2005 Subaru Legacy problems
Owners have filed 250 complaints about the 2005 Subaru Legacy with NHTSA. Engine and engine cooling accounts for 12% of them — narrowly the most common, ahead of electrical system at 10%.
Complaints250
Crashes22
Fires7
Injuries17
Deaths0
What owners report breaking
Engine and engine cooling 12.0% · 30
Electrical system 10.0% · 25
Air bags 8.8% · 22
Service brakes 8.8% · 22
Fuel/propulsion system 6.0% · 15
Vehicle speed control 6.0% · 15
Power train 5.6% · 14
Exterior lighting 5.2% · 13
Severity
Of those complaints, 22 describe a crash, 7 describe a fire and 17 report an injury.
Reading the numbers
Across the 19 model years of the Subaru Legacy in this data, 2005 draws the most complaints of any of them.
Filings have fallen off, 8 in the last three years against 14 in the three before. That is normal as a generation leaves the road.
The median odometer reading at the time of complaint was 76,000 miles.
In owners' own words
2005 Subaru Legacy vin# (last 8)54327514. Car is under warranty but Subaru is refusing to fix the turbo. Subaru has a bulletin # 02-103-07 out about the problem with turbo's oil starvation due to factory oil feed banjo bolt. I also used amsoil oil and they indicated that voids the warranty. The law pass by congress "magnuson-moss act" said that Subaru can't void the warranty. Engine and engine cooling · reported at 30,000 miles
Purchased 2005 Subaru Legacy gt with automatic transmission several wks ago with about 5,000 miles on odo, sold to me as "new" was sales mgrs car. When accelerating hard on the highway, cabin fills with acrid sulpher smell. Can be duplicated. If this is residue it should have burned off by now, since the car was placed in service august 2004. Engine and engine cooling · reported at 5,300 miles
My 2005 Subaru impreza wrx sti has been losing oil at a rate of ~2 qts per 1000 miles since the day it was purchased with 37 miles. I have taken it in to a Subaru dealership seven times. The dealership can not find the source of the problem, though, after two oil consumption tests, they can confirm that the car loses oil at an abnormal rate. Engine and engine cooling
Verbatim from NHTSA filings. Complaints are unverified owner reports.
Safety recalls
Checking NHTSA for open recalls…