2021 Subaru Outback · symptom sheet

Infotainment, screen or backup camera fails

27owner reports
4,488median miles
1involved a crash

Newest report Dec 3, 2025 · checked Oct 2, 2026

233 of the 296 complaints on this car are about the electrical system. 27 of those describe infotainment.

No recall on this systemas of Oct 2, 2026

1 crashin 27 reports

1 person hurtin these reports

Tick what matches of 27 reports

screen goes black or freezes

backup camera shows nothing

the radio or volume acts on its own

a software update did not fix it

Infotainment on other Outback years

201537 reports 201625 reports 201744 reports 2018159 reports 2019133 reports 202065 reports 202127 reports 202240 reports

Report counts are for each model year on its own, so a newer car has had less time to collect them. Model years with too few reports of it for a sheet: 2014, 2023, 2024, 2025, 2026.

What this problem usually is

Screen complaints read like a list of small betrayals. The display goes black or freezes, the backup camera shows nothing when you shift into reverse, CarPlay or Android Auto keeps dropping, or the radio changes volume on its own. Many owners had a software update that didn't fix it. A narrower sheet covers backup camera failures on their own, and another covers screens that freeze.

Read the full explainer · Which cars report it most

What got replaced

Owners who name the part that was replaced mention the head unit or screen (20 reports), the camera (7 reports) and the software (6 reports).

Recalls and investigations

No recall on the electrical system covers the 2021 model year as of Oct 2, 2026.

When it happens

The middle half of failures fell between 1,800 and 11,000 miles, from the 11 reports that gave a mileage.

Is this a known problem?

The manufacturer has sent NHTSA 9 service bulletins or notices for the 2021 Subaru Outback that deal with this problem. Newest first.

Federal rules make a manufacturer send NHTSA a copy of any notice about a defect that goes to more than one dealer or owner. Most of these are service bulletins, the repair instructions manufacturers send to dealers. NHTSA generally leaves safety recall bulletins out of this file, and recalls are listed separately.

Service bulletin15-304-22RAug 13, 2026
This Bulletin has been developed to outline the steps for gathering basic but essential information during diagnosis of Infotainment concerns. (This is an revised version of the original bulletin.)
Service bulletin15-321-24RJan 24, 2025
This bulletin announces the design change made to the Center Information Display (CID) assemblies developed to address the following symptoms. 1. Illumination malfunction of the adjustment knobs and/or buttons (no illumination or flash/ flicker). 2.
Service bulletin18-224-22ROct 12, 2023
This Service Information Bulletin is to inform you of the diagnosis procedure of the CP1/ CP1.5 Infotainment System when DTC B2256 is detected.
Service bulletin15-304-22RJul 31, 2023
This Service Information Bulletin has been developed to outline the steps for gathering basic but essential information during diagnosis of Infotainment concerns.

5 more on the 2021 Subaru Outback page.

What owners wrote

“Infotainment screen goes blank. It has been addressed at dealership but still happens.”
Filed Apr 18, 2023

“Vehicle infotainment system refused to start up without long delay (20 seconds or so) preventing various safety systems from initializing. This has been a recurring problem with this vehicle for two years.”
Filed Sep 20, 2022

“Our 2020 Outback dashboard display randomly goes black and hard resets. It also appears that the eye sight cameras, collision detection, and other features disable at the same time. This has occurred about a dozen times since purchase.”
Filed Jul 21, 2022

“Several times, at random, the infotainment system goes blank. Screen goes black and can NOT adjust any of the ADAS controls! After 10 to 20 seconds the system seems to reboot and slowly returns to normal operations.”
Filed Dec 13, 2021

Should you keep driving it?

This page can't tell you that. 1 of 27 reports involved a crash and 1 people were hurt. Owners who file are the ones who had a bad experience, and nobody checks their reports. If the problem affects steering, braking, power or a fire risk, treat it as a safety fault and have it inspected before a long or high-speed drive.

File your own report with NHTSA. Complaint counts are how a problem gets an investigation. How reports land on this sheet.

Guide Taking it to a shop? How to describe this problem so it gets found