2005 Subaru Legacy Exterior lighting Problems

“I recently noticed that some elements of my rear hatch on my Subaru Legacy wagon were not working. Specifically, the lights that illuminate the license plate, the rear defroster, center brake light, hatch locking mechanism, and radio antenna were not working. An inspection of the area where the wires enter the hatch door from the body of the vehicle reveals that several of the wires in the harness were broken completely with some wires in various states of deterioration. I believe this is an unusual failure and not a typical wear item. …”

“My rear brake lights and tail lights stopped working, my wiper would work intermittently, and license plate lights would not work at all. Took to a mechanic who diagnosed that the wires traveling through the rubber grommet to the rear gate had been broken due to a design in the path they travel where they are bent severely every time the gate is opened and closed, and eventually they snapped. He informed me that this was a common issue on my model and put new wires in place of the broken ones.”

“The low beam light bulbs burn out frequently. I use the high quality bulbs (around $28 ea) but they still burn out every 3 to 4 months, same as the lower quality bulbs. Even with being very careful installing the bulbs, wearing clean gloves and cleaning with alcohol prior to setting and locking, they still burn out. I bought the car at 27,000 miles, now it has 50,500 and the problem is consistent. I doubt that bulb quality is the issue here, since I've experimented with the $17 bulbs and the $28 bulbs and the results are the same.”

“With approximately 2,000 miles on my brand new Subaru Legacy gt I was driving 80 miles to my home. The lights on my dash were flickering and the cruise control worked, then stopped working when I would try to decrease or increase my speed. Once I got into the canyon about 20 miles from home (a curvy road next to the colorado river) all my interior and exterior lights went off suddenly. I maneuvered my way to the side of the road, shut the car off then turned it back on. Thankfully, the lights came back on. I took the car into the Subaru dealership and they didn't find anything. …”

“Rear tailgate wire harness found to be broken. Rear wiper did not work. This wire was completely broken. Two other wires found to be cracked and about to fail. This could potentially cause rear hi mount stop light, license plate lights, and back up lights to be non-functional.”