Vehicle Speed Control Problems of Subaru Legacy - part 2

The car intermittently loses power when accelerating from a stopped position. Most often happens when I am turning left. Subaru says there are no computer codes in the check engine history. Cause unknown but speculation advanced about neural network learning of the computer (seems worst after recent engine rebuild until car was driven for a couple of days where frequency of power loss diminished but not go away). Also proposed: 87 octane gas-should use 92, if not 97 only from oil company stations, not fred meyer or costco even though car is rated to accept 87 octane gas. Other hypotheses: full gas tank vs 1/2 or less , fuel starvation causes power drop (note: engine doesn't fully die & can be coaxed back to life by pumping the accelerator), electronic ignition system perhaps the culprit. This problem is dangerous because of the random & sudden (without warning) loss of power which any driver immediately behind my car would not be expecting & thereby cause a rear-end collision. Also, dangerous when entering a lane of traffic & suddenly the power is gone just when you need acceleration in order to merge at traffic speed into your lane. Sometimes problem occurs when going up a low angle incline (est. 10-15 degrees?) but not necessarily. When leaving a stopped position, if left foot is on the brake & right is slightly accelerating in order to pull away more rapidly from stopped position, the controlling computer will sometimes provide zero power to the accelerator but this happens only occasionally & often will work just fine to give the extra acceleration needed. Subaru says this confuses their computer & it will shut down but I have found that this happens about 1/3 of the time, in my experience. Danger comes from losing power during the time you need it the most esp. Left turns which cross traffic lanes before you can merge and driving completely normally.

See all problems of the 2013 Subaru Legacy 🔎.

Driving at 55 mph vehicle accelerator became unresponsive. Check engine light came on as well as cruise and sport lights. There was no power at the pedal. I had to coast to a stop in traffic lane. Engine surged up and down in rpm's. Shut key car off. After a couple minutes, car started and driving was resumed like nothing happened. Warning lights remained on in dash.

See all problems of the 2006 Subaru Legacy 🔎.

Ive had a on going issue with my tps I press the gas and nothing happens I've almost gotten into multiple accidents from it happening in the middle of a road/intersection even almost got arrested due to it happening at an air port.

I had a 2011 Subaru Legacy2. 5;at 1130 am,I was pulling into a parking space at a local convenience store near us that we often go to,when suddenly on turning right into the space I heard the engine "rev"at a fast speed even though I had lifted my foot from the accelerator. (I used to drive a manual shift,and it reminded me of the sound an engine would make when trying to upshift too fast between gears)before I could react the car surged forward into the space,and I was barely able to slam the brake before it covered the 6 to 8 feet and hit a guard post,crumbling the front end to where the engine is bent and the car a total loss. The airbags did not deploy. (fortunate,as when I returned home I found the letter from Subaru that my car was part of the takata recall)interestingly,the engine still started and the car was drive-able ,despite the radiator being cracked in half(we were able to park it after having it towed). I looked up the symptoms I experienced and feel that there may have been issues with the electronic throttle control mechanism or the app(which senses the position of the accelerator ,as I am sure you know)my check engine light never went on. The car had acted as if it had idling issues a couple of times but not with regularity, and it had never stalled or displayed any other warning of this. I had just driven the car about 7 miles before this happened. I will never buy another Subaru;I have had other cars with troubles in the past but this is by far the most dangerous. I am just thanking the lord that the airbags didn't deploy and we weren't crushed(my 17 year old daughter was in the passenger seat). And,the car only had 24,350 miles on it! practically new condition!sad,because I really liked this car.

See all problems of the 2011 Subaru Legacy 🔎.

In January of 2015, I purchased a new 2015 Subaru Legacy with the latest safety features and equipment. Within 3 months of purchase of the Legacy beginning in April of 2015 the radio/navigation/driver assistance display console began to lock up and become non-operable after about 15 minutes of operation. The dealer (matt slapp Subaru of newark, delaware) had difficulty diagnosing the problem and called in the Subaru regional technician to try to recommend a fix. He recommended a complete replacement of the center console radio and display. This all took several months. When the replacement unit came in, we brought the car in for the repairs shortly after the new radio/display console had been installed, the same problem we had before was evident. In addition, we were unable to access the map and navigational function at all with the new unit. At about the same time as we were discovering this, the dealer called to tell us that the computerized inventory accounting system had flagged the mismatch between our model and the radio/navigation console that had been installed in my Subaru. We returned the car to the dealer again and for the second time a new and correct model radio/navigation console was installed. We now had access to the navigation system screen and maps again going into the fall of 2015 and for the rest of the winter everything seemed to be working fine. But during a warm spell in April of 2016 the problem cropped up again and I began to maintain a log (attached) of the occurrences which became more and more frequent as we moved into summer during the month of July the system locked up on the ride home at the end of the day on almost every sunny, warm day. Since it doesn¿t happen until I¿m on my way and traveling on high speed, limited access highways for 90% of my commute when it¿s difficult to find a safe place to pull off the road,.

See all problems of the 2015 Subaru Legacy 🔎.

The contact owns a 2014 Subaru impreza. When the brake pedal was depressed, the vehicle unintentionally accelerated without warning. The failure recurred on three different occasions. The vehicle was taken to be diagnosed, but the dealer was unable to duplicate the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was 34,500. The VIN was not available.

See all problems of the 2014 Subaru Legacy 🔎.

My 2015 Subaru Legacy has at different times (at idle in gear, coming up to a red light while moving, pulling into a parking lot or driving at 45 miles an hour) accereated on its own and would not slow down untill I put it in nuetral. I have to drive with my hand on the shifter at all times to put into nuetral. I bought the car new in 2015 and have 13900 miles on it now in July 2016.

One morning after starting my car I noticed the check engine light was on. As I decided to drive the car down to a local mechanic, I noticed that I had no acceleration power. The car was on, engine was running, but whenever I pushed the gas pedal nothing happened. The car would idle high and coast when put in drive or reverse, but would not accelerate as I pushed the pedal. There have been numerous counts of this happening to people across the country. Luckily I wasn't on the freeway when this happened.

While driving the check engine light suddenly came on and the gas pedal stopped being responsive. Luckily I was able to get to the side of the road and put the vehicle in park. When in park the engine revved to about 2. 5k rpm and stayed there. I shut off the vehicle and restarted it and it stayed at that level. After several more tries it eventually started up and ran fine. The check engine light code is p2138 for the throttle position sensor.

Vehicle will shudder and stall when coming to a stop most often in the uphill position, it will also stall when coming to a stop after braking hard. This problem is avoided if you place the car in neutral but that is the only way. Engine idle will drop drastically and the vehicle has a hard time reengaging into drive after coming to a complete stop. I assume it is the cvt transmission or the torque convertor.

See all problems of the 2010 Subaru Legacy 🔎.

Electronic parking brakes will not release. Eye sight system error light on -- says to see dealer. Vehicle is in low clearance parking garage - flatbed tow truck cannot enter. Brakes are stuck on. Front of vehicle facing garage wall, which is partially open (looking through to another level). Vehicle is on a slight downward incline facing wall. Seems like all 4 brakes are locked even in neutral. Car starts fine and runs, can enter r n & d, but will not move. New vehicle -- tow truck operator does not know how to release brakes for this model year, since it is different from previous year. Vehicle received eye sight recall notification recently, but vehicle has not been serviced yet. Suspect eye sight is to blame, as it has been behaving in erratic fashion over the last few months. (turns off in extremely light rain, when it should not, stays off for a while, then turns on in heavy rain).

I experienced two issues with the electronic throttle position sensor in my 2006 Subaru Legacy. The first time I was traveling at approx. 35 mph and the rpm's began increasing rapidly. I was in traffic and unable to pull off to the side safely when the engine completely stalled. I sat there thinking that the motor was going to blow up if I attempted to start it again. I called my mechanic and he thought that it could be the throttle position sensor, as he has replaced many of them on Subarus. I was able to start the car and move off to the side of the road to make sure that it was not going to do it again. The car was then taken to the mechanic where he cleaned the sensor and said if I have a problem again then I should replace it. Fast forward 4 months later and I experienced the same problem on a busy street where the car lost power and completely shut down after rpms skyrocketed and I was left with no control. Upon start up, the check engine light came on, obviously triggering a code that says the car is a death trap with a really poorly designed throttle. I plan to have the part replaced immediately, but this could be a serious safety issue for someone not in a position to move to the side of the road, as it just happens randomly with no warning signs.

The contact owns a 2015 Subaru Legacy. While attempting to cross two lanes of oncoming traffic at an unknown speed, the vehicle hesitated to accelerate and then accelerated without warning. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, but the failure could not be duplicated. The manufacturer was notified. The failure recurred several times. The vehicle was not repaired. The approximate failure mileage was 900.

The contact owns a 2005 Subaru Legacy. While driving approximately 65 mph, the vehicle independently accelerated. The contact had to shift into neutral and shut the vehicle off in order for it to resume normal operation. The failure recurred on numerous occasions. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The VIN was unavailable. The approximate failure mileage was 190,000.

See all problems of the 2005 Subaru Legacy 🔎.

I had a major safety issue with my 2010 Subaru Legacy while driving on the freeway. The car was doing approximately 50 mph and I accelerated to change lanes and all of a sudden the car lost all power and eventually came to a complete halt right in the middle of fast moving traffic. I turned on my hazard light, put the car to park and restarted. The car would start but would shut down slowly in the next 2-3 seconds even before I could put it to drive and accelerate. I noticed that all the lights in the dash like traction control, check engine, etc all lit up and the car just slowly died. After trying it one more time (with same results) I shut off the car completely and started calling aaa for towing. After about a minute when I tried to re-start the car, it sprang up to life normally (I. E. Without a slow shut-down like the prior two times) and accelerated when I put it to drive like nothing had happened. I was then able to get off the freeway for safety and popped the hood to see if there was anything on the surface that I could find wrong. Everything looked fine, I was even able to get back home all on the freeway normally. I tried to stay on the the right lane and simulate the same (I. E. Doing decent speed and then accelerating), but everything was normal. Sunday being mandatory dealership closures in NJ I was not able to bring it to the dealership. The whole incident was completely random and was needless to say extremely dangerous and stressful. I have contacted Subaru of America and waiting for their response. In the interim I wanted to post this to NHTSA in case other such incidents have been reported.

I've owned my 2011 Subaru Legacy since may of 2011 with no incidents related to speed control. Late August 2014, I was pulling into my driveway of the home we've lived in for 13 years, and midway through the turn I heard a revving noise. My foot was off both the accelerator and brake and the car unexpected lurched forward at a high speed, crashing into our chain link fence and tree before bouncing back into the driveway. As the car started to accelerate, I depressed the brake to the floor, but nothing happened. I was alone in the car and the airbag(s) did not deploy. I was probably going 25mph when I hit the tree. The metal fence post was flattened and the tree had a significant chunk of bark removed. There were no skid marks or other on our driveway of concrete. I had an oil change at the dealer the Tuesday before the incident (8 days prior). I'm not ruling out that something could have been mistakenly tweaked or tampered with during this visit. To test the speed control issue, I have contacted the dealer to see if any troubleshooting/ diagnostics test can be ran. Apparently it's highly unlikely the scenario that caused it (if not driver error, which I'm aware of as a possibility) can be recreated and/or solved. I believe I've ruled out driver error because if I had mistakenly pressed the accelerator and not the brake, I would have switched over to the brake in time to stop the impact from being so drastic at such a high speed.

The contact owns a 2013 Subaru Legacy. While attempting to park, the vehicle unintentionally accelerated without warning and crashed into a wall. The air bags did not deploy. A police report was filed and no injuries were sustained. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic, but was not diagnosed; however, the body damage was repaired. The failure recurred. The vehicle was towed to the dealer, but the failure was unable to be determined. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 18,669.

I purchased my brand new 2014 Subaru Legacy on may 16th 2014. About one week later I was driving up the slight incline of the driveway of the apartment house where I live. As I reached the street I stepped on the accelerator to turn out into the traffic and the car completely lost power. About 5 seconds later the power returned and the car responded normally when I stepped on the accelerator pedal and I was able to drive the car normally. Three or four days later the same thing happened again while I was driving in traffic, as I tried to accelerate the car's engine lost power when I stepped on the accelerator. This same loss of power now happens about two or three times each week. I currently have about 2500 miles on the car. I have taken it to my local Subaru dealership on three separate occasions for this complaint and they have kept the car for a total of about thirty day for observation, testing, and repair but they have been unable to reproduce or solve the problem and can find nothing wrong with my car. They warned me about driving with two feet because if the brake is applied at the same time as the accelerator a problem like this could occur but I do not drive using both feet and have always driven using only one foot.

The contact owns a 2005 Subaru Legacy. The contact stated that while traveling various speeds, the vehicle suddenly lost acceleration power. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not contacted about the failure. The failure mileage was 110,000.

Getting on a highway from on ramp. I attempted to accelerate. The accelerator went to the floor, the car was grumbling and the pick up of speed was exceptionally slow. Rpms went to approximately 4600. I eased back on the accelerator and tried again with same slow pick up, to floor accelerator and rooms to 4000s. I was not in danger however I have had this issue before (filed a report December 2013) which did put me in danger. The car has been to the dealership service center and one other Subaru dealership multiply with the dealer reporting overfilled transmission from the manufacturer and complete repair by siphoning off the extra. They report "unable to duplicate" and assume therefore no problem.

The contact owns a 2006 Subaru Legacy. The contact stated that the vehicle abnormally accelerated while the brakes were engaged at a complete stop. The contact was able to restart the vehicle with the illumination of the check engine warning light. The vehicle was taken into a local dealer where the technician diagnosed that the throttle position sensor had failed. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was 129,000 and the current mileage was 129,000.

My vehicle showed significant lag in speeding up after pressing the accelerator and revved very high rpms (34-4200). This also occurred when I removed my foot from the accelerator going down a hill. . . High rpm (34-400) without decrease in speed. Subaru of manchester determined transmission came from manufacturer with overfilled fluid causing hesitancy and lag. Repaired and reset. On 12/28/13, my vehicle would not accelerate while travelling at 60mph on a highway so I could avoid being hit by another vehicle who was drifting towards my right side as it attempted to get on the highway. I pressed the accelerator continuously and then to the floor; rpm's revved to 5400; loud airplane type sound; with no acceleration. Subaru of manchester has since determined the transmission needed an update and reset of the transmission settings. They also found a leak between the transmission and the engine which they state came from the manufacturer. They stated the power train is fine. I will pick my vehicle up from this repair within the next 24 hours and will see if that was in fact the issue.

On 11/18/13, at approximately 5:15 pm, I was heading down a street to make a left to go home from work. All of a sudden the car accelerated and would not slow down after I pushed down on the brake with my right foot. I immediately began to turn the wheel to the right onto an empty street to avoid two other cars at the intersection who were going to make the same left I originally wanted to make. For some reason, the car did not go all the way right and went diagonally from the intersection across the street. The car then jumped a curb hitting an electrical pole. At that point, I was pulled out of the car by another driver who saw the incident because when hitting the pole, live wires were dangling from the pole. I was taken across the street away from the car and waited for police and paramedics to come.

The contact owns a 2005 Subaru Legacy. The contact stated that while attempting to accelerate from a stop, the vehicle was slow to respond. The rpm gauge moved despite the accelerator pedal being depressed and the vehicle then stalled. The vehicle was independently diagnosed as having a throttle body sensor failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the incident. The approximate failure mileage was 146,000.

Driving at 35mph I pressed the gas pedal to accelerate to go up a hill and nothing happened. Steering became very tight. Had to coast to the side of the road. Shut car off and waited then turned back on. Has happened 1 other time since first incident, with no warning or indication. Researched online to find this is a common problem with my vehicle's throttle/pedal position switch. Had I been on a more busy street or on a highway when this occured, numerous vehicles may have been effected.

My Subaru is equipped with cvt, when fuel is appealed engine revs, pause, then drop in rev and acceleration. This is a safety concern when passing, cornering, or any other point when in a rolling start.

Tl-the contact owns a 2006 Subaru Legacy. The contact stated that while driving at various speeds the vehicle will lose acceleration. The contact was able to restart the vehicle with the illumination of the check engine warning light. The vehicle was taken into a local dealer where the technician diagnosed that the throttle position sensor had failed. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was 60,000 and the current mileage was 90,000.

I was driving in the left lane of the highway during rush hour when the accelerator stopped responding. I would push the gas pedal and nothing would happen. The engine seemed to be running nominally (idling, since the accelerator wasn't working). No unusual sounds, no jerking, nothing. Then the check engine light came on. I managed to get across the lanes of traffic coasting and rolled slowly into a gas station. I turned the car off and turned it back on and everything worked fine again. I finished driving to work without incident. I went after work and had the check engine code read. It was a stored code (no longer actively faulted) of p2138 which is a throttle position sensor error. I've been reading online and this appears to be very common and an ongoing problem for lots of people. It is incredibly dangerous to not be able to control your car randomly in the middle of the road. Hopefully you can help make Subaru fix this safety issue.

I was driving on the highway, and the car seem to loose power, luckily I noticed it, as I was able to cost over to the side of the rode. I own a carmd, and attached it to my car, it gave me code p2138 which means the throttle position sensors (2 of them) not being in agreement. I think this is very dangerous as this can happen at any time while one is driving, potential leading to a accident or fatality.

The brake and gas pedals on automatic transmission Subaru Legacy models are so close together that a man of average shoe size, wearing boots of any kind, is liable to inadvertently apply pressure to both pedals at the same time. The "fix" is simple: Subaru of America should hang the manual transmission brake pedal, with its smaller pad footprint, on all automatic transmission Legacy models. Problem solved. While driving my vehicle, and if wearing boots, I must maintain constant vigilance to avoid the potentially lethal consequence of applying pressure to both pedals at the same time.

Car has been very slow to reduce rpms when shifting gears or when stopped (and in neutral) for the past few weeks. Today, when pulling into a starbucks, the car surged forward. Luckily I have a stick shift and just pushed the clutch in. After surging, the check engine light came on. Using a diagnostic tool, I found that the car is throwing error code p2138. This indicates that the accelerator pedal position (app) sensor is either bad or has a poor connection. The detail on the error stats "the ecm has detected that the app sensor 1 and app sensor 2 disagree more than 4. 5% for less than 1 second. " essentially, one or both throttle-by-wire circuits isn't functioning properly. I went online and found that this is an all too common problem and some folks have found that their cars are surging forward, threatening safety.

My wife was gradually pulling out of a drive up window at a bank, where there is @ 30 feet before she got to the road and the car immediately accelerated at a high rate of speed, needing to slam on the brakes with all her strength, sliding sideways into the road. The accelerating discontinued when she slammed on the brakes. She then had to put the car in reverse to get out of oncoming traffic. She then drove home @ 1mile and is afraid to drive the car again. I checked and the floor mats are not in the way of the accelerated (they are fastened to the floor). I did not see anything else that would would bind the accelerator.

See all problems of the 2008 Subaru Legacy 🔎.

The contact owns a 2011 Subaru Legacy. The contact stated the vehicle was in park when it accelerated in reverse through a yard crashing into a retaining wall. The contact was able to turn the vehicle after it crashed into the retaining wall. The vehicle was taken to the contacts residence but had not been inspected. The VIN was unavailable. The failure and current mileage was 150.

On Saturday, April 30th, I was turning around in a driveway, when all of the sudden my car took off. I had no time to react, except to try to use my brake. What stopped me was hitting a tree. My car is a 2008 Subaru Legacy with over $5,000 in damages. The police investigated and I was not cited. When I returned home, I looked on the internet to see if acceleration problems were common in Subaru's. I did find that foresters has problems; but I also found that some Legacy's also has acceleration problems, in particular I found a 2008 Subaru Legacy with this problem. I reported my findings to my insurance company and to Subaru. Subaru did not get back to me; my insurance company gave me your website to file a complaint. My logic is, why should I or my insurance company pay for something that was out of my control and was the fault of the car. Evidently, there are no recalls for Subaru's for this problem. I just hope it does not happen again - next time I might not be as lucky.

Subaru 2010 Legacy 3. 6 has a dealer- acknowledged severe hesitation in acceleration. The car fails to accelerate when the gas pedal is initially engaged, there is a prolonged hesitation and then the car lurches forward unpredictably. It's particularly severe in a slow rolling situation such as accelerating upon turning at an intersection. The car simple "can't get out of it's own way" in a timely, reliable and predictable fashion. Dealer was notified within the week of sale, acknowledged that Subaru of America was aware of the problem and promised to do something about it. No remedy appears to be forthcoming (or even known) by Subaru of America.