The loudest Crosstrek here by a distance — eight recalls and a battery that keeps dying, though almost every headline item is free to fix.

Recall 19V856, Subaru code WUW-08, covers 2019 Crosstrek, Forester and Ascent cars with an aluminium PCV valve — the Positive Crankcase Ventilation valve, which vents pressure out of the engine's crankcase — that can separate. The broken pieces go into the engine and the car loses power while driving. Dealers inspect and replace the valve free, and the clause that matters is what follows: if the valve has separated and the debris cannot be found, Subaru replaces the short-block engine free. Owners in this year's file report dealers marking this recall complete without the work actually being done, so ask for the repair order rather than accepting a status screen. This is the highest-value campaign on the car.

The 2018 problem continues into 2019. The engine computer can keep powering an ignition coil after shutdown, shorting it and stalling the car. Subaru recalled it as 19V743 in December 2019, then reissued it as 21V264 in June 2021 with a stronger remedy — software plus outright coil replacement — explicitly covering cars already repaired under the first campaign. Owners in this year's file report stalling anyway: one describes the engine cutting out at a red light immediately after collecting the car from the dealership with the newer fix in place. Check that the VIN shows 21V264 completed, not just 19V743, and ask whether the car has stalled since.

Recall 19V065 (Subaru code WUC-88) covers a connector inside the EPS — the Electric Power Steering unit — that can short and take away the power assist; an owner in this year's file describes losing steering assist and drive power at 60 mph. Recall 19V404 (WUG-92) is 2019-Crosstrek-only: the driver's-side rear door glass may be improperly tempered, failing the federal glazing standard, and can shatter into large pieces rather than crumbling. Recall 20V189 (WRC-20) is also 2019-only, covering rear seat belts with a dual-mode locking mechanism whose webbing sensor may not lock as intended, so in a crash involving multiple impacts the belt may not restrain the occupant properly. All three are free. A second-generation problem review independently describes the steering campaign and matches the federal record exactly.

This applies solely to the Crosstrek Hybrid, the plug-in version launched this model year — a PHEV, meaning it can be charged from an outlet and driven on battery alone for a short distance. Recall 23V080, Subaru code WRD-23, covers 8,413 cars across the 2019 to 2022 model years. The harness terminal that carries low-voltage power from the converter to the 12-volt battery can corrode and break, and once it does the 12-volt battery stops charging — which can mean a loss of drive power. Dealers replace the converter terminal mounting bracket free, and replace the 12-volt output harness and terminals too if corrosion is found. Letters went out in May 2023. One owner reports the fault returning after the repair at around 125,000 miles, with the inverter connector corroded again and underbody wiring damaged by water, salt and sand — so on a salt-belt car, have the underbody looked at even if the recall shows closed. Petrol Crosstreks are not in this campaign.

Two mechanical items with attributed costs. An owner replaced a wheel bearing and its integral hub at an independent shop for about $750 with the car at 4x,xxx miles, and a first-generation review confirms wheel bearings on the Crosstrek were never recalled. Separately, an owner reports a rear differential suffering what they call 'a contained catastrophic failure' on a car serviced to schedule by Subaru dealers and never taken off road; a second-generation problem review describes rear-differential humming and whine on 2018 to 2021 cars caused by abnormal gear wear, for which dealers now offer a higher-viscosity fluid. Listen for both on the test drive: a bearing hum rises and falls as you sway the car at 40 to 50 mph, while a differential whine tracks road speed regardless of steering.

Both of the Subaru stories a shopper arrives with are wrong for this car. The oil-consumption powertrain extension to 8 years/100,000 miles and its class-action settlement cover 2012 to 2015 cars only, four model years before this one, and we found no oil-consumption complaints in any 2016 to 2023 Crosstrek payload. The head gasket belongs to the older EJ-series engine; a mechanic who pulled an EJ for exactly that repair says on camera that by the time the FB engine arrived around 2015 it was no longer an issue, and the same mechanic reports no oil consumption on his own FB car at 72,000 miles. One 2019 complaint does mention a head-gasket repair — a single report against 281, with no campaign or bulletin behind it. Judge this year on its recall record and its battery, not on the reputation.