Subaru Ascent: Years to Avoid and Best Years to Buy
Subaru Ascent: 7 model years scored from 1,029 NHTSA owner complaints and 24 recall campaigns. Worst year 2019, best year 2022.
Subaru Ascent: which years to avoid
Across 7 scored model years the Subaru Ascent ranges from 32/100 in 2019 to 87/100 in 2022 — a 55-point spread, so which year you buy matters more than whether you buy an Ascent at all. The weakest year’s complaints concentrate in Electrical System (160 of them).
Avoid: 2019, 2020 — scored below 45 on the complaint and recall record.
Safest years: 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025 — scored 70 or better.
Scored from NHTSA complaints per year of exposure and recall campaigns. How the score works · every car’s years to avoid.
Editor's note
Avoid the 2019 and 2020 Subaru Ascent, which have 439 and 319 complaints and scores of 32 and 36. Buy a 2021 or later car: the 2021 has 100 complaints and scores 81, and the 2022 has 55 and scores 87, the best on the nameplate. The first two years are an electrical and transmission record. Electrical System leads with 161 and 101 complaints, and campaign 22V907000 covers 2019 to 2022 cars for a cabin heater ground bolt that can melt its terminal. Power Train is second at 87 and 57, matched by 19V855000 for a transmission hydraulic sensor on the 2019 car and 21V955000 for a transmission control unit programming error on 2019 and 2020 cars. The 2019 car alone has nine campaigns, including missing B-pillar spot welds, a crankcase ventilation valve that can enter the engine, and loose driveshaft bolts, and both years carry the fuel pump campaign 21V587000. Visibility/Wiper is 66 and 49 complaints with no campaign behind it. From 2021 no category dominates.
Read the guide
Used Subaru Ascent and Legacy: the years to avoid — written and signed by Adir Trabelsi, 2026-09-16.
How the Ascent changed, run by run
The federal record falls into 2 stretches of years that behave alike. A redesign shows up here as a step in the complaint rate that then holds.
2019–2020
Mean score 34/100, about 58 complaints per year on the road. Owners of these years complain about Electrical System more than anything else (261 complaints). 6 recall campaign(s) in this run touch fire, crash or stall risk.
2021–2025
Mean score 84/100, about 18 complaints per year on the road. Owners of these years complain about Visibility/Wiper more than anything else (37 complaints). The record improves by 50 points against the years before it. 2 recall campaign(s) in this run touch fire, crash or stall risk.
Year-by-year data table
Best year in our data: 2022 (score 87). Worst: 2019 (score 32, AVOID).
| Year | Score | Verdict | Running cost / yr | NHTSA complaints | Recalls |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 87 | BUY | $3,646 | 14 | 1 |
| 2024 | 80 | BUY | $3,995 | 50 | 1 |
| 2023 | 85 | BUY | $4,045 | 45 | 4 |
| 2022 | 87 | BUY | $3,911 | 55 | 2 |
| 2021 | 81 | BUY | $4,177 | 102 | 2 |
| 2020 | 36 | AVOID | $4,950 | 322 | 5 |
| 2019 | 32 | AVOID | $5,267 | 441 | 9 |
Running cost is fuel or energy plus the maintenance band midpoint for that car at its age today, re-priced to your country. Purchase price, insurance and depreciation are not included.
Photographs and every generation of the Ascent, through the years →
Ascent sub-models & family
Variants & trims on record
Body, powertrain and trim variants of the Ascent on the federal record. Variants folded into this nameplate are counted in this page's data; the rest have too thin a record for a page of their own yet.
What goes wrong on the Subaru Ascent
Across every Ascent model year in our index, owners report these component groups most often. The cost beside each one is the representative repair for that group at a US independent shop, re-priced to your country.
- Electrical System289 complaints across all Ascent years · typical job: Alternator, battery-drain or body-module diagnosis and replacement$540–$1,310
- Power Train179 complaints across all Ascent years · typical job: Transmission service or clutch-pack repair$1,290–$4,040
- Visibility/Wiper152 complaints across all Ascent years · typical job: Wiper motor, linkage or windscreen replacement$490–$1,200
- Unknown Or Other152 complaints across all Ascent years · typical job: Diagnosis and mixed repair$360–$940
- Engine99 complaints across all Ascent years · typical job: Cooling-system or timing-drive repair$1,040–$2,220
- Service Brakes74 complaints across all Ascent years · typical job: Pads, rotors and caliper service, both axles$580–$1,140
Flat-rate labour hours x local shop rate plus a parts band. An estimate of what this class of failure costs, not a quote. Formula.
FAQ
Which Subaru Ascent years should I avoid?
On the NHTSA record the years to avoid are 2019, 2020 — each scores below 45 out of 100 on complaints per year of exposure and recall campaigns. The 2019 is the weakest at 32/100, with its complaints concentrated in Electrical System.
What are the best Subaru Ascent years to buy?
2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025 all score 70 or better. The strongest is the 2022 at 87/100, on 55 complaints and 2 recall campaigns.
What is the most common Subaru Ascent problem?
289 of the complaints filed against the Ascent across all its model years sit in the Electrical System group — more than any other component.
Compare with
Sources: NHTSA, EPA · Methodology · Updated 2026-10-04