASPHALT AT SOME NOT, AND THE ROAD WAS STILL WET FROM A PREVIOUS RAINSTORM. THE MOST RECENT TIME THE ROAD WAS DRY AND THIS HAPPENED WHEN THE CAR REACHED AND EXIT WHERE THE PAINTED STRIPE ON THE RIGHT SIDE OPENED AT THE ANGLE FOR CARS TO DEPART THE INTERSTATE TO ALLOW FOR THE EXIT. THE FIRST TIME THERE WERE TWO IMMEDIATE JERKS TO THE RIGHT. THE LAST TIME A SINGLE JERK. EACH TIME I HAD TO FORCIBLY JERK BACK THE CAR BACK TO THE MIDDLE OF THE LANE I WAS IN, OR WE WOULD HAVE LEFT THE ROAD AT 65 MPH. I HAVE...
IGNITION KEY BECOMES LOCKED IN THE STEERING COLUMN WHEN THE CAR IS TURNED OFF. MANY TIMES WHEN I TURN THE CAR OFF THE KEYS BECOME STUCK IN THE STEERING COLUMN. IT IS NECESSARY TO TURN THE CAR OFF AND ON AND SOMETIMES EVEN MOVE THE CAR AND PARK A 2ND OR 3RD TIME BEFORE THE KEYS CAN BE REMOVED FROM THE COLUMN. ITS HELPS TO TURN THE CAR OFF QUICKLY AND THEN REMOVE THE KEYS'EVEN THEN YOU CAN FEEL THE KEYS WANTING TO STICK.
THE VEHICLE HAS EXCESSIVE WANDER. THE VEHICLE HAS VERY HIGH STEERING EFFORT. DURING HIGH SPEED (60+ MPH) AND CROSS WINDS, THE VEHICLE WILL OCCASIONALLY FEEL AS IF IT'S DRIVING ON ICE. IT FEELS AS IF IT'S SLIPPING AND SLIDING WITH LITTLE OR NO CONTROL THROUGH THE STEERING SYSTEM. ALSO, WHEN EXECUTING A TURN WHILE DRIVING AT MODERATE SPEEDS, THE STEERING WILL NOT TRY TO RETURN TO STRAIGHT AHEAD AS MOST VEHICLES DO, WHEN COMPLETING THE TURN.
SINCE PURCHASE ON 2/19/17 FROM PARKER SUBARU CDA, COMPLAINT OF SHAKING FRONT END, WANDERING ON HIGHWAY AND FREEWAY FROM SIDE TO SIDE IN A DANGEROUS MANNER, FROM COMPLETE LOSS OF STEERING IN SNOW, SLUSH AND GRAVEL AS OF 2/28/17. I HAVE BEEN VERY SPECIFIC ABOUT THE INCIDENCE. GOING IN MY DRIVEWAY AT LEAST 8 INCCIDENTS; IN SNOW OR SLUSH CONDITIONS, IN DEPTS ON ONLY A COUPLE INCHES OR LESS IN THE WINTER OF 2017. IN THE SUMMER OF 2017 THREE INCIDENTS OF COMPLETE FAILURE WAS REPORTED ON GRAVE ROAD AT SPEEDS OF 15-MPH, I HAVE HAD THE VERY SAME COMPLAINT EVERY VISIT: 2/28/17, 3/23/17, 4/6/17. 9/13/17, 10/22/17, 1/22/17- @ PARKER SUBARU CDA.
MY OUTBACK WAS PURCHASED NEW IN APRIL 2017. MY CONCERN IS THAT STEERING IS IMPRECISE, PARTICULARLY AT HIGHWAY SPEEDS. THE VEHICLE WANDERS/REQUIRES NEARLY CONSTANT "CENTERING" AND DOES NOT TEND TO RETURN TO CENTER AFTER TURNING. I HAVE SOMETIMES FELT A FEAR THAT A GUST OF WIND OR ROAD ANOMALY AT THE WRONG TIME WILL CAUSE THIS VEHICLE TO LEAVE THE ROAD SURFACE UNEXPECTEDLY.
I PURCHASED MY 2017 SUBARU OUTBACK BRAND NEW IN JANUARY, 2017. CURRENTLY, IN MAY 2017, THE VEHICLE HAS 3200 MILES OF OPERATION. THE PROBLEM I AM HAVING IS THREE-FOLD. 1. AROUND TOWN IN CITY TRAFFIC, THE STEERING IS HEAVY AND DIFFICULT TO CONTROL. IT IS VERY TIRING TO DRIVE THE VEHICLE UNDER THESE CONDITION. AT TIMES, IT FEELS AS IF YOU MAY SUDDENLY LOOSE CONTROL OF THE STEERING. 2. THE VEHICLE WANDERS. AT HIGHWAY SPEEDS, IT IS DIFFICULT TO KEEP THE VEHICLE ON CENTER OF THE LANE. YOU MUST CONSTANTLY CORRECT FROM LEFT TO RIGHT IN ORDER TO KEEP THE CAR ON-TRACK. AT ONE TIME DURING ONE OF THESE CORRECTIONS, THE VEHICLE CROSSED THE LANE DIVIDER AND ALMOST IMPACTED THE VEHICLE DRIVING ADJACENT TO ME. 3. STEERING WHEEL DOES NOT RETURN TO STRAIGHT AHEAD. THE VEHICLE DOES NOT "RETURN TO CENTER" UNDER ANY OPERATING CONDITIONS. ON MOST CARS, IF YOU...
Other 2017 SUBARU OUTBACK Problem Areas
Electrical System
379 complaints
Visibilitywiper
205 complaints
Unknown Or Other
170 complaints
Power Train
44 complaints
Engine
41 complaints
Vehicle Speed Control
27 complaints
Visibilitywindshield
26 complaints
Structurebody
24 complaints
Service Brakes
22 complaints
Fuelpropulsion System
15 complaints
Air Bags
14 complaints
Forward Collision Avoidance Automatic Emergency Braking
12 complaints
Forward Collision Avoidance Warnings
10 complaints
Forward Collision Avoidance Adaptive Cruise Control
9 complaints
Exterior Lighting
7 complaints
Electrical System12v24v48v Battery
6 complaints
Suspension
6 complaints
Lane Departure Blind Spot Detection
5 complaints
Seat Belts
5 complaints
Electronic Stability Control Esc
4 complaints
Wheels
4 complaints
Electrical Systemignition
3 complaints
Visibility
3 complaints
Back Over Prevention Automatic System Braking
2 complaints
Lane Departure Assist
2 complaints
Lane Departure Warning
2 complaints
Seats
2 complaints
Tires
2 complaints
Air Bagsfrontaldriver Clockspringspiral Cassette
1 complaint
Back Over Prevention Rearview System Braking
1 complaint
Back Over Prevention Warnings
1 complaint
Electrical System Instrument Clusterpanel
1 complaint
Electrical Systemignitionswitch
1 complaint
Equipment
1 complaint
Latcheslockslinkageshoodlatch
1 complaint
Parking Brake
1 complaint
Power Trainautomatic Transmissiongear Position Indication Prndl
1 complaint
Power Trainautomatic Transmissioninternalcvt
1 complaint
Service Brakes Hydraulicbrake Fluid Low Warningswitchsensorfloat
1 complaint
Structure
1 complaint
Structurebodyhatchbackliftgate
1 complaint
Tirespressure Monitoring And Regulating Systems
1 complaint
Visibilitysunmoon Roof Assembly
1 complaint