In-car Electronics
CD or DVD players, radio, speakers, GPS, communication system (e.g., OnStar), display screen freezes or goes blank, phone pairing (e.g. Bluetooth), voice control commands, steering wheel controls, portable music device interface (e.g., iPod/MP3 player), backup or other camera/sensors.
What Owners Say
"The android auto implementation is a bit twitchy. At times, it works smoothly. Sometimes, however, it drops the connection without any obvious reason, it seems to get locked periodically, and it sometimes won't connect at all. Don't have the same issue with my phone in the other car."
Anonymous, ON (2019 Subaru Crosstrek Base 2.0-L 4 Cyl)"My wife and I have the same model Samsun S7 cell phone. While both can be paired with the system, only my cell phone will allow Android Auto to use the dashboard screen. Hers does not, even though using the same connection cable."
Anonymous, (2019 Subaru Crosstrek Limited 2.0-L 4 Cyl)"I use the Android Auto primarily to access Waze and Google Maps for navigation. Android Auto continually disconnects while I am driving. I pull over and unplug/replug in my phone, often to no avail. I red online that I should disconnect bluetooth, which I did, but it did not seem to make much of a difference."
Anonymous, (2019 Subaru Crosstrek Limited 2.0-L 4 Cyl)"Android Auto GPS mapping function so unreliable I stopped using them."
Anonymous, NY (2019 Subaru Crosstrek Premium 2.0-L 4 Cyl)"My partner and I couldn't consistently connect to Android on two different devices consistently for the first six months of ownership. We researched online and realized it was a common problem for the last two years because of the head unit in Subarus. After buying new cords and two software updates, it seems to have stabilized a great deal. But there are times that I would just rather connect via Bluetooth which seems to be more consistent. Except for the GPS feature."
Anonymous, (2019 Subaru Crosstrek Premium 2.0-L 4 Cyl)"loss of verbal directions while driving"
Anonymous, NJ (2019 Subaru Crosstrek Base 2.0-L 4 Cyl)"There have been between 5 and 10 instances when Apple Car Play will not connect. I use this for navigation and in one case was in a remote area of Pennsylvania. It was a stressful situation. The Car Play would not connect for about an hour and I was in an unfamiliar area."
Anonymous, MA (2019 Subaru Crosstrek Limited 2.0-L 4 Cyl)"It often my iPhone will not connect to Apple car play."
Anonymous, QC (2019 Subaru Crosstrek Premium 2.0-L 4 Cyl)"I would not connect when I would plug in, a software update seems like it mostly fixed it."
Anonymous, CT (2019 Subaru Crosstrek Premium 2.0-L 4 Cyl)"Starlink dashboard system and Apple CarPlay regularly freeze or have trouble connecting to my iPhone."
Anonymous, VA (2019 Subaru Crosstrek Premium 2.0-L 4 Cyl)"The ability to connect with Apple CarPlay is extremely variable. Sometimes it connects seamlessly, and other times it simply does not work. The icon is greyed out much of the time. Very frustrating."
Anonymous, MA (2019 Subaru Crosstrek Premium 2.0-L 4 Cyl)"Carplay frequently won't work when I have stopped the car and then restart it. I sometimes travel for work and need the navigation feature. I've tried restarting the phone, restarting the car, and CarPlay just won't work. I've tried 5 different phone cords, 3 of them brand new. Still won't work. Then an hour later, it works fine. But the point is that CarPlay isn't reliable, making the car a hassle when I travel."
Anonymous, IL (2019 Subaru Crosstrek Limited 2.0-L 4 Cyl)"Would not synch with the car"
Anonymous, VA (2019 Subaru Crosstrek Limited 2.0-L 4 Cyl)"The CD player stopped loading media from the CD. The entire unit was replaced at no cost to me."
George H., LA (2019 Subaru Crosstrek Premium 2.0-L 4 Cyl)"Did not have one"
Anonymous, IL (2019 Subaru Crosstrek Limited 2.0-L 4 Cyl)"It needed a software fix. it took two trips before they installed it. Why they didnt the first time beats me."
Anonymous, TX (2019 Subaru Crosstrek Limited 2.0-L 4 Cyl)"This happened only once, but certainly got me worried. The console display screen froze on the menu screen. The stereo could not play anything, and the backup camera view did not come on while in reverse. I tried restarting but nothing helped while before driving off. I happened to stop for gas, and apparently the duration of stopping was enough to let the problem fix itself. I haven't had the problem since."
Anonymous, (2019 Subaru Crosstrek Limited 2.0-L 4 Cyl)"Display screen becomes operable when the car is restarted."
Anonymous, (2019 Subaru Crosstrek Limited 2.0-L 4 Cyl)"There were a handful of times that the infotainment screen would go blank out of nowhere and reset itself. Sometimes multiple times in a row."
Anonymous, IL (2019 Subaru Crosstrek Premium 2.0-L 4 Cyl)"Bluetooth music play skips, speeds up. I’ve never had any of my Bluetooth players do this (Logitech, Bose, etc.). For an expensive nice sounding, when it doesn’t skip, system they should do better. I’ve had one dealer software update and that made it worse, but fixed the radio preset problem."
Anonymous, ID (2019 Subaru Crosstrek Limited 2.0-L 4 Cyl)"Updated maps do not include roads in my neighborhood, even though they are 5 years old. Routing took my to a road that has been abandoned for years."
James C., VA (2019 Subaru Crosstrek Limited 2.0-L 4 Cyl)"Out of date map and inaccurate data and selects bad routes. Was out of date a purchase. Could not be updated on line, required trip to dealer and 2 hours to update. Still gives inaccurate street names and poor routes."
Anonymous, TX (2019 Subaru Crosstrek Limited 2.0-L 4 Cyl)"wasn't upgrading the latest GPS information, took it back to dealer and they upgraded the systems"
Anonymous, (2019 Subaru Crosstrek Limited 2.0-L 4 Cyl)"not connecting withiternet server when iphone has full range indicated"
Anonymous, NJ (2019 Subaru Crosstrek Base 2.0-L 4 Cyl)"The blue tooth phone system would sometimes not disconnect after the phone call was over. Even if you completely powered off the phone, the infotainment system would still say phone call in progress, so no other features were not able to resume such as music or Apple Car play. Multiple visits to dealer."
Anonymous, IL (2019 Subaru Crosstrek Premium 2.0-L 4 Cyl)"The radio wil not hold am/fm radio stations. I set them and a day or so later, they're gone. I've read on forums that this has been an issue for a few years. a few years! It's very annoying."
James N., IL (2019 Subaru Crosstrek Limited 2.0-L 4 Cyl)"Radio would not come back on for 3-5 minutes or so after restarting (like after refueling, etc.)"
Anonymous, MI (2019 Subaru Crosstrek Premium 2.0-L 4 Cyl)"Audio source switches randomly, especially when starting and stopping the motor"
Anonymous, CA (2019 Subaru Crosstrek Premium 2.0-L 4 Cyl)"Radio stopped working. Needed software update"
Anonymous, (2019 Subaru Crosstrek Limited 2.0-L 4 Cyl)"The stations programmed in dissapear from the screen"
Anonymous, (2019 Subaru Crosstrek Limited 2.0-L 4 Cyl)"Delay coming on"
Anonymous, (2019 Subaru Crosstrek Unsure 2.0-L 4 Cyl)"radio randomly changes station without my touching or bumping anything. Dealership has updated software without any luck in eliminating the problem. Have suspected it may happen more when the signal from the tuned in station gets weak but not confirmed and the station it jumps to is a long way away in frequency and really obnoxious."
Anonymous, (2019 Subaru Crosstrek Limited 2.0-L 4 Cyl)"Despite the head unit having a wifi update option, for head units without GPS nav natively built-in, the only way to get firmware updates is via dealership. Apparently the only head units that are updatable via consumer are for upgraded nav units via download to USB stick from subaru-maps.com. Everyone else is apparently out of luck, relying on dealerships to do the update, which they have only done upon request (perhaps because it takes 20+ minutes)."
Anonymous, NY (2019 Subaru Crosstrek Limited 2.0-L 4 Cyl)"It has the capability to update over my WiFi. However it always says up to date, I have to take it to the dealer to be updated. Luckily it’s in Warranty as the charge a rediculous amount to do this. The subaru forums indicate it has never worked. Very disappointing"
Anonymous, ID (2019 Subaru Crosstrek Limited 2.0-L 4 Cyl)"Only had an issue with my infotainment system needing software updates"
Anonymous, NY (2019 Subaru Crosstrek Limited 2.0-L 4 Cyl)"Subaru has had a number of software updates for this model. So far these are covered under warranty. If this continues after the warranty period, it will cost approximately $80 each time. This is absurd for a service that involves plugging in a thumb drive and running an update. It should either be no cost, or Subaru should send the updates to their customer base so that drivers can do it themselves."
Anonymous, MA (2019 Subaru Crosstrek Limited 2.0-L 4 Cyl)"System stopped responding to touch input, no sound"
Anonymous, KY (2019 Subaru Crosstrek Limited 2.0-L 4 Cyl)
"Android Auto crashes ALL the time. Head Unit firmware updated by dealership at last service in March but still crashes. Many reports online (especially on subaru crosstrek third part forums) of many others having exact same issues, unresolved by firmware updates. Speaking of, head unit firmware updates seem to ONLY be able to be installed via dealership for NON-navigation head units (where GPS nav is not natively built into the head unit). In a followup phone call from customer service after the service update I was asked if the firmware update resolved all the issues (android auto crashing, radio presets deleting themselves, etc) I said I still experienced AA crashing. The presets issue seems fixed. However when I mentioned that it seems many have had these crash issues he gave an exasperated sign and said, Sheesh, you have no idea! It's been rough. ... I can attest to that."
Anonymous, NY (2019 Subaru Crosstrek Limited 2.0-L 4 Cyl)