We were traveling on the interstate and the miles to go before needing fuel monitoring system said we had 60 miles of fuel left. When reached 30 miles of fuel left on the fuel monitoring system the car died as if we were out of gas. It would not start again until be put fuel in the tank. I feel this is a dangerous liability. It just so happened that we had taken an exit and couldn't even make it to the gas station we could see a 100 yards from the exit. We did manage to get the car pulled off to the side of a very busy highway, but it was to dangerous to let anyone walk to the station and had to call someone for help. I heard there was a recall for this problem but we did not receive a notice for our car. I am filing this report because I feel something needs to be done before it happens again. We can't trust the fuel gauge and therefore we make sure it doesn't get very low before refueling.
2017 Subaru Outback fuel system complaints
Page 2 of 2: complaints 11 to 16 of 16, newest first, as owners wrote them.
Miles to empty (mte) shows 40 miles to go but ran out of gas in the middle of a busy intersection which was traffic light controlled. I was stuck there when the light turned green for the other lanes and cars were coming at me and had to dodge my vehicle.
Fuel gauge erratic. Car ran out of gas at 70 MPH on the interstate while showing 70 miles remaining on trip computer and over 1/8 of a tank on gauge. Starting the car shows different fuel level from one time to the next (e.g.-shows over full when last started, then it showed 3/4 full when started again. Stop/restart the car and gauge shows 3/4 full again).
Our outback ran out of gas on two occasions: the low fuel light never came on, the fuel gauge registered about 1/4 tank and computer said 100-120 miles left on the tank. Others have had similar issues and they are documented on the internet. Incident #1: 10/25/2017, GPS: 38.365669,-82.850853. Incident #2: 06/05/2018, GPS: 38.519781,-89.707681. Both incidents were on interstate highways during a long day of driving. During the 2nd incident I took pictures of the dash to document the gauges. The dash photos show about 1/4 tank of fuel remaining, 100 miles until empty and no low fuel warning light. Aaa put 2.5 gallons of gas into the tank, we drove a few miles to the next exit and filled up. Tank accepted 13.5 gallons. So 2.5 + 13.5 = 16 gallons, yet the fuel capacity is listed as 18.5 gallons. So somewhere there is a discrepancy of 2.5 gallons. All these details and documentation was provided to the local subaru dealership. We notified out local dealership of the issue on 6/5/18, they had the car several days and said a fix would be out by end of summer. To date subaru and my local dealership have been unable to provide a fix for the issue. So nearly 6 months later and still no fix. This same problem was reported to subaru as far back as 12/2016. Here's a write-up from 12/2016 about a person having an issue running out of gas. Their circumstances were very similar to ours: https://www.subaruoutback.org/forums/66-problems-maintenance/385545-2017-outback-2-5i-premium-ran-out-gas-2-5-gallons-left.html we were in the passing lane about halfway around a bus when we ran out of fuel ! This problem is a safety issue and needs to addressed by subaru in a prompt manner.
Fuel gauge does not register full when car is filled up. Dealer did not repair the first time and problem returned same day after filling up again. Have to go back again to dealer. I am concerned that if gauge does not register properly car may run out of gas in a place that could be dangerous (I.e.; freeway , busy road, etc.). Car dealers and companies response to this problem seems evasive . I am very concerned that this could become a very serious and dangerous problem .vehicle is stationary or in motion and no change in fuel gauge. Does not matter if you turn vehicle or go up or down hill either . Happened multiple times now. Not repaired as of yet.
Ongoing problem for 8 months and counting. I purchased a new 2017 subaru outback. From the first day of ownership, the fuel gauge hasn't displayed the correct amount of gas in the tank. After several attempts by subaru service to fix the problem, I was told that subaru is aware of the problem, but there is no software fix at this time, even 8 months later. I never know how much gas in in my car. The gauge skips around while driving. It may show a full tank, but 5 minutes later show 1/4 tank. After another 5 minutes the gauge may show 3/4 tank. A new car without a working gas gauge! Ridiculous!
VIN decoder
See the problems and recalls for an exact car
Buying a used 2017 Subaru Outback?
Check the exact car before you pay: accidents, salvage or flood titles, odometer readings and previous owners.
Check its history