2001 Subaru Legacy problems
Owners have filed 90 complaints with NHTSA about the 2001 Subaru Legacy. Fuel system is the most reported problem area, at 23% of complaints. After that come engine (14%) and cruise control (11%).
At a glance
- Complaints
- 90 filed with NHTSA
- Most reported
- Fuel system 23% of complaints
- Crashes and fires
- 12 and 2
- Injuries and deaths
- 5 and 0
- Typical mileage
- 54,000 miles 49 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 | 5 |
| 20k to 40k miles | 14 |
| 40k to 60k miles | 8 |
| 60k to 80k miles | 4 |
| 80k to 100k miles | 0 |
| 100k to 120k miles | 9 |
| 120k to 140k miles | 7 |
| 140k to 160k miles | 0 |
| 160k to 180k miles | 0 |
| 180k to 200k miles | 2 |
| 200k+ miles | 0 |
What the data shows
Among the 49 complaints that report mileage, the typical (median) problem appeared at about 54,000 miles. For fuel system specifically, the median reported mileage is about 51,000 miles (20 complaints with mileage).
Safety-related details: 12 complaints mention a crash; 2 complaints mention a fire; 5 injuries reported.
Looking only at complaints filed within five years of the model year (so older and newer years are comparable), the 2001 ranks 17th most-complained-about out of 34 model years of the Subaru Legacy with enough data (54 complaints in that window). It is also covered by 7 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.
My subaru legacy, 2001, 25,000 miles, caught on fire in the front right part under the hood suddenly on my way home 2/5/03, I was locked in the car and unable to get out till the car filled with smoke, I was panicking, as I was unable to breath. At that point I thought I would pass out, or die soon, the people outside could not get me out. My car was totaled, and still under warranty. Subaru has not responded, I am without a car. This has been very stressful for me and my family.
Consumer was attemting to pull into a parking space while lightly touching brake pedal when vehicle suddenly accelerated, running over an enbankment and hitting the side of a building. Brake pedal was to the floor, but the vehicle would not stop. Consumer sustained injuries to neck and back areas of the body, and damage to vehicle was estimated over three thousand dollars. Dealer has yet to be contacted. The consumer stated that the dealer has the vehicle to try to determine cause of problem.
Consumer was involved in 30 MPH front end collision with a building in which front passenger's side and driver side airbags failed to deploy. Injuries were sustained to consumers back and neck. Damage to vehicle was estimated over four thousand dollars. Dealer has yet to be contacted. Please provide further details.
Fuel system issue. I have owned my vehicle for approximately 9 months. I bought it as a used car from sloane in philadelphia. It has approximately 17000 miles on it and is considered still under warranty. I have had to take it in for service 4 times for the vehicle hesitating upon acceleration. The service center first said the hesitation came from a bad battery, second incident they stated they could not find anything wrong, third incident, when I almost got in an accident because the vehicle started to stall up…
2001 subaru legacy wagon emits gas smell into cabin on start up in cold weather months. Although numerous owners complain with regard to this issue via internet, subaru has yet to issue a TSB. This is a dangerous condition that subaru should be required to fix free of charge.