Other engine problem on the 2012 Subaru Outback
2 fires 2 of the 22 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 engine problem gets reported
Owners of the 2012 Subaru Outback report other engine problem at a median of 110,000 miles. A quarter of the reports come in before 65,000 miles and a quarter after 120,000 miles, from 15 reports that carried an odometer reading.
A part like this is normally expected to survive 95,000 miles. It is the 4th most-reported problem on this model year.
The mileage distribution
The reported range runs from 40,000 miles at the tenth percentile to 145,000 miles at the ninetieth, a spread of 103,400 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.
13% of the dated reports were filed under 36,000 miles.
The whole distribution
| 10th | 25th | Median | 75th | 90th |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 40,800 miles | 67,250 miles | 107,540 miles | 120,500 miles | 144,200 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, 2 a fire 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 $300–$4,000 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 1,500 miles, and latest on the 2011 at 110,000 miles.
By volume the 2013 carries the most reports, with 38; the 2012 has 22. 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.
Since I bought this car, while driving for 15-60 minutes with the windows rolled up and depending on conditions, myself and/or another passenger will begin to feel very light headed, irritated eyes, hard to focus, and nearly pass out. It's a forced situation like being put in a choke hold or suffocated gently not just feeling relaxed or comfy. The effects last for some time depending on exposure too. We could be lively with good energy, but using the car as said will kill it. It also occurs faster the more you breathe. The only cure is fresh air. I thought it was the hvac system first, but the fan speed doesn't seem to affect it so I'd guess it's something else. My best guess is it has something to do with the rear tail gate seal not sealing right sucking in exhaust. The reason we can't readily identify a smell is probably because it's a pzev system, and it really doesn't have a typical exhaust odor. Subaru refused to help and said "it smells fine". After a month of trying they finally agreed to do a ride along for just 30 minutes. After completion one said "I don't feel anymore tired than usual" and the other agreed. They also…
Coolant light then check engine light on. After driving 2 1/2 hours coolant appeared to be leaking so filled coolant to top with water.. 12 minutes later, while driving, lights back on/engine rev/engine dies/ smoke. Lifted hood/many flames from center /slammed hood shut and ran far away. Several small explosions as car burned. Voluntary fire dept. Finally arrived but car almost totally gone. Only back tires left usable. *js
When the brakes are applied and the car comes to a stop light or stop sign, the engine shuts off ('stalls when idling or slowing down'). The vehicle then must be put into 'park' mode in order to re-start. This occurs nearly everyday of the week, and has created many, many dangerous situations for us and the drivers around us. We took the vehicle to the dealership in may concerning this issue, and they stated that they had not heard of this problem, and that nothing was wrong with the vehicle. We took the vehicle in for service again this week, and the dealership mentioned that a technical service bulletin had been issued for this problem. The tsb was apparently issued in jan 2014, but customers were not notified in spite of the fact that the defect poses dire saftey risks. We are bewildered given that this item is clearly a recall-worthy defect that places the vehicle owner, and the cars around them, in foreseeable and considerable danger. We are very concerned that other customers are also being told by the dealership and manufacturer that there is 'nothing wrong with their vehicle' in spite of the tsb issued in jan '14. A…
Also reported on the 2012 Subaru Outback
Other powertrain problem
Torque converter failure
CVT failure
Airbag inflator rupture
Cruise control failure
Tail light, brake light or signal failure
How far this goes
Complaints are voluntary, so 22 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 engine problem happen on the 2012 Subaru Outback?
Across 15 owner reports that included an odometer reading, half were filed by 110,000 miles. A quarter were filed before 65,000 miles and a quarter after 120,000 miles. These are the mileages owners reported when they complained, not a prediction for any individual car.
How common is other engine problem on the 2012 Subaru Outback?
22 reports have been filed with NHTSA, about 0.4 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