Vehicle Speed Control Problems of Subaru Legacy - part 1

This is the second such experience with this car! on Friday, September 12, 2025 at 3:32 p. M. , I was driving slowly in a parking lot preparing to park. As I started to turn the car into the parking space, my car surged forward without my pressing on the gas pedal. I pressed on the brake, and the car came to a stop.

See all problems of the 2016 Subaru Legacy 🔎.

Subaru sudden acceleration – garage accident 23may2024 11:51am 23may2024 – before noon, wet, rainy day: deb returning from grocery shopping - car suddenly accelerated from near stop as she was about to enter garage, the car hit the garage brick wall. When she put her foot on the brake, the car suddenly accelerated. I have security video showing this sudden acceleration (. Mp4, NHTSA doesn't accept). After accident, car drives well - all lights work - hood opens and locks. Substantial car damage to bumper and adjoining parts - wood trim damaged, garage bricks cracked and pushed in, garage door would not close. 13dec2017 wed – took Subaru in for unexpected sudden acceleration on braking – olivia – test drive with gary – problem unexpected with Subarus – electronic control – no manual linkage (some transmission linkage with shift lever). Sent me home – no charge. 11dec2017 mon – Subaru sudden acceleration on braking while car cold – today at trexlertown after haircut. Happened previously within week. Called Subaru 855-399-3787;.

See all problems of the 2015 Subaru Legacy 🔎.

After shifting my car into reverse, I slowly started removing my foot from the brake pedal. At this time, the car started rapidly accelerating backwards so I put pressure back on the brake pedal to stop the car. When doing so, the abs light came on my dashboard, I heard a griding sound like the car was still trying to accelerate, and there was a loud constant beep. I was able to shift the car into neutral and then into park to stop the car and then turned the car off. I contacted the dealership about the issue, but have not yet been able to further investigate or bring it into the dealership.

See all problems of the 2021 Subaru Legacy 🔎.

Vehicle is equipped with Subaru eyesight driver assist which includes reverse automatic braking. Vehicle was reversing towards a parked vehicle on the street and the rab feature failed to apply the brakes and the vehicle collided with the parked vehicle. I am extremely disappointed that the safety system in this car failed to work as advertised/expected resulting in damages to both cars.

See all problems of the 2019 Subaru Legacy 🔎.

The contact owned a 2022 Subaru Legacy. The contact stated that while driving into their driveway at unknown speeds, the vehicle independently accelerated forward. The contact placed the vehicle in reverse, however, the vehicle continued to accelerate independently, and the contact's rear bumper crashed into the neighbor's garage. No injuries were sustained. The neighbor's garage was damaged. The vehicle was towed to the tow company's lot. The vehicle was diagnosed as totaled. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 15,000.

See all problems of the 2022 Subaru Legacy 🔎.

Vehicle was using the self driving feature of the Subaru eyesight system. With the system engaged, the vehicle is supposed to accelerate and apply brakes accordingly as to keep a distance from the vehicle in front. Today, that system failed. The vehicle, with the eyesight system engaged, accelerated right into the vehicle in front. There was no warning. The vehicle will be go for repair on 12/5/23. I have used the eyesight system since purchasing the vehicle in 2019 with no issues, except for today. Luckily, I was driving at a very low speed but this safety concern can cause catastrophic injuries if it is not fixed.

The contact owns a 2016 Subaru Legacy. The contact stated while the vehicle was parked, the vehicle accelerated at high-speed without warning, causing the vehicle to drive over a curb and into oncoming traffic. The contact desperately depressed the brake pedal, but the vehicle failed to stop. The contact was able to regain control and stopped the vehicle. The contact was able to drive to the residence. The vehicle was towed to the dealer. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was contacted, and case was filed by the dealer. The failure mileage was 35,000.

As I pulled up behind a car that was stopped at a stop sign, I took my foot off the gas pedal, and put it on the brake pedal. The moment I put my foot on the brake pedal, my car surged forward. I had a moment to think, and I confirmed that my foot was on the brake pedal, I had felt the brakes trying to resist the surge. I put the car into neutral, and it jerked to a stop. No one was hurt, I stopped the car in time, but I wondered if this had happened in other settings, what danger it would have posed. This has previously occurred rarely and intermittently when, starting out on some cold mornings, I shifted from reverse to neutral to drive, when backing out of my driveway in the morning. The car surged forward and I had to be quick on pressing the brake pedal hard to get it to stop before hitting a mailbox post. No warning lights went on, in any of these incidents. I called a Subaru dealer, who said there had been no recall history re this uninitiated surge behavior.

The contact owns a 2012 Subaru Legacy. The contact stated that while driving at various speeds, the vehicle stalled. The driver had to park and restart the vehicle. The vehicle was slow to accelerate. After adding fuel to the tank, the fuel dissipated. There were no warning lights illuminated. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic, who informed him the throttle body and valve needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired, but the failure recurred. The contact called the local dealer, but the vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was contacted, but no assistance was provided. The failure mileage was approximately 200,000.

See all problems of the 2012 Subaru Legacy 🔎.

When running on a highway and you press down on the accelerator hard to merge onto a highway or go around a vehicle to move out of the way of vehicles quickly coming up behind you, the engine takes over and speeds up on its own. It has occurred three times on a newly purchased used car and it will increase speed up to 100mph. You have to press intermittently on the brakes to pull over to the shoulder and turn off the car for five minutes for the car to reset. If you try to just break, you get a burning smell. I see two class action lawsuits on similar acceleration issues for 2015 to 2017 outback/legacy series.

See all problems of the 2017 Subaru Legacy 🔎.

I had a episode of sudden unintended acceleration while I was driving in the highway. If I would let the brake pedal go, my car would probably escalate its speed to maximum until it crashes. The rpm was almost 5 even though I was applying the brake. I could not make it stop by applying the brakes at all . I only could make it finally stop when I changed the gears to neutral and them to park and finally turn the engine off. I was lucky I was in the highway and when I got in the first light it was green, other wise an accident would've happened.

See all problems of the 2010 Subaru Legacy 🔎.

Vehicle proceeded from a stop at intersection when it unexpectedly decelerated and holding the brakes down seem to do nothing, tried turning corner at next stop sign to maybe slow it down and hit utility pole and parked car in driveway. A resident that was outside on porch by stop sign said they heard it just loud exceleration. This was a short street block in a residential area. No warnings, vehicle undrivable and waiting on insurance. Police accident report filed. There were no skid marks, although there was wet pavement. 12/6/2022.

See all problems of the 2018 Subaru Legacy 🔎.

This vehicle is equipped with the Subaru "eyesight" system which is a number of safety features like automatic cruise control, lane keep assist, and others. About once a week on average while driving the entire system will shut down and the screen will go dark. You lose the radio, bluetooth, navigation, and all the eyesight systems. After about 30 seconds it will reboot and things will come back online but this is a major safety issue because you loose systems that help with safety. The dealership said it's a known software issue and there's nothing they can do until an update is available. I called Subaru USA customer support in September and they said an update would be available by the end of October and nothing was released. I called in early November and they said they were still working on it but had no release date.

See all problems of the 2020 Subaru Legacy 🔎.

The contact owns a 2016 Subaru Legacy. The contact stated that while pulling into a parking space and pressing the brake pedal the vehicle suddenly experienced unintended acceleration and continued to drive forward causing the driver to lose control of the vehicle and crash into a pole. No injuries were report and the no police report was taken. The cause of the failure was not determined. The manufacturer and local dealer were notified. The failure mileage was 28,000.

The car (#1) came to a sudden stop on a freeway without the driver stepped on the brake pedal. Front dash cam video on car #1 is available. Car #1 was then hit from behind by another car (#2) which could not stop in time. However, the impact was not significant because car #2 was able to partially switch lane and only the corners of the bumpers of both cars made the contact. The sudden stop problem could not be reproduced afterward by the driver. No dealer/car shop has been contacted on this issue. Warning light(s) status on dashboard of car #1 was unknown . However, driver of car#2 did report seeing brake lights of car #1 before the impact. Car #1 had never been in an accident before. This was the first time the sudden stop issue occurred.

While driving, cruise control and check engine light comes on and then the car won't accelerate. Engine revs really high and when pushing accelerator pedal, car will not move. The check engine code states "throttle position sensor". This has happened more than 20 times.

See all problems of the 2005 Subaru Legacy 🔎.

I have experienced two separate occasions where my vehicle accelerated even though my foot was on the brake pedal. Once, I was slowing down on a main street for a stop light behind several other cars. My vehicle began to accelerate and would have rammed the car in front of me if I had not been able to swerve into an empty turn lane. Due to the acceleration, I figured I must have accidentally hit the gas pedal, so I lifted my foot and hit the other pedal--which was the accelerator, and naturally just accelerated the vehicle more. I then put my foot back on the brake and the car came to a stop. The second time, my son was backing into our driveway. He had the brakes on. The car was slowing down. Then it suddenly accelerated backward. My son said his foot was still on the brake pedal when the car accelerated, and he did the same thing I did when I had the issue: he moved his foot to the other pedal, thinking he had made some kind of error, but found that the switch only made the car accelerate more, so he switched back to the brake pedal and the car stopped. In both of these instances, the car was initially braking when the brake pedal was applied, then began to accelerate without a change in foot positioning. The accelerator was not touched in either instances because the vehicle was going slow enough not to need much pressure, and the accelerator is positioned far enough away from the brake as it is impossible to touch both pedals at the same time. The floor mats were properly secured at both times (as they always are) and could not possibly have interfered in any way. Thankfully no one has been hurt or experienced any property damage during either of these episodes, but I am worried that one of these days, something horrible will happen if this problem is not corrected! I will give the date of the most recent occurrence in the information included with this report.

I was driving on a four lane section going uphill on us50 in California where the speed limit is approximately 60 miles per hour. The car suddenly slowed down to approximately 25 to 30 mph. All attempts to increase the speed to 55 to 60 mph failed. I safely pull over and stopped the car and turned it off. It was restarted, and the problem did not occur again.

Drove on a straight stretch of interstate at 75 mph in a sunny afternoon on a 400 mile trip with fuel tank between 1/8 and 1/4 full. The engine suddenly lost power. Pressed the gas to rev up the engine but still no power moving forward. Had to pull over to the shoulder and stopped the car. That was a pretty dangerous situation since it happened without any warnings. Tried to restart the car but failed. The starter turns but engine will not start. Attempted several times over the period of 30 - 40 minutes to no avail. Had to call a tow truck to a shop near by. Once unloaded (about 2 hours later) from the truck, the technician hooked on instruments to check. The electricals (alternator, battery) were fine. Then restarting the engine worked. Shortly after, the low fuel warning light came on. Not confident of continuing the trip, stayed in the town overnight. Checked the internet forums the next day and read similar experiences by some Subaru owners and realized that it could be related to low-fuel. Went to fill up the gas tank and was able to continue to drive close to 100 miles to destination without problem. Noted when filling up, the tank had at least 2. 5 gal of fuel left when the incident happened. Car has 65k on the meter. It was bought new and maintained on-schedule. No accidents or mods.

The contact owns a 2015 Subaru Legacy. The contact the stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the brake pedal was depressed however, the vehicle unintentionally accelerated. The contact stated that the failure recurred several times. An independent mechanic was contacted and informed of the failure. The contact was informed that there were reports of similar issues with the accelerator pedal ceasing in the depressed position. The vehicle was not diagnosed nor repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 74,000.

Driving southbound on hwy 17 at 60mph 11/15/2020 engine suddenly went to idle. Throttle became unresponsive. Check engine light illuminated. I drifted to safety off the highway. Engine still idling, throttle unresponsive. After checking under the hood, I restarted the car and normal throttle response returned. I cautiously drove home and read the code for the cel: p2138 -- throttle position sensor voltage correlation. A quick search found others have solved this problem by changing throttle control to an updated version that uses hall effect method instead of a rheostat. I inquired with previous owner of this car and found it had happened once before.

Traveling approximately 50 mph all the warning lights displayed and the vehicle lost power. The vehicle was pulled over to the shoulder. Unable to put it in park. Turned it off and on a couple of times before it would go into park. Drove it to the dealer but it wouldn't go more than 30 mph. This has happened three times after having this vehicle for less than six months.

2012 Subaru Legacy. When coming to a hard stop the engine will stall. Will happen any time you come to a hard stop. This is very dangerous and can cause an accident in dense traffic. Very scary.

Tl- the contact owns a 2006 Subaru Legacy outback. The contact stated that while driving approximately 35 mph when they pressed the accelerator pedal to the floor the vehicle only accelerates at 5 mph. The contact had not contacted the dealership. The vehicle had not been diagnosed or repaired by the dealer. The manufacturer was not made aware of the issue. The approximate failure mileage was 125,000. Gl.

See all problems of the 2006 Subaru Legacy 🔎.

Car loss power and went into limp mode with a solid check engine light and blinking cruise on the dash. The rpm jumped high with out the gas pedal being pushed down. Vehicle was in motion driving at 25 mph before the aforementioned happened.

The contact owns a 2015 Subaru Legacy. While pulling into a parking space, the vehicle accelerated uncontrollably at a high rate of speed. As a result, the vehicle drove over a barrier and crashed into a building and the steel bars near the handicapped parking area. The contact was shaken up, but not injured. None of the air bags deployed. A police report was filed. The contact was uncertain if the failure was related to NHTSA campaign number: 16v251000 (electronic stability control). The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The insurance company was notified of the failure and the vehicle was towed from the scene. The dealer was not contacted. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 40,000.

While driving the car, it frequently jolts, makes a screeching noise and it is scary because it also feels as though it may simply turn off. I have contacted the dealership from which I purchased the vehicle and I was informed that Subaru is aware of the issue and that they would likely take care of repairing the transmission ($7,000). However, Subaru has contacted me with the offer to pay only $2,500 of the total amount of the repair. My major concern is that Subaru recalled these (cvt) transmissions, beginning with 2012 models; however, they are aware that the problem also exists in the 2010 outback and Legacy, both of which my husband and I own and drive, respectively.

When parking in a parking spot at a school going to work, the car accelerated on it's own and went up an embankment and struck a tree causing extensive damage.

Car would not accelerate upon entering the highway after pushing on the gas pedal the car wouldn't do anything . I was able to get off to the side and missed being hit from behind from on coming traffic. . . I notice check engine light and flashing cruse control light. . . Second time some weeks later it did the same thing this is very dangerous because you never know when this will happen.

Engine accelerated at a rapid speed on its own power. . Unable to stop the vehicle with the brakes. Vehicle was in motion in the parking lot. .

Eye site safety main wiring harness rodent damage harness insertion made with soybean so its made of food happened parked in driveway.

While driving, the check engine light comes on and there is no power to the gas pedal. The car is unable to accelerate or maintain speed and the driver needs to avoid potential collisions by pulling over on the road or freeway.

Travel position sensor fails when driving causing driver to loose control of the vehicle. The accelerator stops responding, the car goes into fail safe mode ignores all inputs from driver. The car may coast at about 15mph. This could happen when making a left turn or on the highway at high speeds.

The contact owns a 2016 Subaru Legacy. On several occasions, whether the vehicle was placed in reverse or drive, it accelerated independently. The dealer diagnosed that the vehicle operated as intended. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the issue. The approximate failure mileage was 4,042.

After starting the engine, when pulling out from my driveway and put the gear in reverse to pull out, the vehicle accelerates on its own without my foot pressing the accelerator. So brake has to be applied immediately to slow down the vehicle. It shoots forward with out me accelerating. . It accelerates at about 25-30 miles per hour without me once again accelerating it so we had to brake all the way from the house to the place of work. We have had several new cars including Mercedes Benz and never have had this problem. As I go on the street the vehicle continues to accelerate without me accelerating it. There is also a burning smell when the car is started. . We took the vehicle into the dealer and they were no help at all. .