"How reliable is the 2003 Subaru Legacy?"

"Based on 69 NHTSA complaints, the 2003 Subaru Legacy has a median complaint mileage of 88000 miles. The most common issue is AIR BAGS."

"What are common problems with the 2003 Subaru Legacy?"

"The most frequently reported component in NHTSA complaints for the 2003 Subaru Legacy is AIR BAGS, accounting for a significant portion of the 69 total complaints filed."

2003 Subaru Legacy: Reliability Data

Source: NHTSA — 69 complaints

Total Complaints

88,000mi

Median Mileage

AIR BAGS

Top Issue

Crash Reports

When Do Complaints Happen?

Distribution of NHTSA complaints by vehicle mileage at time of report.

40,330 25th Percentile

88,000 Median Mileage

143,000 75th Percentile

What Fails?

Most reported component issues from NHTSA complaints.

AIR BAGS

FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM

VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL

ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING

ENGINE

POWER TRAIN:AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION

TIRES

ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING:ENGINE

STRUCTURE

ELECTRICAL SYSTEM

Severity Assessment

Crashes

Fires

Injuries

Deaths

Sample Complaint Reports

"WHILE DRIVING THE FRONT DRIVER SIDE BEAD BROKE RELEASING ALL AIR FROM TIRE. CAUSE OF THE BEAD BREAKING IS UNKWOWN. CONSUMER FEELS THERE IS A PROBLEM WITH RIMS ON VEHICLE. PLEASE DESCRIBE FURTHER."

"WHEN THE RECALL WAS PERFORMED ON THE TRANSMISSION, THE DEALER BROKE THE TRANSMISSION PAN BOLT, WHICH CAUSED FLUID TO LEAK OUT, CONSUMER STATED TRANSMISSION MAY HAVE INTERNAL DAMAGE.*JB"

"VEHICLE CONTINUES TO ACCELERATE WHILE BREAKING. THIS INCIDENT HAS HAPPEND FIVE TIMES SINCE NEW CAR PURCHASE ON APRIL 29, 2003. CAR TOWED TWICE. IN LAST INCIDENT UPON APPROCHING TRAFFIC LIGHT, BUSY INTERSECTION, CAR UNEXPECTEDLY ACCELERATED AS I TRIED TO COME TO A STOP. ROLLED UP OFF ROAD AND HIT..."

Source: NHTSA ODI Complaints Database. Names and identifying details omitted.

Data source: View this vehicle on NHTSA.gov | NHTSA ODI Complaints Database. Public domain.

Methodology: Complaint counts and mileage distributions are computed directly from consumer-reported NHTSA complaints. This data represents reported issues, not failure rates — vehicles without complaints are not represented. Full methodology.

Data through: 2026-03-28