Subaru Hit With Another Lawsuit Over Forester, Outback, Crosstrek Defective Windshields

I have had eleven (11) windshields replaced in my 2017 Subaru Forrester since the day I bought it in October 2016. I believe this is a record of windshield replacements in one vehicle.

I have owned Subaru's since 1986,mainly new and changed every 3 years. Currently a 2018 made in Japan Outback premium. Never had a windscreen problem. I live in Auckland NZ

Go on car complaints.com for the many problems with Subaru. I have 2015 worst of the worst. I wouldn’t have another one if they gave it to me. Way too many expensive dangerous problems. Thought I was getting the best. So disappointed.

I have a 2018 outback, already gotten 3 chips repairs within a 1 year ownership and a mysterious crack formed on my lower passenger side of the windshield. Waiting for it to get larger before I spend the money of getting it replaced. It's quite depressing as my 2003 acura has been hit with rocks on multiple occasions and it still has the OEM glass that was on the car the day it came off the lot. I thought it was just my luck but after seeing this article I'm wondering if its just the crap glass they use.

I also have hundreds of sandstorm type mark's on my 2018 Outback for no apparent reason. I haven't experienced any sandstorms.

I remember you in the 90s telling people to learn to use their brakes instead of getting cars with ABS

Dear Sirius,
Safe driving, always important. Point well taken. Been driving safely for 45 years. However, Subaru offered a product with certain driver assist features. Necessary to the driver assist features was a windshield specifically engineered to allow a camera to accurately capture images through the windshield. Now, I would agree that windshield chips and cracks don’t occur spontaneously. However, when a windshield is measurably more subject to chips or cracks due to impact of foreign objects or variations in temperature than an ordinary windshield because of the specific engineering of the windshield to enable the delivery of driver assist, that is not ‘spontaneous.’ That is cause and effect. But not within acceptable tolerance. That is the defining characteristic of a defect. Frankly, I bought my Outback because I loved the car. Still do. This particular vehicle was equipped with driver assist. Fine by me. Less than two months after buying the car, I noticed a tiny crack in the windshield. I have no idea when it occurred. I’ve been driving a long time and this has happened on other cars. But I always heard it and knew it when it happened. Subaru didn’t offer to sell me a car with a windshield measurably more subject to chips or cracks due to impact of foreign objects or variations in temperature that would not ordinarily damage windshields commonly provided. If they did, who would buy it? Why yes, please. I’ll take the windshield more easily damaged. This is not about judging people for having vehicles with driver assist. It’s about buying a defective product. Period. I didn’t sign on for that. I still love my car, but there it is.

Yes these windows do just crack on their own. Ours cracked and they was nobody around us at all. I checked the windshield and absolutely no chips etc. it just cracked acrothe entire windshield.

My 90 day old Forrester windshield cracked up the center this morning. Average conditions, no rock strike, driving with my own eyes, not eyesight cameras.
Fran

Wow, who would've thought the problem was complaining & su"e"ing & NOT defective parts that the company refuses to cover! I guess if everyone just stops complaining & suing then the windshields will just repair themselves???

Seriously?!? The reason their market has grown exponentially in recent years is because of their reputation for reliable long-lasting cars. Unfortunately, that reputation was built on cars they made 20 years ago. Not the junk they make today. I bought a brand new 2015 Forester in 2014. I was in TN, at my sisters, and my 3-year niece threw a rock to her sister, and accidentally it hit my windshield, and it caused a quarter size starburst crack. From a tiny rock, tossed by a 3-year-old!!! Imagine what a rock from a tire of a Semi doing 70 mph down I-75 would do. But, I figured it was a fluke. Then I had issues again. There was a serious issue with my brakes that cause me not to be able to shift out of park that the dealership tried to fix, but it happened again. It was a sensor that basically communicates to the car that the breaks are not depressed, when in fact, they are. When I took it in the second time, the dealership manager said we need to get you out of that car, so they gave me a brand new 2017 Outback, with a higher trim level, and tinted windows, for the same price as what they charged me for Forester, Basically a free $15000 upgrade for nothing. Then low and behold, driving my son to school one cold morning two months later, I turned on the heat and defrost. After I dropped him off, I went home, parked in the garage. My windshield was fine. An hour later when I left for work, there was a vertical crack right in the middle of the windshield, starting below the hood by the hearing element, that extended 6 inches straight up. My car had 2600 miles on it. Nothing hit my windshield, and my car was in my garage. I do not know what you would call that, but I would call that spontaneous cracking. Yes, I know what caused it. Subaru's is notorious for their bad windshields and yes, they should be sued, and continue to be sued until they fix the defective product they keep selling to the uninformed public. When you spend $37,000 on a new car, you expect the windshield to last longer than 2 MONTHS. What is even worse, they will not cover it under their warranty, and if you get it replaced with another OEM Subaru windshield you can almost guarantee the same result. I have drove at least a dozen different makes and models of cars in my lifetime, and I have NEVER had an issue with a windshield chipping or cracking. I've made numerous trips all across this country doing 75-80 on roads the likes of I-75, the Turnpike, I-10, I-85 and more, and have had many rocks hit other windshields that don't even leave a scratch! In order to improve fuel efficiency in their larger cars, they made the windshield thinner and lighter. Seems like a very risky business practice to do to something so integral to the safety of the passengers of your product. Ironically, I just found out that Subaru has now done a recall of the 2015 Forester for the brake issue, only of course after it hurt people, and several years after the sensor in my 2015 Forester was faulty, which again goes to show that they do NOT fix known issues, and do not care about their customers, just their bottom line. My advice to anyone and everyone who will listen. Stay away from Subaru's made from 2014 forward.