Is Your Subaru Outback Touchscreen Going Crazy? It Might Be Delaminating

www.kineticvehicles.com

If you’ve got a 2018 or 2019 Subaru Outback and the touchscreen is freaking out—pressing buttons on its own, freezing up, or showing weird bubbles—you’re not imagining things. You’re probably dealing with something called screen delamination, and yeah… it’s a real pain.

Let’s break down what’s actually going on.

What’s "Delamination," Anyway?

Your infotainment screen is made up of a few thin layers—kind of like a touchscreen sandwich. Over time (or sometimes way too soon), those layers can start to peel apart from each other. That’s delamination.

And when that happens, all kinds of weird stuff starts to go wrong.

Signs You’ve Got a Delaminated Screen:

• The screen taps itself (phantom touches)

• Some parts don’t respond to touch

• You see blotches, lines, or weird bubbles under the glass

• The backup camera might flicker or cut out

• The audio, nav, or menus jump around randomly

Basically, it becomes unpredictable—and borderline unusable.

Why This Is Happening in Outbacks

Subaru used infotainment systems from Harman Kardon in these Outbacks, and all of them came from the factory with bad screen bonding. The layers inside the screen weren’t sealed properly, and now they’re falling apart—sometimes just a year or two after you buy the car.

Did Subaru Do Anything About It?

Sort of. Subaru quietly extended the warranty on some of these units to 5 years from the original sale date. So if your car is still under that window, you might be able to get it replaced for free.

But here’s the catch: a lot of people are now outside that window, and the dealership fix isn’t cheap—usually between $800 and $1,200.

So What Can You Do?

You’ve got a few options:

1. Call the dealership and see if your VIN is still covered.

2. Skip the full replacement—you probably don’t need a whole new radio. At Kinetic Vehicles, we replace just the touchscreen itself, which is usually what’s broken. It’s a lot cheaper and works like new.

3. Fix it before it totally dies—if the screen still kinda works, now’s the best time to take care of it.

Final Thoughts

This isn’t just a cosmetic thing—it’s annoying, distracting, and can even mess with your backup camera. If your Subaru screen is acting up, you're definitely not alone. And you don’t have to drop dealership-level money to fix it, either.

Got questions or want to book a repair? Reach out here and we’ll get you taken care of.