2016 Subaru Outback 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
Catalytic converter is cracked. This is confirmed by an independent service center. Apparently there is a recall for this issue for 2015 and 2016 Subaru Outbacks manufactured up until September 2015. My 2016 Subaru Outback has the same issue and was manufactured in April 2016. The recall should include all 2016 Subaru Outbacks, not just those manufactured in 2015.
Horn quit working
I reached under the steering well to the foot well because it seemed that my AC was not putting out any air. I touched something and received a burn on my hand. I reached out to the SOA but was told to take it to the dealer. Then they asked me to call back and discuss further. When I called back I was told to take it to the dealer. I'm not sure I want to take it to the dealer to be charged a diagnosis fee. It seems the "kick panel" should cover this hot part to not allow access.
There’s an open recall on an exhaust leak for similar models and years and my car needs the same work done but it’s not covered under the recall
The 8 month old battery on my 2016 Subaru Outback just died. I understand that the warranty on the DCM was extended by a year, but the dealership said that if it turned out the DCM was not defective, I would have to pay for the test ($185) . The warranty only covers having the battery recharged or replaced. If the DCM is the cause of the battery drain, than the warranty should pay for replacing the DCM, in addition to replacing the battery. Otherwise the problem will continue to reoccur. There should be a recall on the DCM!
The child lock of right side is stuck its on on position we can't open the door from inside nd now the button is broken.
My 2016 Subaru Outback, manufactured 23 business days after the end date of recall WUJ-95, has the same exhaust system and now the same exhaust system failure as the cars covered under the recall. My car is available for inspection. This exhaust failure poses a risk of carbon monoxide poisioning. The problem in my car was identified by an independent mechanic who works exclusively on Subarus and has seen this failure in other clients' vehicles. He referred me to Subaru for repairs and recommended I look into why I hadn't received a recall notice. I contacted Subaru, opened a case, then didn't recieve a response in the timeframe they defined. After waiting a few days, I called back to learned my case had been closed. Their customer advocacy representative responded the next week and said my car was not recalled because it was manufactured on 11/3/2015, after the end date of the recall on 9/30/2015. She also cited a lack of service history with a Subaru retailer (I offered to provide records) and being out of warranty by time and miles (I mentioned 2017-18 Foresters received warranty extensions to 15 years or 150K miles for this failure.) I asked what their escalation process is for making exceptions and was told the representative was the only customer-facing person I would be able to speak with about this and she declined to offer any assistance, but did offer a loyalty discount on a new vehicle. My car has not been inspected by anyone else. I'm willing to take it to anyone who should look at it. There were no warning lights or messages related to the issue. It was diagnosed when I took the car in for regular maintenance and it explains the more noticable smell of exhaust in the car, that I had attributed to other traffic, when I'm sitting at stop lights.
The catalytic converter on my vehicle has an air leak causing my engine light to come on and almost all features such as cruise control become disabled. There is a recall that was issued in 2020 for the exact same problem my vehicle is having and the recall covers the same year, make and model of my vehicle. I was told that my vehicle isn’t under the recall but the representative was unable to specify why. I am trying to get the part replaced as the vehicle is polluting the air and causing my vehicle to not perform as expected.
The lock on the side of the door that turns on the child lock so kids cannot open the door from the inside is stuck in the lock position and will not disengage.
Can not take the key out of ignition.
I have a vehicle built in 11/15. I had an issue with cracked pipes associated with the catalytic converter that appear to match an existing nhsta recall for vehicles built between 12/09/2013 – 9/30/2015. It appears that the previous recall was not expansive enough.
Right rear door will not open from inside, child door lock will not shift although child lock not engaged. InCase of crash or fire cannot exit vehicle. confirmed by repair shop. No insurance inspection. No warning lights associated with this visible
My Subaru Key is Stuck in Ignition. Two to three times a week the key can not be removed from the key switch . The vehicle will shut off, but the key remains.
Key intermittently stuck in ignition. Unable to lock car doors with key stuck in the ignition. Problem started early on occasionally and now happens nearly every other time and requires a few tries up to 10 minutes of trying to get it out. This is a known issue among my model - Service Bulletin 16-112-18R
Motorized power liftgate is failing (diagnosed by dealer on 7/7/23) apparently because motor is undersized or 2 motors should have instead been used/designed to deal with load. Safety issue if motor failure causes trunk not to open. Newer models have been redesigned.
I bought this vehicle used. I was the 2nd owner. I purchased it on the evening of August 18, 2023. On the morning of August 19, 2023, I drove the vehicle for about 45 miles. I reached my destination, got out of the car, and saw what looked like either smoke or dust from under my car. I worried it might be overheating. A bystander told me the car was on fire. I walked forward to see flames coming from the front passenger side below the grill, possibly in the axle. The fire grew aggressively despite attempts to extinguish it. When the fire department arrived within 5 minutes the car was fully engulfed. The damage is so severe that it may be impossible to determine the source and cause of the fire. The dealer and my mechanic performed inspections on the vehicle before I bought it and found everything to be in good working condition.
Windshield is very susceptible to cracking. I had a small stone hit our windshield in spring 2020 that made a huge crack in the windshield and required replacement and re-calibration of eyesight which was quite an expense. Yesterday, I was driving and a very small stone hit the windshield and again the windshield is cracked and will need replacing. I was not behind a truck or any construction vehicle and the stone was very tiny. I have never had a replace a windshield before and now this is twice in less than two years.
I have had two incidents where my battery has died. The first time it happened I had the keys in the ignition, the car was off, while I was talking on my phone. Weird, but I was told not to do that any more. Since than I have made sure the keys were out of the ignition when sitting in the car with the ignition off. We brought a new battery then. The second happened yesterday 10-14-22. I had gone to a business to pick up items. We loaded my car. No keys in the ignition, the car was off. The door and truck were opened for maybe 10 minutes. I get back in the car to start and it’s dead, does not even try to turn over.
I have owned this vehicle since July 2016 and in Sep/Oct 2018, Nov 2020, and Sep 2022 I have had to replace my battery. So I have owned my car for just over six years and have replaced my battery three times. My garage states it should last at least 3-5 years per battery.
Car won't start, battery dead. This happened in first year (2016) I bought the car.
The child lock in the back passenger door is stuck .
Multiple instances of the battery dying after being parked for a few days. New battery did not resolve the problem and diagnostics indicate that the battery is not the problem. Unable to use vehicle when it cannot be started. Most recent incident was 1/18/2022. First occurred shortly after I purchased the vehicle.
Battery rapidly drains leaving me stranded. 4th battery that has been replaced by dealer and the same thing happens. No warning lights or low battery lights. Dies from 1 week to over nite. Remote won't even open the car. Dealer refuses to fix the battery drain and keeps saying it isthe battery that is bad but replaces with the same battery which fails ! I see where there are lawsuits against Subaru but I am not getting any help at all from corporate or dealer. Personal safety and being stranded and unreliable are my main concerns.
Key sticks in ignition and won’t release. Takes from a few attempts to several minutes of restarting the car, putting car in drive and then park, turning the wheel etc.
The car does not recognize that it is in park, and the key gets stuck in the ignition frequently. The only fix is to repeatedly shift in and out of the park position until the key releases (which can take anywhere from 1 minute to 10 minutes -- it seems to get worse over time). It's a safety concern for various reasons: you can't exit your car quickly in case of emergency -- you can't just leave your vehicle with the keys in the ignition (dangerous/negligent/someone could steal your car). It's also concerning that the car doesn't recognize what gear it is in. This is a widespread issue across Subaru vehicles that is documented in many online forums. The issue was confirmed by the dealership that I went to on my vehicle specifically, but they also knew the source of the problem, before they even looked at the vehicle.
Trend Over Time
Complaints by year
Other Issues
Common problems reported
Quick Summary
The 2016 Subaru Outback has 79 UNKNOWN OR OTHER complaints on file. Review the timeline above for detailed owner experiences.