AutoUtility currently tracks 31 official NHTSA owner defect complaints for the 2021 Subaru Legacy. Air Bags & Restraints issues are the most frequently reported category, appearing in 7 complaints (22.6% of submitted records). Among these NHTSA complaint records, 1 reports one or more injuries.
Factual proportion of owner complaints categorized by automotive subsystem in NHTSA records
7 owner complaints submitted to NHTSA ODI for this subsystem.
6 owner complaints submitted to NHTSA ODI for this subsystem.
5 owner complaints submitted to NHTSA ODI for this subsystem.
5 owner complaints submitted to NHTSA ODI for this subsystem.
Representative defect filings submitted by owners to the NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation
"Vehicle: 2021 Subaru Legacy Base 2.5i Mileage:~65,000 miles My engine suddenly began making loud internal knocking/tapping noises with no warning lights, no overheating, and no prior symptoms. The vehicle immediately became unsafe to operate. I had it towed to a Subaru dealership, where technicians..."
"See attached document for complaint."
"Car intermittently will studder and not go into first gear or go into second gear dangerously having car bog down and almost stall and then it violently downshifts having car RMP Hague go very high then slip and have no power to wheels and then a few seconds later go into second gear violently..."
"The contact owns a 2021 Subaru Legacy. The contact stated that while driving at various speeds during colder weather, the heater failed to operate as intended. Additionally, the Eyesight system was inoperable. The check engine and other unknown warning lights were displayed. In addition, the..."
"CVT Transmission Failure. Failure occurred at approximately 66,706 miles on 5/16/25. The Check Engine and AT Temp lights appeared in the instrument cluster. The driving conditions when this happened were a safety concern. First, the vehicle would crawl, shutter, and almost stall with high RPMs when..."
Reported defect complaint volume across sibling model years (2015–2025)
| Model Year | NHTSA Complaints | Crash Reports | Safety Recalls | Detailed Report |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 Subaru Legacy | 159 | 15 | 3 | View 2015 Problems → |
| 2016 Subaru Legacy | 146 | 9 | 3 | View 2016 Problems → |
| 2017 Subaru Legacy | 118 | 10 | 2 | View 2017 Problems → |
| 2018 Subaru Legacy | 117 | 7 | 3 | View 2018 Problems → |
| 2019 Subaru Legacy | 123 | 2 | 3 | View 2019 Problems → |
| 2020 Subaru Legacy | 121 | 1 | 6 | View 2020 Problems → |
| 2021 Subaru Legacy Current Page | 31 | 0 | 3 | Current |
| 2022 Subaru Legacy | 32 | 3 | 2 | View 2022 Problems → |
| 2023 Subaru Legacy | 10 | 2 | 2 | View 2023 Problems → |
| 2024 Subaru Legacy | 16 | 0 | 0 | View 2024 Problems → |
| 2025 Subaru Legacy | 6 | 0 | 0 | View 2025 Problems → |
Complete distribution of consumer defect reports across all 19 granular NHTSA system and subsystem classifications
| Vehicle Component / System | Total Complaints | Crash Reports | Fire Reports | Injury Entries | Fatality Entries |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Other / Uncategorized NHTSA category: UNKNOWN OR OTHER | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Visibility & Wipers NHTSA category: VISIBILITY/WIPER | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Air Bags NHTSA category: AIR BAGS | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Engine NHTSA category: ENGINE | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Powertrain NHTSA category: POWER TRAIN | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| AIR BAGS,SEATS | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Back Over Prevention / Camera NHTSA category: BACK OVER PREVENTION | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Electrical System NHTSA category: ELECTRICAL SYSTEM | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,AIR BAGS | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,AIR BAGS,BACK OVER PREVENTION | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING,ELECTRICAL SYSTEM | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Forward Collision Avoidance NHTSA category: FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Seat Belts NHTSA category: SEAT BELTS | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| SERVICE BRAKES,EQUIPMENT | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| STRUCTURE,UNKNOWN OR OTHER | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Suspension NHTSA category: SUSPENSION | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL,UNKNOWN OR OTHER,SERVICE BRAKES | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Visibility / Glass NHTSA category: VISIBILITY | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Cross-reference safety recalls, crash test safety ratings, and EPA fuel economy for this model year
Key performance indicators, EPA fuel economy specs, powertrain variants, and summary ratings.
Official recall campaigns, safety defect descriptions, and manufacturer free remedy instructions.
NHTSA 5-Star NCAP crash test results, driver assistance systems, and rollover resistance ratings.
EPA fuel economy ratings, electric range, and annual energy cost benchmarks.
Direct, deterministic answers synthesized from verified United States government databases for the 2021 Subaru Legacy
In official NHTSA consumer records, the most frequently cited issue area for the 2021 Subaru Legacy is Air Bags & Restraints, appearing in 7 records (22.6% of submitted filings).
Secondary reported categories include Visibility, Wipers & Glass (6) and Electrical System (5).
AutoUtility does not issue subjective reliability scores or commercial ratings. In official United States government records, NHTSA tracks 31 consumer defect complaints and 3 safety recall campaigns for the 2021 Subaru Legacy.
Reviewing documented component complaint distributions, recall remedy notices, and active federal investigations provides an objective, evidence-based view of the vehicle's historical safety and defect record.
Among consumer complaint records on file with NHTSA for the 2021 Subaru Legacy, 0 filings cite a crash, 0 cite smoke or fire, and 1 report one or more injuries.
Incident entries represent consumer descriptions at the time of submission to federal authorities and do not establish mechanical causation or legal liability.
The complaint records on this page are retrieved directly from the NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) public database under 49 CFR Part 576.
Local Production Store Compiled: August 2026 • Deterministic Audited Dataset • Zero Dynamic External API Runtime Latency.