Vehicle Speed Control Problems of Subaru Crosstrek - part 1

Own a 2019 suburu Crosstrek vehicle that has unexpectedly accelerated/lurched on its own when pulling forward into a parking spot. This has happened twice. . . Last month & today.

See all problems of the 2019 Subaru Crosstrek 🔎.

In August of 2024, I got into my car in a parking lot and turned the key in the ignition. The car started revving really high. I waited for it to slow down, and then I put it into reverse. The car shot back and would have hit the building if I hadn't slammed on the brakes. Fortunately, there wasn't anyone behind the car at the time, but the woman who had just walked in back of my car to enter the building stood there looking at me. I slowly put my foot on the gas pedal and drove home. The following day, I had a tow truck come and take the car to the dealer. They did a scheduled maintenance service and replace the throttle body. Everything was fine until 9/28/25. I was driving out of a parking lot and entering the street going very slowly, suddenly the car lurched forward very fast, and I had to slam on my brakes to stop it. I drove it home. I notified a friend who knew a mechanic that he said was familiar with this type of issue. He got in touch with the dealership where the car had been serviced, and I got a call from the service department manager. He asked me to bring the car in so they could try to find out what the problem was. He said that if they couldn't find out what it was, an engineer might be called in to inspect the car. I am planning on having the car towed to the dealership this week. On neither occasion did any warning lights come on in the car. It was very fortunate that no one was hurt during either incident, but it could have been tragic. I was only about 15 feet away from a crosswalk when the second incident occurred. I read online that the manufacturer is involved in a lawsuit where several other people have had the same experience, although not the same model as my car. I have driven the same brand of car for about fifteen years and have never had a problem before.

See all problems of the 2017 Subaru Crosstrek 🔎.

The contact owns a 2019 Subaru Crosstrek. While the contact was attempting to start the vehicle, the vehicle failed to start. There was no warning light illuminated. The contact stated that while the engine was still off, the gear shifter was shifted into reverse(r) and the vehicle accelerated backwards. The contact slammed on the brake pedal to prevent the vehicle from crashing into another parked vehicle. The contact pressed the ignition button with her foot on the brake pedal to start the vehicle. The dealer was notified of the failure and an appointment was scheduled to service the vehicle. The vehicle was not yet repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 15,000.

The contact owns a 2022 Subaru Crosstrek. The contact stated that while driving in the parking lot and attempting to park, a sudden unintended acceleration occurred. No warning lights illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer, but the vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was contacted, who informed the contact about the release of the edr data. The failure mileage was approximately 34,000.

See all problems of the 2022 Subaru Crosstrek 🔎.

The contact owns a 2023 Subaru Crosstrek. The contact stated that while turning into a parking spot at 20 mph and upon depressing the brake pedal, the vehicle continued to accelerate, causing the contact to crash the front of the vehicle into the concrete wall. The vehicle came to a stop upon impact. The air bags did not deploy. The vehicle was towed to a local autobody center. No warning lights were illuminated. A police report was filed. The vehicle was not destroyed. The contact seated in the driver's seat was injured. No body outside of the vehicle reported an injury, however, a bystander was taken to the hospital as a precaution. The contact sustained internal bruising to her abdomen and chest, and medical treatment was needed for her injuries. The local dealer was not contacted, and the vehicle was not diagnosed. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 4,000.

See all problems of the 2023 Subaru Crosstrek 🔎.

The contact owns a 2020 Subaru Crosstrek. The contact stated while pulling into a parking spot and depressing the brake pedal to come to a complete stop, the vehicle failed to respond. The contact stated that upon depressing the brake pedal a second time, the vehicle jerked, unintendedly accelerated, drove up the curb, and crashed into the metal plastic pole of wawa. The pole was fractured. The air bags did not deploy. There was no injury sustained. There was no warning light illuminated. A police report was filed, but the contact did not have the police report information available. The vehicle was towed to the residence. The dealer was notified of the failure and informed the contact that they could only diagnose the vehicle after it had been repaired by an auto body repair shop. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and advised the contact that she would be contacted later and would be informed of the location she would need to take the vehicle for diagnostic testing. The failure mileage was approximately 42,000.

See all problems of the 2020 Subaru Crosstrek 🔎.

While driving in the left lane on a three lane highway (about 70mph) the car's automatic braking system engaged. The car would not accelerate creating a very dangerous situation on a congested highway at night. Luckily, we are able to navigate to a brake down lane without a collision. The check engine light, eyesight light and rab light turned on. The car would not function normally and was towed to a Subaru dealer (patrick Subaru, shrewsbury MA). Diagnosis was a failure of the engine coolant bypass valve p26a6. Other failure codes were: p0087, p2004, p2005, b2806, b2c22. I was told this is a known problem in Subarus of certain years, but, instead of recalling, the company has extended the warranty on the malfunctioning part. This incident happened without any previous warning and caused a life threatening situation for us and those around us.

See all problems of the 2021 Subaru Crosstrek 🔎.

I was driving with cruise control enabled right around 40mph. All of the sudden, while I was moving, my speedometer dropped to 0 and all of my dashboard lights turned on. I pulled over to the side of the road and tried to put the car in park to figure out what was going on. I was not able to shift the car into park, only remain in d or shift to n. I forced the car shutoff while in d with the press-button ignition, then turned the car back on. I was then able to shift the car into p. However, all of my dashboard lights were still on. I will attach an image to this description as I was able to take a photo of all the dashboard lights. After putting the car in park, I then shifted it back into d. However, my steering wheel was very stiff. Eventually, it loosened up back to normal. I then turned around and headed home for about a 2. 5 hour drive. For the first 1. 5 hours of the drive, most of the dashboard lights remained on and I could not initiate cruise control at all. After stopping for gas and turning the car back on, I was then able to drive as normal (putting the car in cruise control) and most of the dashboard lights also turned off. This was a Sunday evening. I then brought my car to the Subaru dealer in which I bought the Crosstrek from the very next morning. I told them exactly what happened. They said this was highly unusual and this wasn't something they've dealt with before, especially on a brand new car (I purchased this vehicle with 0 miles just 6 months prior). After sitting in the shop for 30+ days, the dealer eventually replaced the vdc module and gave the car back to me. I did submit this issue to Subaru of America, but they denied this to be a lemon case. They would not tell me why, even though a car sitting in a shop for 30+ days achieves lemon status in the state of utah. Since the dealer replaced the vdc module and returning the car to me, I have not yet had another issue, but am nervous this could occur again.

See all problems of the 2024 Subaru Crosstrek 🔎.

See attached document for complaint.

The contact owns a 2024 Subaru Crosstrek. The contact stated that while driving approximately 5 mph and making a left turn, the vehicle experienced unintended acceleration almost causing the driver to lose control of the steering wheel before stopping the vehicle. The vehicle was later towed back to the dealer who was unable to determine the cause of the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 4,000.

When slowing to park, with foot on brake, vehicle suddenly and unexpectedly surged forward going up an incline, side-swiping the parked car to the right of the driver, without any action taken by the driver. Safety at risk from uncontrolled car during sudden unexpected acceleration. Reported hours after event, police report filed, insurance claim filed. Dashboard during the event light up with multiple indicators. No prior unusual symptoms.

The contact owns a 2018 Subaru Crosstrek. The contact stated that while depressing the accelerator pedal, the vehicle failed to immediately respond before abruptly accelerated forward. The contact stated that the failure was intermittent. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer who was unable to duplicate the failure and unable to determine the cause of the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 54,000.

See all problems of the 2018 Subaru Crosstrek 🔎.

Waiting in line to pickup prescription, stopped with foot on brake and vehicle accelerated into car approx 15 ft in front of me. Eye sight braking did not stop car, nor did imminent collision warning engage. Car is at dealership and they conducted test; found nothing. Awaiting Subaru engineer to pull and check "black box".

While slowing to turn into a turn lane, my care unexpectedly accelerated to a very high speed, causing me to crash straight into a signal light post. The light post was knocked over by the force of impact. The car ended up around the corner, facing the opposite direction and having hit another car. Police responded to the scene and inspected the vehicle, which was towed away. An insurance claim has been filed, though I am unaware if they have inspected the vehicle yet. The passenger airbag deployed but driver airbag did not. I had no warning before the sudden acceleration and this is the only time something like this happened.

See all problems of the 2013 Subaru Crosstrek 🔎.

There are occasional times (perhaps once or twice a month) where the vehicle does not respond with the expected acceleration of a depression of the accelerator pedal. Specifically, the vehicle "lags" when I depress the accelerator pedal. While I have not experienced a dire situation or collision because of it, I believe it might cause other drivers to experience a safety incident: a driver might want to perform a fast maneuver with elevated risk but not receive the expected acceleration. For example, I was once making a u-turn with traffic oncoming about 2,000 feet away. I needed to make the maneuver swiftly but my vehicle lagged. I would like to report this issue in case other owners of the Subaru Crosstrek plug-in hybrid are also experiencing.

I was driving my 2021 Subaru Crosstrek slowly in a parking lot when it unexpectedly accelerated on its own without me pressing the gas pedal. I believe the Crosstrek was now going 40mph. I tried to shut off the engine and brake at the same time but neither one had any effect. I thought maybe I had two options. Either hit another vehicle or pedestrian or turn my car into the curb. I decided to turn into the curb which resulted in the breaking of both axels, flattening all the tires, and sustaining damage to the front fender and headlight. The car was then towed to a garage we’re it was declared totaled. I checked the internet to see if this had occurred to any other Crosstrek. It turns out their is a class action suit pending for the same reason. Police records will show I was not drunk, sleeping, and the car mat was off gas pedal. 12.

Unexplained acceleration. I was in a parking lot and driving slowly and the car just took off. I had to crash it into the building at the mall to avoid cars and people. The car was totaled and my husband had a broken rib. We were taken to the hospital. Car was inspected and serviced. By the dealership, no problems before this accident, no warnings.

The screen display with the oil temp gauge and water temp gauge will randomly turn off while driving as well as sometimes it will not turn on immediately when the car turns on. I have brought this to the dealers attention and nothing has been done, there has been no warning lights on the dash illuminated. This has been going on randomly for the last 6 months. Another issue is that when the bluetooth or carplay is inuse and there is a call in progress the digital speed display is blocked by a screen that says call in progress. This is very dangerous that the digital speed display is blocked when bluetooth or car play is used to make calls. This has many times resulted in me speeding as the speedometer on the car is marked well with tick marks for how big the arm is that tells you how fast you’re going. There is no reason Subaru should block the digital speed display. The infotainment system powers off randomly, changes the radio station on its own, and changes the volume on its own. This started in 2019 when I got the car and the issue was observed by the dealer and the radio was replaced. However now that the radio was replaced in 2019 or 2020 the radio has been recently not turning on when the car is started, shutting off in the middle of the drive, and sometimes not even connecting to carplay to use navigation. Subaru won't help me anymore or even look at the car now for this concern without charging an insane diagnostic fee (which is wrong to charge for safety concerns).

The contact owns a 2018 Subaru Crosstrek. The contact stated that while at a light, the vehicle crashed into an unknown vehicle in front of her. While sitting in traffic at another light, the failure recurred. The vehicle reeved up forward and crashed into an unknown utility vehicle. A claim was submitted to the insurance company. While pulling into a parking spot, the vehicle lunged forward over the parking block, crashed into the concrete wall and railing, and stopped. There was an abnormal burning smell. There were no warning lights illuminated. There were no reported injuries, air bag deployments, police reports, or fires in either incident. The vehicle was taken to an independent body center, which stated there was an electrical issue but declined to accept the vehicle. The vehicle was taken to her residence. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer but was not diagnosed or repaired. They will check the block box. The manufacturer was contacted, but no additional assistance was provided. The failure mileage was approximately 85,000.

On Nov 9 2022 the owner was pulling into a parking space at a mall and the Subaru Crosstrek 2018 suddenly accelerated and slammed into the wall of a store. The airbags did not go off. The driver was going at a slow speed and putting on the brake. The driver and occupant suffered some impact from the seat belts but no other injuries. If pedestrians had been on the sidewalk in front of the parking space there could have been injuries. The wall was not damaged and no police report was filed. The incident was reported to the insurance company and the car was repaired for $11,710. On Jan 17 2023 the owner was pulling into a parking space at a mall and there was a quick sudden acceleration but not as forceful as before and putting on the brake stopped the car.

While I was doing parallel parking, the car on its own went into involuntary, sudden, uncontrolled acceleration & hit a tree & bushes resulting into considerable body damage. Then I called Subaru national customer relations representative & I was told to go to the local Subaru dealer where I had purchased the car about four and a half years ago. The mechanic there told me that he had never heard such incident & he said that since there is no engine light on, there is nothing to scan. And he thought the car was okay. So, I am driving it very cautiously. But, I am concerned. We thought the newer such cars are safer with the high-tech computers on board but I countered this safety problem that I had never come across before.

This morning August 29 2022 I started my 2018 Subaru Crosstrek, when I put it in gear the car just took off before I could stop it. The idli when about 5000 rpm and then up and down. I was able to get the vehicle stopped and parked. I tried starting the vehicle again and the same. The vehicle is on its way to crews Subaru north charleston. Even the tow truck driver wouldn't drive the vehicle. This makes the vehicle unsafe. What if someone was walking past my driveway when this happen? it took about 40 feet to get the car stopped with my foot on the brake hard and to park the car. I have a video showing the rpm at 3900 but could upload it to your site.

Whilst driving down highway 101 near sequim wa, I was on cruise control doing 55 mph going up a steep hill which I have done numerous times before without issue. When all of a sudden the car suddenly slowed down, for me to hear honking from a semi behind me who had to suddenly swerve to go around us to stop him from rear ending me (luckily that part of the road on the hill had a second lane for the truck to use, if not then me and my son would probably be seriously injured or dead. ) I looked at the dashboard to find the engine warning light on, and the cruise control flashing, but the car was still running and drove fine with the accelerator pressed. Later on I found out this error code was p0024. When that issue happened, not only had the engine warning light illuminated, it caused not only the cruise control to disengage (without my input) but also for the vehicle stability control to stop working. Once again though the engine was still running file and in my opinion it disabling the cruise and stability control gravely endangered the occupants when it had no reason to disable them. Since then I have had other similar error codes such as p000d which have cause the same thing, but they happened on level ground so the car did not slow down so suddenly. I believe the issue is low or used engine oil, as when I got an oil change (within service life) the issues seems to have gone away; this has happened many times before. These pzev vehicles not only in my opinion break epa laws on emissions as they make the car burn through many quarts of oil in the service life, so how Subaru can claim pzev when exchanging high rps and a boat load of oil for some if any pzev's I do not know. My car has two recalls, I have been urgently trying to get these fixed, but my two local dealerships (both 50 miles away) refuse to do the recalls as I filed a lemon complaint, and bbb complaint as one refused to honor a price match for thousands to me. I am a disabled veteran and need car.

The contact owns a 2018 Subaru Crosstrek. The contact stated while driving approximately 50 mph, the vehicle lost motive power and stalled. While driving on a ramp at slow speeds and depressing the accelerator pedal, the vehicle failed to accelerate and stalled. There were no warning lights illuminated. The vehicle was towed to the local dealer to be diagnosed. The contact was informed that the ignition fuse needed to be replaced. The fuse was replaced, and the vehicle was repaired. The manufacturer was contacted but provided no additional assistance. The approximate failure mileage was 39,000.

I noticed that when got to accelerate from stoping that car won't go. When I hit the gas the vehicle moves only a little and if I push my foot on the acceleration peddle harder and all the way down the vehicle actually slows down. It happened this morning on city street roads not going any faster than 45mph. The only way to get it to go again is taking my foot off the gas peddle and re placing it and it then will go back to accelerate as it should when I press the gas peddle. I have gotten it looked at suburu dealership and they were unable to figure out the problem. It happened to me twice this morning. Once when turning off my street taking a right trying to accelerate to 25mph and then another when trying to accelerate after a stop light on a 45 mph road. I will be reporting it from now on every time it happens. This is very unsafe, it could easily cause an accident. Thank goodness no one was right behind at those moments when I went to accelerate.

See all problems of the 2015 Subaru Crosstrek 🔎.

On freeway, car suddenly did not want to accelerate when pushing on the gas. Car then decelerated until I pulled over on the side of the road, almost coming to a complete stop, and then I pushed on gas and it accelerated again.

See all problems of the 2016 Subaru Crosstrek 🔎.

When crossing across traffic to get in the lane from right or left turns. There is slow and sluggish as it wants to stall or stay out in cross traffic to cause a collision!! it has happened since I purchased it from a non Subaru dealer beginning of 2021. There should be a recall as this sluggish acceleration problem can cause an accident.

The contact owned a 2020 Subaru Crosstrek. The contact stated that as attempted to park her vehicle at 5 mph, the vehicle independently accelerated without warning and drove onto a boulder. The airbags did not deploy upon impact. Three of the contact’s front teeth were knocked out as a result of the failure. The police were called to her property; however, a police report was not filed since the failure happened on private property. The contact was able to make an appointment with a dentist where she was treated for a fractured jaw; in addition, two front teeth were extracted from her jaw. Once her jaw had healed, dental implants were used to replace her missing teeth. The vehicle was towed to an independent auto body mechanic and later sold the vehicle since she no longer felt safe driving it. The dealer was notified of the failure; however, they claimed to have never heard of such a failure. The manufacturer had yet to be notified of the failure. The whereabouts of the vehicle are unknown. The failure mileage was 5,104.

Occasionally, while accelerating, it feels as if the car loses acceleration and the engine loses power. It happens while vehicle is in motion slow speeds and fast speeds.

Some time this car aceleraci�n more like put more full, I start to notice when I was driven in the specific speed and the car start to put more full and speed more than I was.

Tl the contact owned a 2018 Subaru Crosstrek. While the contact's son was driving at low speeds and making a left turn, the vehicle became difficult to accelerate. A pick up truck crashed into the rear passenger side quarter panel of the contact's vehicle. There were no warning indicators illuminated. The vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic. There were no injuries and a police report was not filed. The air bags did not deploy. The contact called Subaru of grapevine (2651 william d tate Ave, grapevine, TX 76051, (817) 438-1700) and informed them of the failure. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was contacted and referred the contact to a local dealer. The insurance company deemed the vehicle destroyed. The failure mileage was 20,000.

Intermittent jerky acceleration combined with a significant loss in power during modest acceleration. At times I get no acceleration while the car jerks between 2,000 & 3,000 rpm. This is unpredictable as to when it might happen but occurs at engine speeds under 3,000 rpm regardless of vehicle speed or gear selected. My initial impression was that it is most frequent when resuming driving after having stopped for a short period which was preceded by prolonged high speed driving. Now it seems it can happen anytime. May be related to our high ambient temps this time of year. There are numerous accounts of others having the same problem on this forum. . Read more...

I was driving to a town about 12 miles away via the highway. After 10 miles my accelerator no longer functioned and the abs light, the vehicle dynamics control light, and the hill start assist warning light come on. I took the car out of gear so I could coast to a spot to pull off the highway and after pumping the accelerator a few times, the engine started to respond. I put it back in drive and continued on. This happened five times before I finally shut the engine off. After 5 minutes when I restarted, the warning lights were off and didn't come back on when I drove back home 12 miles. The same thing happened the next day.

Car intermittently loses the ability to accelerate or maintain speed at a range of speeds from 30mph to 75mph+ in my experience. No response when pushing the gas pedal and engine doesn't respond whatsoever to gas pedal input. It's as if I have removed my foot from the gas and I'm allowing the vehicle to coast. This lasts for a few seconds until normal function resumes. This mostly occurs at on the highway and when accelerating from a stop at a light or stop sign. This is incredibly dangerous and unpredictable, but Subaru will do nothing unless they're able to reproduce the issue themselves. It's been in the dealership once already. The issue is intermittent and only happens every few days, so it's hard to make it happen when you want it to. I have a bad video recording of halfway through it happening, but I'm attempting to get a better recording.

Upon starting car in driveway found power steering sluggish and requiring great force (operative, but no apparent boost). Engine sluggisn like limp-home mode. Additionally mil, tc and other lights illuminated on dash. I took photo. I forget if it threw odb codes, but I remember that it two battery disconnect cycles, and two odb code clearing cycles, to regain normal function. I forget id any odb codes were set. Here are the conditions: daytime morning, about 11am, ambient temperature about 65 degrees. Car parked in driveway. I previously (about 30 minutes before) moved car from street to driveway. Date listed below is approximate. I will update when I check exif data on pix.