2003 Subaru Outback — reported problems

What owners report: issue areas

Owner complaints are classified by the system they concern: 116 classifications in all. One complaint can concern several systems, so these add up to more than the number of complaints.

• Air bags (restraint system)19 (16.4%)Official recall records for this system: 32, covering model years 2003–2022.
• Engine19 (16.4%)Official recall records for this system: 2, covering model years 2003–2022.
• Powertrain (transmission & drivetrain)13 (11.2%)Official recall records for this system: 20, covering model years 2003–2023.
• Suspension11 (9.5%)Official recall records for this system: 5, covering model years 2003–2017.
• Speed control & accelerator10 (8.6%)Official recall records for this system: 1, covering model years 2003–2004.
• Tires & wheels9 (7.8%)Official recall records for this system: 1, covering model years 2003.

Other / uncategorized: 1 classifications (0.9%) were not assigned to a specific system by the source. They are counted but not treated as an issue area.

These are counts of records held by CarFaultIQ, not a failure rate. More records can simply mean more vehicles were sold or more owners reported. No vehicles-in-service figure exists in this data, so no reliability or risk score can be derived from it.

What the records are about, by source

Each source is kept separate: owner complaints, recalls, manufacturer communications and investigations are different kinds of record and are never added together. All model years.

• Owner complaints (17,676 records, model years 2003–2026) are most frequently classified under: electrical system, visibility (glass, wipers, mirrors) and powertrain (transmission & drivetrain).
• Safety recalls (245 records, model years 2003–2023) are most frequently classified under: air bags (restraint system), powertrain (transmission & drivetrain) and brakes.
• Transport Canada recalls (174 records, model years 2003–2024) are most frequently classified under: air bags (restraint system), powertrain (transmission & drivetrain) and equipment & accessories.
• Manufacturer communications (9,754 records, model years 2003–2026) are most frequently classified under: electrical system, equipment & accessories and engine.
• Investigations (14 records, model years 2003–2017) are most frequently classified under: air bags (restraint system).

"Most frequently classified under" reports how the records are filed by the source. It is not a finding about causes, and a record can be filed under more than one system. Read the individual records

Mileage reported when the issue occurred

• 65reports included a mileage
• 104,629average of those mileages

This is the mileage owners recorded at the time they reported, not an expected failure mileage and not a prediction for any individual vehicle. The lowest and highest figures on record are not shown: they are unverified odometer entries that include zeros and implausibly high readings, so they would not describe a real range. A median is not shown either, because the stored figures are group totals and a median cannot be recovered from them.

Evidence by model year

Records held per model year. Select a year to narrow this page to it.

1. 2003 308 records for 2003 308
2. 2004 294 records for 2004 294
3. 2005 533 records for 2005 533
4. 2006 488 records for 2006 488
5. 2007 338 records for 2007 338
6. 2008 438 records for 2008 438
7. 2009 311 records for 2009 311
8. 2010 700 records for 2010 700
9. 2011 1,007 records for 2011 1,007
10. 2012 634 records for 2012 634
11. 2013 826 records for 2013 826
12. 2014 582 records for 2014 582
13. 2015 1,060 records for 2015 1,060
14. 2016 1,120 records for 2016 1,120
15. 2017 1,309 records for 2017 1,309
16. 2018 1,237 records for 2018 1,237
17. 2019 1,452 records for 2019 1,452
18. 2020 1,508 records for 2020 1,508
19. 2021 771 records for 2021 771
20. 2022 854 records for 2022 854
21. 2023 409 records for 2023 409
22. 2024 322 records for 2024 322
23. 2025 220 records for 2025 220
24. 2026 61 records for 2026 61

Counts are not adjusted for how many vehicles were sold in each year, so a taller year is not necessarily a worse year.

Reports mentioning outcomes

• 7mention a crash
• 1mention a fire
• 3mention an injury

These are counts of records whose report mentioned the outcome. They are not a severity rating and not a safety assessment of this vehicle.

Official records held

• Safety recalls NHTSA 15
• Manufacturer communications NHTSA 190
• Investigations NHTSA 2
• Transport Canada recalls Transport Canada 8
• Owner complaints NHTSA 93

Explore the underlying evidence records