2003 Subaru Outback problems
The 2003 Subaru Outback has 116 complaints on file with NHTSA. The largest share (16%) concerns air bags. Next are engine (16%) and suspension (9%).
At a glance
- Complaints
- 116 filed with NHTSA
- Most reported
- Air bags 16% of complaints
- Crashes and fires
- 7 and 1
- Injuries and deaths
- 3 and 0
- Typical mileage
- 74,000 miles 84 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 | 19 |
| 20k to 40k miles | 11 |
| 40k to 60k miles | 2 |
| 60k to 80k miles | 16 |
| 80k to 100k miles | 21 |
| 100k to 120k miles | 3 |
| 120k to 140k miles | 6 |
| 140k to 160k miles | 3 |
| 160k to 180k miles | 1 |
| 180k to 200k miles | 1 |
| 200k+ miles | 1 |
What the data shows
Of the 84 complaints that include odometer readings, half describe a problem before roughly 74,000 miles.
Safety-related details: 7 complaints mention a crash; 1 complaint mentions a fire; 3 injuries reported.
Looking only at complaints filed within five years of the model year (so older and newer years are comparable), the 2003 ranks 25th most-complained-about out of 31 model years of the Subaru Outback with enough data (56 complaints in that window). It is also covered by 14 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.
While driving at 35 MPH consumer's vehicle struck another vehicle and the air bag did not deploy. Driver sustained injuries.
Tl*the contact owns a 2003 subaru outback. While driving 10 MPH, engaging the brakes, the vehicle accelerated to the highest rpm's and hit the vehicle in front of her. The vehicle steering, brakes, gears were all locked. The gas pedal was stuck and the vehicle continued to accelerate rapidly. She was able to turn the engine off by using the key. The vehicle was towed to the dealer and they stated that they were unable to diagnose the failure.
Takata recall this may pertain to the takata air bag recall. My wife and I were in a "t-bone" type collision at ~45 MPH and the driver and passenger airbags failed to deploy in our 2003 outback. When I check the VIN I did not see any open recalls nor did I ever receive any recall notifications for the car.
On a very cold morning the vehicles gas pedal became stuck and caused sudden accelerate. As a result the vehicle crashed into 4 other cars.
When driving the car down the road a strong odor of raw gasoline was smelt in the cabin of the car, I pulled over and popped the hood open and found gas spraying out of the rubber fuel line on the passenger side of the engine coming from in between the rubber hose and the metal line feeding the fuel injectors as if the hose clamp was lose. It was -5 f outside when this occurred, the car was parked till it warmed up to work on it, 30 f here in minnesota and the fuel leak had disappeared.