1996 Subaru Legacy problems
Owners have filed 161 complaints with NHTSA about the 1996 Subaru Legacy. Air bags is the most reported problem area, at 16% of complaints. After that come electrical system (15%) and engine (14%).
At a glance
- Complaints
- 161 filed with NHTSA
- Most reported
- Air bags 16% of complaints
- Crashes and fires
- 32 and 4
- Injuries and deaths
- 18 and 0
- Typical mileage
- 79,000 miles 29 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 | 1 |
| 20k to 40k miles | 0 |
| 40k to 60k miles | 4 |
| 60k to 80k miles | 10 |
| 80k to 100k miles | 6 |
| 100k to 120k miles | 2 |
| 120k to 140k miles | 2 |
| 140k to 160k miles | 3 |
| 160k to 180k miles | 0 |
| 180k to 200k miles | 0 |
| 200k+ miles | 1 |
What the data shows
Among the 29 complaints that report mileage, the typical (median) problem appeared at about 79,000 miles.
Safety-related details: 32 complaints mention a crash; 4 complaints mention a fire; 18 injuries reported. Its complaints are more severe on average than those of 88% 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 1996 ranks 11th most-complained-about out of 34 model years of the Subaru Legacy with enough data (95 complaints in that window). It is also covered by 3 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.
Vehicle was at a stand still when it was hit head on. Front air bags did not deploy until passenger went through windshield, and driver hit steering wheel. Consumer has not yet made any contact with manufacturer or dealer.
When vehicle was involved in a head-on crash going about (55) MPH on the highway there was no deployment of air bags. Vehicle was totalled.
While vehicle was involved in an accident, 11 years old son who was buckled into his seat belt was thrown forward/back at which point his head hit a piece of hard plastic embedded in the top of the back seat and got a bump on the head.
While traveling at 10 MPH through the snow vehicle got stuck in the snow. Vehicle was suppose to be equipped with all wheel drive, but didn't perform like it.
Tl*the contact owns a 1996 subaru legacy. The vehicle failed to start and was towed to the dealer. The dealer attributed the cause of failure to the wires inside the fuel tank being burnt because the internal connector had loose terminals. The fuel pump module was replaced. The current mileage is 85,000 and failure mileage was 84,600.