Subaru Outback: which model years to avoid
Complaint and recall totals for every Subaru Outback model year we track, ranked by severity.
| Model year | Complaints | Recalls | Crashes | Fires | Severity | Most-reported system |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 | 291 | 16 | 15 | 6 | 63.2 Medium | POWER TRAIN |
| 2013 | 296 | 12 | 18 | 6 | 85.1 Medium | ENGINE |
| 2014 | 208 | 10 | 14 | 2 | 113.5 High | AIR BAGS |
| 2015 | 506 | 5 | 19 | 5 | 46.2 Medium | VISIBILITY/WIPER |
| 2016 | 639 | 4 | 21 | 3 | 32.2 Low | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM |
| 2017 | 917 | 4 | 32 | 3 | 37.7 Medium | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM |
| 2018 | 805 | 3 | 27 | 4 | 35.3 Medium | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM |
| 2019 | 1,030 | 3 | 23 | 2 | 24.1 Low | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM |
| 2020 | 893 | 6 | 19 | 7 | 16.8 Low | VISIBILITY/WIPER |
| 2021 | 291 | 4 | 8 | 1 | 21.3 Low | VISIBILITY/WIPER |
| 2022 | 455 | 4 | 10 | 4 | 24.6 Low | VISIBILITY/WIPER |
| 2023 | 85 | 2 | 8 | 1 | 72.9 Medium | FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE |
| 2025 | 66 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 33.3 Low | FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE |
Across 13 model years, the 2014 Subaru Outback carries the highest severity index (113.5, driven by air bags), while the 2020 is the cleanest at 16.8.
Source. NHTSA public complaint and recall APIs. Complaint counts are not normalised by units sold; a high-volume seller will attract more filings than a rare trim.