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Background
The 2022 Subaru Outback Touring XT is the 5th Outback I have owned since the mid 1990’s. The other four were driven to about 100.000 miles before being replaced. The only time any of the previous Outbacks went to the dealer was to have recall service. The current vehicle has been to the dealership three times and the problems continue to occur.

The following is a copy of the information provided to McCurley Subaru each of the three times I have taken the car in to address the issues. These issues occur randomly which makes them very difficult to diagnose but the majority center around the Infotainment System and more specifically the Radio, Media and Phone.

Date - June 24, 2022

The following are the list of issues I have had with my infotainment system. While it has always been somewhat slow to respond I could deal with that but over the past several months numerous other issues have occurred.

I primarily use the radio (FM and sometimes Sirus) which is the only thing going when I turn off the car. Yet when I restart the car the following things occur:

The radio is not on when I am in reverse about 65% of the time and the remainder of the time it is on. If the radio is not on, about 25% of the time when it comes on about 15 seconds after putting it in drive it is not on a on station. Although it had been on a station when it was turned off. Also, it takes several attempts to get the system to respond to anything.

Also, while in reverse or shortly after putting it in drive most of the time the I Agree page comes up, however occasionally all that comes up is the I Agree green button and no statement. Sometimes the page goes away in a few seconds, other times it just sits there until I push the I Agree. Maybe it would go away but after about 10 seconds I just push the button. After that it sometimes it still take 7 to 10 seconds for the radio to come on.

In the past two weeks I have had the entire system shutdown two times. The screen goes black while I am driving and both times the system did not come back until I stopped and turned the car off and back on.

Yesterday I turned the car off with the radio on at a normal volume. When I turn it back on the radio was at full volume but was high pitched and sounded like it had been electronically modified. It would not respond the to volume control or any other control and did not shutdown until I turned the car off and got out. It was very alarming and was at a volume that hurt. I cannot imagine what would happen had this occurred while driving.

About 20 minutes later I got home turned the car off and the radio continued as it almost always does (but not all the time) until I open the door however when I opened the door it did not go off. I then closed the door and the radio continued to play. I waited about 30 seconds but it did not go off until I reopened and closed the door.

I always carry my keys in my pants pocket and that is where they were when the above occurred.

All of these items are concerning. The general glitches when I start the car are very distracting to deal with. Luckily I live on a cul de sac and there is very little traffic while I am trying to get rid of the I Agree and get a radio station. Relative to the two occurrences on June 23, the first could impact your driving and the second could result in a dead battery.
I have tried several sequences when I start the car.
Get in, put seatbelt on, start car, put in reverse, back out of the garage
Get in, start car, put seatbelt on, put in reverse, back out of the garage
Get in, start car, put in reverse, put on seatbelt, back out of the garage
Get in, start car, put in reverse, back out of the garage, put on seatbelt,
It does not make any difference

Update as of 6 /27/22
For about 5 days in a row the startup process was consistent. Radio came on when I started the car, I Agree Statement popped up, and when I backed up the I Agree Statement disappeared and did not show up again when I put it in drive
Then yesterday when I started the car the radio came on at a high volume, it responded to the volume control but I immediately realize that only the driver side back quarter of the speakers were working.
I checked the fader/balance control and if I moved it forward or to the passenger side the volume would decrease until there was no sound. I stopped the car and restarted it but the speakers were still doing the same thing. I was not going far, shut the car off and about fifteen minutes later when I started the car all of the speakers were working.

Next morning, I started the car and no radio when backing up. I put it in drive and the I Agree Statement came up I clicked it and it was about another 7 seconds before the radio came on.

I have started the car several times in the past couple days and I am back to total lack of consistency in the process.

6/27/22
This afternoon I was at the market, put the car in reverse to back out of the space and there was a gentleman about ten feet behind my car but there was no warning sounded. Then I as I was pulling out of the parking lot the radio mysteriously changed from an FM station to Sirus radio and I did not touch anything.

I stopped at the mailbox, got out of car that was still running, got back in, put the car in drive and screen went blank and radio went off. About ten seconds later the screen and radio started again.

6/28/22
This morning went down the street, turned the car off and as I got out it started beeping, I closed the door and it kept beeping, I checked and the keys were in my pocket. I had to get back in and restarted before it would stop.

I was driving when I received a phone call but the car did not pick it up. After hanging up, I checked the phone setting which showed that the car system was not paired with my phone. It had been paired the previous day. Also, on the main screen the Starlink icon was not lit.

6/29/22
Checked this morning and Starlink icon is back.

Took into McCurley Subaru today and they reloaded the software.
When I started the car after the software update the Starlink icon was dark again. I went back in and told the technician who came out and helped me get my phone recognized by the car. After turning the car off and on again the Starlink icon was back.

Update as of 7/19/22
Since getting the software reload there have been no blank screens or crazy radio issues. However, the startup process is all over the place relative to when the radio is on and the sequence of when and how long the “I Agree” page shows up or goes away. Also, a new glitch has shown up. About 70% of the time the seatbelt alarm starts as soon as I start the car which is what I expect. However, sometimes it does not start when in reverse but will start when I put it in drive. Several times it has not come on at all. I do wear my seatbelt all the time but wait to see what the car decides it is going to do first.

All of these items are somewhat annoying but I am living with them.

7/20/22
This morning I started the car, backed out of the garage and started down my street expecting that the radio would come on shortly. It never did. It was on when I turned the car off yesterday and the screen was showing the radio but it would not respond. I went to the main icon screen and tried going back to the radio. The radio icon would beep when touched but would not go to the radio. This was also the case for the media icon. I tried the map and phone icon and they did respond. After parking the car and returning later the radio was working.

Over the past couple weeks the auto braking has engaged by locking my brakes three times, once when I was pulling into the garage and in a couple of low speed situations where someone was turning in front of me. This is unusual as I have had the car for 11 months and previous to having software reloaded the auto brake warning has beeped several time but never engaged the brakes. However, this morning coming up to a light, the car in front of me did not move immediately and the automatic braking slammed on my brakes bringing the car to an abrupt stop. Luckily there was no one behind me. I was not going more than a few miles a hour and there was no danger of a collision.

8/12/22
The auto braking continues to be very sensitive. As noted above before the software was reloaded at the end of June it had never locked the brakes. Yesterday I was in a parallel parking situation and as I eased back into the yellow brackets on the back up camera it again slammed the brakes on. Again prior to reloading the software I had been in Seattle numerous times where all the parking was parallel and some of it very tight but there had never been any auto braking.

Earlier this week I pulled into the garage put the car in park, turned off the car, got out and closed the door but the radio continued to play. I tried opening and closing the door to no avail and had to get back in, restart the car and then turn it off and get out before it would turn off.

The other issue that I continue to see is the sensor for a car or person being behind me sometimes works and sometimes it does not. I can no longer depend on it as I am never sure if it is working. Two days ago I had my wife drive behind me to see if it was working and it was not. Yesterday I was beginning to back out of a driveway and it was working.

Yesterday I started the car and the radio never came on. I tried changing stations but nothing. I went to the main screen and tried to go back but as noted above the radio nor media icons would respond. I tried stopping turning the car off, getting out and back in and restarting the car, twice. The radio was not working. About two hours later we were going out and when I started the car the radio was back and the Media icon was working. However now the StarLink Icon was dark and my phone was no longer paired with the car. The next day Starlink was back.

8/20/22 Update since making appointment with Subaru dealer.
The radio has been slow to come on at times. While at other times it comes on immediately.
As of yesterday the rear cross sensor seemed to be working.

8/20/22
A car merged in front of me going approximately the same speed and was at least 20 feet in front of me. However, the auto braking system put on the brakes. This is the first time I have had that happen when a car merged and I have had numerous other cars do the same thing some much closer but the auto braking never engaged.
Other than this, the systems have been pretty much normal. This seems to be the pattern which probably started about late March where small glitches come and go but as stated previously after a couple of months it becomes a real issue.

Update March 10, 2023
For about 5 months since you last addressed the Infotainment System issues (by reloading the software for the second time), the system worked reasonably well. However, starting in late January all of the previous issues have returned. There have been at 4 blackouts of the screen, 3 times the screen has frozen and in both cases the problem was only resolved by shutting the car off and restarting. The system on a regular basis disconnects from my phone not allowing me to use bluetooth or the hands free phone. In the past two weeks the radio on one occasion came on full blast and would not respond until I turned the car off and restarted this same thing occurred with media using Bluetooth. On two other occasions only one speaker was working. Again, only way to fix was to stop and restart car. Six separate times I have turned the car off and gotten out but the radio or Bluetooth keeps playing after I close the door. This requires that I get back in restart and stop the car to correct. There has also been several times where the Starlink icon goes gray. During two of the screen blackouts a warning came up on the dash stating that RAB and Driver Monitoring system are not operational.

It should be noted that the issues with the emergency braking system (noted above) have not reoccurred although the service staff stated that there was nothing wrong with the system. I realize that it is hard to diagnose the problem when it occurs randomly, however these are not uncommon issues. They are occurring with numerous other 2022 Outbacks.

April 25, 2023
For about two weeks in late March the electronics seemed to be working as expected. However, since that time the following issues have occurred numerous times.
• The system drops all connection with my phone. Twice it did it while driving and the phone was sitting on the seat next to me. So, I do not believe it is a phone issue.
• The radio or media do not shut off when I turn the car off and get out of the car. I have to get in restart the car and turn it off in order to get the system to shut off.
• The system has frozen and will not respond until I stop the car and restart.
• The backup warning system works and then does not work. Generally, it will warn me of cars, people or bicycles. Yet on at least two occasions in the past month there was a trash truck and a car passing behind me while I was in reverse and it did nothing.
• Another item, I had not experienced until recently, is when I go to open the door and it is not locked, it will beep and lock the door and the only way I have been able to get it unlocked is using the key FOB.
• Another item which has never seemed to get any better is: When backing up the radio is sometimes on, sometimes off and the useless “I agree” page randomly comes on, disappears the then reappears.
• Also, as the system is very slow to respond which is a safety issue as it distracts the user as you never really know if you need to repeat the action or it is just thinking about what you asked it to do.

July 14, 2023

I did not drive the car for the months of May or June as we were out of the country. Over the past two weeks I have experienced the following:
• Two occasions the system has frozen and would not respond at all. Once the screen was blank and the other time the icons were there but would not respond.
• Twice I have gotten out of the car the system continues to operate both with the radio on and with Bluetooth.
o It appears when working correctly, that there is some type of switch associated with opening the driver’s door that turns off the system. If this is the case that switch is faulty and needs to be replaced
• Today I was driving and was going to switch from Bluetooth to the radio. I got to the main screen and touched the radio icon and a very loud noise (I believe it was a voice) came out of the left front speaker. First it scared the crap out of me as I am driving which is not safe as I am now trying to mute it but more importantly it was at a decibel level that it literally hurt my left ear and sitting here 15 minutes later I can still feel my left ear. I also question whether it damaged the speaker.

July 20, 2023

• For the past three days I have not been able to link my phone with the car. Neither through media or the phone icons. During this period the Starlink icon has not been on.

• As noted previously, the backup warning system works and does not work. Yesterday morning I was in a parking lot and it worked as expected when another car came down the aisle behind me. Then about 2 hours later I was slowly backing out of a driveway and a car drove no more than 15 feet directly behind me and it did nothing.

August 15, 2023
• I gave up on trying to reconnect my phone for the past couple weeks as the Starlink Icon remained grayed out. Today I took it in to the Subaru dealer and requested that the March 2023 software updated be installed, hoping it would correct some of the issues. I dropped the car off at 11:00 AM and picked it up the following day as I did not receive a call back until between 5 and 6 PM. The next day I was asked to talk with one of the shop leads. I explained what I had explained and provided detailed write up the previous two times I was in and the previous day when I dropped the car off. While the Lead explained why the Starlink icon was grayed out and was able to reconnect my phone, the discussion provided no solutions and for whatever reason he had decided not to update the software. With no resolution he suggested that a “file” be started on the car and asked that I complete a very detailed checklist. After getting partially through the first page of the checklist I recognized that these are single event/issue forms. If you combine the feedback from multiple different events on the same form the feedback will be useless. As an alternative to the form I have tried to capture some of the conditions for some of the different issues and included it at the end of this write up. I was requested to make another appointment which I did for September 19th but have no idea what they intend to do.

August 24, 2023
• Since being at the dealer on August 15 the following things have occurred:
o Radio and/or bluetooth sometimes comes on when I start the car and sometimes does not come on for 20 to 30 seconds after I have started the car, hit the “I Agree button, put on my seatbelt, backed out of the garage and am driving down the street.
o Three times the radio and/or Bluetooth has not gone off after shutting off the car, getting out and shutting the door. Twice it went off when I opened the door but once I had to get in restart and shut the car off then get out.
o As previously noted the sensor that are supposed to alarm when there is something coming or directly behind me, only work some of the time. I had another incident where I Put the car in reverse, back up several feet and stopped as a van was coming down the street. The van stopped behind me pulled forward toward me and then backed into the driveway opposite to where I was sitting. At no time did the alarm indicate any thing was behind me.
o I have had to reconnect my phone 3 times
o This morning my phone was not connected until I went through the sequence through “manage devices”. Then I went to the gym, came out and again the same thing. I drove about a mile and the music stopped and the entire screen went blank for about 30 seconds, then came back and again I had to reconnect my phone.
• The other Item not related to the Infotainment system that I keep forgetting to note, as I do not drive much at night or use my high beams, the high beam switch works only some of the time. This has been an issue since I bought the car.
• I just finished writing the above and went out started car in garage and began to back out. I checked the camera as the back of the car was out of the garage and continued to slowly back out as the front of my car got 15 feet out of the garage my wife and the person she was with suddenly appeared at the passenger side window. There was no warning from the rear sensor that they were approaching. They had been walking on the side walk then across the driveway as I backed out.
• As noted above I just finished writing when I went to use my car, Bluetooth came on as soon as I started the car, I backed out of garage drove about .5 miles. I turned the car off for about 5 minutes. My iphone was sitting on the passenger seat the entire time. I got back in started the car and it said no device connected. I pushed the manage device Icon it beeped then froze. I tried it again but it did not respond. In about 10 seconds the screen went totally black for about 5 seconds and then the screen with all the devices came up and I pushed my iphone. Up came the message it was searching for the device/connection. After about 6 to ten seconds the massage came up that said device not found. Within a couple seconds that message disappeared and the Bluetooth started working again.

August 25, 2023
• This morning I got in started the car, no Bluetooth, drove couple hundred yards to the mailbox and the message “no device connected” showed up. The Bluetooth was working when I used the car yesterday evening. I went through the sequence of connecting to my phone, including making sure my phone recognize the Subaru in the Bluetooth. Finally after three tries I got it to connect. This has happened with Iphone 6 I had previously and the iphone 11 which I have had for the past year.

September 5, 2023
• Over the past couple weeks my phone has been dropped and will not reconnect 3 times. If I stop turn the car off and restart most of the time it reconnects. Also had screen go black for about 30 seconds but did comeback.
• Had another situation where I had a moving vehicle not more than 10 feet behind me and there was no warning.

• This morning got in to car drove about a mile and everything seemed ok Bluetooth working etc. Turned car off for about ten minutes. Got back in started the car no, music, started to back out of drive way, nothing behind me or on either side and backup warning starts beeping. Checked to make sure nothing there and there was nothing anywhere. Start down the street thinking about what had just happened and suddenly the Bluetooth came on very loud. It did respond to the volume control. I turned it down to “2” on the volume and it was at a normal listening level whereas when operating normally it is at “12” volume level. Also, the sound was only coming out of driverside rear or back seat speaker. I turned it off and back on and still same issue.

(Ten minutes later) I just went out and started car and Bluetooth is working at correct volume and with all speakers.

September 18, 2023
• Over the past two weeks my phone continues to be dropped. It will be working, I will get out of the car go to the store and will get in and it is not paired anymore. My phone was never touched and remained in the car while I was in the store.
• At least twice the phone was not paired when I got in the car in the morning. I pulled over and stopped. I tried to pair my phone using the infotainment system but it would not recognize my phone. I then went into my phone to ensure the Bluetooth was recognizing my Subaru. I then went back to the infotainment system but it still would not pair with the phone. I went to exercise got back into the car and it was working.
• Twice the screen has gone totally black. Once I had to stop, turn the car off and back on before it came back. The other time after about 30 seconds it came back.
• Once I tried to change the radio station, but the screen would not respond. I went back to the main screen and then back to the radio and it began working again.
• Twice the radio has remained on after exiting the vehicle, requiring getting back in and restarting the car and getting back out

Specifics of the issues
1 Infotainment Screen goes blank or freezes
Happens when driving. Has happened when switching between Bluetooth and radio and when changing climate control settings
Several times it has resolved the issue within ten seconds to a minute while driving
Other times it did not resolve until after I had stopped and restarted the car

2 When starting car the radio/Bluetooth comes on at a very high decibel level
This has occurred 3 times when starting the car
Nothing on the screen or volume controls responds
Two times it sounded like all the speakers or at least the front both sides
The third time this occurred it sounded like only the dash driver side speaker was working
The sound is not just a loud radio/Bluetooth but an electronic filter or enhanced noise
The decibel level was such that you have to get out immediately
Another occasion the radio came on loud and the volume control did respond. The sound level was at “12” and when it was turned down to “2” it was at a normal listening level. After turning the car off and back on the volume had to be turned back up to “12” which is the normal setting for the volume.

3 Radio came on but was not coming out of all speakers.
Once it was only the driver side speakers working. Another time it was only the back speakers working. Another time it was front speakers only.

4 After starting the car there is no music for anywhere from 10 to 30 seconds and it does not seem to matter if it is Bluetooth or Radio.

5 The phone fails to pair with the infotainment system.
Past month or so this has been happening a couple times a week. I have been paying attention and there does not appear to be any specifics other than it is always happens after starting the car. If the phone is paired when I start, it stays paired till I turn the car off.
Sometimes although it is not paired when I start the car I can use the infotainment system and/ or my phone to get it paired.
Most times if it is not paired I give up before it will cooperate

6 Infotainment system (Bluetooth or Radio) remains on after exiting the vehicle
This seems to happen randomly. Most of the time it requires getting back in and restarting and stopping the car. A couple times I was able to close and reopen the door and it went off

7 Back up warning system does not work consistently.
This has occurred backing out of driveways and in parking lots.

8 The High beam switch works intermittently
This is not a big deal as I do not do a lot of night driving and rarely use the high beams. However, this has not worked correctly since I first had the car. It is just another indication of the issues that were never experienced with 4 previous Subarus

Subaru needs to recognize that all these issues are very distracting while driving and downright dangerous in the case of the high volume episodes and the backup sensor inconsistency