AutoUtility currently tracks 97 official NHTSA owner defect complaints for the 2017 Subaru Crosstrek. Visibility, Wipers & Glass issues are the most frequently reported category, appearing in 26 complaints (26.8% of submitted records). Among these NHTSA complaint records, 6 filings cite a crash, 2 cite a fire, 2 report one or more injuries.

Key Problem Findings
  • Total NHTSA Complaints: 97 reports
  • #1 Reported Problem Area: Visibility, Wipers & Glass (26 reports • 26.8% of submitted complaints)
  • Secondary Problem Areas: Electrical System (18), Powertrain & Transmission (13)
  • Crash-Citing Complaints: 6 filings
  • Fire-Citing Complaints: 2 filings
  • Complaints Reporting Injuries / Fatalities: 2 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
97
Submitted to NHTSA ODI
Crash-Citing Complaints
6
Filings citing a collision
Fire-Citing Complaints
2
Filings citing smoke or fire
Complaints Reporting Injuries
2
Filings citing one or more injuries
Complaints Reporting Fatalities
0
Consumer filings citing fatalities

Most Reported Problems for 2017 Subaru Crosstrek

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

#1 Problem Area 26.8% of complaints

Visibility, Wipers & Glass

26 owner complaints submitted to NHTSA ODI
✓ 0 crashes or fires cited
#2 Problem Area 18.6% of complaints

Electrical System

18 owner complaints submitted to NHTSA ODI
⚠️ 1 crash report
#3 Problem Area 13.4% of complaints

Powertrain & Transmission

13 owner complaints submitted to NHTSA ODI
⚠️ 2 crash reports 🩹 2 injury report entries
#4 Problem Area 9.3% of complaints

Engine & Cooling

9 owner complaints submitted to NHTSA ODI
⚠️ 2 crash reports 🔥 1 fire report
#5 Problem Area 7.2% of complaints

Brakes & Traction Control

7 owner complaints submitted to NHTSA ODI
⚠️ NHTSA Recall Context

NHTSA records list 1 official safety recall campaign for this model year involving the same broad component area:

*Component overlap means an official recall exists for the same broad vehicle system. It does not establish that an individual owner complaint was caused by, covered by, or resolved through that recall.
⚠️ 3 crash reports
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 2017 Subaru Crosstrek

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

Powertrain & Transmission NHTSA ODI ID: #11694927
Filed: 10/22/2025

"Premature shift fork failure in 2017 Subaru Crosstrek manual transmission at 62,521 miles requiring complete transmission replacement ($10,000 repair, vehicle worth $11,000). EVIDENCE OF DESIGN DEFECT: - Subaru issued TSB 03-83-20R acknowledging shift fork design flaws in 2018-2020 Crosstreks with..."

Incident Date: 09/24/2025 • Raw NHTSA Component: POWER TRAIN
Driver Assistance & Safety Tech NHTSA ODI ID: #11690682
Filed: 09/30/2025

"In August of 2024, I got into my car in a parking lot and turned the key in the ignition. The car started revving really high. I waited for it to slow down, and then I put it into reverse. The car shot back and would have hit the building if I hadn't slammed on the brakes. Fortunately, there wasn't..."

Incident Date: 09/28/2025 • Raw NHTSA Component: VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
Other / Miscellaneous NHTSA ODI ID: #11678003
Filed: 08/02/2025

"The harness on my child's Nuna RAVA loosened during a 30 minute drive home (highway and downtown driving) in May of 2025. I learned later that month that there is a recall on Nuna Ravas for that exact reason. It is available for inspection. My child was not properly secured, and I did not know it..."

Incident Date: 05/05/2025 • Raw NHTSA Component: CHEST CLIP, BUCKLE, HARNESS
Brakes & Traction Control NHTSA ODI ID: #11575912
Crash Cited Filed: 03/06/2024

"On January 19, 2024 I was slowly pulling in to a parking spot at my doctors office. I did not pull up far enough, as there was a concrete retaining wall at the head of the spot and no tire block for safety. I was maybe 5 feet from the wall when I lightly tapped the gas pedal to inch up (as the back..."

Incident Date: 01/19/2024 • Raw NHTSA Component: POWER TRAIN,SERVICE BRAKES
Engine & Cooling NHTSA ODI ID: #11570817
Filed: 02/08/2024

"There is a battery draining problem. I have had to replace the battery 3 times in a two-year period."

Incident Date: 02/08/2024 • Raw NHTSA Component: ENGINE
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 Crosstrek

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

Model Year NHTSA Complaints Crash Reports Safety Recalls Detailed Report
2015 Subaru Crosstrek 0 0 1 View 2015 Problems →
2016 Subaru Crosstrek 131 4 1 View 2016 Problems →
2017 Subaru Crosstrek Current Page 97 6 1 Current
2018 Subaru Crosstrek 194 10 5 View 2018 Problems →
2019 Subaru Crosstrek 284 6 8 View 2019 Problems →
2020 Subaru Crosstrek 68 6 1 View 2020 Problems →
2021 Subaru Crosstrek 115 8 2 View 2021 Problems →
2022 Subaru Crosstrek 30 3 1 View 2022 Problems →
2023 Subaru Crosstrek 33 4 0 View 2023 Problems →
2024 Subaru Crosstrek 111 8 2 View 2024 Problems →
2025 Subaru Crosstrek 43 2 0 View 2025 Problems →
2026 Subaru Crosstrek 0 0 2 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 2017 Subaru Crosstrek

Complete distribution of consumer defect reports across all 38 granular NHTSA system and subsystem classifications

Vehicle Component / System Total Complaints Crash Reports Fire Reports Reported Injury Entries Reported Fatality Entries
Visibility & Wipers NHTSA category: VISIBILITY/WIPER 21 0 0 0 0
Other / Uncategorized NHTSA category: UNKNOWN OR OTHER 17 0 0 0 0
Electrical System NHTSA category: ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 7 0 0 0 0
Powertrain NHTSA category: POWER TRAIN 4 0 0 0 0
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,UNKNOWN OR OTHER 3 0 0 0 0
EXTERIOR LIGHTING 3 0 0 0 0
Service Brakes NHTSA category: SERVICE BRAKES 3 0 0 0 0
UNKNOWN OR OTHER,ENGINE 3 1 1 0 0
Air Bags NHTSA category: AIR BAGS 2 0 0 0 0
Engine NHTSA category: ENGINE 2 0 0 0 0
POWER TRAIN,ENGINE,FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM 2 1 0 2 0
Steering NHTSA category: STEERING 2 0 0 0 0
STEERING,ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,UNKNOWN OR OTHER 2 0 0 0 0
VISIBILITY,UNKNOWN OR OTHER 2 0 0 0 0
CHEST CLIP, BUCKLE, HARNESS 1 0 0 0 0
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,AIR BAGS,SERVICE BRAKES 1 1 0 0 0
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,ENGINE 1 0 0 0 0
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,EQUIPMENT,UNKNOWN OR OTHER 1 0 0 0 0
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,POWER TRAIN 1 0 0 0 0
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL,UNKNOWN OR OTHER 1 0 0 0 0
ENGINE,FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM 1 0 0 0 0
Lane Departure Warning NHTSA category: LANE DEPARTURE 1 0 0 0 0
POWER TRAIN,ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,ENGINE 1 0 0 0 0
POWER TRAIN,ENGINE 1 0 0 0 0
POWER TRAIN,SERVICE BRAKES 1 1 0 0 0
POWER TRAIN,UNKNOWN OR OTHER,VISIBILITY/WIPER 1 0 0 0 0
POWER TRAIN,WHEELS 1 0 0 0 0
POWER TRAIN,WHEELS,UNKNOWN OR OTHER 1 0 0 0 0
Service Brakes NHTSA category: SERVICE BRAKES, HYDRAULIC 1 0 0 0 0
STEERING,WHEELS 1 0 0 0 0
STRUCTURE,SEATS 1 0 1 3 0
Suspension NHTSA category: SUSPENSION 1 0 0 0 0
UNKNOWN OR OTHER,VISIBILITY/WIPER 1 0 0 0 0
Vehicle Speed Control NHTSA category: VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL 1 0 0 0 0
VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL,SERVICE BRAKES,ENGINE 1 1 0 0 0
VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL,UNKNOWN OR OTHER 1 1 0 0 0
Visibility / Glass NHTSA category: VISIBILITY 1 0 0 0 0
Wheels & Hubs NHTSA category: WHEELS 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 (97). 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.