2020 SUBARU OUTBACK Steering Problems
12 NHTSA complaints on file
Steering Issues in the 2020 SUBARU OUTBACK
12 steering complaints have been filed with NHTSA for the 2020 SUBARU OUTBACK. Of these, 2 involved a crash, 0 involved a fire, and 0 resulted in injury.
12
Complaints
2
Crashes
0
Fires
0
Injuries
0
Deaths
All Steering Complaints
Car lurches when put into gear, Transmission make loud chirping noise when place into gear from park, vehicle shudders when turning. Car has had all recalls updated. Symptoms have been reported to two different dealers. Dealer in Traverse City MI indicates this is "normal". Issue has continued since first noticed.
The contact owns a 2020 Subaru Outback. The contact stated that their daughter was driving approximately 35 mph when the dashboard displayed that an electronic power steering failure had occurred. The driver then lost control of the vehicle and ended up going over a curb hitting some rocks on the landscaping. The air bags did not deploy due to only the undercarriage being the only part that hit the curb and rocks on the landscaping. The vehicle was towed to the dealer. A police report was filed. As a result, the transmission as well as other parts of the vehicle to be damaged. There were no injuries or medical attention needed. The dealer diagnosed that the steering gearbox needed to be replaced. The vehicle had not been repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 37,000.
I was stopped at a light in a 3 Lane St. It was approximately 930 at night. The auto start stop feature had turned off the engine and when I removed my foot from the brake to begin moving forward the entire electrical system shut off. I tried switching into park and restarting the car but the car locked the steering wheel at this point and killed all of the lights inside and outside of the vehicle. This meant that I was in a car in the middle lane of traffic with no lights and I was not able to turn on the flashers either. I had to use the emergency neutral setting in order to unlock the steering wheel and roll the car to safety. While we were rolling the car I attempted to turn on the vehicle again and it began running. This is the second time that...
On April 13th 2022, me and my wife were returning home. We were at a complete stop on a left only turn intersection red light (Spring-Cypress Rd & Telge Rd in Cypress, TX. Coordinates: 29.985660988461188, -95.65465736615674). There was a vehicle ahead of us and also behind us at the light. It was raining lightly and the roads were wet. When the light turned green we started slowly accelerating making our left turn and as we were doing so, the vehicle skid causing uncontrolled acceleration, non-responsive braking and non responsive steering. I tried my very best to save us from running over the curb into the ditch ahead and succeeded to do so resulting in the vehicle hitting the curb at probably 15-20 mph. The steering and brakes were non-responsive and it took a lot of effort on my part to save us from running over the curb into the ditch...
My 2020 Outback Touring has had several issues including the infotainment system rebooting and turning off all safety features: ABS, Forward Collision Warning, EyeSight, Adaptive Cruise Control randomly turning off (not just adjusting speed), I lose control of ALL electronics including the digital speedometer. A new infotainment system had been installed and the problems STILL exist. The date below was the most serious as I was on the highway traveling at high speeds when the system decided to fail and the screens went black. Subaru of America has been informed of these issues but there is no resolution.
Lane Departure feature malfunction at higher speeds: will reactivate a few seconds after physically deactivating the control; spontaneously activates and inactivates or activates on one side only - pulls aggressively to one side or the other, even though vehicle is centered in highway. Will not stay inactivated but fluctuates on/off. It is dangerous and causes fatigue in wrestling with the steering.
THE BATTERY STARTED FAILING AFTER LESS THAN 8000 MILES ON THE CAR THAT IS LESS THAN A YEAR OLD. IT LEFT US STRANDED MULTIPLE TIMES AND JUMP START WAS REQUIRED. ONCE UPON JUMP STARTING THE CAR THE POWER STEERING WAS NOT FUNCTIONAL. MULTIPLE TIMES THE AIRBAG FAILURE INDICATOR STAYED ON FOR THE ENTIRE TRIP. INITIALLY IT WAS NOT CLEAR TO ME WHAT IS GOING ON AS THE WHOLE ELECTRICAL SYSTEM WENT HAYWIRE AND THE CAR WAS PRODUCING A CLATTERING NOISE INSTEAD OF THE USUAL STARTING NOISE. EVENTUALLY I TESTED THE BATTERY AND IT BECAME EVIDENT THAT IT FAILED. THERE ARE MANY SUCH REPORTS ON THE INTERNET AND ALSO CLASS ACTION LAWSUITS AGAINST SUBARU DUE TO THEIR FAILURE TO ADDRESS THE UNDERLYING DESIGN FLAWS OF THE CAR. I HOPE THAT THE NHTSA WILL FORCE SUBARU TO PROPERLY ANALYZE THE PROBLEM, COME UP WITH A PROPER FIX AND ISSUE A RECALL TO...
TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2020 SUBARU OUTBACK. THE CONTACT STATED THAT WHILE STOPPED, THE STEERING CEASED. THE CONTACT STATED THAT THE FAILURE WAS INTERMITTENT. THE CONTACT STATED THAT THE FAILURE WAS ALSO EXPERIENCED WHILE DRIVING AT APPROXIMATELY 20 MPH, WITH THE STEERING BEING DIFFICULT TO OPERATE. NO WARNING LIGHT WAS ILLUMINATED. THE CONTACT STATED THAT THE VEHICLE WAS TOWED TO STOHLMAN SUBARU SERVICE LOCATED AT 8435 LEESBURG PIKE, VIENNA, VA 22182 AND WAS MADE AWARE OF THE FAILURE. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT DIAGNOSED NOR REPAIRED. THE MANUFACTURER WAS INFORMED OF FAILURE. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 2,300.
DEC 7TH. LANE CENTERING AND CRUISE CONTROL FUNCTIONS ON. WHILE TRAVELING SOUTH ON I-75 IN THE CENTER LANE MY WIFE MOVED TO THE LEFT LANE TO PASS ANOTHER CAR. AFTER PASSING THE CAR SHE HAD TO FIGHT THE STEERING WHEEL TO STAY IN THE LEFT HAND LANE. AFTER SEVERAL MINUTES SHE TOOK HER HANDS OFF THE WHEEL AND THE CAR VEERED SHARPLY TO THE RIGHT AND ACROSS THE DASHED WHITE LINE INTO THE CENTER LANE. AS SHE RIGHTED HERSELF BACK INTO THE LEFT HAND LANE I REACHED OVER AND TURNED THE LANE CENTERING FUNCTION OFF. ABOUT 15 MINUTES LATER SHE WAS FOLLOWING A BROWN VAN. THE CRUISE CONTROL WAS STILL ON, WAS MAINTAINING A SPEED OF 68 MPH AND SAFE DISTANCE. CRUISE WAS SET AT 70MPH AND DISTANCE AT 4 BARS. THE VAN EXITED THE INTERSTATE AT WHICH TIME THE OUTBACK STARTED A HARD ACCELERATION AND HAD REACHED A SPEED...
MY WIFE AND I WERE DRIVING HOME ON I35 IN OKLAHOMA. THE ROAD WAS STRAIGHT. IT WAS NIGHTTIME. I HAD ALL THE SUBARU EYESIGHT SAFETY SYSTEMS ENABLED. BOTH HANDS WERE ON THE STEERING WHEEL, WITH ADAPTIVE CRUISE CONTROL SET AT 70MPH. LANE CENTERING WAS AMONG THE FEATURES OPERATING. I SUDDENLY EXPERIENCED AN INSTANTANEOUS AND VERY ABRUPT, UNCOMMANDED ~30-40 DEGREE CLOCKWISE ROTATION OF THE STEERING WHEEL. THE WHOLE EVENT LASTED JUST 2-3 SECONDS AND I QUICKLY RECOVERED BACK TO THE LEFT. FORTUNATELY, THE LATERAL DISPLACEMENT OF OUR TRACK WAS ONLY A FEW FEET INTO THE BREAKDOWN LANE ON THE INTERSTATE. MY MANUAL CONTROL INPUTS ON THE STEERING WHEEL EASILY OVERCAME THE ACTUATOR. I IMMEDIATELY DISABLED THE LANE CENTERING FUNCTION AND WE CONTINUED HOME WITHOUT FURTHER INCIDENT. THE TAKEAWAY THAT I WANT TO EMPHASIZE IS THAT THIS WAS AN EXTREMELY ABRUPT, SUDDEN HARD RIGHT DEFLECTION OF THE WHEEL. THIS WAS NOT THE...
WHILE DRIVING ON THE HIGHWAY I HAD ADAPTIVE CRUISE CONTROL AND LANE CENTERING TURNED ON. I WAS DRIVING ON A STRAIGHT STRETCH OF HIGHWAY WHEN MY STEERING WHEEL JUTTED LEFT VERY HARD. I HAD BOTH HANDS ON THE WHEEL WHEN THIS HAPPENED BUT WAS UNPREPARED FOR IT. THIS CAUSED ME TO VERGE INTO THE MEDIAN. I CORRECTED THE VEHICLE STEERING AND CONTINUED DRIVING. A FEW MINUTES LATER, MY VEHICLE DID THIS AGAIN WHILE STILL ON A STRAIGHT SECTION OF HIGHWAY CAUSING ME TO ALMOST HIT THE CAR NEXT TO ME. I STOPPED USING LANCE CENTERING AFTER THIS OCCURRED AND REACHED OUT TO SUBARU OF AMERICA. THEY REQUESTED I TAKE THE CAR INTO MY LOCAL SHOP WHICH I DID. THE DEALER DID NOT FIND ANY ISSUES WITH LANE CENTERING AND HAD NO REASON WHY THIS WOULD OCCUR.
TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2020 SUBARU OUTBACK. WHILE DRIVING 55 MPH WITH THE CRUISE CONTROL ENGAGED, THE CONTACT LOST CONTROL OF THE STEERING AND THE VEHICLE VEERED TO THE LEFT. THE CONTACT MANAGED TO REGAIN CONTROL OF THE STEERING. MILLER HILL SUBARU (4710 MILLER TRUNK HWY, DULUTH, MN 55811, (218) 722-5337) WAS CONTACTED AND SCHEDULED A DIAGNOSTIC TEST. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT REPAIRED. THE MANUFACTURER WAS NOT MADE AWARE OF THE FAILURE. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS APPROXIMATELY 600.
Other 2020 SUBARU OUTBACK Problem Areas
Visibilitywiper
313 complaints
Electrical System
251 complaints
Unknown Or Other
150 complaints
Visibilitywindshield
64 complaints
Engine
44 complaints
Power Train
41 complaints
Forward Collision Avoidance Warnings
27 complaints
Forward Collision Avoidance Automatic Emergency Braking
25 complaints
Air Bags
18 complaints
Forward Collision Avoidance Adaptive Cruise Control
18 complaints
Vehicle Speed Control
17 complaints
Structurebody
16 complaints
Exterior Lighting
15 complaints
Service Brakes
15 complaints
Fuelpropulsion System
12 complaints
Lane Departure Warning
12 complaints
Lane Departure Blind Spot Detection
8 complaints
Back Over Prevention Rearview System Braking
5 complaints
Electrical System12v24v48v Battery
5 complaints
Visibility
5 complaints
Lane Departure Assist
4 complaints
Wheels
4 complaints
Seats
3 complaints
Suspension
3 complaints
Back Over Prevention
2 complaints
Back Over Prevention Warnings
2 complaints
Electronic Stability Control Esc
2 complaints
Engine And Engine Cooling
2 complaints
Structurebodyhatchbackliftgate
2 complaints
Air Bagssensoroccupant Classificationfront Passenger
1 complaint
Electrical System Instrument Clusterpanel
1 complaint
Electrical Systemadas
1 complaint
Electrical Systemwiringconnectorsplugsaccesory Power Outletjackportusbsaecigarette Lighter
1 complaint
Engine And Engine Coolingengineengine Control Module Ecuecm
1 complaint
Equipmentelectricalinfotainment
1 complaint
Exterior Lightingbrake Lights
1 complaint
Firerelated
1 complaint
Forward Collision Avoidance
1 complaint
Fuel System Gasolinedeliveryfuel Pump
1 complaint
Latcheslockslinkagesdoorslatch
1 complaint
Latcheslockslinkageshatchbackliftgatelock
1 complaint
Parking Brake
1 complaint
Power Trainautomatic Transmission
1 complaint
Power Trainautomatic Transmissioncontrol Module Tcmpcmtecm
1 complaint
Power Trainautomatic Transmissioninternalcvt
1 complaint
Seat Belts
1 complaint
Structure
1 complaint
Structurebodyhatchbackliftgatesupport Devicestrut
1 complaint
Structurebodytailgate
1 complaint
Vehicle Speed Controlaccelerator Pedal
1 complaint
Visibilityrearview Mirrorsdevices
1 complaint
Visibilityrearview Mirrorsdevicesexterior
1 complaint