7 complaints reported

2016 Subaru Crosstrek Steering

Owner-reported problems and safety issues filed with NHTSA. Review common failures, severity levels, and complaint trends over time.

Reports
7
Crashes
0
Fires
0
Injuries
0

Complaint Timeline

Chronological view of owner reports

Apr 2025

Full electrical power steering failure

Type: Vehicle, Vehicle: 2016 SUBARU CROSSTREK, Manufacturer: Subaru of America, Inc.
Incident: Oct 2025
Mar 2021

NO POWER STEERING BACKING UP AFTER STARTING THE CAR. WARNING LIGHT CAME ON. TURNED ENGINE OFF AND BACK ON STILL NO POWER STEERING. PARKED WAITED 15 MINUTES TRIED AGAIN AND THE STEERING WORKED ONLY FELT A LITTLE LOOSE.

Type: Vehicle, Vehicle: 2016 SUBARU CROSSTREK, Manufacturer: Subaru of America, Inc.
Incident: Mar 2021
Apr 2020

POWER STEERING FAILS WHEN FIRST STARTING VEHICLE.HAS HAPPENED ON MANY OCCASIONS.LOSS IOF POWER STEERING LASTS FROM A FEW SECONDS TO 10 TO 15 SECONDS,RESOLVES BY ITSELF.HEARD ON SEVERAL OCCASIONS FROM DEALER THAT THEY CAN NOT REPRODUCE PROBLEM. FEEL IT IS A SERIOUS PROBLEM MAY LEAD TO LOW SPEED ACCIDENT.STEERING WARNING LIGHT DOES COME ON.DOES GENERATE ERROR CODES PER DEALER.DEALER(JOHNSON SUBARU DUBOIS PA 15801) HAS ATTEMPTED REPAIR X 5 W/O RESOLUTION.STATE THEY HAVE REPLACED ELECTRONIC CONTROL MODULE,REPLACED THAT WITH A NEW AND IMPROVED ECM AND STATE THEY HAVE REPLACED THE POWER STEERING RACK.EPISODES OF LOSS OF STEERING CONTINUE. HAVE CONTACTED SUBARU OF AMERICA ADVISING THEM OF PROBLEM.THEY SUGGEST RETURNING VEHICLE TO DEALER EVEN THOUGH THE PROBLEM HAS NOT BEEN CORRECTED IN THE PREVIOUS 5 VISITS

Type: Vehicle, Vehicle: 2016 SUBARU CROSSTREK, Manufacturer: Subaru of America, Inc.
Incident: Jan 2016
Aug 2019

WHEN TRYING TO TURN OFF THE CROSSTREK IT WOULD NOT LET THE KEY COME OUT OF THE IGNITION. IT FORCES YOU TO TAKE IT OUT OF PARK AND PUT IT BACK INTO DRIVE THEN BACK INTO PARK A FEW TIMES TO TAKE THE KEY OUT. I WENT TO SUBARU AND THEY SAID IT WAS A COMMON PROBLEM, WHICH THEY HAVE A FIX FOR. THIS PROBLEM IS SEEN IN MANY OF THE OLDER MODEL SUBARUS I HAVE SEEN THE SAME PROBLEM IN MANY YOUTUBE VIDEOS. THIS IS A KNOWN PROBLEM AND HAS NOT BEEN ADDRESSED BY SUBARU. SUBARU DEALER TOLD ME THE PROBLEM IS A STICKY PLATE CYLINDER.

Type: Vehicle, Vehicle: 2016 SUBARU CROSSTREK, Manufacturer: Subaru of America, Inc.
Incident: Feb 2019
Jul 2019

TOTAL POWER STEERING FAILURE AT 40,076 MILES. DEAL READ CODE C2532. DEALER REPLACED FULL STEERING SYSTEM; RACK, CONNECTORS. STILL DID NOT WORK. REPLACED 80 AMP FUSE ON POSITIVE TERMINAL. NOTE THAT STEERING FAILURE OCCURRED WHILE VEHICLE WAS OFF. MAJOR CONCERN IF IT HAD HAPPENED DURING OPERATION.

Type: Vehicle, Vehicle: 2016 SUBARU CROSSTREK, Manufacturer: Subaru of America, Inc.
Incident: Jan 2019
Jul 2019

PUT CAR IN PARK, SHUT THE IGNITION OFF, AND I AM UNABLE TO REMOVE THE KEY FROM THE IGNITION. THIS HAS OCCURRED ON SEVERAL OCCASIONS. WOULD HAVE TO TURN THE VEHICLE BACK ON, MOVE THE SHIFTER FROM PARK TO DRIVE POSITION, THEN PUT BACK IN PARK AND BY DOING THIS I AM SOMETIMES ABLE TO REMOVE THE KEY.

Type: Vehicle, Vehicle: 2016 SUBARU CROSSTREK, Manufacturer: Subaru of America, Inc.
Incident: Jan 2019
Sep 2016

PULLING OUT OF MY DRIVEWAY MY STARING WHEEL WOULD NOT TURN SO I PUT IT IN DRIVE AND IT STILL WOULDN'T TURN SO I PUTTED IN PARK AND TURN IT OFF THEN I STARTED IT BACK UP AND IT WORKED. I JUST BOUGHT IT NOT EVEN FIVE DAYS AGO IF SUBARU KNEW THERE WAS A RECALL ON THE CARS THEY SHOULDN'T SOLD IT TO ANYBODY I AM VERY UPSET WITH THE SUBARU COMPANY DAY APOLLO SUBARU IN MOON TOWNSHIP

Type: Vehicle, Vehicle: 2016 SUBARU CROSSTREK, Manufacturer: Subaru of America, Inc.
Incident: Sep 2016

Trend Over Time

Complaints by year

Quick Summary

The 2016 Subaru Crosstrek has 7 Steering complaints on file. Review the timeline above for detailed owner experiences.