2018 Subaru Legacy problems
Owners have filed 165 complaints with NHTSA about the 2018 Subaru Legacy. Electrical system is the most reported problem area, at 25% of complaints. After that come wipers, windshield & visibility (20%) and engine (6%).
At a glance
- Complaints
- 165 filed with NHTSA
- Most reported
- Electrical system 25% of complaints
- Crashes and fires
- 14 and 3
- Injuries and deaths
- 1 and 0
- Typical mileage
- 20,000 miles 70 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 | 34 |
| 20k to 40k miles | 26 |
| 40k to 60k miles | 4 |
| 60k to 80k miles | 3 |
| 80k to 100k miles | 2 |
| 100k to 120k miles | 1 |
| 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
Among the 70 complaints that report mileage, the typical (median) problem appeared at about 20,000 miles. For electrical system specifically, the median reported mileage is about 15,000 miles (13 complaints with mileage).
Safety-related details: 14 complaints mention a crash; 3 complaints mention a fire; 1 injury reported.
Looking only at complaints filed within five years of the model year (so older and newer years are comparable), the 2018 ranks 8th most-complained-about out of 34 model years of the Subaru Legacy with enough data (114 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.
The Driver Side Rear View when I started the Car back in January of 2024 after car had been running for 30 Seconds smoke and Fire flames were seen coming through that rear view mirror immediately contacted Subaru of America and was called back with urgency and they fixed this issue but since then I haves a few other issues I believe relate to the wiring inside the vehicle and due to the wiring, which caused the fire.
Acceleration hesitates or stutters when slowly accelerating, like from a stop in a neighborhood. 2018 legacy 3.6r has done this since purchased in april 2019.
A small crack emanating vertically on the passenger side on the very bottom of the screen beginning 1 month ago has spread horizontally towards the driver's side.