How many miles will a Subaru Outback last?
Half of the 5,366 NHTSA owner complaints on the Subaru Outback that list mileage came after 33,000 miles, and 1 in 10 after 124,000 miles. They cover the 1996–2026 model years in NHTSA's complaints file of November 11, 2026, and each records the odometer when an owner reported a safety problem, not how long the car lasted.
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See what the paid report includes →Of the 5,366 complaints on the Subaru Outback that list mileage, the middle half came between 8,800 and 80,000 miles; 17% came after 100,000 miles, 5% after 150,000 and 1% after 200,000.
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How many miles is too much for a used Outback?
There is no hard cutoff. NHTSA's file records when owners reported problems, not when an Outback wears out, and how a car was maintained matters more than any one odometer figure.
Where the complaints cluster: the middle half came between 8,800 and 80,000 miles, and 5% came after 150,000 miles (278 of 5,366).
Complaint mileage rises with a model year's age: older Outback years were reported at higher odometer readings because they had more time to cover miles. The table below shows when owners of each year reported problems; it does not rank the years.
Complaint counts by model year, every year compared: Subaru Outback years to avoid →
Subaru Outback mileage at failure by model year
Each row is a Outback model year with 10 or more NHTSA complaints that list a mileage, with the median of those mileages: half of the year’s complaints came at or above it. Years with fewer are left out. Medians rise with a year’s age, so the table does not rank the years. A linked year opens that model year’s own page: its problems by component and its recall campaigns.
| Model year | Complaints listing mileage | Median mileage at failure |
|---|---|---|
| 1996 Outback | 14 | 115,000 |
| 1997 Outback | 24 | 100,000 |
| 1998 Outback | 59 | 91,486 |
| 1999 Outback | 58 | 88,000 |
| 2000 Outback | 104 | 68,000 |
| 2001 Outback | 100 | 70,000 |
| 2002 Outback | 88 | 70,000 |
| 2003 Outback | 64 | 73,523 |
| 2004 Outback | 62 | 67,380 |
| 2005 Outback | 208 | 81,000 |
| 2006 Outback | 222 | 95,300 |
| 2007 Outback | 93 | 81,147 |
| 2008 Outback | 160 | 78,700 |
| 2009 Outback | 78 | 70,198 |
| 2010 Outback | 277 | 68,000 |
| 2011 Outback | 462 | 85,000 |
| 2012 Outback | 199 | 90,000 |
| 2013 Outback | 204 | 43,199 |
| 2014 Outback | 150 | 34,000 |
| 2015 Outback | 343 | 20,000 |
| 2016 Outback | 349 | 35,000 |
| 2017 Outback | 516 | 30,000 |
| 2018 Outback | 487 | 16,927 |
| 2019 Outback | 470 | 10,188 |
| 2020 Outback | 444 | 5,700 |
| 2021 Outback | 61 | 3,600 |
| 2022 Outback | 39 | 13,947 |
| 2023 Outback | 12 | 6,000 |
| 2025 Outback | 10 | 1,999 |
Subaru Outback problems by component, with typical mileage
The five NHTSA component categories named most often in the 1996–2026 Outback complaints that list a mileage, with the median mileage of each. A complaint can name more than one component. Owners named the electrical system most often: 1,069 complaints, half of them after 29,000 miles.
| Component (NHTSA category) | Complaints listing mileage | Median mileage |
|---|---|---|
| Electrical System | 1,069 | 29,650 |
| Visibility/wiper | 930 | 13,000 |
| Power Train | 683 | 75,023 |
| Engine | 433 | 73,956 |
| Vehicle Speed Control | 379 | 49,296 |
What these mileages can and cannot tell you
- They are self-reported. The mileage is what the owner wrote on the complaint; NHTSA does not check it against the odometer.
- They are not a lifespan study. The file holds only cars whose owners reported a problem; a Outback that ran without one never appears in it, so these figures do not say how long a typical Outback lasts.
- Young model years pull the figures down: a car a few years old cannot have reached high mileage when its owner complained.
- A complaint is an allegation, not a defect finding, and the count rises with how many cars were sold.
- 4,427 of the Subaru Outback complaints in these model years give no usable mileage (blank, zero, a filler such as 999999, or over 500,000) and are left out of every figure.
- NHTSA also holds 2 complaints for 1995, fewer than 10 a year under a name whose typical year draws 40 or more; those stray filings are left out.
- NHTSA names counted: OUTBACK.
Primary sources behind this page
Open the underlying public source and verify that its scope matches the question you are asking.
- NHTSA complaints flat file (FLAT_CMPL.zip), downloaded November 11, 2026National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
- Complaints file field layout (CMPL.txt)National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
- NHTSA recall and complaint datasets: scope and documentationNational Highway Traffic Safety Administration
- Recalls Lookup by VINNational Highway Traffic Safety Administration
NHTSA’s complaints file was downloaded on November 11, 2026 (FLAT_CMPL.txt, dated 2026-11-11 10:15, 2,265,416 rows). Each complaint is counted once, by its NHTSA number, with the mileage on its first row; a page is published only when its model holds 100 or more complaints that list a mileage. The collection script and its rules are in scripts/collect-nhtsa-mileage.mjs.
Subaru Outback mileage questions
How many miles will a Subaru Outback last?
Half of the 5,366 NHTSA owner complaints on the Subaru Outback that list mileage came after 33,000 miles, and 1 in 10 after 124,000 miles. Of the 5,366 complaints on the Subaru Outback that list mileage, the middle half came between 8,800 and 80,000 miles; 17% came after 100,000 miles, 5% after 150,000 and 1% after 200,000. These are mileages at a reported problem, not a lifespan: the file holds no Outback that never had one.
How many miles is too much for a used Outback?
There is no hard cutoff. NHTSA's file records when owners reported problems, not when an Outback wears out, and how a car was maintained matters more than any one odometer figure. Where the complaints cluster: the middle half came between 8,800 and 80,000 miles, and 5% came after 150,000 miles (278 of 5,366). Complaint mileage rises with a model year's age: older Outback years were reported at higher odometer readings because they had more time to cover miles. The table below shows when owners of each year reported problems; it does not rank the years.
How do I check the mileage of a used Outback?
Compare the odometer with the readings on file for its VIN: title transfers, inspections and auction sales record the mileage on the day. A reading lower than an earlier one, or a long gap, is worth asking about. VIN Lookup (free-vin-lookup.com) sells the original ClearVIN PDF for $14.99 (3 reports for $29.99, 5 for $44.99): odometer readings, title brands and auction records on file for the VIN. Check the VIN before buying a high-mileage Outback.