Subaru Recalls
Check open Subaru recalls by VIN. CheckMyVIN queries NHTSA's live recall API on every lookup — no stale snapshots, no signup.
How Subaru recall lookups work
When you enter a Subaru VIN, CheckMyVIN first decodes the vehicle (make, model, model year) against NHTSA VPIC. Those three fields are then sent to the NHTSA recallsByVehicle API, which returns every open campaign on file. Each result shows the official NHTSA campaign number (format: two-digit year, "V" for vehicle, six-digit sequence — e.g. 19V472000), the affected component, a paraphrased plain-English summary, and the dealer remedy. Subaru dealers perform recall work at no charge regardless of who currently owns the vehicle.
Why check Subaru recalls before buying used?
A used-car dealer is not required to complete open recalls before sale in most US states. Run the VIN before the test drive — if a recall is open, you can either ask the dealer to complete it before delivery, negotiate the price, or schedule the free fix at a Subaru authorized dealer after purchase.
Notable past Subaru recall campaigns
A few well-documented campaigns to show the kind of data CheckMyVIN surfaces per VIN. Click any campaign number for the full record on nhtsa.gov. Summaries below paraphrase the official NHTSA records — verify against the source for the authoritative wording.
NHTSA campaign 19V493000
Structure: cowl-panel duct spot welds
2019 Subaru Legacy and Outback
The spot welds on the duct below the cowl panel may have been improperly applied at the factory, which reduces the structural strength of the vehicle body and can increase the risk of injury in a frontal crash. Subaru dealers inspect and apply additional welds at no charge.
NHTSA campaign 21V587000
Fuel system: low-pressure fuel pump (Denso supplier defect)
2019-2020 Subaru Ascent, 2018 Forester, 2018-2020 Impreza / Legacy / Outback, 2018-2019 BRZ / WRX, plus the related Toyota 86 (same platform / same Denso pump)
The low-pressure fuel pump inside the fuel tank, supplied by Denso, can fail and cause the engine to stall without warning while driving. Subaru dealers replace the fuel pump assembly at no charge. This is part of the broader Denso fuel-pump supply-chain defect that also triggered separate NHTSA campaigns at Toyota (20V682000), Honda (23V858000), Mitsubishi, and other automakers — same defective pump, separate per-OEM filings.
Source: NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation, via api.nhtsa.gov/recalls. Campaign numbers and components are verbatim from NHTSA; summaries are paraphrased.
What CheckMyVIN does not do
Some recalls are VIN-specific within a model year — only certain build dates or option packages are affected. NHTSA's public API returns the campaign for the year/make/model; for the final "is my exact VIN affected" answer, Subaru also publishes a VIN-specific lookup on their owners site, and you can search any campaign number on the NHTSA recall portal. CheckMyVIN cites every campaign by its official number so you can verify independently.
Want the full spec decode for this Subaru — engine code, assembly plant, model year, body class — alongside its recall history? Run it through the Subaru VIN Decoder; the report covers both the NHTSA specifications and every open recall in a single sticker.
Researching before you have a VIN in hand? Browse the full Subaru recall archive by model year — every NHTSA campaign since 1990, organized by year and model.