2005 Subaru Outback
This year drew an ordinary 273 complaints for a Subaru Outback — the model's median is 293. What they were about is the unusual part: 7% of them mention unstable, against 1.8% across the other years of this generation.
First year of a new generation. The Subaru Outback was redesigned for 2005. A first year carries problems nobody has found yet, and they are found by the people who buy it — which is worth knowing before you become one of them.
NHTSA opened a defect investigation into this model year.
| Complaints filed | 273 |
|---|---|
| Median for this model | 293 |
| Involving a crash | 13 |
| Involving a fire | 3 |
| Recalls | 9 |
| EPA combined | 20 mpg |
What the complaints were about
- unstable — 7% of this year's complaints, against 1.8% across the other years of this generation (3.9×). Owners wrote it as: unstable, fishtails, spin.
Words owners used for the same problem are counted together, so a fault written four different ways is measured once. Grouped by which complaints they appear in, not by a list anyone wrote in advance.
What owners wrote
: THE CONTACT STATED WHILE TRAVELING 15 MPH, THE VEHICLE WAS HIT IN THE FRONT DRIVER SIDE WHEEL AREA. THE AIRBAGS DID NOT DEPLOY. ALTHOUGH THE SEAT BELT WAS WORN, THE CONTACT SUSTAINED MINOR INJURIES TO THE HEAD, NECK, AND SPINE. THERE WAS A POLICE REPORT TAKE…
WHILE DRIVING APPROXIMATELY 35 MPH DURING SNOWY WEATHER, THE REAR OF THE VEHICLE BEGAN SWAYING LEFT AND RIGHT AS IF IT WERE ABOUT TO SPIN. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO AN AUTHORIZED DEALER WHO REALIGNED THE WHEELS. THE FAILURE OCCURRED THREE TIMES. THE VEHICLE HAD…
Verbatim from NHTSA complaint filings, with identifying details removed.
Recalls for this year
- 20V002000 AIR BAGS Fixed free of charge.
- 20V003000 AIR BAGS Fixed free of charge.
- 20V001000 AIR BAGS Fixed free of charge.
- 19V297000 ELECTRICAL SYSTEM Fixed free of charge.
- 14V311000 SERVICE BRAKES, HYDRAULIC Fixed free of charge.
- 15V323000 AIR BAGS Fixed free of charge.
- 14V763000 AIR BAGS Fixed free of charge.
- 13V110000 SERVICE BRAKES, HYDRAULIC Fixed free of charge.
Showing 8 of 9. The rest are on NHTSA's site.
How this was worked out
Every year of the Subaru Outback was compared against its own history rather than against other cars, which removes popularity and age from the answer — a common car draws more complaints at equal reliability, and an older one has had longer to accumulate them. A year is flagged when it drew at least 2.5× this model's median and at least 50 complaints.
This is a fault record, not a review. Nobody files a federal complaint to say the car was fine, so it shows what tends to go wrong — not whether owners liked it, and not whether it is a good car.
Source: NHTSA complaints, recalls and investigations, retrieved . Look this vehicle up directly on NHTSA's site to check anything here.
Own a 2005 Subaru Outback? What happened to yours?
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