Subaru Outback vs Toyota Highlander: which is more reliable?
The Subaru Outback and the Toyota Highlander are level on the federal record — 68/100 against 65/100 across the years we score. Which one to buy is decided by the model year, not the badge.
The record, side by side
Subaru Outback
- 13 model years scored
- 6,232 owner complaints on record
- about 72 complaints per year on the road
- 57 recall campaigns, 34 safety-critical
- best year 2024 (93/100) · worst 2020 (35/100)
Toyota Highlander
- 11 model years scored
- 2,349 owner complaints on record
- about 27 complaints per year on the road
- 39 recall campaigns, 24 safety-critical
- best year 2016 (86/100) · worst 2020 (37/100)
Mean score is the average across model years from 2013 on, where both records are comparable. How the score works.
Year by year: Outback against Highlander
The comparison that decides the purchase. A nameplate is not one car — a redesign can move the record sixty points inside two years, and the two nameplates rarely move together.
What owners actually complain about
Subaru Outback
- Electrical System — 1,898 complaints
- Visibility/Wiper — 1,659 complaints
- Unknown Or Other — 1,128 complaints
Toyota Highlander
- Power Train — 461 complaints
- Unknown Or Other — 363 complaints
- Electrical System — 306 complaints
They do not fail the same way: the Outback's complaints concentrate in Electrical System, the Highlander's in Power Train. That difference matters more to a buyer than the score gap, because it says which repair bill you are taking on.
Years to avoid on each
Subaru Outback — avoid: 2019, 2020.
Toyota Highlander — avoid: 2018, 2019, 2020.
A year scores below 45 on complaints per year of exposure and recall campaigns. Every car’s years to avoid.
What each costs today
A recent used Subaru Outback prices at about $44,100 and a Toyota Highlander at about $40,800 — the Toyota Highlander is roughly $3,300 less, and they return 28.0 against 25.0 MPG combined.
Class-level estimates re-priced to your country, not a valuation of one car. Method.
FAQ
Is the Subaru Outback or the Toyota Highlander more reliable?
On the NHTSA record the Subaru Outback scores 68/100 against the Toyota Highlander's 65/100, averaged across every model year we hold. The gap is small enough that the model year matters more than the badge.
Which Subaru Outback and Toyota Highlander years should I avoid?
Subaru Outback: 2019, 2020. Toyota Highlander: 2018, 2019, 2020. Each of those scores under 45 out of 100 on complaints per year of exposure and recall campaigns.
What goes wrong on the Subaru Outback and the Toyota Highlander?
The largest complaint group on the Subaru Outback is Electrical System (1,898 complaints); on the Toyota Highlander it is Power Train (461).
Is the Subaru Outback or the Toyota Highlander cheaper to own?
A recent used Subaru Outback prices at about $44,100 and a Toyota Highlander at about $40,800, before insurance and the maintenance band. Both pages carry the five-year running-cost figure.