2018 Subaru Outback Subaru Outback 2018

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2018 Subaru Outback repairs by problem area

Engine (9%)

Transmission and Drivetrain (2%)

Brakes and Traction Control (0%)

Suspension and Steering (5%)

Electrical and Air Conditioning (56%)

Paint, Rust, Leaks, Rattles, and Trim (14%)

Other (13%)

Chart based on 64 repairs.
See TSBs and recalls for the 2018 Subaru Outback.

2018 Subaru Outback repair cost distribution

$2500+ (3%)

$1000 - $2499 (0%)

$500 - $999 (0%)

$100 - $499 (8%)

< $100 (89%)

Worried about potential repair costs? An extended warranty can provide peace of mind.

Chart based on 37 repair trips. The repair cost chart excludes repairs made under warranty, do-it-yourself repairs, and repair trips that include maintenance.

2018 Subaru Outback

Engine not specified

Subaru Outback in New York, United States
Aug 2017 - Jun 2022
Mar 2018

5000 mi
Passenger side front, body under headlight popped out. Dealer popped it back in, and thought that snow/ice build-up in the wheel well forced the piece out. 

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2018 Subaru Outback 4dr Wagon

256-horsepower 3.6L H6 6-speed shiftable CVT AWD

Subaru Outback in New Hampshire, United States
Oct 2017 - Jun 2022
May 2018

6000 mi

US $49
Performed software update to resolve radio/nav unit lockups and crashes. Car was delivered with a gap between passengers side headlight and hood. Known issue by Subaru... 
Feb 2022

48 mi
MySubaru mandatory hardware/software update. Oil pan seal leaking. Repaired. 
Subaru Outback in New York, United States
Nov 2017 - Jun 2022
Feb 2018

6000 mi
Audio system would lock up and not allow selection of any input or play any sounds. Audio system software updated. Thumping and squeaking noise over bumps 
Subaru Outback in New Jersey, United States
Jul 2018 - Nov 2019
Mar 2019

12000 mi
and gas gauge repair 
Subaru Outback in California, United States
Mar 2018 - Jun 2022
Mar 2018

1000 mi
Daytime running light on drivers side wasn't working 
Apr 2018

1250 mi
dealer replaced drivers headlight assembly a 2nd time to fix the day time running light. repair successful this time Rear drivers side passenger seat tilt adjustment broken. Dealer replaced parts and fixed problem 
Subaru Outback in Pennsylvania, United States
Aug 2017 - Jan 2023
Mar 2021

39075 mi
Battery failed prematurely. Replaced under TSB at no charge. Modified system under TSB to prevent phantom battery drain. 
Jan 2022

45000 mi
Previous battery replaced under courtesy warranty failed in 10 months. New battery installed at no charge. 
Subaru Outback in Ohio, United States
Mar 2018 - Mar 2023
Dec 2018

17000 mi

US $50
Drivers seat squeaks periodically. I will have to take in again - not present when at dealer. 
Jan 2019

6000 mi
Windows would not open. Had to spray silicone grease into tracks 
Mar 2019

7000 mi
Radio head unit reprogrammed second time. Working much better now. Seat squeaks parts on order 
Aug 2019

11000 mi
Driver's seat frame replaced under warranty due to seat squeak. 
Subaru Outback in Florida, United States
Jan 2018 - May 2020
Nov 2018

10000 mi
Audio head unit including nav and rear camera system replaced 
Subaru Outback in Massachusetts, United States
Apr 2018 - Sep 2018
Jun 2018

1000 mi
Passenger rear window would not respond to drivers’s master switch. Dealer solved problem by reprogramming rear window. 
Subaru Outback in New Jersey, United States
Feb 2018 - Dec 2021
Feb 2019

12000 mi
Replaced stereo/Navhead unit 
Subaru Outback in New Mexico, United States
Nov 2017 - Sep 2018
Feb 2018

1000 mi
Passenger-side window would roll-down just fine, but when trying to raise the window, it would stop about 3/4 of the way up. I would have to pull the window up by hand. Dealer sprayed silicone in the tracks and this seems to have fixed the issue. 
Apr 2018

2000 mi
Front-Right passengers window would reach the top and would then come back down to the halfway point. Infotaiment system had to have software update due to system acting flaky (system freeze.....etc) 
Aug 2018

3400 mi
Front passenger-side grab handle (often referred to as the "oh shit" handle) mounting point had become very loose. Dealer said they replaced it. Still seems loose to me. Steering Wheel center-cap rattles to the point that it becomes very annoying. Dealer claims "they all do that" and said they would stuff it full of 'stuff' to quiet it down. There's been no improvement in the the rattle. Audio/Nav/Infotainment System required another software update to fix issues with the pre-set channels not being reaitned and the back-up camera sometimes not coming on when in reverse. 
Sep 2018

3000 mi
Drivers seat has developed a terrible squeak. Dealer replaced seat bottom. 
Subaru Outback in Oregon, United States
May 2018 - Jun 2022
Oct 2021

39000 mi

US $250
Loose ignition coil on spark plug 
Subaru Outback in Manitoba, Canada
Apr 2018 - Mar 2022
Feb 2022

26660 mi
no sound on radio, no voice on maps, no beeps 
Subaru Outback in North Carolina, United States
Nov 2017 - Jul 2022
Jan 2018

2488 mi
Leaking Oil from Front Cover. Resealed 2 Bolts. Found that fix was not successful when checking a few days later. Oil leak repair. Replaced both cylinder head gaskets and resealed upper oil pan. 
Subaru Outback in Virginia, United States
Mar 2018 - Jul 2022
Sep 2021

29000 mi
Rear right window wouldn't work at local or driver remote switch. Dealer reset body control module and functionality returned. 
Subaru Outback in Tennessee, United States
Sep 2017 - Jun 2022
Oct 2017

100 mi
Corrected dealer installation of trailer hitch by adding wiring harness bracket. Entertainment center owners manual notes menu feature (speed volume) not on my car. Dealer could not fix. 
Dec 2017

1000 mi
Software update to correct bugs in radio/cd/nav unit. Update did not correct all problems. 
Subaru Outback in Wisconsin, United States
Jan 2021 - Jun 2022
Dec 2021

73000 mi
Battery dead 
Subaru Outback in New York, United States
Jan 2018 - Jun 2018
Feb 2018

4000 mi
HEAD END UNIT FOR NAV ON 3.6R LIMITED SOFTWARE UPDATE 
Subaru Outback in Ohio, United States
Nov 2017 - Jun 2022
Oct 2021

14500 mi

US $15
Total audio loss. Head unit was operational (nav, radio, etc visually responded to controls on screen), but no audio. Researched a Subaru forum & found it was a common problem, just had to replace audio fuse in main fuse block. 
Subaru Outback in Virginia, United States
Sep 2017 - Jan 2022
Oct 2017

400 mi
Alignment was off at delivery. Car pulled to right. Took to dealer for adjustment. Issue was rectified. 

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2018 Subaru Outback 4dr Wagon

175-horsepower 2.5L H4 6-speed shiftable CVT AWD

Subaru Outback in Michigan, United States
Aug 2017 - May 2020
Oct 2019

49000 mi
Oil leaking from cam carriers. Dealer pulled engine out and repaired gaskets on both sides. Covered 100% under extended engine warranty. 
Subaru Outback in Newfoundland / Lab., Canada
Oct 2020 - Jun 2022
Aug 2020

24180 mi
Trim on Sunroof loose. Sunroof replaced by dealer 
Subaru Outback in Ontario, Canada
Dec 2017 - Jun 2022
Jun 2019

24800 mi
Squeaky drivers seat, repaired under warranty 
Subaru Outback in Arizona, United States
Jun 2018 - Feb 2024
Dec 2020

28000 mi
LED indicator on the gear shift not working. Car kept over night for the part to arrive. Warranty repair. 
May 2022

39380000 mi

US $380
If the rear hatch was left open (which we did at dog trials) it would drain the battery. Rear hatch module was replaced. 
Subaru Outback in California, United States
Nov 2017 - Jun 2022
Jul 2021

45000 mi

US $75
AC blower fan failure on road trip during 100F + heatwave. Blower fan was not difficult to replace 
Subaru Outback in North Carolina, United States
Aug 2017 - Jun 2018
Jun 2018

15000 mi
The Starlink system failed and the DCM module had to be replaced. At the same time, the head unit failed to turn on when the car was started. The dealership reset the battery, and the head unit resumed working. I've been told there will be a software updates that will hopefully help this problem in the future. 
Subaru Outback in Arkansas, United States
Jan 2018 - Mar 2018
Jan 2018

4000 mi
entertainment module 
Subaru Outback in Colorado, United States
Oct 2017 - Jun 2022
Mar 2018

5000 mi
Deer whistle fell inside grill and disabled Eyesight. 
Subaru Outback in North Carolina, United States
Nov 2017 - Mar 2018
Dec 2017

220 mi
Head unit freezes constantly and requires reset via disconnecting battery cable. Dealer updated system firmware. Unsuccessful. Head unit freezes constantly. Infotainment/navigation unusable. Dealer replaced head unit. System is now better, but still shows problems. 
Subaru Outback in Missouri, United States
Nov 2017 - Dec 2017
Dec 2017

900 mi
Subaru Starlink system didn't work correctly, system would freeze and lock up, and I had to bring the vehicle in to have the data updated. 
Subaru Outback in Minnesota, United States
Nov 2017 - Mar 2018
Dec 2017

650 mi
Software Update for Hartman Kardon Stereo, Subaru STARLINK, and posfibly other systems (unsure). 
Subaru Outback in North Carolina, United States
Oct 2017 - Jun 2018
Mar 2018

6000 mi
Infotainment firmware updated after audio system crash 
Subaru Outback in Colorado, United States
Oct 2017 - Jun 2018
May 2018

4000 mi
Leaking rear passenger side strut 
Subaru Outback in Michigan, United States
Nov 2017 - Jul 2018
Jul 2018

3000 mi
Totally discharged battery due to luggage dome light left on overnight 
Subaru Outback in Washington, United States
Dec 2017 - Jun 2022
Feb 2019

11000 mi
Dead head unit replaced under warranty and fuel gauge software updated due to recall. 
Jun 2020

26200 mi
Driver side intake manifold replaced to reoccurring P2005 CEL 
Subaru Outback in Illinois, United States
Jul 2018 - Nov 2022
Mar 2019

7000 mi
Gas monitoring and trip to empty software fix; flash update to entertainment system to address black screen issues that affected some models 
Jun 2020

18000 mi
The sound system would not download updates. Dealer reset and was able to download the most recent update. 
Subaru Outback in New York, United States
Aug 2017 - Oct 2021
Sep 2017

900 mi
Replaced audio (radio) unit in car. Radio had problem from day of delivery. 
Subaru Outback in Arizona, United States
Dec 2017 - Jan 2022
Jun 2018

7600 mi
Paint peeling off of both rear quarter panels----behind wheels-----just above rubber bumper or rubber guards. 
Mar 2021

38000 mi

US $5100
transmission replacement 
Subaru Outback in Florida, United States
Oct 2017 - Jul 2022
May 2018

6000 mi
Infotainment system did not work properly. Software update was performed and solved problems. 

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2018 Subaru Outback 4dr Wagon

173-horsepower 2.5L H4 6-speed shiftable CVT AWD

Subaru Outback in Quebec, Canada
Nov 2017 - Jun 2022
Jun 2022

19840 mi

C $250
Windshield cracked overnight starting from the passenger edge without any projectile hitting the glass surface. Windshield had to be replaced. 

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See TrueDelta's information for all Subaru models.

2018 Subaru Outback Repair Histories

See our lemon odds and nada odds page to see vehicles with no repairs or vehicles with more than three repairs. To see how frequently 2018 Subaru Outback problems occur, check out our car reliability stats.