halotree

Anyone else having problems with interior glare with new Outback or Legacy? There are strips of silver plastic on the dashboard and on the doors. When the sun shines on these, it can reflect the sun right into your eyes. Also, the climate control buttons and surrounding area are also highly reflective, and cause the same glare problems, and in addition, the glare makes it nearly impossible to read the climate display and the time and temp. I think that all of this glare is a potential safety hazard. I think that it could possibly lead to an accident. If anyone else is having any glare issues, please share them. I think that we can get this problem taken care of if we make enough complaints to Subaru (dealers and corporate). If you also believe that it could be a safety issue, then contact the NHTSA (national highway traffic safety administration), in addition to dealers and corporate. The NHTSA can issue a recall if they determine that a car has a safety issue. Hopefully something like a recall won't be necessary. If Subaru gets a lot of complaints, and if the NHTSA also gets official safety complaints, then Subaru may just elect to call the cars in for some kind of fix. You can file a report with the NHTSA by phone or online. Phone number is 888-327-4236 If you want to file a safety report online, go to safercar.gov then go to the complaints and defects link. It really bothers me to have spent a good deal of money on a new car, only to realize later that it has such a serious design flaw. I don't think that reflective materials like that belong in the interior of a car. I've seen this topic discussed on other forums, and I'm just wondering what others on USMB think of this glare.

New 2015 Outback owners, and prospective 2015 Outback owners.........beware of a significant design flaw. The thin readout display just above the ac/heater controls has an issue with severe glare, making it very difficult, and sometimes impossible to see the display. Previous generation had these readouts on a recessed/hooded and shaded display, so it wasn't a problem. Light entering the 2015 Outback hits the display and acts like a mirror, causing severe glare. If it's bright outside, the problem is even worse, and it's worse early in the day, and late in the day, when sunlight shines more directly into the car. If you have your sunglasses on, the problem is even worse, because the sunglasses make the readout light even dimmer,(and it's nowhere near bright enough as it is, to be seen through the glare). There is no way to turn up the brightness either. Subaru needs to do several things to address the problem. 1. Hood and/or recess the display. 2. Use a non-glare material for the display. 3. Increase the brightness of the display. The dealership said that they have already had several complaints about this. They said that if it's not a safety issue, Subaru is unlikely to fix it UNLESS they get many complaints, and they worry about it showing up on discussion forums, where it may scare away potential buyers. I love the new Outback in every other way, and really want to get one, but I'm not going to spend that kind of money on a new car that has such a major problem. We need to be able to see our displays easily at all times. I'm asking all current and possible future Outback owners to please complain to the dealership, and more importantly to Subaru corporate. They will likely fix this if enough people complain about it. Also, I hope that the big reviewers (Edmunds, Motortrend, etc...), will pay attention to this problem, and mention it in their reviews. Please pass this info and posting around as widely as possible so that something happens asap. Thanks everybody.