2018 Subaru Legacy engine problems
10 owner complaints filed with NHTSA name the engine on the 2018 Subaru Legacy — 9% of all complaints for this model year.
What owners report
“My wife experienced an unintended acceleration in her 2018 Subaru Legacy. My wife had begun to slowly back out of a parking space in a school parking lot when her 2018 Legacy went into an unintended rapid acceleration in reverse. The car took off in reverse and did not respond to her applying the…”
filed Oct 20, 2025
“For context, we are the original owners of the 2018 Subaru Legacy car (leased in 2018, and then purchased outright in 2022). At the time of the incident, the car was in pristine condition. We had the oil changed in accordance with the maintenance agreement during the lease, and then every 6,000…”
filed Jan 3, 2025
Verbatim excerpts from complaints filed with NHTSA. Reports are not independently verified.
Related service bulletins
This bulletin announces the diagnostic procedures to be used when DTCs B1571(REFERENCE CODE INCOMPATIBILITY IMMOBILIZER CM TO ECM) and B1572(IMM CIRCUIT EXCEPT ANTENNA CIRCUIT) are detected by Keyless Access with Push…
18-230-26 · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions · issued May 1, 2026
Engine problems in other Legacy years
| Year | Reports | Share |
|---|---|---|
| 2022 Legacy | 1 | 3% |
| 2021 Legacy | 2 | 6% |
| 2020 Legacy | 4 | 3% |
| 2019 Legacy | 6 | 5% |
| 2017 Legacy | 5 | 4% |
| 2016 Legacy | 7 | 5% |
| 2015 Legacy | 23 | 14% |
| 2014 Legacy | 5 | 9% |
| 2013 Legacy | 18 | 27% |
| 2012 Legacy | 23 | 26% |
| 2011 Legacy | 22 | 13% |
| 2010 Legacy | 31 | 21% |
Other reported problem areas on the 2018 Subaru Legacy
Counts are unique NHTSA complaints naming this component group. Complaints are unverified owner reports; mileage is computed only from complaints that included a usable odometer reading.