2018 Subaru Crosstrek UNKNOWN OR OTHER
Owner-reported problems and safety issues filed with NHTSA. Review common failures, severity levels, and complaint trends over time.
Complaint Timeline
Chronological view of owner reports
Wheel bearing issue in 2018 Subaru Crosstrek Identified by Subaru but not full recall We were not informed Risk REAR WHEELS WILL FALL OFF Contacted Subaru Advocacy after determining the backing plate was modified due to risk of failure Internet indicated courtesy repair for vehicles under 100,000 miles with new corrected part Repair was denied without full payment not even willing to supply NON DEFECTIVE part at no cost
I have had my car jumped twice in the last 7 days. Today I will be replacing the battery with AAA. Is there a recall on my vehicle? I saw an article there is a recall for starting issues and the coils. Please advise. Thank you.
My car randomly blows white smoke put of the exhaust and supposedly had the PCV valve replaced in Jan 2020 by the Subaru service center. I am noticing drastically lower mileage as more white smoke seems to be coming out of the exhaust and cannot help but feel these are all related.
The passenger window switch on the drivers side door panel is loose and is jammed (will not depress). Nearly impossible to get passenger window to go down.
Dealer indicated control arm bushings needed to be replaced because they were cracked. I've owned about 20 cars and have never replaced a control arm bushing...much less on a car that is only a few years old (2018). I was told this needed to be fixed because the failing control arm bushings could cause me to lose control of the car. I realize things breakdown and need to be repaired, but as I said I've had about 20 cars over my lifetime and never replaced or been told that I needed to replace a control arm bushing. I question if that part is defective on Subaru Crosstrek (especially when I consider that my local mechanic indicated Subaru has had all kinds of problems with their control arm bushings).
8/17/23 I left my vehicle on with the air conditioning running. Left on because my dogs were in the car. Came out of restaurant after 40 minutes & car was on fire inside the vehicle. Opened back door on drivers side & back seat was on fire. Black smoke coming out of the car. Car was put out by fire department. It could have blown up. Car is total loss. FD & PD investigated. No foul play. Unknown reason. Happened in Carthage NC 28327 notified State Farm insurance but haven’t notified Subaru yet
Front hood latch opens while driving. This happens often. There is a secondary latch, so the hood does not swing fully open. But the first latch (connected to the open lever in the car) pops open by itself. I worry that secondary latch might fail, and front hood would open blocking vision. When I brought it to Subaru dealer in June 2023, they "cleaned and lubed hood latch" charging me for service. It still opens while driving. I am in the shop now. They say they will lube again. They would have to order a new latch and charge me over $200. Should I do this?
Several times the car wouldn’t start but all the lights came on but the engine would not turn over. If I waited a while it finally started.
A crack developed on the front windshield of my 2018 Subaru crosstrek out of nowhere. There was no accident or incident of a object (rock, dirt, etc…) that hit my windshield. I noticed the damage getting into my car that is parked inside a closed, locked garage.
My car was parked in the covered garage at the Denver airport. I left for 3 days and came back to a large crack in the windshield stemming from the lower driver side to the middle of the windshield. Nothing had hit it. It spontaneously cracked.
The windshield cracked across the whole front of the car while it was parked in a private lot. There is no sign of impact.
OUT OF NOWHERE MY WINDSHIELD HAD A 5 INCH CRACK, FROM THE BOTTOM OF THE WINDSHIELD ON THE PASSENGER SIDE. THERE IS NO CHIP, JUST A CRACK. THERE IS NOTHING THAT I KNOW OF THAT CAUSED THIS. I SEE ONLINE THAT THERE ARE A LOT OF PROBLEMS WITH SUBARU WINDSHIELDS CRACKING. I DO NOT HAVE A PICTURE, JUST A COPY OF THE RECEIPT FOR REPLACEMENT.
Cowl panel separates from windshield. Taken to dealer on 4/21/21, paid $410 for replacement, 8 months later, 12/11/21, noticed separation again. At dealer to have it replaced. Same issue reported with Impreza, NTSHA IDs: 11408233, 11193248. Cowl separation probably allows water intrusion into engine compartment, possible degradation of window seal and further fogging of windshield.
Sunroof exploded while driving at highway speed. Nothing hit my car while driving, no cars were in front of me. Glass and debris fell on my while I was driving. The car was taken to the dealer for repair because local auto glass shops would not work on the sunroof. The car has been with the dealer for almost a week. They are telling me that there is not a sunroof glass available in the United States.
ON MY WAY TO WORK AT 6:30AM, MY 2018 SUBARU CROSSTREK WITH EYESIGHT MAY HAVE HAD TINY ROCK CREATE A PIN SIZED CHIP IN WINDSHIELD. I PARK MY CAR ON THE ROOF OF A PARKING GARAGE. WHEN MY SHIFT WAS OVER AT 7:30PM, I NOTICED A FRACTURE ABOUT THE SIZE OF ONE AND A HALF DOLLAR BILLS OR CLOSE TO 5 OR 6 INCHES IN LENGTH. THE FRACTURE WAS ON THE DRIVER'S SIDE UPPER LEFT HAND CORNER. CALLED THE DEALERSHIP AND THEY SAID TO FILE A QUOTE WITH MY AUTO INSURANCE. SINCE ITS NOT COVERED UNDER THE WARRANTY.
CRACKED WINDSHIELD LESS THAN 15,000 MILES ON THE CAR.
HAVE ASKED SUBARU TO UPDATE THEIR SOFTWARE TO CONTROL THE DASH BOARD. WHEN THE DIGITAL DASH IS SET TO THE DIGITAL SPEEDOMETER, AND A CALL COMES IN, THE DASH DISPLAYS :CALL IN PROGRESS" AND NO LONGER SHOWS THE DIGITAL SPEEDOMETER. SUBARU HAS NOT MADE ANY SOFTWARE UPDATES TO THEIR SOFTWARE.
THE WINDSHIELD CHIPPED FOR NO REASON. THEN IT SPREAD A CRACK ACROSS THE PASSENGER TO THE DRIVER SIDE. IT WAS PARKED IN A SAFE PLACE AND I DID NOT DRIVE IT AT ALL SINCE I WORKED FROM HOME.
I WAS DRIVING ON HIGHWAY 65 MPH BUT DID NOT SEE ANYTHING HIT WINDSHIELD. SMALL CRACK TO START.. SMALL SPIDER WEB CRACK GREW INTO A UN-REPAIRABLE 6-8 INCHES IN 4 DAYS.
I HAVE A SECURITY ISSUE RELATED TO THE 2018 CROSSTREK AND THE DOOR LOCKING AND UNLOCKING SYSTEM. THIS ISSUE PUTS VEHICLE OPERATORS AT RISK AND FAILS TO PROTECT THE CONTENTS OF THE VEHICLE WHEN UNATTENDED. WE EXPERIENCE ISSUES WHERE THE ALARM WOULD SOUND WHEN OPENING THE DRIVER DOOR. THERE IS NOTHING IN THE DOCUMENTATION THAT DESCRIBED THIS SO WE WENT TO SEARCH THE INTERNET FOR HELP. WE DISCOVERED MANY PEOPLE ARE HAVING THIS ISSUE. THIS HAPPENS WHEN THE VEHICLE IS LOCKED WITH THE REMOTE CONTROL BUT THE DRIVER DOOR DOES NOT LOCK. THE VEHICLE CAN BE ENTERED WHEN UNATTENDED, THE DOORS MANUALLY UNLOCKED AND THE CONTENTS REMOVED. IT IS ALSO POSSIBLE THE DOOR IS NOT LOCKED WHILE OPERATED. THIS EXPOSES THE OCCUPANTS TO THE RISK OF UNEXPECTED ENTRY FROM OUTSIDE WHILE THEY ARE OPERATING THE CAR. THIS SITUATION OCCURS WHEN THE DOOR HANDLE IS USED TO UNLOCK AND OPEN THE CAR IN A SINGLE MOTION. THE LOCKING LATCH GETS CAUGHT IN AN INTERMEDIATE POSITION AND WILL NOT CLOSE. THERE IS A NOTABLE DIFFERENCE IN THE SOUND MADE BY THE DRIVER LOCK. THE CORRECTIVE ACTION IS TO USE THE EMERGENCY KEY CONTAINED IN THE KEYFOB AND TURN THE LOCK. I TURNED IT TO LOCK AND UNLOCK AND RESTORED NORMAL OPERATION, BUT THIS WAS AFTER A LONG PERIOD OF TIME WHERE MY WIFE AND HER PACKAGES WERE EXPOSED. I BELIEVE A WORKAROUND IS TO NOT OPEN THE DOOR IN A SINGLE MOTION, BUT RATHER TO TOUCH THE HANDLE, PAUSE WHILE IT UNLOCKS. THERE ARE SEVERAL STEPS I BELIEVE SUBARU SHOULD TAKE. FIRST, I BELIEVE SUBARY SHOULD NOTIFY CUSTOMERS OF THIS CONDITION, OF THE SIGNS IT EXISTS AND HOW TO RESOLVE IT. THE RISK IS REAL AND THEY SHOULD BE STATED. SECOND, I BELIEVE THE SOLENOID THAT LOCKS THE DOOR IS TOO WEAK TO FREE ITSELF, AND SUBARU SHOULD UPGRADE THIS PART SO THAT IF THIS OCCURS, THE NEXT USE OF THE LOCK CORRECTS IT. THIRD, I THINK SUBARU SHOULD CONDUCT TESTS OF ITS OWN ACROSS ALL MODELS.
OCT 2017, STONE CHIP PASSENGER VIOLENTLY CRACKED NEXT MORNING WHEN DEFROSTER WAS RUN TO DEFOG FRONT WINDOW. CAR WAS STATIONARY.
THE CAR BATTERY WAS DEAD AND RECHARGED BY SUBARU ROADSIDE ASSIST. WE RAN THECARFOR 40 MINUTES. THE FOLLOWING DAY THE CAR BATTERY WAS DEAD AGAIN. WE CALLED THE RYE DEALERSHIP WHERE WE PURCHASED THE CAR AND HAD IT TOWED THERE. THE PERSON WHO CHARGED THE BATTERY THE FIRST TIME TOLD US THAT SUBARU'S HAVING A LOT OF CALLS FORDEADBATTERIES BUT NOTADMITTING THERE'S A PROBLEM
WHEN THE SUNROOF IS OPEN - THERE IS A BLINDING GLARE(ON A SUNNY DAY) PROJECTED FROM THE BASE 6.5 INCH RADIO SCREEN DIRECTLY INTO THE DRIVERS EYES. SINCE THIS IS A BLINDING CONDITION IT MAKES DRIVING WITH THE SUNROOF OPEN EXTREMELY DANGEROUS AS IT COULD BLIND THE DRIVER CAUSING A ACCIDENT - THE RADIO SCREEN SHOULD HAVE EITHER BEEN COATED WITH A NON-REFLECTIVE COVER - OR - TILTED FORWARD SOTHAT SUNLIGHT IS NOT PROJECTED DIRECTLY INTO THE DRIVERS EYES. WROTE SUBARU A LETTER - NO RESPONSE.
MY SUNROOF EXPLODED YESTERDAY, 7/13/18, WHILE I WAS DRIVING ON RT. 95. IT MADE A HOLE THROUGH BOTH LAYERS OF GLASS. FORTUNATELY I HAD THE SUNSHADE PULLED OR THE GLASS WOULD HAVE COME INTO THE CAR. NO ONE WAS HURT BUT MY ROOF CAN'T BE REPLACED UNTIL AUGUST BECAUSE OF THE HIGH DEMAND FOR REPLACEMENTS. I WAS TOO SHAKEN TO THINK OF TAKING A PICTURE AND IT IS NOW WRAPPED UP TIGHT AT THE DEALER.
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Quick Summary
The 2018 Subaru Crosstrek has 24 UNKNOWN OR OTHER complaints on file. Review the timeline above for detailed owner experiences.