Subaru Outback Forums banner
281 - 300 of 361 Posts
FWIW, I (still) always keep a separate drivers profile registered with sunglasses. Maybe that's why my issues in this area are minimized.
I think I figured it out. After the update was done at the dealer we had several cold days. I started wearing a fleece beanie-style cap, and leaving it on my head while driving. So even on days that weren’t sunny - no fit-over sunglasses - the system disabled itself. Today which is quite mild ( no beanie ) and overcast I left the system on during a drive and there were no issues. I realized that with the beanie pulled down, the legs of my prescription glasses held the cap around the side of the glasses and my face. So when I would turn my head the big red eye couldn’t see my eyes. That may also explain some of the issue with the fit-overs, they have a side structure that dims light coming in from the side. I now suspect that if the system can’t see your eyes when you turn your head it gets confused and disables itself. I’ll keep an eye on this and just remember to take the beanie off when I get in the car, or wear a different style cap. If it continues to behave properly when I’m not wearing the fit-over sunglasses or the beanie then I’ll have my answer - it’s just the limitations of the system, not a bug or hardware failure.
 
Come to think of it, 10, 20 years ago, we never had these issues. ;)
20 years ago, we still had window crank handles falling off in our hands 😊 . Fortunately, the overall quality of near all brands has increased by leaps and bounds in that time frame.
20 years ago we just bought a better head unit with new speakers and installed then when we got a new car. It was fairly uncomplicated and simple to do so in an afternoon.
 
20 years ago we just bought a better head unit with new speakers and installed then when we got a new car. It was fairly uncomplicated and simple to do so in an afternoon.
Agreed. Upgrading the audio was the first thing I did with any vehicle I purchased for the last 40 years. I miss being able to do that. I still have a basement full of leftover amps, speakers, harnesses, etc. Not only is the HU integrated in my LTD but the HK system is about as unfriendly a system to work on as I've ever seen. EVERYTHING IN IT is unknown and oddly dependent on everything else. That said, the sound quality does seem to have gotten better ( not great) with each successive software dump.
 
Have a 2021 Onyx purchased December 2020, not sure of manufacture date since the car is at the dealer as we speak. Had all the reboots, black screens which all seemed related to my wife's Apple car play plugging in and out on her non Apple cord. Never happened we thought with my Android connection. We had it at the dealer today and they FINALLY were able to replicate the problem after having it all day. Presumably they got codes. Service guy called and said they are replacing the head unit, takes a week or two to get one, and we'll schedule to bring the car back in to replace it when the part comes. Its like a Christmas miracle that they actually could replicate it while they had it in the shop. That like never happens! The skeptic in me says that since its on warranty, they did everything they could to get the repair on the books for the service shop. I don't care either way, hopefully the hardware has been revised/fixed as some people have somewhat suggested and this problem goes away. Otherwise I'll be racking up the lemon law count on the service visits!
I should insist they keep mine all day in an attempt to replicate my constant CarPlay disconnection/the occasional crash. They keep saying they can't replicate and it's driving me batty. Called SoA a few months ago and at least they're aware but can't seem to get them to move on this. 36K warranty almost up too.
 
Good to hear that some acknowledgement might be seeping from the cracks at SOA. My 2021 Onyx has about 6K and this hard reboot happens about every couple of weeks, though never have seen the 3 times in a row.
Add another for the '21 Onyx. Have taken a few long trips since March '21 and have experienced the random shutdown reboot on every trip. Once, I wondered if it was due to the heat since we were driving in Texas in 100 temps and the dash gets extremely hot -- was thinking it was overcoming the venting that is in the top of the dash above the center screen. Other times, weather not so hot and still randomly rebooted. Had similar issues with our 2019 OB as well -- obviously not bad enough to cause us to switch brands!
 
Add another for the '21 Onyx. Have taken a few long trips since March '21 and have experienced the random shutdown reboot on every trip. Once, I wondered if it was due to the heat since we were driving in Texas in 100 temps and the dash gets extremely hot -- was thinking it was overcoming the venting that is in the top of the dash above the center screen. Other times, weather not so hot and still randomly rebooted. Had similar issues with our 2019 OB as well -- obviously not bad enough to cause us to switch brands!
Have you, and @SnowCat , installed the 10/15/21 infotainment software update?
 
All
It has been about 5 weeks and about 1200 miles or so, since the Oct 21 update was installed by the dealer.
I have had only 1 crash/malfunction of the Infotainment Unit. It was last week. It occurred at start-up after being parked for 8-11 hours overnight. Got the complete Christmas Tree lights to celebrate the season. The system rebooted and has been ok since. Compared to getting this update the Infotainment System would crash usually daily once and on long trips would fail several times during the trip.
So, compared to the previous situation, this update has been a great improvement. The failure rate has been greatly reduced and is tolerable at this very infrequent rate of malfunction.
So, in my car, this has been a success but has not totally solved the problem(s)

Silver-Blue
 
Just to add a voice to the choir: I just purchased a CPO Loaner Car from the dealership a month ago (odometer before purchase: 11K). Every so often the infotainment will crash with CarPlay and the native navigation app will not reflect my true location.

After bringing it into the dealer, they attempted to update Starlink, the firmware (10/15 update), and the map with limited success. The service technician advised that they'll reach out to SOA to get an authorization for a full Infotainment replacement. I'm hoping with the new hardware, these issues will go away...
 
OK Here is more to my story with my 2021 Touring XT. The dealer did what they said was the fix (s/w) on Dec.1. On Jan. 4 and 5, I had 2 more outages and reboots. Also, after the Dec. "fix" I gave poor ratings to the dealer and to SoA. SoA even has an open case number on me. Niether bothered to contact me to tell me that a s/w fix had been released back in Oct. (6 weeks). I have now instructed the Maryland States Attorney's office to send the Lemon Law letter for a car replacement. We'll see how this goes.
 
OK Here is more to my story with my 2021 Touring XT. The dealer did what they said was the fix (s/w) on Dec.1. On Jan. 4 and 5, I had 2 more outages and reboots. Also, after the Dec. "fix" I gave poor ratings to the dealer and to SoA. SoA even has an open case number on me. Niether bothered to contact me to tell me that a s/w fix had been released back in Oct. (6 weeks). I have now instructed the Maryland States Attorney's office to send the Lemon Law letter for a car replacement. We'll see how this goes.
Teh "fix" was likely the latest software update that was supposed to cure crashing and reboots. It didn't work for me either. Based on my experience, you don't need a car replacement. You need a head unit replacement. my guess is that SoA will authorize the dealer to do it ASAP.
 
You could buy a replacement unit yourself if you wanted to, but the part numbers are different for different years and I don't know if you could "upgrade" to the 2022 version.

2020 version is 86201AN65A

2022 version is 86201AN69A

Typically Subaru will say "superseded" if the new part is intended to retrofit to an older version. It doesn't say that.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Baggss
I’m curious, is there any chance that an owner could offer to pay for a replacement unit if one weren’t covered by Subaru?
No idea but it's a warrantied item so you shouldn't have to, Besides, my guess is that it would cost thousands. In fairness to SoA. Once I told them that the car had been into the dealer repeatedly for head unit problems, they authorized a new one immediately. (That was around 8/20 as I recall.) I was the one that put install off till 10/21 because of COVID concerns. At that point, my replacement HU was long gone and the dealer had to order another. That process took a few weeks since they had prior approval. I'm not sure what SoA's Go/No Go criteria for replacement is on this but I feel I was treated well ONCE I went beyond the dealer..
 
You could buy a replacement unit yourself if you wanted to,
Thanks for the link. I was wondering about this for my wife’s Onyx which was produced in December 2019. It is significantly more sluggish than my Legacy made in July 2020. However I have to say that other than the sluggish nature it has not had any obvious reboots since the October software was installed so she’s fairly happy. I would want it replaced just because of the comparison with my Legacy’s responsiveness, which is by no means a rapid device but noticeably better than the Onyx. I’ve never had a reboot of my system but I feel most of those occur from some external device connected to the system either directly or by Bluetooth. I don’t have any Bluetooth devices paired with mine and only occasionally use CarPlay for Apple Maps or my playlists so I’m not introducing any external reboot triggers.
 
No idea but it's a warrantied item so you shouldn't have to, Besides, my guess is that it would cost thousands. In fairness to SoA. Once I told them that the car had been into the dealer repeatedly for head unit problems, they authorized a new one immediately. (That was around 8/20 as I recall.) I was the one that put install off till 10/21 because of COVID concerns. At that point, my replacement HU was long gone and the dealer had to order another. That process took a few weeks since they had prior approval. I'm not sure what SoA's Go/No Go criteria for replacement is on this but I feel I was treated well ONCE I went beyond the dealer..
Glad you had such good treatment. I had gone to SoA and they didn't do anything to make it better. No mention of head unit replacement or even notify me of the s/w update. I even had an open case number with SoA. Also, when I gave the dealer a bad rating, I was called and told that I had such a bad attitiude that I was never to come to that service shop again. All I did was to point out that they had a "fix" and no one from the shop or SoA bothered to notify me. I also felt that asking the customer for an excellent rating on their survey was unethical way to run a business. Therefore, I asked the Attorney Generals office to write the Lemon Law letter and ask for repurchase. Still waiting to hear from SoA.
 
Just an few weeks ago I took my 2021 Outback in for a number of issues. Noise coming from the roof area about passenger ( see other thread “ creaking roof panels” ) and head unit blacking out on occasion. I had reported the head unit several times before and they updated it. This time they replaced it with part number 86271AN61AX.
This is what the work order stated:
” Removed and replaced Radio. Check operation. Ok at this time B031632 High Level CCU ( chassis) Exchange for Denso audio/No. 6 ZTH43. Parts 1ea 86271AN61AX Radio Exchange.“
I have only had the car back several days now but so far everything is ok.
 
Just an few weeks ago I took my 2021 Outback in for a number of issues. Noise coming from the roof area about passenger ( see other thread “ creaking roof panels” ) and head unit blacking out on occasion. I had reported the head unit several times before and they updated it. This time they replaced it with part number 86271AN61AX.
This is what the work order stated:
” Removed and replaced Radio. Check operation. Ok at this time B031632 High Level CCU ( chassis) Exchange for Denso audio/No. 6 ZTH43. Parts 1ea 86271AN61AX Radio Exchange.“
I have only had the car back several days now but so far everything is ok.
Here’s what that part costs if you were to buy one outright.
Rectangle Font Parallel Screenshot Circle
 
Just an few weeks ago I took my 2021 Outback in for a number of issues. Noise coming from the roof area about passenger ( see other thread “ creaking roof panels” ) and head unit blacking out on occasion. I had reported the head unit several times before and they updated it. This time they replaced it with part number 86271AN61AX.
This is what the work order stated:
” Removed and replaced Radio. Check operation. Ok at this time B031632 High Level CCU ( chassis) Exchange for Denso audio/No. 6 ZTH43. Parts 1ea 86271AN61AX Radio Exchange.“
I have only had the car back several days now but so far everything is ok.
Hi There - I have a 22' Onyx XT and have both issues you stated. There is not a lot out there on the creaking roof?? Where you able to resolve this issue? To me it seams as if it is coming from the aluminum track/frame for the sunroof shade. If the sunroof is open, or even propped, there is no sound/creaking. When I close the shade, it does not creak as it does when it is open. I have seen some threads where they say it is coming from the crossbars, but that is not the case for my issue.

I have not yet left the car to have them correct the problems. They wanted to keep it for a week (ridiculous). The head unit is another story and very disappointing for a $40k car. I intend to keep on this until it is resolved.

I appreciate your input.
 
281 - 300 of 361 Posts
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top