There are 12 owner-reported body & structure complaints for the 2018 Subaru Outbackin NHTSA's database. These are unverified consumer reports and may not reflect confirmed defects.
OUR SUNROOF EXPLODED AND SHATTERED. IT COULD HAVE CAUSED A BAD ACCIDENT AS THE SPEED LIMIT IS 65-70 FULL OF CARS AND TRUCKS ON I-95 NORTH. THERE WAS NO WARNING, JUST A LARGE EXPLOSION AND SHATTERED GLASS. LUCKILY OUR SUNSHADE WAS CLOSED SO THE GLASS WAS CONTAINED. IT WAS RAINING AND ABOUT 50 DEGREES.
Rock hit windshield and cracked windshield, from a small rock cracking the windshield and leaving this much damage if it was a bigger one it could have gone through and hurt us. This will be the second time I’ll have to repair the windshield.
The front windshield (driver's side) cracked out of nowhere. Now there's a large crack that runs from the driver's side through the middle of the windshield. There were no visible chips on the front windshield prior to the incident.
MOONROOF EXPLODED.
SUBARU OUTBACK 2018 HAVE AN ISSUE WITH THE RESIDUE LEAK FROM THE WINDSHIELD NEAR THE EYE SIGHT IT HAPPENED TWICE TO MY VEHICLE FIRST TIME WHEN I TOOK THE VEHICLE THEY SAID IT MIGHT BE A LEAK FROM THE GLUE IN EYESIGHT AND THEY SAID THEY HAVE EYESIGHT MIGHT BE LOOSE AND THEY HAVE TIGHTEN IT AND SECOND TIME IT HAPPENED AND THEN THEY SAID NO NO THE EYESIGHT DOESN'T HAVE ANY GLUE AND THIS IS COMING FROM SOME GLUE USED IN THE WINDSHIELD. SUBARU DOESN'T SEEM TO BE WORRY ABOUT IT AND ALL THEY SAY IS THEY ARE NOT ABLE TO DUPLICATE THE ISSUE. THIS ISSUES STARTED HAPPENING IN THIS SUMMER WHEN THE TEMPERATURE IS EXTREME HOT THE GLUE WHAT THEY USED TO STICK THE WINDSHIELD TO THE BODY OF THE CAR MELTS AND IT COMES OUT WHEN I TOOK IT TO THE DEALERSHIP ALL THEY SAY IS WE ARE NOT ABLE TO REPLICATE THE ISSUE. CONTACTED SUBARU CUSTOMER SERVICE AND THEY SAID WE HAD OUR MASTER TECHNICIAN HAD A LOOK AT THE CAR AND THE FIELD ENGINEER THEY ARE NOT ABLE TO SEE THIS AS AN ISSUE. WHEN I BOUGHT A BRAND NEW CAR FROM SUBARU AND WITH IN 2 YEARS THE GLUE IS MELTING BECAUSE OF HEAT NOT SURE WHAT KIND OF CAR SUBARU MANUFACTURES. THE SUPERVISOR FROM SUBARU CUSTOMER SERVICE DOESN'T SEEM TO HAVE ANY CONCERN ON THE ISSUE AND KEEP SAYING WHEN WE ARE NOT ABLE TO REPLICATE THE ISSUE ITS NOT OUR CONCERN. I AM GETTING SCARED IF THE GLUE CAME OUT AND THE WINDSHIELD BREAKS OR CRACKS WHEN I AM DRIVING WHAT WILL HAPPEN TO THE SAFETY OF ME AND MY FAMILY. I TOOK IT TO 2 SEPARATE DEALERSHIPS. SUBARU OF AMERICA AND COLONIAL SUBARU. SUBARU AMERICA SAID IT MIGHT BE A LEAK FROM THE GLUE OF THE WINDSHIELD AND COLONIAL SUBARU SAID THEY ARE NOT ABLE TO FIND THE PROBLEM. *TR
MY WINDSHIELD SPONTANEOUSLY CRACKED STARTING AT THE VERTICAL EDGE ON THE PASSENGER SIDE. THERE WAS NO EVENT THAT CAUSED THIS. IT JUST HAPPENED ONE DAY. I'M BARELY DRIVING MY CAR BC OF THE PANDEMIC SO I'M ASSUMING IT HAPPENED WHEN IT WAS STATIONARY.
DOOR WILL NOT UNLOCK USING KEY IN KEY HOLE. THIS APPEARS TO BE A VERY COMMON PROBLEM FROM ALL THE ONLINE COMMENTS AND IS ON ALL SUBARU MODELS. BEING LOCKED OUT OF THE CAR FOR SAFETY OR WEATHER CONDITIONS CAN PUT ONE'S LIFE IN EXTREME DANGER. ARE IS STATIONARY. DOOR WILL NOT UNLOCK USING KEY IN DOOR.
REAR LIFT GATE MALFUNCTIONING. WILL NOT OPEN AUTOMATICALLY AFTER APPX 18'. ABLE TO MANUALLY OPEN WITH GREAT DIFFICULTY, AUTO CLOSURE WORKING.
WINDSHIELD SEVERELY CRACKED,POSSIBLY FROM SMALL PEBBLE AT APPROX 35 MPH APPROACHING FWY ON RAMP. WE WERE INFORMED BY CORPORATE THAT THE WINDSHIELD GLASS IS 'SENSITIVE' DUE TO THE 'EYE SIGHT' FEATURE CALIBRATED WITH THE WINDSHIELD. WINDSHIELD NEEDS TO BE REPLACED - AT OWNERS EXPENSE AT $1100. SIZE OF INITIAL IMPACT DAMAGE MARK ON WINDSHIELD WAS 1/16' OR 1-2MM. NEXT DAY IT SPREAD TO SEVERAL INCHES WHILE CAR WAS PARKED. SMALL PEBBLES OR COMMON ROAD DEBRIS SHOULD NOT CAUSE WINDSHIELD FAILURES ESPECIALLY IN VEHICLES THAT ARE ALL WHEEL DRIVE FOR OFF-ROAD. READ THAT OTHER VEHICLES OF SAME YEAR AND MODEL ARE ALSO EXPERIENCING WINDSHIELD FAILURE.
I JUST DRIVEN HOME FROM WORK ON THE FREEWAY FOR 20 MINUTES. GOT HOME AND PARKED MY CAR ON THE STREET IN FRONT OF MY HOME. I WENT INTO MY HOME AND CAME OUT ABOUT 30 MINUTES LATER TO DO SOME YARD WORK. A CRACK IN MY WINDSHIELD CAUGHT MY EYE. I LOOKED AT IT AND IT WENT FROM ONE SIDE TO THE OTHER IT WAS NOT THERE WHEN I PARKED MY CAR 30 MINUTES EARLIER AND NOTHING HIT THE WINDSHIELD ON THE FREEWAY. THIS HAPPENED 9 MOS AFTER I BOUGHT MY CAR. IT WAS STILL UNDER WARRANTY BUT THEY MADE ME PAY $1118.33 OUT OF MY POCKET AND THEN TOLD ME TO GET REIMBURSED BY MY INSURANCE.
THE PASSENGER SIDE HOOD DOES NOT SHUT ALL THE WAY. A SERVICE BULLETIN CAME OUT BUT THE DEALER SAID THEY WOULD NOT RECOMMEND THE FIX BECAUSE IT INVOLVES USING A 2X4 TO BEND THE HOOD.
MY WIFE AND I WERE DRIVING ON THE INTERSTATE ON A COOL (45 DEGREES) DAY AT ABOUT 70 MPH, THE ONLY VEHICLE IN THE VICINITY. THERE WAS A SUDDDEN UNEXPLAINED NOISE OVERHEAD, THEN A LOUD EXPLOSION LIKE NOISE AND THEN A LOUD RUSH OF WIND AND THE SOUND OF SOMETHING BREAKING AND FLAPPING AND SOMETHING BLOWING AND HITTING THE ROOF OF THE CAR. I SLID OPEN THE SUNSHADE A VERY SMALL DISTANCE AND DISCOVERED MY SUNROOF HAD EXPLODED FOR NO APPARENT REASON OR CAUSE.THIS WAS ON A 7 MONTH OLD 2018 SUBARU OUTBACK WITH FACTORY INSTALLED SUNROOF AND 17,000 MIKES ON IT. THE SUNROOF WAS COMPLETELY CLOSED AT THE TIME AND FORTUNATELY SO WAS THE INTERIOR SUNSHADE.
Complaints are unverified consumer reports submitted to NHTSA. A high complaint count may reflect vehicle popularity, not defect severity. Data sourced from NHTSA public records.
Data synced from NHTSA on Apr 26, 2026