Why Subaru Scores Low The Last 5 Years In J.D. Power Vehicle Dependability Study

J.D. power is the fake news of auto. Stop writing about it. They give awards on who pays the most. Some really crap vehicles win, and no one should buy based on these made up ratings.

Poor scores in JD make sense to me. I love my Subaru for good ground clearance and AWD, but me and my friends who owned Outbacks from 2015-2016 had issues with the CVT (mine was bad off the showroom floor), burning oil, (a quart every 2000 miles), cracking windshields (from same place repeatedly - mine had five replacements before getting rid of it), fuel vent and sensor issues (a $1200 part plus labor to fix), cracking seat upholstrey only in three of the Limited Outbacks within our circle), cabin noise and whistle (an issue we all knew before buying), to name a few. A simple online search reveals all of these issues When looking at shear number of issues compared across automakers, JD is the industry standard because, well, it looks at the shear number of reported issues across automakers.

Have a 14 and 20 outback, both purchased new and not one problem with either.

A friend of mine who manages a BMW dealership told me that JD Power ratings depend on how much the rated company spends on JD Power "services". Their ratings aren't worth spit but they have the best marketing department in the business. As soon as I see someone quoting JD Power on anything I just turn the page. Consumer Reports doesn't depend on bribery. They do not take goods or money from providers of rated goods. Why do JD Power ratings differ so much for so long from Consumer Reports? Maybe Subaru doesn't pay JDP protection money. BTW, ask Subaru owners you come across in the real world about their experience & satisfaction. I did for a year before I bought mine. Couldn't find anyone with a bad word to say about them.

I have a 2006 Subaru Forester and it will be my last Subaru. Just had to spend $4000 for head gasket job and exhaust leak.

We own 2015 Subaru Crsstrek premium and for the last 5 years, Zero problem. Great car and exactly what we need for transportation and carry our bikes to anywhere literally.

We own 2015 Subaru Crsstrek premium and for the last 5 years, Zero problems. Great car and exactly what we need for transportation and carry our bikes to anywhere literally.

I have a 2010 Outback 3.6R. Head gaskets failed at 78,000 miles. Subaru of America did participate with some $ towards the repair. Had to pull the engine.
Still very disappointed with the fact that the horizontal engine has been produced for who knows how long and they STILL have head gasket issues. Love the car and the power but will not be buying another. Reason: no 6 cylinder available, Subaru stopped offering the Turbo 4, and I do not want a CVT transmission. I do not like the lack of instant response with the CVT. Subaru’s motto used to be something like: Inexpensive, and built to stay that way. Those days appear to be over.

I live in Tahoe and subaru is the most over rated car on the road out here. But the owners are so loyal when there cars break down the owners are almost proud there car is in the shop.

My 2018 Forrester Is my first SUV. It is problem FREE. It has 24k and gets great gas mileage. Other than an immediate replacement of the tires when new - something I always do - I am not a fan of low end Yokohama tires! Instead, I purchased Michelin Defender tires that handle well in a variety of driving conditions! Just a few pearls of wisdom!

Subaru has a known and acknowledged issue with expensive head gasket repairs. The Consumer Reports data shows a high rate of major engine problems for years after Subaru claims they resolved the problem, yet year after year Consumer Reports rates them highly for reliability anyway. When the dealer said our 2010 Forester would imminently need a head gasket repair worth more than half the value of the car, we took both our Subarus in and went back to Honda. Y'll can keep them and knock JD Power as much as you'd like. And it really makes me question what methodology Consumer Reports is applying, as well, when Honda has no engine problems but a higher rate of display / electronic problems so they get graded lower.

Consumers loves the reliability of most of the Subaru line and so do I. Had my first Forester for 10 years without a problem. On my 2nd one now and 2 years in not a single issue. Love this car!

Clearly Subrau isn't buying the JD Power recommendation!
My old 2013 Outback was as reliable as a vehicle can be! I changed the oil, put gas in it and bought tires. That is all I remember doing in 40,000 miles. My 2018 is doing just about as well, the only thing is the battery doesn't do well in Sub-Zero weather when it sits for a long time outside.
As far as the collision advoidence, even though the industry doesn't give it credit for being as good as it is. There is a coyote running around today that should be dead. My Outback braked so close I bet the tail brushed the headlight. With an of my older cars that coyote would be dead!

I have heard from owners that Subaru’s use oil. Given this age of the “maintenance free” vehicle in most peoples eyes, that can be a problem. I am from the old school and still routinely check my oil level. Many, especially the young do not. That combined with extended oil change intervals is a recipe for disaster. My friend has an Impreza and drives until the low oil pressure light comes on. Even then she doesn’t act immediately.

Check out NJ class action suite on oil consumption. Subaru buit engines where oil could get past rings and increase "gas" mileage. They lost. Found out after I took wife's 2014 Forrester in 2d time to complaine. Local dealer wanted to keep car for 3 days to run testa and knew that this was a known problem. And charge me for 2 oil changes. So I now carry extra oil and add some when the warning light gomes on. Now I have a Buick Tourer after trading in a Chrysler van. Sub will be sold or traded this summer
And repair shop managera at Subaru here will not šepak to me.

Owned a 2013 Subaru Outback. Had to have 3 transmissions installed before 100,000 miles, then a ticking started in the engine and service personnel could not figure source.

I will give Subaru credit for standing behind their product and issues. The transmissions were installed at no cost to me other than time/travel.

Will never purchase a Subaru again.

I bought a new Subaru and the CVT failed at around 4k miles. They did eventually take responsibility for it, but it was a battle.

I have a 2018 Forester. Have continued to complain about a change in the Eyesight system that creates a random chime. Dealership customer service and North American customer service both have said that the system is operating correctly. No one wants to admit that there is a problem of distraction for the driver.
Poor service and a company that ignores problems is not going to do well in the ratings.

JD Power does in fact weight the problem areas - in fact, they state outright that infotainment/electronics and trim misalignment are weighted lower than powertrain problems. However, what they do not reveal is the relative weighting between them nor do the break out the numbers of problems reported in each category. But they are only reporting the raw number of problem reports per 100 vehicles in the news releases.

So, if the relative weighting is a "3-2-1" scheme and there are 100 reports per 100 vehicles of a 1-weighted infotainment problem and 1 report per 100 of a 3-rated transmission problem, the results are still going to be worse at the aggregate level *and* in the weighted score.

If, on the other hand they have a more granular weighting scheme (1-10 or 1-100 point scale), and the "minor" things like loose trim or infotainment glitches are way at the bottom with major mechanicals way at the top, that might change a LOT of scores.

My 2018 with 15K on the clock has been a very good dependable car.0

My 2019 Crosstrek is the worse car I've ever owned and Subaru service is an insult.Have $1400 extra which causes loose steering and was told that's normal - don't use the features.Never buy from this company