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Subaru will recall nearly 5,400 2013 Outback and Legacy models because the steering may fail, the automaker has informed the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. In a report posted on the agency’s Web site, Subaru said the inner and outer shafts of the steering column assembly could lose contact with one another, in which case “the driver would lose the ability to steer the vehicle.”

Subaru said it first learned of a possible problem last June, on a vehicle still at the assembly plant. The company stopped selling and shipping vehicles until they were all inspected and, if necessary, repaired. Then in February, the automaker received a complaint from an owner about losing steering, and the company investigated.

Subaru this month finished its research and concluded “that the visual inspection conducted in June 2012 may not have been effective,” so it decided on a recall to replace the steering column. Subaru is not aware of any accidents because of the defect, Michael McHale, a Subaru spokesman, wrote in an e-mail.