2020 Subaru Ascent problems
NHTSA has received 409 complaints about the 2020 Subaru Ascent, and 25% of them involve electrical system. Next are wipers, windshield & visibility (15%) and drivetrain & axles (14%).
At a glance
- Complaints
- 409 filed with NHTSA
- Most reported
- Electrical system 25% of complaints
- Crashes and fires
- 14 and 2
- Injuries and deaths
- 11 and 0
- Typical mileage
- 6,000 miles 165 complaints with mileage
Source: NHTSA owner complaints
Where the complaints are
Share of this model year's complaints by the part of the car involved. One complaint can name more than one part, so the shares can add up to more than 100%.
When problems show up
View the numbers
| Mileage | Complaints |
|---|---|
| 0k to 20k miles | 143 |
| 20k to 40k miles | 11 |
| 40k to 60k miles | 2 |
| 60k to 80k miles | 4 |
| 80k to 100k miles | 2 |
| 100k to 120k miles | 1 |
| 120k to 140k miles | 1 |
| 140k to 160k miles | 1 |
| 160k to 180k miles | 0 |
| 180k to 200k miles | 0 |
| 200k+ miles | 0 |
What the data shows
Of the 165 complaints that include odometer readings, half describe a problem before roughly 6,000 miles. For electrical system specifically, the median reported mileage is about 6,000 miles (52 complaints with mileage).
Safety-related details: 14 complaints mention a crash; 2 complaints mention a fire; 11 injuries reported. Its complaints are less severe on average than those of 81% of model years in our database.
Looking only at complaints filed within five years of the model year (so older and newer years are comparable), the 2020 ranks 2nd most-complained-about out of 6 model years of the Subaru Ascent with enough data (381 complaints in that window). It is also covered by 5 safety recall campaigns.
What owners wrote
A few complaints as filed, shortened and with personal details removed. The first ones are among the most serious reports for this model year; the rest are typical.
Sudden unwanted rapid acceleration toward a building from parking lot causing head on collision: - Manual brakes failed - Automatic brakes did not engage - Airbags did NOT deploy after hitting an immovable object head on at least twice - Driver seatbelt did not lock - Starlink was not activated / notified - No collision warning was sounded (moot) Both driver and front passenger were severely injured and taken by ambulance to ER.
Within a seven month period and while my car had under 10,000 miles on it, I've had to replace the windshield twice. Both times a pea size chip had progressed into a 12-18 inch crack within a hour while the car was parked. Both times I was driving on the same city highway at speeds at/under 60 MPH and was hit with common highway gravel.
The contact owns a 2020 Subaru Ascent. The contact stated that while his wife was driving at 55 MPH, the vehicle stalled. No warning lights illuminated. The contact stated that the failure was related to NHTSA Campaign Number: 21V955000 (Power Train). The vehicle was towed to the local dealer where it was diagnosed that the transmission needed to be repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure, but no assistance was provided. The failure mileage was approximately 62,000.