A small pebble hit the windshield on 7/17/15 showing a tiny chip and 2-3 mm crack. We had the chip repaired by safelight early morning of 7/18/15 and it looked good. The next day, 7/19/15, there were 2 cracks over 6 inches long and the window will have to be replaced. Would have chalked it up to just bad luck to have the repair fail until I came across reports of similar incidents on the internet and then came across this site.
2015 Subaru Outback visibility complaints
Page 5 of 6: complaints 101 to 130 of 143, newest first, as owners wrote them.
Navigation system screen has serious glare during daylight hours. Almost drove off road into a ditch yesterday, while trying to see screen. No one else on road. System virtually useless. Also severe glare on driver-side mirror from car interior, makes it hard to see vehicles on left. Subaru could fix this problem with designing a pre-cut anti-glare screen cover or simply replacing the navigation system screen with a new anti-glare plastic one. Someone will eventually get hurt or killed.
Found a 2 foot crack on my brand new subaru outback. After washing my car yesterday, I stood back to admire how great the car looked and then went inside. When I came back outside 2 hours later, I noticed a 2 foot crack in the windshield with the starting point immediately under the wiper blade on the passenger side. A rock could not have possibly hit the car under the blade. This is a brand new car and I've taken extra precautions with it. I can't believe that this has happened.
Windshield found cracked unexpectedly when coming out from a store. 6" crack grew quickly over 2 weeks, spreading all over the passenger side in a branched formation about 2x1'. Yesterday, another crack developed in front of the driver's side and is compromising visibility with a glare from the crack and growing quickly again. Replacement windshield is back-ordered for several weeks. Have been waiting about 1 month now, driving with an unsafe/unsightly brand new car, and I'm out a $500 deductible. Going to contact subaru as well, but they need more pressure to replace and reimburse this seemingly common problem with this brand new car. Updated 10/9/15 *ln.......updated 10/19/15 *bf updated 11/28/2017
On july 9, I was driving down the interstate I take to work and heard a small pop, like a pebble hitting the windshield. The windshield instantly cracked in an l shape down around the rearview mirror. By the time I got home from work that night, that crack had extended to about 18 inches long. I have been driving cars a long time, and have had numerous pebble strikes without any of my previous windshields cracking. I feel that this is obviously due to some sort of defect in the windshield, as is evidenced by many others who are having the same issue. I love the car otherwise, but am worried about having to replace the windshield every time I turn around. Some people that have posted complaints were on their third windshield this year on their 2015 outbacks. This is not acceptable! I emailed subaru and did get a reply suggesting I take the car to the dealer and let them inspect it, and that they were "not aware" of any problems with the windshields for the 2015 outbacks. Information on this page and several others suggests otherwise. We need to speak up so subaru knows what is going on and is forced to address this issue.
My wife was driving to work and a stone hit the windshield. She checked it when she got to work and said there was a small chip. By the time she got home the chip had become a crack and was almost a foot long. We have limited our use of the vehicle but the crack continues to grow and is now over two feet long. Safelite has said that the windshield is on national back order. I have had stone chips before and they were easy to repair and did not require replacement. My main concern is that I not have to pay for another windshield if there is a design flaw.
Drove through a construction zone on a military base (30 MPH) and parked at the bank. No noise indication of a rock hitting the windshield. Came out of the bank and there was a 6-8 inch crack starting under the passenger side wipers, that extended from the edge up into the passengers view. Drove the car another approximately 10 minutes to get home, crack became 12-16 inches. Parked the car in the driveway and marked it with a window marker. The next day the crack was 3 inches longer....from sitting in the driveway?? Either way, here it is july and still waiting on a new windshield. Crack extends halfway up and into the middle of the windshield...and the car has not been driven. It has been parked since the 19th of june but the crack is still getting bigger.
We had the same experience with our windshield that others have had -- see, eg, complaint # 10730819. About two weeks after buying a new 2015 outback, while driving out of our somewhat steeply-angled garage, the windshield cracked. I saw no evidence of a stone hitting the windshield and thought there was a structural defect. Took the car to our dealer who did a "pen test" on the exterior of the windshield. The pen tip, indeed, caught in the crack and the repair person said that indicated a rock hit and we just had unfortunate luck. The crack grew quickly, snaking around the windshield, while we waited a few weeks for the replacement windshield to become available via safelite. Based on this and other comment sites, I'm concerned about a repeat crack. Also, of course, wondering if it was really just "bad luck." our subaru dealer's service department has been non-communicative. I contacted subaru corporate with a complaint and received no response. Deeply disappointed - and we've been a "subaru family" for a long time.
Car was parked in a parking lot away from trees or any other vegetation. Was gone from car for approximately 10 minutes. Upon return, there was a 12 inch crack descending from upper right hand corner of windshield. By morning, after having been parked inside a locked garage, and with less than 2 more miles driven, crack had grown another 12 inches (approximately.)
Our subaru outback was impacted by a small pebble that cracked our windshield. I put in a claim with our insurance company immediately and setup a replacement with safelite. Got a call later indicating that the part is not in stock and needs to be ordered. That was 4 weeks ago at this point and still no indication of when this will be resolved. The cracks continue to spread and now is a safety issue since the cracks are in the driver's line of sight. I (and I assume many other people) have tried contacting subaru and I for one am not getting any response from them on this issue thus we need to continue driving an unsafe car due to the fact we do not have the money to have a rental and again because no one can provide an eta we wouldn't know how long we'd need one assuming we could get one. Based on what I read here this could happen again within a short time once we do get the windshield replaced. Some type of investigation needs to be conducted and a recall issued. I think there is enough evidence to show there is some kind of defect with the windshields of this car and when safety is threatened, steps should be taken to protect us. I apologize if this doesn't fit the criteria of what should be posted here but not having a replacement windshield in a timely fashion in itself is a safety hazard.
Tl* the contact owns a 2015 subaru outback. While parked, the vehicle developed a crack in the windshield. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, but was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 1,250.
We sent a similar email to subaru of america june 5. They have been responsive...but we still have a cracked windshield and it remains a driving distraction....we purchased our 2015 outback in january from subaru of las vegas. In april a windshield crack appeared -we didn't see the rock, saw no chip to cause it but the dealer said he could feel one, so sorry, no warranty, so we claimed it on the insurance -replaced a few weeks ago for the $500 deductible. Changed to a $100 deductible the first of june and two days later another crack-instant and bigger. Saw the rock this time. Claimed on the insurance, again, but safelight had to cancel the appointment due to a shortage of subaru windshields -the aftermarket ones are out, and dealer is apparently having to ration out the oems!!! So we get to drive with a glaring, hazardous crack...I checked on the internet and found pages of new subaru windshield crack problems similar to ours -some seemed to indicate soa had covered replacement under warranty which should have happened the first time as there truly was no chip to start the crack. Subaru needs to do something about this -maybe thicker glass? Maybe a recall? We've driven subaru's for many years and have not had this type of problem. Please advise as to repairs, reimbursements, etc., and what you are doing to fix the problem for the future -we cannot be replacing the windshield every few months! Now it is going on three weeks and no windshield, while the crack keeps getting bigger thanks
While washing my car, the passenger side wiper blade was extended and retracted into the windshield. I finished by drying the car, including the windshield, with a chamois cloth. No damage was noticeable at that time. After driving to the grocery store and back home, never going over 40 MPH, I looked over and noticed an 18 inch crack had developed on the passenger side of the windshield. Close inspection reveals a possible very small impact mark directly under one of the metal blade retention pieces on the wiper blade frame. There were no rocks that hit the windshield between the car wash, the grocery store, and home. I was told by the dealership that I would need to pay to replace it, and that I could just get safelite to do it. Safelite ordered the glass for me and confirmed what the dealership had said, that I would have to wait indefinitely for the glass, as it is on back order. This no doubt is due to the high number of failures as seen on this website and elsewhere on the internet. The local safelite repair shop even had 5 subaru vehicles with replacement glass on order. My research has uncovered numerous customers who have had to replace the glass on these 2015 vehicles multiple times. In my 37 years of driving, I have had windshield wiper blades retract against the windshield untold numbers of times, and this is the first time it has ever caused a failure. I think subaru needs to investigate this issue, find out why it is occurring, and reimburse those customers who have been impacted. This is my first subaru. Other than this issue, I like their product very much. My continued allegiance to them will depend on how they handle this issue.
Vehicle was parked outside overnight. In the morning a 12" s shaped crack had appeared in the passenger side of the windshield. There was no detectable prior damage and no known impact to cause the crack. The crack has continued to grow and branch. Dealer states the windshield fails the "pen test," I.e. There is a tiny nick at one point of the crack which, they say, proves the crack is due to impact damage. I believe the chip appeared after the crack formed, but cannot prove this (nor can the dealer prove the opposite). Online research suggests there is a design defect in 2015 subaru outback windshields, which fail at remarkable rate.
I was washing the windshield, so I raised the wiper arms like most people do when they want to clean the entire windshield. A slight breeze blew and knocked the passenger-side wiper down onto the glass cracking the windshield on impact. The impact crack then split up and toward the driver's-side about 2 feet in length. I have had numerous cars over my lifetime, and a falling wiper arm has never cracked my windshields. Upon further research on the web, I discovered scores of stories of folks going on their third or fourth windshield (on a 2015 model!!). I have to drive around in an unsafe manner because safelite cannot get the original part from the dealer due to them being backlogged. The windshields are backlogged because they keep cracking on everyone. Now I'm short $500 on my deductible, and I can just imagine like most others, I will be short $500 again in the near future because of a faulty design. The windshield is not safe on the road for impacts (one guy shut his door and the windshield cracked...crazy!). Please, get these windshields off the road and make subaru design another windshield and pay to replace them all! Thank you!
We purchased our 2015 outback jan 2, 2015. We were just getting on the freeway leaving new orleans when we heard a pop. We are not sure if a stone hit it or not, but a starburst smaller than a dime along with about 6 inch crack had occurred on the lower passenger area. The car had been parked in the sun so it was really hot. Now two days later it is about 24 inches long and is zagging across the entire windshield. When we called our insurance company we were told that their vendor could not get to us for several weeks. They referred us to a different vendor but the windshield is not available for 3 weeks. This appears to be a common occurrence so add me to the list of complainants.
We were extremely happy to purchase our first subaru outback with the new eyesight technology in mid-march. The car was almost 2 months old and I heard something hit the windshield while on a highway that I have been driving on for the past 7 years. I did not notice anything immediately. Nine hours later, I picked up a passenger who noticed a large crack at the top of the windshield (the rearview mirror was obstructing my view of the crack) which was about a foot long. Over the course of the next few days, the crack got larger and extended into my line of sight. After speaking to the insurance company, the windshield would be covered, but it was on national backorder and would not be available for 2-4 weeks. The glass arrived two weeks later and my windshield was replaced. Exactly one week after the windshield was fixed, I heard a little pop on the window while driving on the highway. I looked around and noticed I got another crack on the windshield. This time on the lower part of the windshield between the wiper blades. The crack started out around 3" long. A day later, the crack grew an additional 5". I started to think this can't be normal for a windshield to crack so easily, and after reading all the posts on this site and others, it seems that this is a common issue for the 2015 outbacks.
Brand new vehicle, parked on the street for approximately one hour. When returning to the car, a crack in the windshield, beginning at the lower center and extending to the middle of the windshield approximately 6 inches was evident. No debris on windshield and no evidence of it being hit with anything. Crack has now extended further up and around (shape of a large question mark) of about 2 ft in length. Contacted local dealers and glass companies for repair but no one has any in stock due to a very large number of these issues. And the projected date for when replacement glass will be available is now july 1 2015, more than 10 weeks since the defect appeared. Given what's been happening, I fully expect this crack to continue to grow and begin to hamper visibility. Web searches have yielded many similar reports of this happening.
While car wash parked in driveway being washed I noticed a crack in the passenger side front windshield .the crack is coming from the lower windshield heater then goes up towards the middle of windshield.still using car and the crack is past the rear view mirror.told by dealer subaru doesn't cover glass breakage advised him I was following up with subaru to please take info and pic's.he suggested going thru my car insurance but there are no rock chips or cracks so why should they pay. He advised he would show to the rep in a few weeks on his visit??. I personally think a windshield is a safety issue and they should move on it now. While researching it and seeing how this is a common issue with other people I am wondering about the safety of the car now. Started a case with subaru.
2015 subaru outback with eyesight technology. Had vehicle less than 2 months, sitting in driveway, next am noted large crack in windshield beginning in passenger lower corner and traveling diagonally up towards center of windshield. No trauma noted to windshield while driving (no rocks, etc). Seemed to have broken spontaneously. Made insurance claim 4/12/15. Unable to get new windshield as such a large backorder of these windshields for same reason and in same location. Still waiting with no end in sight. On-line threads indicate this is an ongoing issue that has yet to generate a recall.
We bought the subaru in anchorage and started heading toward our home in fairbanks. Approximately 100 miles into the journey we stopped to rest and eat. While sitting in the car talking, there was a pop sound and a large 9-10" crack appeared behind the mirror and binocular cameras descended into the passenger's view. I inspected the outside window for evidence of impact from a rock or debris, such as chipping, but there was none. I tried to get a replacement window after subaru blew me off, but was unable to due to an apparent large demand for replacement glass for this model. Since then cracks have appeared spontaneously from the bottom of the windshield working there way up. My son has a brand new 2015 subaru forester, which did the exact same thing on the way home from anchorage. Again subaru dealer denied they have seen any problem with the windshield, but read the complaints logged with the federal safety agency and one can only come to a different conclusion. Perhaps subaru is making their glass too thin to reduce weight or there is some sort of flexing of the window midpoint on the glass but this is a problem.
Subaru outback is two months old and developed a crack in the windshield, while the vehicle was parked. Crack started at the bottom/center of the windshield and was roughly eight inches straight up. Subaru accepts zero responsibility, so I have to pay for a new windshield. I have been waiting two weeks with no windshields available. Crack has grown to roughly thirty inches and a zig zag pattern now.
My windshield wipers stopped working. I was driving in atlanta, georgia on 5/17/15 at 4-7pm and my windshield wipers don't work. I pulled into a parking space to restart my vehicle and the wipers still not work. I ended up waiting inside my outback for over two hours waiting on the rain to stop. This is ridiculous! I brought this car brand new with 11 miles on it and after driving 900 miles the windshield wipers are not working.
I purchased my 2015 subaru outback in november 2014 and the first windshield crack occurred beginning of march 2015. The crack happened overnight and it was the day after a major snow storm. The crack initiated from the passenger side and up to the center of windshield. There was no sign of chips/cracks due to foreign objects which seem like a defective part/design to me. The crack propagated really quickly. I contacted dealership and they said its not covered under warranty and refused to look at the crack. The dealership also told me straight up to go through insurance and deal with it myself. I went through insurance and replaced the windshield with a genuine subaru part by the end of march. Just when I though it is over, a crack just appeared on my windshield on may 10, 2015. The crack seem to have initiated from the windshield heating compartment again. During the morning of may 11, 2015, I looked at the crack again and it didn't grow overnight. However, when I checked on it while it was parked at work during noon time, the crack grew about 2 inches. This is unacceptable for a brand new car to have to go through 2 cracked windshields. A good windshield should be able to withstand temperature change and minor impacts from foreign objects and the 2015 subaru outback is definitely not meeting that requirement. In addition, the dealership is not being helpful with the situation and not taking any responsibilities in investigating whether this can be a vehicle defect or not. I am not going to replace my windshield out of my own expense and I demand for an answer/explanation from subaru.
Windshield hit by pebble on freeway, small chip noted on parking vehicle for the night in garage. Next morning approximate 9"vertical crack on windshield while driving to work, by the time I had driven vehicle 12 miles crack grew to approximately 27 inches horizontally across windshield. After two weeks of driving there are now competing dual cracks each measuring in excess of 30 inches horizontally across the windshield. With over 45 years of safe driving under my belt I have never seen a windshield perform in this manner. This must be a safety issue, I have a difficult time believing this is not a issue with either the structural integrity of the vehicle and or the windshield. What is the federal safety agency doing to investigate this issue and insure or safety? I have the old windshield if this will help to determine the issue.
First time washing my new 2015 subaru outback with barely 900 miles on it. Parked it in front of the house. Walked from the garage to the vehicle to check for water spots and noted a 5" crack in the windshield where there wasn't one while I washed it! Starts where the heating element is under the passenger side wiper. It's rapidly spread up and across my driving line of sight. When the sun is up, the glinting becomes almost blinding. I took it to the dealer where I purchased it to report what to me was an obvious defect. Their head of service looked at it and pronounced it was caused by a rock. He tried to explain where he saw this "impact". I disagreed. There is no impact craze. They told me to contact my insurance company. The insurance examiner took pictures and pronounced it due to "a structural defect". Subsequently, the glass was ordered and I'm supposed to pay for it plus the installation or there'll be a re-stocking fee. I've waited over a month while being told there are shortages, or it's too new, and "due to the longshoreman's strike in long beach..." I rang up subaru of america, who opened a case and are having me go back to the dealer, have them take pictures, send those and the report from the insurance company to them. Seems like I'm doing a lot of work for what to me should be covered as a defective windshield or a structural problem with this model. There are 7 complaints, filed on this web-site from subaru owners, this model, same year, with the identical passenger side crack. There are numerous other records of these incidents recorded at and subaruoutback.org I'm frustrated and disappointed beyond words as this is a new car.
I just bought a brand new 2015 subaru outback on march 18, 2015. I see already that there are numerous complaints already on the safety of the 2015 subaru outback windshields. I was driving down the freeway on may 2, 2015 and a very small pebble flew into the windshield and I couldn't believe that small a pebble would crack the windshield over 6 inches! I am very upset. I parked the car in a restaurant parking lot that day and when I came out, the crack had grown to 12 inches by itself! My relatives were in town and I couldn't drive my new vehicle on a short trip I wanted to take them on. Of course this is a special order item so I am waiting and waiting for it to be replaced. Called subaru service department and they claim no knowledge of problems with the windshields (of course). I have no vehicle to drive because I feel it is unsafe to drive and have been inconvenienced to have to drive my other older vehicle. I didn't want to have insurance also pay for a rental/replacement vehicle as well when this is a subaru problem and a national safety problem with this vehicle that needs to be addressed immediately. It is now may 6th and I still have no new windshield and don't expect one anytime soon. It looks like there is a good possibility that the windshield will crack again from all the complaints I am reading on this website. When will someone recall this windshield? After someone gets killed? Please recall this windshield!
This is a brand new subaru outlander with 850 miles. The windshield got a small chip, about 1mm in size near the very top. As I was driving along the windshield started to crack from the small ding down, approximately 1 foot in length. This should not happen with new windshield glass in a new car.
Our fully-loaded '15 outback with eyesight & lane assist was parked overnight in the garage (as always). When we got into the vehicle, we noticed an 12-inch crack in the windshield (beginning in the lower corner on the passenger side and heading up toward the center of the vehicle). There was no accident or rock incident to warrant the crack - it came out of nowhere. We called our subaru service department and they referred us to their (outside vendor) windshield repair guy. After several calls to subaru, he was told that subaru has pulled these windshields from their production line because there is an inherent problem with cracking due to their substandard quality and inferior aeronautical design. He said that the subaru plant was waiting on a set of windshields and an order was placed for me, but that I would be competing with the new cars rolling off the production line. This information alone (assuming it is accurate) should warrant a recall. We contacted the windshield guy again today to follow up and he said he just ordered another '15 outback windshield for someone this morning - - same problem (no accident or incident). He reiterated his conversation with subaru production personnel once again that "there is a design problem with the windshields and subaru has pulled them from their production lines." two weeks ago we put a post-it flag inside the windshield at the end of the crack to mark its place and progress - the crack has now grown to 20+ inches straight across the center of the windshield. It is easy to find other folks with this problem - - inexplicable cracked windshields with no obvious signs of cause. The cause and effect of these broken windshields should be investigated immediately before someone is seriously hurt or injured through no fault of their own.
Upon entry of vehicle for the first time of the day, I discovered a 5-6 in. Crack in windshield. I had not observed any impacts while driving the day prior. The vehicle was only 2 months old at the time. All other auto glass issues previously were observed and obvious. Having reviewed similar stories and pictures online of issues with the windshield of this model and year the vehicle, I am concerned that the issue is more than coincidence.
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