2006 Subaru Outback Recalls

Recalls on record Updated July 2026

The 2006 Subaru Outback has 7 NHTSA recall campaigns affecting an estimated 1,666,189 vehicles. Recall repairs are always free at any authorized dealer. Owners have filed 404 complaints with NHTSA, most often about the vehicle speed control. Last updated July 5, 2026.

Recall campaigns

AIR BAGS 20V002000 2020-01-02 127,547 affected
Defect

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,…

Consequence

An inflator explosion may result in sharp metal fragments striking the driver or other occupants resulting in serious injury or death.

Remedy

Subaru will notify their owners. General Motors will notify Saab owners. Dealers will replace the passenger air bag inflators, free of charge. The recall began January 7, 2020. Subaru owners may contact Subaru customer service at 1-844-373-6614. Saab owners may contact the Saab Customer Assistance Center at…

AIR BAGS 20V003000 2020-01-02 111,562 affected
Defect

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,…

Consequence

An inflator explosion may result in sharp metal fragments striking the driver or other occupants resulting in serious injury or death.

Remedy

Subaru will notify their owners. General Motors will notify Saab owners. Dealers will replace the passenger air bag inflators, free of charge. The recall began January 7, 2020. Subaru owners may contact Subaru customer service at 1-844-373-6614. Saab owners may contact the Saab Customer Assistance Center at…

AIR BAGS 20V001000 2020-01-02 258,813 affected
Defect

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,…

Consequence

An inflator explosion may result in sharp metal fragments striking the driver or other occupants resulting in serious injury or death.

Remedy

Subaru will notify their owners. General Motors will notify Saab owners. Dealers will replace the passenger air bag inflators with alternate inflators, free of charge. The recall began January 7, 2020. Subaru Owners may contact Subaru customer service at 1-844-373-6614. Saab owners may contact the Saab Customer…

ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 19V297000 2019-04-11 511 affected
Defect

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…

Consequence

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.

Remedy

Subaru will notify owners, and dealers will inspect the ignition switch, replacing the ignition switch, if necessary, free of charge. The recall began May 10, 2019. Owners may contact Subaru customer service at 1-844-373-6614. Subaru's number for this recall is WUF-91.

AIR BAGS 15V323000 2015-05-28 432,016 affected
Defect

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…

Consequence

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.

Remedy

Subaru will notify their owners and General Motors will notify Saab owners. Dealers will replace the passenger air bag inflator, free of charge. The Subaru recall began on June 17, 2015. Owners may contact Subaru customer service at 1-800-782-2783. The Saab recall began on July 27, 2015. Owners of Saab…

SERVICE BRAKES, HYDRAULIC 14V311000 2014-06-10 461,338 affected
Defect

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,…

Consequence

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.

Remedy

Subaru will notify owners, and dealers will test the brake system by depressing the brake pedal and inspecting for brake fluid leaks. If no brake fluid seepage is observed, the affected areas will be rustproofed with anti-corrosion wax. If brake fluid seepage is observed, the brake lines will be replaced followed…

SERVICE BRAKES, HYDRAULIC 13V110000 2013-03-27 274,402 affected
Defect

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,…

Consequence

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.

Remedy

Subaru will notify owners, and dealers will inspect the vehicles. If no brake fluid seepage is observed, the affected area will be rustproofed with anti-corrosion wax. If brake fluid seepage is observed, the brake lines will be replaced followed by rustproofing with anti-corrosion wax. These services will be…

Complaints by component

VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
94
2crashes
ENGINE
43
1fires
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
40
1fires
AIR BAGS
37
2crashes1injuries
FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM
29
SUSPENSION
21
1crashes1fires
SERVICE BRAKES
16
POWER TRAIN
13
1crashes
SUSPENSION:REAR
13
STEERING
12
1crashes
Total complaints404

What owners report

Verbatim reports filed with NHTSA, lightly edited for readability and with personal information removed.

“I was driving home when my brake pedal went all the way to the floor. Next, I realized I could not stop the vehicle. I was able to pull over and stop. A puddle was pooling under my vehicle by the rear passenger tire. I received no lights or illumination or warning.”

SERVICE BRAKES · reported 2025-05-29

“My brake warning light came on as I was driving down a steep decline on a narrow road. When I found a safe place to pull over I found I had very little brakes. It was found that once a plastic shield was removed from the rear of the car that the plastic shield was full of mud and water and had…”

SERVICE BRAKES · reported 2025-02-22

“Was driving approximately 35mph missed my turn went to hit brakes and brakes pedal went straight to the floor.started pumping the brakes to stop the car and had to use emergency brake to stop completely. After getting car home inspected rear brakes and both rear brakes lines are rust covered at…”

SERVICE BRAKES · reported 2024-04-11

“All the brake lines rusted through where they were unprotected and inserted into body clips resulting in a complete loss of brake fluid and the inability to stop the vehicle.”

SERVICE BRAKES · reported 2023-09-15

“Rusting brake line recall wqk47 supposedly done to the vehicle june of 2015 with the vehicle having 244,246 miles. No brake lines were replaced at that time and only assume they only sprayed something on them. Car now has 288,500 miles and the right rear brake line rotted out in the clip mount to…”

SERVICE BRAKES · reported 2022-11-16

“Rear hatch door malfunction of security lock.”

ELECTRICAL SYSTEM · reported 2022-09-07

“The engine will randomly loose power. This has happened three times now. You must coast to a stop, turn the key off and try to restart the car. Sometime it will take several tries to restart. I see this as a real safety concern in heavy traffic. Especially so if heavy traffic makes it impossible…”

ENGINE · reported 2022-04-14

“The engine will randomly loose power. This has happened three times now. You must coast to a stop, turn the key off and try to restart the car. Sometime it will take several tries to restart. I see this as a real safety concern in heavy traffic. Especially so if heavy traffic makes it impossible…”

VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL · reported 2022-04-14
Sources & methodology

Recall, complaint, and investigation records from official NHTSA datasets (FLAT_RCL, FLAT_CMPL, FLAT_INV), synced weekly. Counts reflect NHTSA records for the 2006 Subaru Outback as of July 5, 2026. Complaint narratives are consumer-submitted and unverified. This page contains ads and affiliate links. Full methodology.