AutoUtility currently tracks 3 official NHTSA owner defect complaints for the 2016 Subaru BRZ. Brakes & Traction Control issues are the most frequently reported category, appearing in 1 complaint (33.3% of submitted records). Among these NHTSA complaint records, 1 filing cites a crash.

Key Problem Findings
  • Total NHTSA Complaints: 3 reports
  • #1 Reported Problem Area: Brakes & Traction Control (1 reports • 33.3% of submitted complaints)
  • Secondary Problem Areas: Suspension (1), Wheels & Tires (1)
  • Crash-Citing Complaints: 1 filings
  • Fire-Citing Complaints: 0 filings
  • Complaints Reporting Injuries / Fatalities: 0 injury filings • 0 fatality filings
Reporting Methodology: Statistics describe unverified consumer submissions voluntarily filed with NHTSA. Complaint volume is not normalized for vehicle sales volume or miles driven. Multiple components can be cited within a single owner complaint submission.
Total Complaints
3
Submitted to NHTSA ODI
Crash-Citing Complaints
1
Filings citing a collision
Fire-Citing Complaints
0
Filings citing smoke or fire
Complaints Reporting Injuries
0
Filings citing one or more injuries
Complaints Reporting Fatalities
0
Consumer filings citing fatalities

Most Reported Problems for 2016 Subaru BRZ

Top automotive subsystem defect categories ranked by unique owner complaint volume in federal records

#1 Problem Area 33.3% of complaints

Brakes & Traction Control

1 owner complaint submitted to NHTSA ODI
⚠️ 1 crash report
#2 Problem Area 33.3% of complaints

Suspension

1 owner complaint submitted to NHTSA ODI
⚠️ 1 crash report
#3 Problem Area 33.3% of complaints

Wheels & Tires

1 owner complaint submitted to NHTSA ODI
⚠️ 1 crash report
#4 Problem Area 33.3% of complaints

Electrical System

1 owner complaint submitted to NHTSA ODI
✓ 0 crashes or fires cited
Domain Share Note: Share percentage represents the proportion of unique complaint filings referencing each vehicle system. Because single complaints may cite multiple systems (such as engine and electrical simultaneously), domain percentages represent individual category incidence and may sum to over 100%.

Recent NHTSA Owner Reports for 2016 Subaru BRZ

Representative defect filings submitted by owners to the NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation

Brakes & Traction Control NHTSA ODI ID: #11581632
Crash Cited Filed: 04/07/2024

"On the day before Easter, while driving down W. Colonial Dr., a car suddenly pulled out in front of me, causing me to slam on the brakes. immediately after, it seemed like the brake booster blew out, as my brakes started making a hissing sound and felt like they were losing pressure. Additionally,..."

Incident Date: 04/03/2024 • Raw NHTSA Component: SUSPENSION,WHEELS,SERVICE BRAKES
Electrical System NHTSA ODI ID: #11416718
Filed: 05/15/2021

"MY BRZ IS EXPERIENCING BATTERY DRAIN ISSUES. I HAVE REPLACED THE BATTERY WITH AN OEM BATTERY FROM SUBARU, BUT MY CAR STILL HAS A DRAIN ON THE BATTERY. I HAD TO PURCHASE A PORTABLE JUMP STARTER KIT TO ENSURE THAT IF THE CAR DIDN'T START THAT I HAD A JUMP AVAILABLE. I HAVE NOT BROUGHT THE CAR IN FOR..."

Incident Date: 01/29/2021 • Raw NHTSA Component: ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
Other / Miscellaneous NHTSA ODI ID: #11081763
Filed: 03/28/2018

""TAKATA RECALL" FRONT PASSENGER WINDOW IS TEMPERMENTAL AND ON MANY OCCASIONS WILL NOT CLOSE UNLESS INCHED UP CAREFULLY IN INCREMENTS. SINCE THIS IS DONE WHILE DRIVING IT IS A GREAT DISTRACTION AND IS AN ACCIDENT WAITING TO HAPPEN. WIRING WAS ALREADY REPLACED, BUT WAS TOLD BY ATTENDANT THAT HER CAR..."

Incident Date: 10/13/2017 • Raw NHTSA Component: UNKNOWN OR OTHER
Consumer Narrative Notice: Excerpts are sanitized text descriptions submitted by vehicle owners to the federal ODI database. They reflect the reporting consumer's observations at the time of filing and have not been independently confirmed by vehicle manufacturers or government investigators.

Complaint History for Subaru BRZ

Reported defect complaint volume across sibling model years (2015–2026)

Model Year NHTSA Complaints Crash Reports Safety Recalls Detailed Report
2015 Subaru BRZ 3 0 0 View 2015 Problems →
2016 Subaru BRZ Current Page 3 1 0 Current
2017 Subaru BRZ 7 1 0 View 2017 Problems →
2018 Subaru BRZ 1 0 2 View 2018 Problems →
2019 Subaru BRZ 1 0 1 View 2019 Problems →
2020 Subaru BRZ 2 0 0 View 2020 Problems →
2022 Subaru BRZ 10 0 1 View 2022 Problems →
2023 Subaru BRZ 1 0 0 View 2023 Problems →
2024 Subaru BRZ 3 0 0 View 2024 Problems →
2025 Subaru BRZ 0 0 0 View 2025 Problems →
2026 Subaru BRZ 0 0 0 View 2026 Problems →
Comparative Disclaimer: Complaint totals are unadjusted historical counts and are not normalized for vehicles sold, active fleet size, or total road mileage. Newer model years naturally have had less calendar exposure time to accumulate owner filings.

Detailed NHTSA Component Breakdown for 2016 Subaru BRZ

Complete distribution of consumer defect reports across all 3 granular NHTSA system and subsystem classifications

Vehicle Component / System Total Complaints Crash Reports Fire Reports Reported Injury Entries Reported Fatality Entries
Electrical System NHTSA category: ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 1 0 0 0 0
SUSPENSION,WHEELS,SERVICE BRAKES 1 1 0 0 0
Other / Uncategorized NHTSA category: UNKNOWN OR OTHER 1 0 0 0 0
Data Attribution & Reporting Methodology: Complaints are unverified voluntary submissions to the NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation (ODI). Because multiple vehicle components can be cited within a single owner complaint submission, component-level rollups may sum to more than the unique complaint count (3). Injury and fatality entries in the detailed table reflect raw values entered by reporting consumers across individual submissions; they are not deduplicated casualty statistics and may include duplicate or unverified entries. Complaint volume is not normalized for sales volume or vehicle mileage and does not represent an audited component failure rate.
Official US Government Data Provenance

The complaint records on this page are retrieved directly from the NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) public database.

Local Production Store Compiled: August 2026 • Deterministic Audited Dataset • Zero Dynamic External API Runtime Latency.