Audited US model-year file

2015 SUBARU Outback

Exact make, model and year evidence from official US sources. Recall campaigns, ODI investigations, complaint allegations and EPA estimates remain separate.

Model-year evidence is not a VIN check.

A campaign may cover only certain production dates, plants or equipment. A zero result here is not safety clearance. Use NHTSA’s official VIN tool for the individual vehicle.

Official VIN lookup ↗

01 · Safety actions first

5 NHTSA recall campaigns

Exact model-level NHTSA results for 2015 SUBARU Outback. Campaign records are official safety actions; applicability to a particular car still requires its VIN.

01
NHTSA Recalls · US · received 2016-04-27

ELECTRONIC STABILITY CONTROL (ESC)

Campaign 16V251000
Summary

Subaru of America, Inc. (Subaru) is recalling certain model year 2015 Legacy and Outback vehicles manufactured on July 20, 2015. The brake fluid used in these vehicles may contain excess moisture which may adversely affect the performance of the electronic stability control system. As such, these vehicles fail to comply with the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) number 126, "Electronic Stability Control Systems."

Consequence

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.

Remedy

Subaru will notify owners, and dealers will perform an ABS activation, then flush and replace the brake fluid, free of charge. The recall began on May 20, 2016. Owners may contact Subaru customer service at 1-800-782-2783. Subaru's number for this recall is WTC-64.

02
NHTSA Recalls · US · received 2014-09-19

TRAILER HITCHES

Campaign 14V577000
Summary

Subaru of America, Inc. (Subaru) is recalling certain model year 2015 Outback vehicles manufactured January 22, 2014, to August 18, 2014, and equipped with a Subaru accessory trailer hitch assembly. During installation, the trailer hitch mounting nuts may have been overtightened, potentially resulting in failure of the trailer hitch mounting studs.

Consequence

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.

Remedy

Subaru will notify owners, and dealers will replace all eight mounting nuts for the trailer hitch assembly, and will inspect all eight mounting studs for damage, free of charge. The recall began on October 7, 2014. Owners may contact Subaru customer service at 1-800-782-2783. Subaru's number for this recall is WQN-50.

03
NHTSA Recalls · US · received 2015-08-10

POWER TRAIN:DRIVELINE:DRIVESHAFT

Campaign 15V502000
Summary

Subaru of America, Inc. (Subaru) is recalling certain 2015 and 2016 model year Subaru Legacy 4-Door and Outback vehicles manufactured July 3, 2015, to July 27, 2015. Transmission oil may leak from a deformed seal cap on the propeller shaft yoke.

Consequence

If the transmission oil leaks onto the exhaust pipe, there is a possible risk of fire.

Remedy

Subaru will notify owners, and dealers will replace the propeller shaft, free of charge. The recall began on August 28, 2015. Owners may contact 1-800-782-2783. Subaru's number for this recall is WQU-56.

04
NHTSA Recalls · US · received 2016-05-11

STEERING:COLUMN

Campaign 16V292000

Urgent NHTSA flag: do not drive. Confirm current instructions using the official campaign and VIN lookup.

Summary

Subaru of America, Inc. (Subaru) is recalling certain model year 2016-2017 Legacy and Outback vehicles manufactured February 29, 2016, to May 6, 2016. The steering column on the affected vehicles may have been improperly machined, and as a result, turning the steering wheel may have no effect on the direction of the wheels.

Consequence

The loss of steering ability would increase the risk of a crash.

Remedy

Subaru will notify owners, and dealers will inspect the lot number on the steering column, replacing the steering column, as necessary, free of charge. The recall began May 13, 2016. Owners may contact Subaru customer service at 1-800-782-2783 or by visiting http://www.wtd65.service-campaign.com. Subaru's number for this recall is WTD-65. Note: Until the vehicles have been inspected, owners are advised not to drive their vehicles.

05
NHTSA Recalls · US · received 2015-06-12

FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: CRASH IMMINENT BRAKING

Campaign 15V366000
Summary

Subaru of America, Inc. (Subaru) is recalling certain model year 2015 Legacy vehicles manufactured March 10, 2014, to April 16, 2015, Outback vehicles manufactured February 24, 2014, to April 16, 2015, Impreza vehicles manufactured September 9, 2014, to April 14, 2015, XV Crosstrek vehicles manufactured October 16, 2014, to April 15, 2015, and 2016 WRX vehicles manufactured March 23, 2015, and equipped with the Eyesight Driver Assist System. If the switch that activates the brake lights fails, the automatic pre-collision braking component of the driver assist system will not function.

Consequence

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.

Remedy

Subaru will notify owners, and dealers will reprogram the driver assist system, free of charge. The recall began on July 20, 2015. Owners may contact Subaru customer service at 1-800-782-2783. Subaru's number for this recall is WQS-54.

02 · Owner allegations

509 NHTSA complaints

Counts are not adjusted for sales, vehicle age, mileage, publicity or reporting behavior. They are allegations, not defect findings or a reliability score.

Crash mentions
19
Fire mentions
5
Injuries reported
16
Most-reported component labels
VISIBILITY/WIPER130
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM127
UNKNOWN OR OTHER108
ENGINE47
POWER TRAIN37
STRUCTURE33
Complaints across nearby Subaru Outback model years

Totals for the same nameplate, scaled against its highest year here. They are not adjusted for how many were sold, how old they are, how far they are driven, or how much publicity a fault received — an older or better-selling year will usually carry more reports. This shows where the reporting sits, not which year is better.

  1. 2962013
  2. 2082014
  3. 5092015
  4. 6422016
  5. 9172017
  6. 8072018

A dash means NHTSA holds no complaint record for that exact year, make and model. See all Outback years with specs and fuel economy →

03 · Agency review

1 NHTSA ODI investigation

An investigation means ODI reviewed a possible safety issue for this exact model-year identity. Opening one is not a defect finding; closing one does not by itself clear a vehicle.

EA21002
Open in imported snapshot · opened 2021-09-17

Desiccated Air Bag Inflator Rupture

NHTSA source ↗

AIR BAGS:FRONTAL:DRIVER SIDE:INFLATOR MODULE · No associated recall campaign number was published in this investigation row.

04 · EPA configurations

Fuel economy & specifications

FuelEconomy.gov records are summarized as ranges where this model name has multiple engines, drivetrains or trims.

EPA configurations
2
Combined economy
22–28 mpg/MPGe
City / highway
20–25 / 27–32 mpg/MPGe
Engine displacement
2.5–3.6 L
Cylinders
4–6
Fuel type
Regular
Drive
All-Wheel Drive
Vehicle class
Small Sport Utility Vehicle 4WD
Annual fuel-cost estimate
$2300–2950

05 · Evidence strength

Exact identity. Explicit limits.

No opaque score. Evidence strength is expressed through source availability, exact match method, jurisdiction and honest empty states.

exact match

Recall campaigns

5 exact US model-year records in this bounded view.

exact match

Complaints

509 exact US model-year allegations; narratives and VIN fragments are omitted.

exact match

ODI investigations

1 exact US model-year action numbers in the approved import snapshot.

canonical only

Model aliases

Only the exact NHTSA vPIC model name is published; unverified aliases are not merged.

not published

Manufacturer ownership

No rights-reviewed official ownership record is joined to this exact model-year.

PUBLIC EVIDENCE PASSPORT

Identity, freshness and provenance.

The canonical URL is this file’s permanent public identifier. Source IDs and timestamps show exactly what was matched and when; they do not turn the evidence into a verdict.

Permanent public ID
https://modelyearfacts.com/vehicle/2015/subaru/outback
NHTSA make ID
523
NHTSA model ID
2233
Match key
2015 · SUBARU · Outback · US
Live evidence requested
EPA publication catalogue
Complaint matrix snapshot
Imported safety snapshot
nhtsa-investigations · exact match

NHTSA ODI investigations

Action number, component, subject and open/close dates from the approved bulk import; long summaries omitted.

Open official source ↗
US-market boundary

Only NHTSA vPIC, NHTSA ODI complaints and investigations, NHTSA recalls and FuelEconomy.gov contribute to this vehicle claim. CPSC equipment notices are searched separately and never joined to vehicle fitment. UK MOT, Canadian, New Zealand and European records are not merged into this US claim.

06 · Research paths

Diagnose first. Confirm fitment.

These are transparent searches, not diagnoses or endorsed parts. Recall remedies come before purchases; exact part fitment requires VIN, trim, powertrain, production date and OE number.

Offers status: held

Awin US and R2 affiliate inventory are not published until a US programme, merchant and exact-fitment projection are approved. No offer currently has both merchant approval and exact vehicle fitment, so commercial links never count as evidence.