New Subaru Cracked Windshield Lawsuit Settlement Involves 1.4M Vehicles, What Customers Need To Know

Subaru has a settlement in place now for its cracked windshield lawsuit. See what Forester, Outback, Ascent, and Legacy owners will receive under the proposed settlement.

Posted: April 29, 2024 - 9:11AM
Author: Denis Flierl

2022 Subaru Forester, Outback, Ascent, Legacy

Subaru of America has settled its cracked windshield lawsuit for the owners of 1.4 million vehicles. According to Top Class Actions, Subaru of America agreed to settle the lawsuit with the owners of the 2019-2022 Forester, 2019-2022 Ascent vehicles, 2020-2022 Outback, and 2020-2022 Legacy vehicles.

Before I give you the proposed settlement details, here is information on the history of the Subaru cracked windshield lawsuit. I started covering the lawsuit more than four years ago. Several lawsuits were consolidated into one class action lawsuit.

According to the lawsuit, "defects cause minor chips in the glass to spread across the windshield." Subaru argued that the windshields met all federal safety regulations. While the plaintiffs complained that dealerships wouldn't cover the cost of windshield repairs under warranty, Subaru argued that the warranty didn't cover such damage.

The class action lawsuit also alleged Subaru knew about the windshield problems because dealers were issued technical service bulletin (TSB) 12-192-15R.

According to the plaintiffs, replacing the windshield is useless because Subaru uses the same defective windshields as replacements. In addition, the class action lawsuit alleged that repairing or replacing the windshield affects Subaru's EyeSight driver asset safety technology. Recalibrating the safety system is an additional cost.

New data from the IIHS says it will cost more than you think to replace your new model Subaru windshield. Check out the report here https://t.co/l2uvIyhzJu #subaru #eyesight @torquenewsauto pic.twitter.com/ljfUzixuZT

— Denis Flierl (@DenisFlierl) February 16, 2023

Drivers whose vehicles are included in the windshield defect class action chose their vehicle because it offered the EyeSight safety feature. "So having the technology rendered useless by the windshield defect poses financial injury to drivers."

Four Years Of Litigation

After four years of litigation, 13 depositions, tens of thousands of pages of discovery documents, subpoenas, and more involving a projected class of owners, former owners, and lessees are getting windshield replacements and refunds under the proposed settlement.

There were originally 16 named plaintiffs in the Subaru lawsuit, but only four were involved by settlement time. Subaru of America denies all wrongdoing and denies the windshields are defective. A report from CarComplaints says, "The automaker says it decided to settle the lawsuit to end the expensive and time-consuming litigation."

Here is What Subaru Of America Agreed To:

1. Subaru agreed to an extended warranty of eight years or 100,000 miles and a one-time windshield replacement as part of a class action settlement submitted for preliminary approval in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey.

2. The agreement says, "The Subaru cracked windshield extended warranty is limited to a one-time replacement of the windshield. Once replacement occurs, this will end the extended warranty as it expires once the windshield has been replaced."

There is a new ruling in the Subaru defective windshield lawsuit. See what it means for new Forester, Outback, Crosstrek, Impreza, Legacy, and Ascent owners. https://t.co/iFDNqGSCRL #subaru #subaruwindshieldlawsuit @torquenewsauto pic.twitter.com/UdOsshn3HG

— Subaru Report (@SubaruReport) January 2, 2021

3. The settlement also calls for reimbursement of documented prior windshield replacements with proof of a qualifying windshield crack. Subaru customers will only be reimbursed if damage was caused by residual windshield stress, not any other cause.

4. The cracked windshield settlement says there is a process Forester, Outback, Ascent, and Legacy owners must go through to "prove that their loss was caused by the alleged defect as opposed to impact damage that would have caused a cracked windshield regardless of any alleged defect."

Subaru Has A New Process For Manufacturing The Defective Windshields

5. The settlement agreement says, "The new windshield will be manufactured with a revised process that substantially reduces the likelihood of a crack/damage occurring to a windshield from a minor impact and residual stress."

What Should Customers Do?

Subaru Forester, Outback, Ascent, or Legacy must know that though the parties have agreed to settle the cracked windshield class action lawsuit, a federal judge must still grant preliminary and final approval to the terms before anything is official. Stay tuned to my reports for more updates on the Subaru defective windshield lawsuit.

NOW IT'S YOUR TURN

Do you drive a Subaru Forester, Outback, Ascent, or Legacy model and experienced windshield cracking? If so, click the red Add New Comment link below and let us know.

Thanks for reading, everyone. I hope you enjoyed this Subaru cracked windshield lawsuit settlement story. See you tomorrow for my latest Subaru Report.

Before you go, check out my recent story on There's A Perfect Storm Brewing At Subaru, which is also featured in a TN YouTube video.

I am Denis Flierl, a top Torque News and Subaru reporter since 2012. I’ve invested over 30 years in the automotive industry in a consulting role, working with every major car brand. I am an experienced Rocky Mountain Automotive Press member. You'll find my expert Subaru analysis here. Follow me on my The Dirty Subaru website, Dirty Subaru blog, X SubaruReport, All Subaru, WRXSTI, @DenisFlierl, Facebook, and Instagram.