2007 Subaru Legacy Problems & Complaints

Better than average76% fewer complaints than a typical year of the Legacy at the same age

Owners have filed 33 complaints about the 2007 Subaru Legacy with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. That is 76% fewer than a typical Legacy model year at the same age, making the 2007 one of the better Legacy years. The most reported problem area is the air bags (12 complaints, typically around 38,000 miles). 9 recalls cover this model year.

33complaints
9recalls
1crashes
4fires
3injuries
0deaths

Most common 2007 Subaru Legacy problems

  • Air bags~38,000 miles
    1236%
  • Engine & cooling~90,000 miles
    927%
  • Electrical system~76,000 miles
    515%
  • Brakes~135,000 miles
    39%
  • Other / not specified~125,000 miles
    39%
  • Wheels & tires~61,000 miles
    26%
  • Suspension~61,000 miles
    26%
  • Body & structure~93,000 miles
    26%
  • Windows, wipers & sunroof~70,000 miles
    26%
  • Transmission & drivetrain~50,000 miles
    13%
  • A/C & heater~76,000 miles
    13%
  • Lights~70,000 miles
    13%
  • Steering~94,000 miles
    13%

Share of the 33 complaints; one complaint can involve more than one system. "~" is the median mileage when the problem started.

Subaru Legacy complaints by model year

’95’96’97’98’99’00’01’02’03’04’05’06’07’08’09’10’11’12’13’14’15’16’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24’2518212313911494947754604918487336565150167906653160147119117123121313410176
Owner complaints per model year, Subaru Legacy. Colour = our verdict for that year (red: avoid, orange: caution, green: better than average, blue: too new).

Best Legacy years: 2023, 2025, 2021. Years to avoid: 2015, 2016, 2011, 2020, 2019. Compare all years →

2007 Subaru Legacy recalls (9)

Air bags › Frontal › Passenger side › Inflator module

NHTSA recall 20V-001 · Jan 2, 2020 · 258,813 vehicles

Subaru of America, Inc. (Subaru) is recalling certain 2009-2013 Forester, 2003-2006 Baja, 2004-2011 Impreza, 2004-2014 WRX (STI included), 2003-2014 Legacy and Outback, and 2005-2006 Saab 9-2X vehicles originally sold, or ever registered, in the states of Alabama, California, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Louisiana, Mississippi,…

Remedy: Subaru will notify their owners. General Motors will notify Saab owners. Dealers will replace the passenger air bag inflators with alternate inflators, free of charge. The recall began January 7, 2020.

Air bags › Frontal › Passenger side › Inflator module

NHTSA recall 20V-003 · Jan 2, 2020 · 111,562 vehicles

Subaru of America, Inc. (Subaru) is recalling certain 2009-2013 Forester, 2003-2006 Baja, 2004-2011 Impreza, 2004-2014 WRX (including STI), 2003-2014 Legacy and Outback, and 2005-2006 Saab 9-2X vehicles originally sold, or ever registered, in the states of Alaska, Colorado, Connecticut, Idaho, Iowa, Maine, Massachusetts,…

Remedy: Subaru will notify their owners. General Motors will notify Saab owners. Dealers will replace the passenger air bag inflators, free of charge. The recall began January 7, 2020.

Air bags › Frontal › Passenger side › Inflator module

NHTSA recall 20V-002 · Jan 2, 2020 · 127,547 vehicles

Subaru of America, Inc. (Subaru) is recalling certain 2009-2013 Forester, 2003-2006 Baja, 2004-2011 Impreza, 2004-2014 WRX (including STI), 2003-2014 Legacy and Outback, and 2006 Saab 9-2X vehicles originally sold, or ever registered, in the states of Arizona, Arkansas, Delaware, District of Columbia, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas,…

Remedy: Subaru will notify their owners. General Motors will notify Saab owners. Dealers will replace the passenger air bag inflators, free of charge. The recall began January 7, 2020.

Electrical system › Ignition › Switch

NHTSA recall 19V-297 · Apr 11, 2019 · 511 vehicles

Subaru of America, Inc. (Subaru) is recalling certain 2009-2013 Forester vehicles, 2008-2011 Impreza vehicles, 2008-2014 WRX vehicles, 2005-2014 Legacy vehicles, 2005-2014 Outback vehicles and 2006-2008 Tribeca vehicles equipped with a mechanical key ignition switch installed as a replacement part.

Remedy: Subaru will notify owners, and dealers will inspect the ignition switch, replacing the ignition switch, if necessary, free of charge. The recall began May 10, 2019.

Electrical system

NHTSA recall 16V-738 · Oct 13, 2016 · 100,127 vehicles

Subaru of America, Inc. (Subaru) is recalling certain model year 2007-2009 model year Legacy and Outback vehicles, 2008-2014 Impreza vehicles and 2009-2013 Forester vehicles, all equipped with turbo-charged engines.

Remedy: Subaru will notify owners, and dealers will replace the secondary air injection pump relay, free of charge. The recall began December 2016. Owners may contact Subaru customer service at 1-800-782-2783.

Air bags › Frontal › Passenger side › Inflator module

NHTSA recall 15V-323 · May 28, 2015 · 432,016 vehicles

Subaru of America, Inc. (Subaru) is recalling certain model year 2003-2004 Subaru Baja vehicles manufactured January 22, 2003, to July 21, 2004, 2004-2005 Impreza vehicles manufactured January 28, 2003, to May 31, 2005, 2003-2008 Subaru Legacy vehicles manufactured January 22, 2003, to May 2, 2008, 2003-2008 Subaru Outback…

Remedy: Subaru will notify their owners and General Motors will notify Saab owners. Dealers will replace the passenger air bag inflator, free of charge. The Subaru recall began on June 17, 2015.

Show 3 more recalls

Service brakes, hydraulic › Foundation components › Hoses, lines/piping, and fittings

NHTSA recall 14V-311 · Jun 10, 2014 · 461,338 vehicles

Subaru of America, Inc. (Subaru) is recalling certain model year 2005-2009 Outback and Legacy, 2008-2011 Impreza and 2008-2014 Impreza WRX/STI, and 2009-2013 Forester vehicles, currently, or formerly, registered in Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, New…

Remedy: Subaru will notify owners, and dealers will test the brake system by depressing the brake pedal and inspecting for brake fluid leaks.

Service brakes, hydraulic › Foundation components › Hoses, lines/piping, and fittings

NHTSA recall 13V-110 · Mar 27, 2013 · 274,402 vehicles

Subaru is recalling certain model year 2005-2009 Outback and Legacy vehicles manufactured from December 2003, through April 2009 and currently, or formerly, registered in Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Ohio,…

Remedy: Subaru will notify owners, and dealers will inspect the vehicles. If no brake fluid seepage is observed, the affected area will be rustproofed with anti-corrosion wax.

Engine and engine cooling › Engine

NHTSA recall 08V-460 · Sep 11, 2008 · 16,715 vehicles

Subaru is recalling 16,715 my 2007-2008 legacy sedans and wagons, my 2008 impreza sedans and wagons, and my 2009 forester vehicles. Some vehicles May have the cylinder head-side oil supply pipe and turbocharger-side pipe improperly assembled.

Remedy: Dealers will inspect for cracking or an oil leak at the oil supply pipe at the cylinder head-side. An additional bracket will be installed to increase rigidity of the pipe and the pipe assembly will be replaced with a…

What 2007 Subaru Legacy owners say

Air bags

Safety|service campaign: wqr53|NHTSA campaign: 15V323000 05-08 leg/out pass. Air bag inflator:: sent this email to Subaru today: been calling albany Subaru (albany, ca) and downtown Subaru (oakland ca) for 2 months for service on this recall. Both say they have no parts, will call me, I'm on the list, they get parts to do 2 services a month, there are over 400 on the list... Don't you think this is unacceptable for a safety recall? When can I drive with a passenger again? Cc: NHTSA

38,000 miles · Jun 2016

On August 2nd, 2008, I was in an accident in 2007 Subaru Legacy, sw, as a result of car ?fishtailing? After emergency maneuver on a highway. None of the airbags deployed, even though I was traveling with speed of 60+ MPH and car was declared total loss. Subaru is very reluctant with following up on reasons why airbags have not deployed.

11,000 miles · Aug 2008 · crash · 3 injuries

Engine & cooling

Tl* the contact owns a 2007 Subaru Legacy. While driving various speeds, a burnt rubber and plastic odor emitted the vehicle. The vehicle overheated without warning. In addition, the dashboard became extremely hot and caused the fuses to fail. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic where it was diagnosed that the air pump failed and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The VIN was not included in NHTSA campaign number: 16V738000 (electrical system). The failure mileage was 44,000.

44,000 miles · Jun 2016 · fire

Subaru knows they have any issue with their head gaskets and they have never recalled them. I had to put head gaskets in at 100,000 now the head gaskets need to be done 20,000 miles later. Why were they never forced to recall their cars with this issue?

120,000 miles · Jul 2015

Electrical system

Tl* the contact owns a 2007 Subaru Legacy. While driving various speeds, a burnt rubber and plastic odor emitted the vehicle. The vehicle overheated without warning. In addition, the dashboard became extremely hot and caused the fuses to fail. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic where it was diagnosed that the air pump failed and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The VIN was not included in NHTSA campaign number: 16V738000 (electrical system). The failure mileage was 44,000.

Wiring › Fuses and circuit breakers · 44,000 miles · Jun 2016 · fire

The electrical harness connecting the body and rear lift gate which contains 14 wires within a rubber accordian boot suffered a breakage of all 14 wires at the body side of the boot. This affected the third brake light, defrost wires, and the rear wiper motor as a safety issue, and rear backup lights, liftgate lock, and security system as an inconvenience. First item that was noticed was lift latch lock not working, then other items failed in succession. I looked at affected components but only solved problem by accessing a Legacy owners website where this was found to be a frequent issue in varying degrees. Problem was fixed, not repaired, by running 14 new higher quality wires through the rubber boot and making connections at either side. Replacement harness from Subaru had same type of wires which in my opinion would have eventually failed again.

70,000 miles · May 2012

2007 Subaru Legacy engines & fuel economy

EngineTransmissionDriveMPG city / hwy / combined
2.5L 4-cyl4-speed automatic4WD/AWD20 / 28 / 23
2.5L 4-cyl5-speed manual4WD/AWD19 / 26 / 22
2.5L 4-cyl turbo5-speed manual4WD/AWD18 / 25 / 21
2.5L 4-cyl turbo6-speed manual4WD/AWD17 / 24 / 20
2.5L 4-cyl turbo5-speed automatic4WD/AWD17 / 23 / 20

EPA ratings. Class: Compact car.

Frequently asked questions

Is the 2007 Subaru Legacy a good car?

Based on 33 owner complaints filed with NHTSA, the 2007 Legacy rates better than average: 76% fewer complaints than a typical year of the Legacy at the same age. Complaint counts don't account for sales volume or individual maintenance, so have any used car inspected before buying.

What is the most common problem with the 2007 Subaru Legacy?

The air bags — 12 complaints, 36% of all complaints for this model year, most often about frontal › sensor/control module. Next are the engine & cooling (9) and electrical system (5).

How many recalls does the 2007 Subaru Legacy have?

There are 9 recalls for the 2007 Subaru Legacy, the most recent from January 2, 2020 (inflator module). Recall repairs are free at any authorized dealer — check whether yours has been done with the VIN recall check.

What are the best and worst years of the Subaru Legacy?

The best years by complaints, compared at the same age, are 2023, 2025 and 2021. Years to avoid or approach with caution: 2015, 2016, 2011, 2020 and 2019. See the full Subaru Legacy years comparison.

At what mileage do 2007 Subaru Legacy problems happen?

The median mileage reported in complaints is about 70,000 miles; 35% of problems with a recorded mileage started before 50,000 miles.

Source: U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) — owner complaints through October 20, 2026, recalls and defect investigations; fuel economy from the EPA. Complaints are unverified reports and are not proof of a defect. How we rate model years.