AI DamageSubaru DL: problems, complaints, bulletins
Summary for the Subaru DL across 4 model years: 10 owner complaints and 0 NHTSA service bulletins, plus repair videos. Pick a year for details.
Model years
| Year | Owner complaints | involving a crash | Technical service bulletins (TSB) | YouTube repair videos |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1989 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1988 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| 1987 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1986 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
What fails most often
- 1 Seat belts 40% of all complaints
- 2 Fuel system 30% of all complaints
- 3 Engine and cooling 20% of all complaints
- 4 Electrical system 10% of all complaints
- 5 Powertrain 10% of all complaints
- 6 Suspension 10% of all complaints
- 7 Vehicle speed control 10% of all complaints
- Seat belts: 4 complaints (40% of all), 1 of them with a crash reported by the owner.
- Fuel system: 3 complaints (30% of all).
- Engine and cooling: 2 complaints (20% of all).
- Electrical system: 1 complaints (10% of all).
- Powertrain: 1 complaints (10% of all).
Symptoms owners describe
How many of the 10 NHTSA complaints mention each symptom (automatic count from complaint text; one complaint can mention several).
Components owners complain about
| Component | Owner complaints | involving a crash | Technical service bulletins (TSB) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Seat belts | 4 | 1 | 0 |
| Fuel system | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| Engine and cooling | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Electrical system | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Powertrain | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Suspension | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Vehicle speed control | 1 | 1 | 0 |
What owners report
Short excerpts of NHTSA complaints in the original wording. These are owner statements not verified by NHTSA; personal data removed.
Driver's side seatbelt didn't hold, resulting in driver sustainin serious injuries. Please provide any further information.
The engine reved high when the driver pressed the accelerator. The vehicle went out of control due to the accelerator sticking and the driver struck a pedestrian and other vehicles.
Time is a key factor, as well as places that rust vehicles sooner than others. The failure is a fuel damper and/or fuel lines and/or fuel pump. The consequences are smell of fuel, leaks, erratic engine, and lead on one occasion to a lean condition that failed a timing belt. The fuel pump also failed.
Engine comparment fire, under the hood, electrical short. Tt
Seat belt buckle appear to be fasten, but most of the time it comes unfastened. Tt
1) passenger front seat belt fails to remain latched. 2) check engine light illuminates due to build up of combustion. Please describe details. Tt
When owners complained
NHTSA complaints by filing year. The peak shows at what age the problems show up most.
What to check before buying
- Seat belts. Belt pretensioners after airbag deployment, SRS codes.
- Fuel system. Fuel smell, leaks, rough running, fuel-system codes.
- Engine and cooling. Radiator and fan after a frontal hit, coolant level and condition, overheating.
- Electrical system. Scan all modules, test the battery and alternator, inspect connectors near the impact zone.
Other models of this make
Read also
Sources: public NHTSA data (USA): service bulletins and owner complaints; YouTube: links to videos credited to their authors. Complaints are owner statements not verified by NHTSA, and describe defects rather than crash damage. Data updated 2026-11-05.