Verified government source

NHTSA complaint #11536503

This page summarizes an official U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration owner complaint. Use the verification links below to confirm the record directly with NHTSA.

Vehicle

2022 SUBARU OUTBACK

Manufacturer

Subaru of America, Inc.

Components

ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,LANE DEPARTURE

Dates

Incident: 11/19/2021
Filed: 08/04/2023

Owner complaint summary

I've experienced problems with the center Infotainment screen about 2 months after purchasing a 2022 Outback Wilderness edition. It seems to happen when I use Apple CarPlay (as this is the only way I listen to music and must plug in my phone using the USB to start CarPlay). The Infotainment screen has a long lag time to respond to clicks on the center screen, will freeze, and crash the system suddenly. The most extreme effect of this is that when the Infotainment screen crashes/freezes, the EyeSight safety features of the car such as Lane Keeping Assistance, Blind Spot Warning, Forward Crash Warning also stop working. I'll see all of the dashboard signals and notifications on the dashboard screen indicating the features are disabled. Additionally, I'm unable to control the AC when the screen crash happens. This happens while the vehicle is in operation and the vehicle user manual doesn't provide any troubleshoot options. Sometimes the screen will remain on after I've turned the car off. I can only hope the screen will shut off and restart after I've completely shut the car off to "fix this". There have been many times I've had to keep driving without the Eyesight safety features or AC when the screen crashes. I've tried to update the Infotainment screen myself with the supposedly "over the air" updates Subaru offers. It says my system is up to date even though I've found online Subaru service bulletins saying there are new software versions released. At my first six month dealer service, I asked about released updates and the service manager denied the newest updates can be installed on my car (which is STILL less than a year old). I brought my vehicle to another subaru dealership with this issue and they said they are aware of it. The service manager also said that the software update only fixes about 20% of vehicles that have this issue and a full replacement of the center screen unit is likely needed. Why has the NHTSA not directed Subaru to issue a recall?

This is an owner complaint filed with NHTSA (ODI #11536503). It is not automatically an official recall, investigation outcome, or manufacturer admission unless the complaint text itself describes one.

Official record ID (ODI): 11536503. This page is the human-readable source link used across afterwarranty. The raw JSON link proxies NHTSA's public API for machine verification; prefer this page when reading the complaint.