My windshield just cracked by itself without hitting anything. This is really frustrating.
2022 Subaru Outback visibility complaints
Page 2 of 10: complaints 11 to 40 of 280, newest first, as owners wrote them.
Small rocks cause very large cracks across windshield. Windshield seems brittle or fragile.
2022 Subaru Outback with 22, 000 miles. Car had been in my garage overnight. I drove to our local recreation center on the morning of February 18, ambient temperature in mid-30's. I came out 1.5 hours later and discovered a large crack had spontaneously formed in the windshield (passenger side, extends to very edge, no visible causative chip).
The vehicle’s windshield developed a 8-10 inch crack due to most likely temperature changes. Seems like a known issue for this year/model vehicle.
The contact owns a 2022 Subaru Outback. The contact stated that while starting the vehicle in the morning, she became aware of a 16-inch crack on the windshield. The contact stated that the crack had started close to the passenger’s side A-pillar, approximately 3-inches above the passenger’s side windshield wiper. The contact stated that the vehicle was in the garage when she became aware of the crack. The vehicle had not been taken to a dealer or glass shop. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not informed of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 41,000.
Front windshield glass developed spontaneous crack. Originating on the drivers side approximately 8 inches up from the bottom drivers side of the glass. Initially the crack was about 5 inches in length horizontal but quickly developed to be 12.5 inches over 24 hours in a garage. Glass is available for inspection. There is no discernible impact point and crack seems to be spontaneous. An appointment at the dealership for assessment was booked and rescheduled pending extended warranty.
In November we used the car for a road trip and returned to our home in Snellville, GA on [XXX] parked the car, unloaded the contents, and put the sunshade in the windshield as we always do. The next day (XXX), I opened the car and removed a few small items used during the trip and walked around the car inspecting the exterior of the car for anything that may have changed due to this trip. At this time, I noticed a crack in the windshield that was not there the evening before. I had driven the car the entire trip and there was no time when something could have struck the windshield and precipitated this crack. I have been in a vehicle when a rock from the road has been kicked up by a vehicle ahead of me and struck the windshield. This type of impact can clearly be heard by passengers in the front seat, as it makes a considerable sound when striking the glass (similar to the sound of a small caliber weapon being fired). These is no indication on the exterior of the glass that this or any other external influence damaged and caused this windshield to crack. As I stated earlier, this windshield was not cracked when we exited the car the evening before. It is plainly visible when sitting in either of the front passenger seats and we would have noticed this. In my view this defect could have only been caused by mechanical stress between the mounting surface and windshield sometime between our arrival home and when this was first noted by us the next day. We have requested a replacement windshield under warranty. Subaru of America has denied our request, with the following statement: "Not a matter for warranty, outside influence" We are aware that this vehicle is included in a Class Action Lawsuit at the web site below. This crack is a safety issue and appears to be a defect based on information in the lawsuit. [XXX] INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)
I was driving on the interstate, with no cars around me and I heard the windshield crack, the crack went from 3 inches to about 30 inches. There is no reason why this would have happened other than a defective windshield.
Have second deep crack with light rock impact in less than one year
Windshield has a crack. There is no external force, neither accident happened
DEFECTIVE WINDSHIELDS: COSTLY REPAIR: I purchased this car when it was 9 months old with 7800 miles on it. I now have 30, 080 miles. and I have had to replace the windshield 3 times. I also had one a chip repaired. This means I have replaced the windshield every 7427. miles. Once the crack has started the lane sensing and brake stopping programs are halted. This is a serious safety issue. This is BEYOND RIDICULOUS for a NEW MODEL car. There much be something wrong with the making of these windshields, or the material used to make these windshields. This is a costly repair, being that the windshield needs re-calibrating each time. It's been around $2500.00 each time. The Subaru Dealer I purchased the car from has been made aware, but they have no solutions, no discounts, or no other options. Other than empathy, and tell me many others are having the same problems.
Front windshield cracked while vehicle was parked after a car wash. Crack started from the center bottom outside, from the base.
Windshield cracked without warning and with no impact. Crack rapidly propagated and sounded like glass was going to break on highway. Took to Wagner Subaru dealer and they said this is typical and is not covered by recall or warranty.
My subaru outback windshield seems to use low quality glass or have poor windshield mount/frame design. Since purchasing the car new in April 2022, I have had 3 significantly cracked windshields; all of which propagated immediately after getting hit by a pebble mid-drive (not giving any opportunity to fix the chip). I am filing this complaint because I don’t think it should be standard for a windshield to propagate a crack so easily and consistently every time it gets chipped (this seems statistically improbable compared to other cars) - and it’s a legitimate hazard to visibility if I don’t have ample opportunity to get the chip repaired to prevent it from propagating to a crack. Essentially I’m saying that it’s almost guaranteed that getting a chip will result in a foot long crack during the same drive (I say almost because I have been able to repair a chip before it was too late once). Furthermore, the crack will often double in size over night (presumably due to temperature changes) - which leads me to speculate that the windshield glass accumulated internal stresses during install due to poor design. I have only replaced my windshield through official Subaru dealerships with their recommended glass vendor. I’ve attached two photos from my most recent cracked windshield; the first is the crack that propagated immediately after the pebble hit while driving, and the second is after leaving the car overnight stationary. Also note that this is usually at highway speeds; and i have effectively had 1.5 broken windshields per year of driving the car. The first broken windshield happened at ~200 miles driven on the brand new car (5 days in).
Windshield cracked without any external impact. There was no crack when we parked the car in the evening, but the next morning there was a crack. There was no impact or visible reason that this should have happened.
Merging off the interstate at a speed of 75mph onto an off ramp at 7pm with 4 adults in the car and when I started braking the windshield cracked from the passages side a pillar in towards the center of the window approximately 7 inches. There were no other vehicles around us and no signs of a chip or previous damage that could have caused the break in the glass.The crack is halfway up/down the windshield and runs horizontal.
The windshield cracked from bottom of passenger side to the center of glass for no reasons, while the car was fully stopped, without any external impact. There were no harms caused to passengers, but it is concerning because the windshield could crack anytime without external impact. This didn't get recognized by dealership as a defect, they claim it was due to external impact. Yes, dealership has inspected the vehicle. No warning lamps or messages or other symptoms of the problem prior to the failure.
After doing grocery shopping, I returned to the vehicle, loaded my purchases, and upon getting into the driver's seat, noticed a large "Y" shaped crack in the windshield. The crack wasn't there when I arrived at the store. I've owned the vehicle less than a week, bought it used with less than 14K miles on it.
The contact owns a 2022 Subaru Outback. The contact stated that the windshield had cracked after an impact. The vehicle was taken to Safelite Auto Glass, where the windshield was replaced; however, the failure recurred. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, where the windshield was inspected, and the dealer confirmed that the windshield had cracked due to an impact. The vehicle was not repaired. The vehicle was taken back to Safelite Auto Glass, and the windshield replacement was covered by the Insurance provider; however, the failure persisted. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and a case was re-opened. The failure mileage was approximately 16,000.
I was driving to work and a car kicked up a small rock that struck the lower left portion of my windshield. There was no chip created at the time. Several minutes later, I heard an audible pop and 4 - 6 inch long crack appeared in the same area. Within minutes, the crack traveled across the windshield and extended about one foot further. Within a few days, the crack extended to the middle of the windshield and traveled upwards towards the attachment point for the rear view mirror. It's long enough now where I'm worried about it interfering with Eyesight. When I examined the area where the stone impacted, I can see several very small pits where the rock hit, but each pit is probably no larger than 1/64th of an inch in diameter. Given the behavior of the crack and reports I've heard from others, I suspect that the glass is too thin and under stress the way it's mounted to the car. This fault has been reported over and over on social media and has cost owners many thousands of dollars to correct.
Second windshield cracked with no impact. This I’d the second time within a year that this has happened to me. Like last time the crack isn’t on the outermost layer, and if you run your finger along the crack it feels completely smooth. This is quite frankly unacceptable with how expensive these windshields are to replace.
I have replaced the windshield for a second time resulting from a (non-impact) stress fracture coming from the passenger side A Pillar. It seems to be exactly the same spot as previous. The crack is large enough to put a credit card in at the start then wanders in varying directions with a finer crack. This time an aftermarket glass was available which I was told is thicker and more durable that the OEM glass. I am told Subaru has extremely thin OEM glass which they are having industry problems with. If it has any significance there is a dent in the passenger door jam B-Pillar which was there from new and painted over. It seems to be a result of manufacturing robotics possibly. I do not know if this is a clue to two windshields stress cracking.
Windshield glass broke spontaneously and randomly with no impact associated with the crack. The crack extends all the way across the windshield.
Went out to driveway and started car. Heard a ping. a few minutes later the windshield started to crack from drivers side bottom corner upward across the field of vision. At first it was about a foot long but spread to about 3 feet. No sign of impact.
Windshield cracked on passenger side starting below the lower interface to the plenum. Crack was not caused by impact by debris nor a collision.
I washed my car the night before and put it in the garage where it usually is parked at night. Upon getting in to start it and go to work noticed a 6inch crack start from the lower center part of the windshield. There was no impact as it was literally sitting inside my garage all night long. It looks like it stars from below the trim.
My husband bought this vehicle in 2021. It was brand new and since we have had it we have had to replace the windshield many times! We are now going in for its 6th replacement this week! This will be the 4th one that we have had to pay a deductible. The first time it happened the dealership replaced it because it happened within a short time of purchasing it. The second time, we were told to contact Subaru of America and they said to go back to the dealer. When we did, the dealership says it would only cover the first one so we had satellite do it through an insurance claim. Fast forward 2 years and like I said earlier in this complaint we are getting a 6th one put in on Friday! Just ridiculous from my standpoint. My husband loves his car and usually doesn’t like to be confrontational so I am the one doing this complaint! I also use the Outback every so often.
While driving on a Saturday heard a popping sound and watched a crack start at bottom center of windshield travel up about 7" and arc to the right. Has now spread about 13" towards passenger side. No impact occurred to cause this. On Monday took vehicle to our dealership so they could take pictures and check it out. Said they would talk to the Subaru District Manager and let me know about replacement. Dealership called me to say they agreed to replace as long as I paid a $250 deductible. This doesn't seem right when this is an issue that many many people are having. This was my third Outback and will now be my last. I can't support a brand that won't step up to take care of something that is obviously a serious issue.
I’ve been reading about easily cracked windshields on Subarus, and sure enough, my windshield cracked this morning. To be clear, there is a tiny impact point from probably a pebble or something, but the glass should not have cracked that easily. Probably about an 8 inch J crack right in the center bottom of the windshield. I’m in the process of talking with Subaru to see if it will be covered.
1. 2022 Outback windshield, on passenger side, has cracked twice in the same spot. We bought the vehicle brand new. It currently has 9300 miles on it. The vehicle is driven approx. 8 miles a day and sits in our garage 95% of the time. 2. Safety & visibility is affected as the crack spreads across the windshield. 3. Yes, I paid a Subaru service center $1600 to repair the windshield in January 2024. By May, it was cracked again in the same spot. The problem has been reproduced SEVERAL times as confirmed by this Reddit chat [XXX] . Yes, the first crack was inspected by Subaru service technicians. 5. No warnings. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)
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