2008 SUBARU OUTBACK
View all complaints and recalls for this specific model year.
2008 SUBARU OUTBACK Summary
2008
Model Year
4
Total Complaints
8
Total Recalls
1766316
Vehicles Affected
Recalls
2008 SUBARU OUTBACK
111562 vehicles affected
AIR BAGS:FRONTAL:PASSENGER SIDE:INFLATOR MODULE
Subaru of America, Inc. (Subaru) is recalling certain 2009-2013 Forester, 2003-2006 Baja, 2004-2011 Impreza, 2004-2014 WRX (including STI), 2003-2014 Legacy and Outback, and 2005-2006 Saab 9-2X vehicles originally sold, or ever registered, in the states of Alaska, Colorado, Connecticut, Idaho, Iowa, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, New Hampshire, New York, North Dakota, Oregon, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Utah, Vermont, Washington, Wisconsin, and Wyoming or "Zone C." These vehicles had their passenger frontal air bag inflators previously replaced under a prior recall using inflators of the same design. The inflators may explode due to propellant degradation occurring after long-term exposure to high absolute humidity, temperature and temperature cycling.
Risk: An inflator explosion may result in sharp metal fragments striking the driver or other occupants resulting in serious injury or death.
2008 SUBARU OUTBACK
258813 vehicles affected
AIR BAGS:FRONTAL:PASSENGER SIDE:INFLATOR MODULE
Subaru of America, Inc. (Subaru) is recalling certain 2009-2013 Forester, 2003-2006 Baja, 2004-2011 Impreza, 2004-2014 WRX (STI included), 2003-2014 Legacy and Outback, and 2005-2006 Saab 9-2X vehicles originally sold, or ever registered, in the states of Alabama, California, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina, Texas, Puerto Rico, American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands (Saipan), and the U.S. Virgin Islands or "Zone A." These vehicles had their passenger frontal air bag inflators previously replaced under a prior recall using inflators of the same design. The inflators may explode due to propellant degradation occurring after long-term exposure to high absolute humidity, temperature and temperature cycling.
Risk: An inflator explosion may result in sharp metal fragments striking the driver or other occupants resulting in serious injury or death.
2008 SUBARU OUTBACK
127547 vehicles affected
AIR BAGS:FRONTAL:PASSENGER SIDE:INFLATOR MODULE
Subaru of America, Inc. (Subaru) is recalling certain 2009-2013 Forester, 2003-2006 Baja, 2004-2011 Impreza, 2004-2014 WRX (including STI), 2003-2014 Legacy and Outback, and 2006 Saab 9-2X vehicles originally sold, or ever registered, in the states of Arizona, Arkansas, Delaware, District of Columbia, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Maryland, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia or "Zone B." These vehicles had their passenger frontal air bag inflators previously replaced under a prior recall using inflators of the same design. The inflators may explode due to propellant degradation occurring after long-term exposure to high absolute humidity, temperature and temperature cycling.
Risk: An inflator explosion may result in sharp metal fragments striking the driver or other occupants resulting in serious injury or death.
2008 SUBARU OUTBACK
511 vehicles affected
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM:IGNITION:SWITCH
Subaru of America, Inc. (Subaru) is recalling certain 2009-2013 Forester vehicles, 2008-2011 Impreza vehicles, 2008-2014 WRX vehicles, 2005-2014 Legacy vehicles, 2005-2014 Outback vehicles and 2006-2008 Tribeca vehicles equipped with a mechanical key ignition switch installed as a replacement part. The ball spring inside the switch may break, reducing the strength of the ignition switch. If this occurs, the weight on the key ring and certain road conditions could cause the ignition switch to move out of the run position to the accessory position, turning off the engine.
Risk: The engine turning off unexpectedly can increase the risk of a crash. If a crash occurs under this condition, the air bag may not deploy, increasing the risk of injury.
2008 SUBARU OUTBACK
100127 vehicles affected
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
Subaru of America, Inc. (Subaru) is recalling certain model year 2007-2009 model year Legacy and Outback vehicles, 2008-2014 Impreza vehicles and 2009-2013 Forester vehicles, all equipped with turbo-charged engines. The relay that controls the secondary air injection pump may fail, causing the pump to continuously operate and overheat.
Risk: If the air injection pump overheats, it may melt and increase the risk of a fire.
2008 SUBARU OUTBACK
432016 vehicles affected
AIR BAGS:FRONTAL:PASSENGER SIDE:INFLATOR MODULE
Subaru of America, Inc. (Subaru) is recalling certain model year 2003-2004 Subaru Baja vehicles manufactured January 22, 2003, to July 21, 2004, 2004-2005 Impreza vehicles manufactured January 28, 2003, to May 31, 2005, 2003-2008 Subaru Legacy vehicles manufactured January 22, 2003, to May 2, 2008, 2003-2008 Subaru Outback vehicles manufactured February 18, 2003, to May 5, 2008, and 2005 Saab 9-2x vehicles manufactured February 11, 2004, to March 17, 2005. The affected vehicles are equipped with a passenger side frontal air bag that may be susceptible to moisture intrusion which, over time, could cause the inflator to rupture upon its deployment.
Risk: In the event of a crash necessitating deployment of the passenger's frontal air bag, the inflator could rupture with metal fragments striking the vehicle occupants potentially resulting in serious injury or death.
2008 SUBARU OUTBACK
461338 vehicles affected
SERVICE BRAKES, HYDRAULIC:FOUNDATION COMPONENTS:HOSES, LINES/PIPING, AND FITTINGS
Subaru of America, Inc. (Subaru) is recalling certain model year 2005-2009 Outback and Legacy, 2008-2011 Impreza and 2008-2014 Impreza WRX/STI, and 2009-2013 Forester vehicles, currently, or formerly, registered in Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, West Virginia, Wisconsin and the District of Columbia. Salt water could splash on the brake lines through a gap in the fuel tank protector, resulting in excessive corrosion of the brake lines. Note that affected vehicles not currently, or formerly registered, in the salt belt states identified above are eligible for repair, at no cost to the customer, upon request.
Risk: Brake line corrosion may result in brake fluid leakage. Fluid leakage may result in longer distances being required to slow or stop the vehicle, increasing the risk of a crash.
2008 SUBARU OUTBACK
274402 vehicles affected
SERVICE BRAKES, HYDRAULIC:FOUNDATION COMPONENTS:HOSES, LINES/PIPING, AND FITTINGS
Subaru is recalling certain model year 2005-2009 Outback and Legacy vehicles manufactured from December 2003, through April 2009 and currently, or formerly, registered in Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, West Virginia, Wisconsin and the District of Columbia. Salt water could splash on the brake lines through a gap in the fuel tank protector, resulting in excessive corrosion of the brake lines.
Risk: Brake line corrosion may result in brake fluid leakage. Fluid leakage may result in longer distances being required to slow or stop the vehicle, increasing the risk of a crash.
Complaints
2008 SUBARU OUTBACK
ID: 2112583SERVICE BRAKES
Lost use of my brakes. Could have been killed. Recall WQK-47 was improperly addressed by using rust inhibitor as band-aid. My opinion and that of a 25+ year ASE certified mechanic. I originally wanted the lines replaced and subaru refused, cheaped out and used the inhibitor. It obviously was an ineffective solution since the whole reason for the recall is now an issue with my car. The lines should have been replaced and really sealed, not cheaply coated with an aerosol spray. The car might be older but is far from rusted out. The other brake lines are just fine. I was expecting something from subaru, cover the parts or labor at least but nothing.. Their fix was only "preventative" not actually fixing the problem.
2008 SUBARU OUTBACK
ID: 2104375AIR BAGS
The dash pad in the 2005 to 2009 Subaru Legacy and Outback models have a very common problem of deteriorating to where they become sticky and then sections start cracking and falling off. My concern is that this is happening in the area of the passenger air bag. There is a portion of the dash bad which says SRS AIRBAG imprinted in the pad material and mines actually about to fall off. If the air bag should deploy from a serious enough collision, these loose pieces will be one projectiles and could easily cause injury esp to someone eye. I reached out to SOA but they offered no help. The claim number was 250530-0001813. Subaru did extend the warranty on this a few years back but they have since expired. The missing piece in the image is towards the bottom but the area directly over the airbag is severely cracked.
2008 SUBARU OUTBACK
ID: 2091745SERVICE BRAKES
Brakes failed suddenly while on the highway. Virtually no braking available. This could have easily resulted in death or serious injury. Took car to Subaru dealership in Appleton WI. Found split brake line. This is a know issue and recall. Subaru had performed recall by putting anticorrosion on brake lines. All this did was possibly delay the inevitable. The recall stated they could have replaced them at the time of recall. Essentially there are a lot of Subarus driving around now that are ticking time bombs. If they would have replaced the brake
2008 SUBARU OUTBACK
ID: 2059631POWER TRAIN
Due to a known manufacturing defect in the automatic transmission acknowledged in TSB 16-74-09 the driveability of my vehicle has been severely hampered and the shuddering/vibration is steadily worsening. I wasn't aware of this torque converter defect or an available remedy until well after the warranty expired as I didn't have access to the TSB. This is apparently a widespread problem affecting many vehicles of the era based on online forums and other complaints to NHTSA. I took the vehicle to dealerships over the years for related transmission issues but they "couldn't replicate" my concern. Recently, a local dealership has confirmed our transmission is affected but it does not throw any trouble codes or illuminate warning lamp as these underlying mechanical defects are not monitored by the OBD system. Having a gradually failing, defective transmission is a safety issue as we can grow complacent and it could give out any time without warning while driving. The vehicle is certainly available for inspection. It has been impeccably maintained, and none of these issues are due to mechanical wear and tear or neglect. It's unbelievable that a known manufacturing defect in the transmission would not affect every vehicle with that unit and be subject of a broad recall.