2019 Subaru Outback

Typical pattern

12.3% of complaints about the 2019 Subaru Outback came in the first year, which is unremarkable for a 2019 vehicle — around the middle of the 191 model-years on record. The median complaint arrives at 2.8 yr in service. The most-reported system is electrical system (366 complaints), typically at 3.8 yr or about 13,000 miles.

Complaints: 1,288
Median age at failure: 2.8 yr
Median mileage: 10,300 n=562
Crash / fire / tow: 5.5% of reports
Safety recalls: 3

When each system is reported — middle 50% of complaints

System

0y2y4y6y8y10y12y14y

Electrical system

366 reports · 13,000 mi

3.8 yr

1.1%

Visibility / wipers

326 reports · 10,000 mi

1.8 yr

Other

202 reports · 9,800 mi

3.6 yr

1.5%

Visibility

64 reports · 26,000 mi

2.5 yr

Collision avoidance

46 reports · 22,000 mi

2.9 yr

19.6%

Engine

39 reports · 9,300 mi

3.8 yr

17.9%

Steering

35 reports · 2,024 mi

1.4 yr

2.9%

Structure

28 reports · 5,700 mi

2.3 yr

7.1%

Speed control

26 reports · 5,000 mi

2.3 yr

46.2%

Fuel / propulsion

23 reports · 10,000 mi

2.9 yr

17.4%

Service brakes

21 reports · 5,000 mi

2.6 yr

47.6%

Lane departure

20 reports · 15,000 mi

4.3 yr

Safety recalls — NHTSA campaigns

21V587000 2021-07-29

Fuel system, gasoline:delivery:fuel pump

Subaru of America, Inc. (Subaru) is recalling certain 2019-2020 Ascent, 2018 Forester, 2018-2020 Impreza, Legacy, Outback, 2018-2019 BRZ, WRX, and Toyota 86 vehicles. The low-pressure fuel pump inside the fuel tank may fail.

Fuel pump failure can cause an engine stall while driving, increasing the risk of a crash.

20V218000 2020-04-16

Fuel system, gasoline:delivery:fuel pump

Subaru of America, Inc. (Subaru) is recalling certain 2019 Impreza, Outback, Legacy, and Ascent vehicles. The low pressure fuel pump may become inoperative.

If the low pressure fuel pump fails, the engine may stall without the ability to restart the vehicle, increasing the risk of a crash.

19V493000 2019-06-26

Structure

Subaru of America, Inc. (Subaru) is recalling certain 2019 Legacy and Outback vehicles. Spot welds located on the duct below the cowl panel may have been improperly applied, impacting the vehicle's body strength.

In the event of a crash, the reduced strength of the vehicle body may increase the risk of injury.

In owners’ own words

Steering 5,000 mi 4 mo in service

STEERING UNEXPECTEDLY NUDGES YOU TO ONE SIDE. CAR SEEMS TO TAKE CONTROL TEMPORARILY FROM THE DRIVER AND MAKES A CORRECTION TO THE LEFT OR THE RIGHT.

Steering 300 mi 5 mo in service

CAR HAS LESS THAN 400 MILES ON. WHEN DRIVING AT HIGHWAY SPEEDS IT FEELS LIKE I DO NOT HAVE ANY CONTROL, NO FEEDBACK FROM A STEERING WHEEL. IT FEELS LIKE DRIVING ON ICE. WENT TO A DEALER AND THEY SAID THAT NOTHING IS WRONG WITH IT. IT FEELS EXTREMELY DANGEROUS WHEN DRIVING, AND I FEEL TOTALLY EXHAUSTED AFTER. HAD MULTIPLE OUTBACKS IN THE PAST AND NEVER HAD AN ISSUE LIKE THIS. THEY NEED TO FIX IT ASAP, TOO DANGEROUS.

Steering 130 mi 6 mo in service

LOOSE CONTROL OF THE STEERING WHEEL WHEN DRIVING FASTER THAN 50 MPH ON HIGHWAY, OR TURNING ON CURVES. THE STEERING WHEEL TENDS TO WANDER THAT THE DRIVER DOES NOT HAVE THE CONTROL OF THE STEERING WHEEL. THE DRIVER FEELS UNSAFE.

Electrical system 300 mi 4 mo in service

NAVIGATION SYSTEM FAILURE! I HAVE 3200 MILES ON MY 2019 OUTBACK AND SINCE DAY 1 HAVE HAD PROBLEMS USING THE NAV SYSTEM. THE SYSTEM FREEZES UP COMPLETELY CAUSING EVERYTHING NOT WORK RADIO BACK UP CAMERA ETC. SYSTEMS STAYS ON AT NIGHT DRAINING BATTERY. IT SPORADICALLY WORKS AND WORKS LESS AND LESS EVERY DAY HAD A DEAD BATTERY ALREADY ON A 2019 VEHICLE. *TR

Other Outback model years

How to read this

This is what owners reported, not a reliability rating. People file with NHTSA about alarming failures, not routine ones, and complaint volume tracks how many cars were sold.
Failure ages come from the incident date on each complaint, populated on about 83% of records. Mileage is shown where reported — NHTSA’s 2021 system change cut mileage capture to roughly 15%, so it thins out sharply after MY2020.
Every rank compares this vehicle only against others of the same model year. A 2025 car has not had time to accumulate five-year failures, so comparing early-failure share across years is meaningless.
Fourteen make-months distorted by media storms and mass recalls — Toyota in February 2010 ran 11× normal volume across 33 models — are excluded.
Recalls are manufacturer actions and authoritative; complaints are not. A recall listed here may already have been performed on any individual car. Check a specific VIN at nhtsa.gov/recalls.