STEERING:COLUMN
The loss of steering ability would increase the risk of a crash.
5 safety recall campaigns, 1 carrying NHTSA's "park it" advisory, 1 defect investigation (1 open), 646 owner complaints filed with NHTSA.
1 campaign covering the 2015 SUBARU OUTBACK carries NHTSA’s “park it” advisory — the federal government telling owners to stop driving the vehicle until the remedy has been performed. Whether it was performed on any particular car is not something NHTSA publishes in a form anyone can query; a franchised dealer can run the VIN and print the record in a minute, and the repair is free.
Complaints are reports from owners of this model year, not findings about any particular vehicle, and a model that sold in large numbers will collect more of them. They are counted here as filed; nothing is inferred from them.
The loss of steering ability would increase the risk of a crash.
Poor performance of the electronic stability control system when it is activated may result in a loss of vehicle control, increasing the risk of a crash.
If the transmission oil leaks onto the exhaust pipe, there is a possible risk of fire.
If the automatic pre-collision braking system does not function as intended, the vehicle will not react to an obstacle in its path, increasing the risk of a crash.
The mounting nut(s) may not provide sufficient force to remain attached to the studs or the studs themselves might break. If this were to happen while a trailer is being towed, the driver might not be able to operate the vehicle as desired or the trailer may detach from the vehicle. Either situation could increase the risk of a crash.
Two 2015 SUBARU OUTBACKs can have entirely different histories, and a recall campaign usually covers a build-date window rather than a whole model year — which a VIN does not encode, so only the door-jamb label settles it. Scanning the VIN adds the decode, the crash tests, the fuel economy and the complaints matched to that exact engine, trim and assembly plant.