Subaru Slapped With Another Lawsuit; Have You Had Starlink Problems?

I have had alot of issues with the audio system--especially with Car Play.

I have a 2016 Wrx. Have had it back to the dealership 6 times for the radio head issue. I have given up. Class action participation maybe my only resolution.

Consumer Reports continues to rate Subaru highest in reliability, while not mentioning the record number class action lawsuits. CR's credibility has been lost.

Interested in 2019 similar issues also.

What about the 2019 Outback? Wouldn't it have the same issues?

I purchased a 2018 Subaru Outback limited trim in April (2018). This by the way is my 6th Subaru. I'm really happy with most everything but have the Starlink system fail and have had a replacement done in November The dealership was excellent in allowing me a loaner until the system was replaced.

It's no secret that there are some problems with the 3.0 and 3.1 Generation head units and Subaru has been slow to react. However, some of these 10 "problems" listed in the article are just the way Subarus roll, and nobody has filed a lawsuit about them in the past. Subaru doesn't let you do anything with the dials and touch screen in the car while you're backing up; that's a safety feature. Beginning in 2018, the volume button when given a quick press is a "mute" button, not an "off" button. The radio doesn't stay muted; the next time you start the car, the radio comes back on at the volume you last left it at. Learn to turn it down when you leave the car, instead of muting it. The "favorites" screen built into the phone screen of the car is for the driver to manually designate contacts loaded into the car as a favorites, not to pull in favorites from the smartphone. For display shutoff, press and hold the volume button until the screen shuts off.

All computer screens, whether on your desk, phone, laptop, or car, occasionally lock up. Shut off the car and restart it, or, long press the volume button until the screen reboots. Reading the owner's manual will clear up some misunderstandings about the cars - most of what I just listed are somewhere in the library of books that every owner receives with the car. You might hate some of those "features", but they aren't unexpected if the dealer is doing their job in explaining the car at the time of the sale.

I am so glad someone is doing something about this problem. As much as Subaru would like to pretend it's not a problem and claiming that "everything works fine on our end" it's a problem. I have taking my 2018 Subaru Crosstrek to the dealer multiple times wasting all day trying to get firmware updates to address the Android Auto disconnects, favorites getting removed, the fan running on the radio even when the radio and the car is turned off <--WTF is that battery draining s*it all about? Now, I have a 2018 vehicle with a radio that doesn't fully work and Subaru with the impression that I need to live with it.

‘18 3.6r headunit replaced within first year after software updates failed. Black screen of death. My frustration is with both S of A and dealer for not being transparent in communications regarding the failure. S of A offered $500 gift certificate toward future service or accessories after I contacted them to complain about delay in parts. Dealer pushed me off to S of A with comment that they had other owners who had waited over a month on the part. I am happy to see this issue is being escalated.

My concern is resale value of car and ongoing inconvenience. I would be hard pressed to join in a class action suit that argues headunit failure is a safety issue. None of STARLINK accessories are necessary for driving. We all likely grew up in cars that had none of these features. I will note the ear piercing screaming volume might count as a distraction. One of my failures involved ear piercing static that sounded like a blown tire thumping along road. It took us a moment after pulling over to realize it was the radio making the racket. Could not of course shut it off until powered off the car.

I am overall a happy owner of the 2018 Outback 2.5i Touring with the 8" touchscreen navigation system. Suburu gets so much right with this car, but the Starlink / Audio / Touchscreen system has some problems...

Having the radio come on even when it was long-pressed off previously is annoying and a poor design choice. Why Suburu would think we want this is beyond me! I keep it tuned to XM radio channel 0, which has no sound, and this "solves" the problem, but my wife usually changes it to an FM station when she drives. Then, when I drive the vehicle after her, I have to change it back to XM, channel 0, then turn it off. The radio still comes on the next time I start it, but at least I hear nothing this way. The solution is for the system to never turn the radio on automatically when it was muted or turned off previously.

Even more annoying, I cannot get the two Vehicle Menu Settings for unlocking ALL doors with keyless access to work.

There is a setting to have the key fob unlock ALL doors when the unlock button is pressed the first time, or just the Drivers door (the default, which then requires a 2nd press done quickly after the first to unlock the remaining doors.) I want all doors to unlock on the 1st press from the key fob, but setting "ALL doors" in the vehicle settings has no effect.

From another menu setting, I was able to get all doors to unlock if I grip the driver's door handle, but the setting for keyless unlocking does NOT respond to the ALL doors setting.

I can get the doors to unlock when I switch back to park after driving, which is one of the options that I prefer.

Also, there is a keyless access setting so that opening the tailgate hatch auto lift unlocks ALL doors, or just the hatch. That setting also does not respond to the ALL doors selection.

Here is a scenario: I approaching the vehicle with other people and want to put something in back and let the passengers begin loading, so I press the Hatch open button so it will be open when we get there. But the doors are still locked! As it is by default, I have to press the center unlock button twice in succession, then the hatch open button. Too many steps!

I got the car as a CPO at the end of January. My head unit software was already updated in a earlier recall in January.

I am calling the dealer tomorrow to discuss. There is no point in me driving there if they are just going to try changing the same keyless vehicle settings I already did, or if they know about the problem but can't offer a fix.

By the way, I tested these settings by trying the keyless action from a distance, confirming the car is responding to the key press by the flashing lights and chirps, then leaving my key at a distance and not taking it with me to the car. I wanted to be the virtual passenger getting into the car from one of the other doors who would not, of course, have a key on them.

Cheers from Atlanta!

2018 Outback Touring with all the Starlink problems mentioned above. Dealer confirmed that head unit needs replacing and has no idea when a replacement will be available. It’s our forth Subaru and is the only one with any significant issues.
My dealer says they don’t have loaners available for this problem (no wonder) and I have prepaid reservations on Arizona and Louisiana for the month of March. I took the OB (7500miles) on odometer to a local Toyota dealer and tried to negotiate a trade for a 2119 FourRunner and they would not accept the trade because of the known problems. It’s our only car and the only thing I can do is rent a comparable one for approx $1600 for the month. I have contacted regional office and was told I would hear back from them by next Tuesday. Fingers crossed!

2018 Crosstrek Infotainment system problems ongoing even after head unit replacement and recent software update!

Just wondering if anyone had these issues with the 2019 Limited 3.6 outback. I only had the car a month and at 100 km the radio froze the first time. Then yesterday finally aweful sounds were coming out of the radio for no reason the volume was only on 2 but it was very loud static noise.

I recently got a notification to bring my 2017 Subaru Impreza in for a recall/reprogram , which failed . They sent me on my way with a completely nonfuntioning head unit (only the backup camera works) and since the failed update the screen is lit up with an error message and it has drained my battery completely two nights in a row . Anyone having similar issues

Received the recall notice from Subaru regarding the head unit. I took my 2018 Subaru crosstrek in and they programmed Rel_U0.18.43.20 in. Still unable to play music from my phone. Still unable to sync Android Auto where it detects my car as connected. I have spent so much time on this it's no longer worth it. I am so done with Subaru and there lack of being able to address this. I hope this class action suit goes forward!