2023 Subaru Outback Problems and Recalls (87 Complaints)

The most-reported problem on the 2023 Subaru Outback is Automatic braking / collision warning (24% of 87 owner reports). There are 2 safety recalls. Check the VIN and inspect Automatic braking / collision warning — this is the NHTSA file, not a score.

NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation Snapshot 2026-09-07 87 complaints · 2 recalls

What problems show up on the 2023 Subaru Outback?

21 of 87 filings named Automatic braking / collision warning (24% of the file). That is what owners wrote, not a shop diagnosis of the vehicle in the driveway.

Second is Glass / wipers / cameras (16 reports).

There are 2 official safety recalls on this year. They were filed about Transmission / driveline. Check the VIN at nhtsa.gov — a campaign on this page can still be open on a specific truck.

The 2022 has 457 reports on file; this year has 87. A smaller lifetime total is not a clean bill of health. If you need a fairer comparison, use the equal-time view.

What to check before you buy a 2023 Subaru Outback

A useful visit to this page takes five minutes. YearTell does not score years and cannot see the vehicle in front of you.

Look up the VIN for open recalls at nhtsa.gov. This year has 2 campaigns on file below.
Automatic braking / collision warning. Ask whether the warning lights stay off and whether related recalls were done.
Glass / wipers / cameras. Check windshield, wipers and any camera or sensor the listing claims is there.
Electrical. Have a shop scan for stored codes and check battery, charging and any warning lights that stay on.
Skim a few owner reports below for Automatic braking / collision warning. Look for the same symptom repeating.
Take that list to a mechanic. Do not turn the complaint total into a score.

What owners reported

System named most often: Automatic braking / collision warning 21 complaints · 24.1% of the file

Crashes, fires, injuries and deaths in those filings:

Crashes 8
Fires 1
Injuries 3
Deaths 0

All Subaru Outback years →

NHTSA Consumer Complaints Snapshot 2026-09-07 Open source record Read our complete data methodology →

Complaint counts reflect self-selected reports and are not normalised for production sales volume. We publish no reliability scores, superlatives, or vehicle rankings.

Which systems owners named

Share of owner complaints filed against each vehicle system. These shares are not adjusted for how many vehicles were sold.

“Unclassified NHTSA leftover” is not a car part. It is a filing bucket and always sits last.

View component data as a table

System / Component	Complaints	Share of Reports	Safety Reports (Crashes / Fires)
Automatic braking / collision warning (FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE)	21	24.1%	3 crashes · 1 fires
Glass / wipers / cameras (VISIBILITY)	16	18.4%	0 crashes · 0 fires
Electrical (ELECTRICAL SYSTEM)	12	13.8%	0 crashes · 0 fires
Lights (EXTERIOR LIGHTING)	6	6.9%	0 crashes · 0 fires
Transmission / driveline (POWER TRAIN)	3	3.5%	0 crashes · 0 fires
Airbags (AIR BAGS)	2	2.3%	0 crashes · 0 fires
Brakes (SERVICE BRAKES)	2	2.3%	2 crashes · 0 fires
Engine (ENGINE)	1	1.2%	1 crashes · 0 fires
Lane keeping (LANE DEPARTURE)	1	1.2%	0 crashes · 0 fires
Unclassified NHTSA leftover	44	50.6%	5 crashes · 1 fires

NHTSA Consumer Complaints, NHTSA Safety Recalls, and NHTSA Defect Investigations Snapshot 2026-09-07 Open source record

Complaint counts reflect self-selected reports and are not normalised for production sales volume. We publish no reliability scores, superlatives, or vehicle rankings.

When reports and recalls showed up

When owners filed reports, and when recall campaigns showed up.

Campaign 23V647000 was reported 297 days after the first earlier complaint mapped to its component.
Campaign 23V755000 was reported 346 days after the first earlier complaint mapped to its component.

View timeline records as a table

Date	Record type	Count	Record identifier
2022-Q4	Owner reports	5
2023-Q1	Owner reports	16
2023-Q2	Owner reports	12
2023-Q3	Owner reports	12
2023-Q4	Owner reports	7
2024-Q1	Owner reports	6
2024-Q2	Owner reports	2
2024-Q3	Owner reports	7
2024-Q4	Owner reports	3
2025-Q1	Owner reports	4
2025-Q2	Owner reports	2
2025-Q3	Owner reports	1
2025-Q4	Owner reports	4
2026-Q2	Owner reports	1
2026-Q3	Owner reports	5
Sep 2023	Recall campaign	1	23V647000
Nov 2023	Recall campaign	1	23V755000

NHTSA Safety Recalls Snapshot 2026-09-06 Open source record

Safety Recalls (2)

Official campaigns. Each one says what could go wrong and what the dealer was told to fix.

In short, these campaigns were filed about Transmission / driveline.

Recall campaign 23V647000

Transmission / driveline

Report date

Sep 21, 2023

Component:

Transmission / driveline (POWER TRAIN)

Consequence:

Separation of the front end of the driveshaft increases the risk of a crash.

Remedy:

Dealers will clean the bolt mounting surfaces of the center support brace and install new bolts, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed November 20, 2023. Owners may contact Subaru's customer service at 1-844-373-6614. Subaru's number for this recall is WRN-23.

View authoritative NHTSA record →
Recall campaign 23V755000

Transmission / driveline

Report date

Nov 9, 2023

Component:

Transmission / driveline (POWER TRAIN)

Consequence:

An inoperative inhibitor switch may prevent the reverse lights from illuminating and the rearview camera image from displaying, increasing the risk of a crash.

Remedy:

Dealers will replace the inhibitor switch, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed January 8, 2024. Owners may contact Subaru customer service at 1-800-782-2783. Subaru's number for this recall is WRQ-23.

View authoritative NHTSA record →

NHTSA Consumer Complaints Snapshot 2026-09-07 Open source record

Complaint counts reflect self-selected reports and are not normalised for production sales volume. We publish no reliability scores, superlatives, or vehicle rankings.

What owners actually wrote

Short excerpts from the public NHTSA file. Look for the same symptom repeating.

Data: NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation · snapshot 2026-09-07

Showing 4 of 87 complaints · page 1 of 4

2026-09-02Lane keeping (LANE DEPARTURE)Unclassified NHTSA leftover

NHTSA ODI 11761486

CrashFireInjuryDeath

While driving on the highway I had my cruise control on with my driving assist turned on. My car tried to veer to the left, hard, almost into the guardrail. It had happened before but not as severe as this time. Going highway speed, I was lucky enough no one was next to me. Someone could have got seriously injured!

2026-08-20Transmission / driveline (POWER TRAIN)

NHTSA ODI 11758281

CrashFireInjuryDeath

Driving at speeds around 40 and when braking to turn, the brakes jerk and feel like they are not engaging properly. It has happened to a different driver, twice both times on a 90 degree day, a few minutes after the vehicle had been started and the air conditioner was running on high. After this happened we Googled the issue to see what the problem could be. The Google search shows a Subaru Service Bulletin #16-150-24R, 09/13/24, revised 12/03/24, showing our year and model of vehicle and a VIN # for all those models as TBD. The service bulletin list the exact problem that we had, and listed the AC running. The service bulletin list a fix of replacing the Transmission Control Module. This would be covered under 5 year 60K miles warranty for the Powertrain. Local Subaru dealer doesn't want to fix it because they can't replicate it by driving it. Subaru Customer Advocacy doesn't want to do anything because my VIN is not listed and they say the TSB are not for the customers to see. They refuse to let me talk with anyone further who would determine which VINs are going to be covered in this TSB.

2026-08-03Automatic braking / collision warning (FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE)Unclassified NHTSA leftover

NHTSA ODI 11754558

CrashFireInjuryDeath

Phantom Braking of Pre-Collision Braking 2023 Subaru Outback Turbo Wednesday, July 29, 2026. 9:30 am, sunny day Driving south on local city street. Brakes slammed on, car stopped, flashing yellow lights on left Combination Meter stating that Pre-Collision Braking was activated. There was no vehicle/obstacle/animal in the road. No parked cars, no cars backing out of a driveway. Road was completely clear. No strange shadows, no cracks in street. Pre-collision braking system hallucinated an obstacle and activated, throwing me forward into steering wheel, and dog in the back seat thrown forward into back of driver’s seat. Restarted car and drove off. Turned off system every time I drove the car until I took it to the dealer 2 days later. Problem was not reproduced by dealer . No messages or warning lights prior to incident. The repair order stated that there was a "sticky" substance on the windshield, but I had just had the car washed. I didn't notice anything on the windshield.

2026-07-30TIRES

NHTSA ODI 11753730

CrashFireInjuryDeath

The original equipment Yokohama Avid GT tires experienced rapid, catastrophic structural degradation (extreme inner-edge wear and chunking of the exterior edge over ~7,000 mi.). I have photos of the tires, and Carr Subaru (Beaverton, OR) has one of the tires available for inspection. I am the original owner of this vehicle. It has been regularly serviced at the appropriate intervals by the dealership where it was purchased in November 2022. At ~15,000 mi., the tires were rotated and the alignment was adjusted by the dealership. Between 15,000 and 22,000 mi., the tires completely wore through. When I noticed the wear, I brought the car to the dealership to replace the tires, check the alignment, and check whether there might be other issues contributing to the tire degradation. According to the service department, the alignment was within spec when the car arrived, but the inner tread was completely smooth, the outer tread was coming apart, and the tires "were within 1,000 miles of a blowout." I regularly transport my children in this vehicle on the steep, windy, rainy roads of [XXX]. If the tires had blown out or lost traction due to wear, my family, cyclists, pedestrians, or I could have been badly injured or killed. Additionally, on the morning before I discovered the extreme tire wear, I drove my wife and children 45 mi. on XXX from [XXX] to [XXX]. If the tire had blown out when we were going 65 mph on the heavily-traveled highway, it could have been catastrophic for us and other motorists. On XXX, I reported the incident to Subaru of America (case #XXX). I shared photographs of the tires and service records with Subaru of America. On XXX, Carr Subaru -- a representative of the manufacturer -- inspected the tires, confirmed the extreme wear, and reserved a tire for inspection. There were no warning lamps, messages, or other symptoms of the problem prior to the failure. The tires were deemed fit ~7,000 mi. ago. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

Subaru Outback Complaints and Recalls by Year

Frequently asked questions

What are the most common problems on the 2023 Subaru Outback?

Owners named Automatic braking / collision warning most often — 21 of 87 reports (24%). That is the NHTSA file, not a diagnosis of every vehicle.

Are there recalls for the 2023 Subaru Outback?

NHTSA lists 2 safety recall campaigns. They were filed about Transmission / driveline. Check the VIN at nhtsa.gov; a campaign on this page can still be open on a specific vehicle.

What should I inspect before buying a 2023 Subaru Outback?

Look up the VIN for open recalls. Ask whether the warning lights stay off and whether related recalls were done. Then skim owner filings for the same symptom and take that list to a mechanic.

Does a high complaint count mean I should skip this year?

No. Counts are reports people chose to file and they are not adjusted for sales volume. YearTell does not publish scores or a list of years to skip. Inspect the vehicle.

EPA Fuel Economy Database Snapshot 2026-08-21 Open source record

Estimated Ownership Cost

EPA fuel economy ratings and annual operating cost estimates

Data: US EPA Fuel Economy Guide · snapshot 2026-08-21

Estimate unavailable

EPA fuel-economy data is unavailable for this vehicle.

No estimate is shown when required EPA values are unavailable.

Open Ownership Cost Calculator →

Adjacent Model Years

Immediate preceding and succeeding model year records

NHTSA Consumer Complaints Snapshot 2026-09-07 Open source record

Complaint counts reflect self-selected reports and are not normalised for production sales volume. We publish no reliability scores, superlatives, or vehicle rankings.

Methodology & Data Integrity

Source: NHTSA ODI / recalls, snapshot 2026-09-07. YearTell is not a government agency.

Read our complete data methodology → Sources