2018 Subaru Crosstrek problems
NHTSA has received 256 complaints about the 2018 Subaru Crosstrek, and 29% of them involve wipers, windshield & visibility. Next are engine (13%) and electrical system (12%).
At a glance
- Complaints
- 256 filed with NHTSA
- Most reported
- Wipers, windshield & visibility 29% of complaints
- Crashes and fires
- 17 and 1
- Injuries and deaths
- 1 and 0
- Typical mileage
- 18,000 miles 153 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 | 85 |
| 20k to 40k miles | 38 |
| 40k to 60k miles | 19 |
| 60k to 80k miles | 7 |
| 80k to 100k miles | 4 |
| 100k to 120k miles | 0 |
| 120k to 140k miles | 0 |
| 140k to 160k miles | 0 |
| 160k to 180k miles | 0 |
| 180k to 200k miles | 0 |
| 200k+ miles | 0 |
What the data shows
Of the 153 complaints that include odometer readings, half describe a problem before roughly 18,000 miles. For wipers, windshield & visibility specifically, the median reported mileage is about 21,000 miles (60 complaints with mileage).
Safety-related details: 17 complaints mention a crash; 1 complaint mentions a fire; 1 injury reported. Its complaints are less severe on average than those of 80% 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 2018 ranks 2nd most-complained-about out of 12 model years of the Subaru Crosstrek with enough data (232 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.
2018 Subaru Crosstrek rapidly accelerated unexpectedly while pulling into a parking space with the foot on the brake. Hit a concrete pole and sustained vehicle damage and injuries.
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
Tl* the contact owns a 2018 subaru crosstrek. While driving at low speeds, the vehicle stalled and was rear ended. A police report was not filed and there were no injuries. The air bags did not deploy. There was no body damage to the contact's vehicle. The contact mentioned that the failure occurred intermittently. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and referred the contact back to the dealer. The failure mileage was 7,000.
Vehicle turned off while driving two times in traffic causing near collisions. Its been at dealer for more than a week. The dealer says they couldn't repair it so subaru sent out engineers and determined their was a fault with no repair protocol available. They say they will have to keep my car until they can repair it. They mentioned another car in the phoenix area having the same problem. They stated that they might have to develop new software to fix the problem.
Upon starting car in driveway found power steering sluggish and requiring great force (operative, but no apparent boost). Engine sluggisn like limp-home mode. Additionally mil, tc and other lights illuminated on dash. I took photo. I forget if it threw odb codes, but I remember that it two battery disconnect cycles, and two odb code clearing cycles, to regain normal function. I forget id any odb codes were set. Here are the conditions: daytime morning, about 11am, ambient temperature about 65 degrees.