Other brake problem on the 2012 Subaru Outback
When other brake problem gets reported
Owners of the 2012 Subaru Outback report other brake problem at a median of 45,000 miles. A quarter of the reports come in before 15,000 miles and a quarter after 65,000 miles, from 8 reports that carried an odometer reading.
A part like this is normally expected to survive 88,000 miles. It is the 16th most-reported problem on this model year.
The mileage distribution
The reported range runs from 1,800 miles at the tenth percentile to 100,000 miles at the ninetieth, a spread of 100,561 miles across the middle 80% of reports.
A spread this wide points at use rather than design. Towing, climate, service history and city mileage all move a failure like this, so the median is a weak guide to any individual car.
38% of the dated reports were filed under 36,000 miles.
The whole distribution
| 10th | 25th | Median | 75th | 90th |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1,839 miles | 16,250 miles | 46,250 miles | 65,500 miles | 102,400 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
Putting it right typically runs $300–$1,800 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 20 model years of this car. It shows up earliest on the 2019, at a median of 5,000 miles, and latest on the 2024 at 225,000 miles.
By volume the 2011 carries the most reports, with 25; the 2012 has 8. 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.
Tl* the contact owns a 2012 subaru outback. The contact received notification of NHTSA campaign id number: 11v562000 (service brakes, hydraulic:pedals and linkages) and had the vehicle repaired by an authorized dealer. After the repairs, the vehicle would exhibit an abnormal clicking noise when applying the brakes. The dealer was notified of the failure, but denied any assistance with repair to the vehicle. The manufacturer was not made aware of the issue. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was 1,464 and the current mileage was 1,500.
I have had the car a little over a year and have had trouble with the brakes since the beginning. Several times upon cold startup the brakes barely work. Not always but frequently. I have to use both feet to push the pedal down to the floor and it travels several feet before stopping. I have brought it to the dealers attention several times, this last time, pushing them to keep the car to duplicate the results. They told me they could not find any problems with it and suggest that I warm the car up before moving it. I was not satisfied with that answer, t it is a safety issue, and suggest they take it higher up the chain. They kept it for a few more days and was able to duplicate the problem with my car and several on their lot. They tell me it is not a safety issue and it is just the way the car handles. The subaru national tech was out of the state and they told me they could not keep my car any longer to wait on the tech.they are closing the order and told me to come pick up my car at my convenience. I told them I was not satisfied and that I considered it a safety concern. They said I could pay extra and have some other brake…
Tl* the contact owns a 2012 subaru outback. When the vehicle was taken to the dealer for a routine inspection, the mechanic discovered that all four brakes were rusted and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was taken to three other mechanics who did not indicate that the brakes needed replacing. While driving at an unknown speed, the vehicle stalled and was towed to a mechanic. The mechanic stated that someone unplugged and misplaced the wiring under the hood and the clip was fractured. The contact was informed that the clip needed to be replaced and the wires re-adjusted. The vehicle was not repaired and the manufacturer was notified. The approximate failure mileage was 44,000. Updated 9/18/14*cn updated 02/12/2015 *js
Also reported on the 2012 Subaru Outback
Other powertrain problem
Torque converter failure
CVT failure
Other engine problem
Airbag inflator rupture
Cruise control failure
How far this goes
Complaints are voluntary, so 8 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 brake problem happen on the 2012 Subaru Outback?
Across 8 owner reports that included an odometer reading, half were filed by 45,000 miles. A quarter were filed before 15,000 miles and a quarter after 65,000 miles. These are the mileages owners reported when they complained, not a prediction for any individual car.
How common is other brake problem on the 2012 Subaru Outback?
8 reports have been filed with NHTSA, about 0.1 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