CSR

Subaru · NHTSA safety record

2025 Subaru Ascent

Every safety complaint, recall and defect investigation the US government holds on this vehicle.

14

Complaints

1

Crashes

1

Fires

0

Injuries

0

Deaths

Owners of the 2025 Subaru Ascent have filed 14 safety complaints with NHTSA between March 2025 and August 2026. The most complained-about system is the electrical system, named in 2 of them (14%).

NHTSA has issued 1 recall covering this vehicle.

Recalls (1)

EQUIPMENT:OTHER:LABELS

26V436000 · July 7, 2026

The defect
Subaru of America, Inc. (Subaru) is recalling certain 2026 Crosstrek Hybrid, 2025-2026 Forester Hybrid, Forester, and 2019-2026 Ascent vehicles. These vehicles were manufactured with an incorrect Gross Axle Weight Rating (GAWR) on the certification label. As such, these vehicles fail to comply with the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) 110, "Tire selection and rims."
The risk
An incorrect GAWR label may lead to an overloaded vehicle, increasing the risk of a crash.
The remedy
Subaru will mail a new certification label to owners, free of charge. Owners may also choose to have a dealer install the new label, free of charge. Letters informing owners of the safety risk are expected to be mailed August 25, 2026. Additional letters will be mailed once the remedy is available. Owners may contact Subaru customer service at 1-844-373-6614. Subaru's number for this recall is WRH-26.

Subaru of America, Inc. · up to 541,237 vehicles across all model years covered

What owners report

Complaints naming each system. One complaint can name several, so these add up to more than 14.

ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 2 14%
ENGINE 2 14%
STEERING 2 14%
STRUCTURE 2 14%
UNKNOWN OR OTHER 2 14%
VISIBILITY 2 14%
VISIBILITY/WIPER 2 14%
AIR BAGS 1 7%
FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE 1 7%
LANE DEPARTURE 1 7%
SERVICE BRAKES 1 7%
TIRES 1 7%

When the complaints arrived

By the year NHTSA received them, which is not the year the failures happened. They peaked in 2025 at 7.

2025 2026
2025 to 2026, the last of them a part year

In owners' own words

Quoted from NHTSA's complaint file. These are unverified accounts by the people who filed them, not findings of fault.

ENGINE

fire · crash · towed

I hit a deer on CA 395 north, my braking system worked and my air bags deployed, and then my engine immediately caught fire. I’m lucky i was able to get out of the car through a back door. Every police and fire who responded said they have never seen a car catch fire after hitting a deer and i should report a vehicle malfunction

NHTSA complaint 11706345. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

AIR BAGS
Was getting out the car the door shut car door and side curtain on drivers side and drivers seats airbag deployed. My children were in the car no injuries during event. But, could have depending on when the airbags would have deployed if not then. Please inspect. Had manufacturer come inspect and was denied repair. No lamps or messaged reported. (Nothing was in the door way when door was shut)

NHTSA complaint 11757402. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

STEERING
2025 Subaru Ascent has a popping noise randomly usually when turning left. Dealership services can not find the source.

NHTSA complaint 11752548. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

SERVICE BRAKES
The car will spontaneously brake for no reason while driving forward and reverse. The steering wheel will spontaneously steer you out of the lane. The doors will lock while you are in the car and you can't get out for about 30 seconds. The deck door will come down on you unexpectedly while loading items. It has hit us in the head or makes us twist our back to lift it up. The stereo system has a mind if it's own. The eye site goes on and off for no reason. These safety issues concern us. We have had it in the service department three times and they can't duplicate the problem. They have had it since June 6th and drove it 30 miles in 20 days. I don't think they drove it long enough to

NHTSA complaint 11746812, quoted in part. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: AUTOMATIC EMERGENCY BRAKING
Traveling in my 2025 Subaru Ascent with cruise control set at 50mph. Bright sunny day, no shadows on the road and no vehicles in front of me. My vehicle slammed on the brakes out of nowhere. Held deceleration about 5-7 seconds and then resumed cruising speed. The road I was on is generally busy. I got very lucky there was no one behind me or I would have been rear ended.

NHTSA complaint 11746540. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
31 May 2026 (AM) Operating vehicle north on MD Rte 147 traveling appr. 45 MPH when vehicle started experiencing uncontrolled electrical activation of features e.g., heat, air, radio, main display. This proceed a shuddering in the drive train like one would experience with a transmission issue. Then, without warning, while at full speed, there was a complete loss of engine power i.e., it turned off, which also resulted in loss of steering and breaking resulting in a complete loss of control of the vehicle. As the vehicle drifted to a rolling stop, the main display indicated to turn off the vehicle and it was forced into park to stop it and then the ignition control button was pushed. The car

NHTSA complaint 11741773, quoted in part. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

STRUCTURE:BODY
The window pillars on the passenger side deformed on exposure to sunlight reflected from our house windows; in less than 6 months of ownership! We are the original owners and took possession in June 2025. Both the local Subaru dealer and Subaru USA have been involved. Subaru USA Case number is: 251230 - 1500232. Subaru will NOT cover this despite us having owned a Subaru DL, a Subaru Forester, and a Hyundai Tucson all parked in the same driveway, same manner (backed in), and owned for a minimum of 5 years by us as second owners for all 3 cars AND zero issues with any body pieces. There were no warnings, either at time of purchase or prior to us filing a request for relief with Subaru in

NHTSA complaint 11735425, quoted in part. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

Compare

Other years of the Subaru Ascent

Model year Complaints Recalls Deaths
2024 48 1
2023 42 4
2022 55 2
2021 100 2
2020 318 5
2019 438 9

Other 2025 Subaru models

Every Subaru on this site — 97 vehicles, 147 recall campaigns and 1 open investigation .

If this is your car and a dealer keeps failing to fix it, your state's lemon law may require the manufacturer to replace it or buy it back. What each state asks for , read from the statutes.

Where these numbers come from

A complaint is one owner's account and has not been verified by NHTSA or by us. A vehicle with more complaints is not necessarily worse: models that sold in larger numbers collect more of them. How this is counted.

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Independent developer and analyst