2015 Subaru OutbackRecalls, problems, MPG & safety

“Around 8 am on 1/4/2022, driving the car on I85 in Durham County, NC, at a normal highway speed, the sunroof glass shattered suddenly and without warning. The sunroof was fully closed at the time, but the inside cover was open. Shards of glass were sprayed within the cabin. This was a dangerous distraction to the driver, and could have been much more serious if he had gotten glass in his eyes from looking up to see what had happened. There was no apparent impact to the sunroof glass from a rock or other object outside the car, and the sunroof was not being opened or closed at the time. We contacted Subaru of America and our local dealer. The car is no longer under warranty, and Subaru refused to cover the cost of repair (though I see online we are not the only ones to have this problem). The local dealer could not perform the repair for another week, so we bought a new sunroof glass and installed it ourselves. There was no apparent damage to the surrounding metal frame or roof. The car and shattered sunroof were not examined by anyone else. I have the damaged sunroof, but was planning to discard it. I am attaching an email we received from Subaru of America,…”

“The Subaru's Starlink Radio has completely delaminated on the layer between the display and the digitizer, which does not allow the radio to be controlled in any way, shape, or form. This means that the touch screen is not working anymore, and because the radio is so delaminated, whenever the car is put into reverse during the daytime, the backup camera is nowhere near visible enough to be seen safely. The radio delaminated to the point where it was unusable after the 100k-mile warranty period. At the start of the issue, the radio developed a ghost touch on the bottom-left corner of the screen, and during a Bluetooth phone call, it would repeatedly hang up the phone, leading to distraction while driving.”

“NHTSA issued a notice for a recall on the 2015 Subaru Outback for an exhaust pipe bellows crack which causes exhaust noise and odor which affects emission and engine performance. I had noticed our Subaru's exhaust smoke coming in through the air vents while idling and also a general loss of power for the vehicle. When I dug into the causes, I came across this recall and did the VIN look up on the NHTSA website and also the Subaru website for active recalls. The Subaru website states that the recall was completed. I then called the subaru retailer to check if there were any records for the recall work that was completed for NHTSA ID Number: 10199936. They could not find any records. I called in Subaru corporate to see if they could shed any light on the recall. Subaru corporate says that the recall work was performed on August 6th, 2020 but is unable to tell me where it was performed or even if it was actually replaced. My local Subaru dealer has no records and Subaru corporate says that the work was performed. I am stuck with an exhaust leak that is potentially dangerous as time goes on where it might fail emissions. Subaru corporate has not wanted to address…”