Other powertrain problem on the 2006 Subaru Outback
1 crash 1 of the 9 reports for this failure mention a crash, a fire, an injury or a death. Those are the owner's words on the complaint form, not a verified finding, and one report can mention more than one.
When other powertrain problem gets reported
Owners of the 2006 Subaru Outback report other powertrain problem at a median of 135,000 miles. A quarter of the reports come in before 65,000 miles and a quarter after 150,000 miles, from 8 reports that carried an odometer reading.
A part like this is normally expected to survive 92,000 miles. It is the 10th most-reported problem on this model year.
The mileage distribution
The reported range runs from 50,000 miles at the tenth percentile to 160,000 miles at the ninetieth, a spread of 111,100 miles across the middle 80% of reports.
When the reports scatter this far, the mileage is telling you about how these cars were driven more than about the part itself.
13% of the dated reports were filed under 36,000 miles.
The whole distribution
| 10th | 25th | Median | 75th | 90th |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 49,900 miles | 67,000 miles | 135,500 miles | 151,250 miles | 161,000 miles |
Read the 10th percentile as “one report in ten arrived this early”. Exact figures are shown in this table because it is the table of record; everywhere else on the site they are rounded to the precision the sample can carry.
What a percentile can and cannot tell you here
These five numbers describe the readings owners gave, in order. The median is the middle one: half the reports arrived below it. The 10th and 90th are the edges of the bulk of the distribution, and the distance between them is the part worth reading. A tight spread — say 70,000 to 95,000 miles — points at something that wears out on a schedule, and the schedule is knowable. A wide one, 20,000 to 190,000, points at a fault that hits some cars and never troubles others, which means the mileage on the listing in front of you tells you very little about your odds.
What these figures are not is a survival curve. Every reading here comes from a car whose owner filed a complaint, so the sample contains only failures: it cannot say what share of the fleet made it past 150,000 miles untouched, because those owners had nothing to report. Nor is the mileage the moment of failure — it is the odometer reading as recalled at the time of filing, which may be weeks later and is sometimes rounded to the nearest ten thousand by the person typing it.
Percentiles are shown at all only once 8 readings exist for the vehicle and mode. Below that the middle of a handful of numbers is noise wearing a decimal point, so the figures are withheld rather than dressed up.
What happens, and what it costs
Of these reports, 1 a crash is mentioned. Owners write their own complaints and the agency does not verify them, so read this as what the reports say happened rather than as a confirmed count.
Putting it right typically runs $400–$4,500 at an independent US shop. That range is an editorial estimate held in this site's failure-mode catalogue, not a figure from NHTSA, and it is a repair cost rather than a diagnosis cost.
The same failure on other years
The same failure is reported on 28 model years of this car. It shows up earliest on the 2015, at a median of 500 miles, and latest on the 2006 at 135,000 miles.
By volume the 2011 carries the most reports, with 79; the 2006 has 9. A mode that appears across most years of a model is usually a design choice rather than a bad batch.
If one year stands out to the left, that is the year to avoid; if the whole line sits at a similar mileage, this is wear rather than a defect in one production run.
Tick median reported mileage Solid middle half of reports Faint 10th to 90th percentile Colour how bad the failure is when it happens
What owners wrote
Verbatim from NHTSA complaint narratives, trimmed for length. The mileage is the one the owner gave.
I am in my third season driving my 2006 subaru outback to lake tahoe for winter ski season. I've always felt confident driving on snowy or icy roads until my last two trips--christmas 2008, and new year's 2009. On these trips, I experienced very disturbing fishtailing that everyone in the car noticed, and I had to fight to compensate for. This occurred even on long straight sections. Each time I had to slow down well below the flow of traffic, and the speed of previous trips. This issue made me wonder about improper tire inflation pressure, so we called the tire dealer, who confirmed this was not the cause. It felt as if the rear wheel traction was overcoming front wheel traction, that made me also wonder whether the all-wheel drive was functioning properly. I also considered weight as a cause, because one day I drove from reno to tahoe with only one passenger, and little cargo, and did not experience the problem. But, the fully loaded vehicle was no different than many trips the previous two seasons, when the fishtailing did not occur, and I could maintain sufficient speed to stay with the flow of traffic. Same vehicle, same…
Straight line driving on flat concrete highway, rear end of vehicle may start to wander when road is slippery. This occurs generally over 25mph, when all other vehicles are able to travel at a higher rate of speed than the 2006 subaru outback 3.0r is able to. Cars will pass while I am white knuckled, concerned the rear end is going to break loose and cause complete control failure. I have found other instances of this issue from other subaru drivers, and this is being referred to as "ghost walking" - this is a very good description as this is what it feels like. Essentially, the all wheel drive system feels like it is sending too much power to the rear end, under even/constant speed, and causing the rear to break loose. Or, there is a alignment geometry problem. Very unsettling and very unexpected for a highly regarded all wheel drive system. I have had several all wheel drive systems and none have done this in the same conditions. Very hard to recreate for dealership or manufacture, as it requires precise road conditions. Just so happens it is precisely the road conditions that most people might buy a subaru (in mn or co). Very…
Subaru outback began to exhibit "ghost walking" while driving straight during a winter storm. Rear end attempted to race the front end, and could not regain control. This "ghost walking" is well discussed in the online form at subaruoutback.org. Car eventually made it to the edge of the road where it then proceeded to roll 3 times. The experience was not the normally sliding on ice. The rear end seemed to have a mind of its own. *tr
Also reported on the 2006 Subaru Outback
Cruise control failure
Other speed control problem
Other suspension problem
Other engine problem
Airbag inflator rupture
Engine sensor failure
How far this goes
Complaints are voluntary, so 9 is a floor and not a count of affected cars. Mileages are typed in by owners and cluster on round numbers. And the mode itself is assigned by software reading the complaint text, which is reliable in bulk and fallible one report at a time.
Questions this page answers
At what mileage does other powertrain problem happen on the 2006 Subaru Outback?
Across 8 owner reports that included an odometer reading, half were filed by 135,000 miles. A quarter were filed before 65,000 miles and a quarter after 150,000 miles. These are the mileages owners reported when they complained, not a prediction for any individual car.
How common is other powertrain problem on the 2006 Subaru Outback?
9 reports have been filed with NHTSA, about 0.3 per 1,000 vehicles. Complaints are voluntary, so this is a floor rather than a count of affected cars.
What this is and is not. These are the mileages at which owners chose to complain to a federal agency, which is not the same as the mileage at which the part fails on every car. It skews toward failures that happened outside warranty, cost real money, or frightened someone. It is still the only public dataset that carries failure mileage at all, and the shape of a few hundred readings is informative even when a single one is not. Methodology · JSON · this failure on other cars
Source Owner complaints and recall records published by the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, model years 1996–2027 Figures rebuilt Published by AtWhatMileage How every figure is computed