2020 Subaru Ascent VISIBILITY/WIPER
Owner-reported problems and safety issues filed with NHTSA. Review common failures, severity levels, and complaint trends over time.
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On Tuesday, January 3, I had a THIRD chip in my windshield. This just happened yesterday, so I have not had it evaluated yet. HOWEVER, this will be the THIRD chip that I will have to have repaired in the three short years I've owned this vehicle. The first chip happened within a month of owning the vehicle, and there is a current NHTSA complaint on file (11297348) for this chip. The second chip occurred in September 2022, and I have had that one repaired. NEITHER of the repairs "held" past 30 days. I have NEVER owned a vehicle that had a windshield that chipped so easily. I'm very surprised that this has not been a recall issue yet (as the glass repair shop suggested it should be- they see this ALOT with Subarus).
Front windshield has cracked for a second time. The initial windshield purchased with the vehicle cracked, and was replaced in 2020. The second windshield has now cracked, and is pending repair.
We've had this car for a little over 2 years and have had 3 cracked windshields, seems like anything that hits it causes a crack. I've been driving for over 45 years and multiple cars and have had cracked windshields 2 or 3 times. This doesn't make any sense. Thank you.
While parked, I adjusted the rear view mirror to my driving position. I heard a cracking noise and saw a crack go about three inches down from the rear view mirror on the windshield. Over night it spread from the mirror all the way down to the base of the windshield. I inspected the windshield for impact damage and found none.
The windshield cracked on its own at the top of the windshield in the middle of the sights.
My windshield cracked for no reason. There is no point of impact. The vehicle is just over 2 years old and has been driven approx 7000 miles. I don't drive a lot, and live in a pretty rural area where there is little traffic. When I picked up my son from daycare the day before there was no crack. The next morning when I got in the car to go drop him off, there was a substantial crack. This seems to be a common problem with this vehicle, according to searches online. The vehicle was parked in my driveway, and nowhere near any trees. It did not storm that night. I cannot see any reason the windshield would have cracked.
When I arrived at work I noticed a 4 inch crack at the bottom left corner of my windshield. I had not noticed any rock hitting my windshield. By the time I got out of work, the crack had expanded to about 8 or 10 inches and continued to expand to over 1 foot. This has never happend to me in the 35 years I've been driving and not to any of the many cars I've owned. I filed a claim with my insurance and plan to have the windshield replaced this week. However, I happened to do a Google Search about Subaru Ascent cracked windshields and noticed the recall of other Subaru models. Additionally, on the Subaru forums, there have been many others writing of the similar experience of an unexplained crack in the windshield of their Subaru Ascent.
Windshield cracked with no apparent reason.
WINDSHIELD BROKE WITHOUT ANY REASON. CAR ONLY A FEW MONTHS OLD.
18 INCH CRACK IN WINDSHIELD ON PASSENGER SIDE, HAPPENED SPONTANEOUSLY, NOTHING STRUCK THE WINDSHIELD AT ANY TIME.. JUST NOTICED IT TODAY 4/7/21 AT 0930
My front windshield spontaneously cracked while driving. The closest car was a very small car almost a mile in front of me and couldn't have caused a rock to get me. There were no warnings before it happened and it hasn't been inspected by anyone yet
WITHIN A SEVEN MONTH PERIOD AND WHILE MY CAR HAD UNDER 10,000 MILES ON IT, I'VE HAD TO REPLACE THE WINDSHIELD TWICE. BOTH TIMES A PEA SIZE CHIP HAD PROGRESSED INTO A 12-18 INCH CRACK WITHIN A HOUR WHILE THE CAR WAS PARKED. BOTH TIMES I WAS DRIVING ON THE SAME CITY HIGHWAY AT SPEEDS AT/UNDER 60 MPH AND WAS HIT WITH COMMON HIGHWAY GRAVEL. MY PREVIOUS SUBARU, A 2018 OUTBACK, ALSO HAD TO HAVE THE WINDSHIELD REPLACED WHEN THE REARVIEW MIRROR POPPED OFF THE WINDSHIELD ON ITS OWN WHILE I WAS DRIVING IN A NEIGHBORHOOD AND LEFT A HOLE THROUGH THE WINDSHIELD. THERE IS SOMETHING DEFECTIVE WITH THESE NEWER SUBARU WINDSHIELDS AND ITS A SAFETY ISSUE.
Several months ago a very small chip appeared in our windshield. We do not remember getting hit by anything. Within a couple of days the chip cracked almost half the length of the windshield. We paid over $1000.00 to have windshield replaced. Less than two months later we again saw a small chip in the windshield. My husband tried to fix it before it cracked and while fixing it the chip cracked almost half the length of the windshield. We will now have to pay to fix another windshield due to spontaneous chips that we were not aware of.
The windshield cracked out of no where. I haven't even had the car for a year and barely drive it.
As we were driving, a vehicle passed us going the other way and suddenly something hit our windshield and damaged it. I am reporting this because the cracks from this unusual incident are rather large in comparison to other windshield chips I have seen on previous cars.
MY WINDSHIELD CRACKED OUT OF NO WHERE WHILE DRIVING ON THE FREEWAY
THE WINDSHIELD CRACKED FOR NO APPARENT REASON. IT IS APPROXIMATELY 1/2 INCH WIDE GOING HORIZONTALLY ACROSS THE WINDSHIELD ON THE DRIVER SIDE.
A HORIZONTAL CRACK APPEARED IN THE TOP 3/4 OF THE DRIVERS SIDE WINDSHIELD. CRACK BEGINS ON LEFT MOST EDGE OF WINDSHIELD AND HAS SPREAD APPROXIMATELY 6' HORIZONTAL AND THEN 8' DOWNWARD. CRACK CONTINUES TO GET WORSE AND NEEDS REPLACEMENT ASAP. NO IMPACTS TO THE WINDSHIELD AND CRACK WAS FOUND AFTER SITTING OVERNIGHT.
ON MARCH 19, 2021, WHILE PARKED, A HORIZONTAL CRACK WAS NOTICED ON THE BOTTOM EDGE OF THE WINDSHIELD, DRIVER'S SIDE. I ESTIMATE THE CRACK WAS 4-8 INCHES LONG. ON MARCH 21, 2021, A VERTICAL CRACK WAS NOTICED, WHICH EXTENDED FROM THE HORIZONTAL CRACK (PLEASE SEE PHOTOS).
PARKED VEHICLE FOR THE EVENING INSIDE OF GARAGE. NEXT DAY, HAD A LARGE VERTICAL, "S" SHAPED CRACK STARTING FROM THE AREA NEAR THE EYE SIGHT EXTENDING DOWN NEAR THE BOTTOM 3/4 OF THE WINDSHIELD. NO APPARENT CHIP OR DAMAGE AT THE STARTING POINT OF THE CRACK.
Windshield cracked twice for no apparent reason. Had the windshield replaced by Subaru, and will now have to replace it a second time.
WINDSHIELD CRACKED WITH NO CAUSE I CAN SEE
BOUGHT THIS VEHICLE JULY 2020. SO IT'S BEEN 8 MONTHS AND ALREADY THERE'S A CRACK IN OUR FRONT WINDSHIELD
WE'VE OWNED OUR CAR FOR LESS THAN 8 MOS AND RECENTLY EXPERIENCED A CRACKED WINDSHIELD THAT DID NOT EMERGE FROM A ROCK CHIP. WE ARE VERY FRUSTRATED WITH THIS AS THE REPLACEMENT HAS TO BE OEM (I.E. EXPENSIVE) BECAUSE OF THE SAFETY FEATURES ON THE CAR.
SPONTANEOUS CRACK IN THE WINDSHIELD AFTER A COLDEST NIGHT IN MY REGION VEHICLE WAS DRIVEN HOME WITH NO VISIBLE CRACK AND WHEN I WENT TO THE CAR THE NEXT MORNING TO DRIVE AWAY, THERE WAS A CRACK IN THE WINDSHIELD.
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Quick Summary
The 2020 Subaru Ascent has 44 VISIBILITY/WIPER complaints on file. Review the timeline above for detailed owner experiences.