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Numerous class action lawsuits against Subaru have been compiled into one complaint by consumers who claim their cars’ windshields are prone to crack.
The first complaint was filed in October 2019 by Christine Powell and the other complaints followed in courts in California and New Jersey.
The plaintiffs maintain that Subaru sold 2017-2020 Subaru Forester, 2017-2020 Subaru Outback, 2017-2020 Subaru Crosstrek, 2017-2020 Subaru Legacy and 2017-2020 Subaru Impreza vehicles to the customers but didn’t disclose the windshields were defective.
The defect allegedly presents a safety hazard to drivers and pedestrians. Spontaneous cracking can impair the driver’s view and distract the driver, according to the consolidated Subaru class action lawsuit. In addition, the plaintiffs claim the replacement windshields they paid for, which were provided by the company, have the same defect and are equally dangerous.
In addition, the customers claim the defect deprives them of the ability to use the company’s EyeSight technology that is built into the windshield.
The customers allege Subaru knew the class vehicles contain the windshield defect and have concealed this information from the public and even continues to deny that the problem exists.
“Selling vehicles with dangerously defective windshields and refusing to take responsibility for the defects is directly contrary to the safety conscious, trustworthy, and reliable image Subaru advertises,” states the Subaru class action lawsuit.
The vehicle owners maintain that Subaru refuses to honor the commitment it gave to loyal customers, is jeopardizing the safety of the public, and making its customers bear the expenses of Subaru’s mistakes.
The car owners argue that Subaru refuses to replace the defective windshields under their warranty, often stating that an impact caused the windshield to crack. The “systematic” denial of these warranty claims is one part of a “concerted effort” to minimize the cost of warranty claims and shift the costs of repairs onto the customers, the plaintiffs allege.
The plaintiffs also state that had the defendants disclosed the defect to the customers, the plaintiffs would not have purchased the vehicles or would have paid less for them.
When purchasing their vehicles, customers relied on the reasonable expectation their class vehicles would be safe and have windshields that did not have any defects and did not pose a threat to their safety, states the class action lawsuit.
“Plaintiffs and the Class members operated their Class Vehicles in a reasonably foreseeable manner and as the Class Vehicles were intended to be used but nevertheless suffered significant damages to their windshields as a result of the defect,” the Subaru class action lawsuit continues.
The Subaru class action lawsuit argues that, “Plaintiffs demand that Defendants accept responsibility for replacing damaged windshields under Subaru’s new vehicle warranty at no charge to Plaintiffs and the Classes and reimburse Plaintiffs and the Classes for losses suffered as a result of the Defect. In addition, or alternatively, Subaru should be required to buy back the Class Vehicles.”
Do you own a Subaru with a windshield that cracks? Leave a message in the comments section below.
The plaintiffs are represented by Katrina Carroll of Carlson Lynch LLP, Peter Houghton Levan Jr. and Peter A. Muhic of Levan Law Group LLC and Amey J. Park and Russell D. Paul of Berger Montague PC.
The Subaru Windshield Class Action Lawsuit is Powell, et al. v. Subaru of America Inc., et al., Case No. 1:19-cv-19114, in U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey.
UPDATE: On March 6, 2020, Subaru asked a judge to dismiss a class action lawsuit claiming the windshields in some Subaru vehicles crack during normal use.
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202 thoughts onSubaru Cracked Windshield Class Action Revised
2018 Forester sitting in driveway in a lock-down state. NOT driven since Late March 2020. No damage then. Went outside and noticed a long crack in the windshield on April 26, 2020.
After not driving since 2/28 (its 4/27 today) I went out to my car yesterday to start it and let it run for a little bit and saw a crack. I noticed a small chip on the black lower portion of the windshield. My car has been sitting in my garage so I know it wasn’t from hail a rock or anything hitting it. I am so disappointed- I bought the “vanity package” to get my windshield replaced once for my deductible but knowing this is an issue with all of the windshields I am hesitant to get it replaced. I have never had a crack in any windshields of any of my cars and keep them in immaculate shape.
Having this problem with our 2018 Outback. There’s a small obvious crack and 6-8 little divers on the front of the glass. The day before yesterday, the windshield was perfectly fine. Then when we got in the car yesterday morning, there they were. The guy at the dealership actually said, “Oh, yeah, that’s perfectly normal. They happen all the time and it doesn’t even take much for it to happen. You go out into our car lot and you will see that pretty much all of the cars have little things like that on their windshields. It’s not usually noticeable and doesn’t create a problem unless they turn into a bigger crack like that one [the one that’s clearly noticeable on my car].” I wanted to ask if he could hear himself when he spoke, but I just left and called my insurance. I would love to be included in one of these class action suits!
I have had exactly the same problem with a 2020 Outback. This occurred in the first 2 months of driving this car. My windshield developed an astonishingly fast growing crack after what seemed like a small stone hit.
I have had a number of stone strikes during 50+ years of driving – I have never seen a windshield crack like this. The windshield seems to be very fragile, unlike any I have seen before.
I have a 2015 cross trek and have had to replace the windshield 1 time already. I am now driving with a huge crack in the windshield because within a year of replacing the windshield the new one cracked again. The thing is the crack doesn’t start out as a small ding and then spread… it spreads almost immediately! I have never in all my years of owning a car (including a jeep wrangler that has a flat windshield sitting at a 90 degree Angle) had to replace any windshield.. and I have owned a lot of cars in my life! At this time I don’t want to pay to have the windshield replaced because I’m pretty confident it will just crack again! Why won’t Subaru do something about this? It is not just the newer models either! I will probably not get another Subaru if this problem continues to be ignored!
2018 Outback bought new in July of 2018. Had to replace the windshield in Aug of 2019. Cracked while I was on Interstate 90 in East Greenbush NY and gradually expanded. Covered by my insurance but certainly was a hassle. Had to have the glass company do their work($468), then had to take it to the dealer to have the eye-sight system re-calibrated ($324). .
Bought a 2020 Forester in February 2020. Have less than 3,000 miles on it. Went out to the garage this morning, and noticed about a 16″ crack from the bottom up in the center of the windshield. I am not aware of anything hitting the windshield.
Have contacted salesperson to see what the dealership is doing with these, given the class action. Awaiting a reply.
Also filed a report with NHTSA, reporting the cracked windshield.
I just replaced the windshield on my 2017 outback twice in 3 weeks. 02/14/20 and again 03/10/20. $250 deductible each time.
My wife and I purchased a 2017 Subaru Forester in December of 2016. They were offering the Sierra at Tahoe free ski lift passes so we drove our new Forester to Tahoe to redeem our lift passes in our 1 week old car. As we got to higher elevation and started to see snow on the ground, with no vehicle in front of us, our windshield made a very loud and distinct cracking noise as we watched the crack form across half of the windshield. Directly in the drivers line of sight. When we got back home and out of the snow I was able to inspect the crack and was able to reasonably decide that the crack started at the location of the wiper blade heating coil. We had no windshield coverage on our insurance and had to pay over $400 for a replacement windshield.
need one now