Brakes Failed problems of the 2002 Subaru Outback

Brakes briefly fail in freezing cold weather conditions. 5 or 10 hard pumps have usually brought them back. Very dangerous if you are not expecting it. I never leave my driveway or parking space without repeated pumping to get them working again. We are ski instructors (and this car is marketed for that) but its quite dangerous in freezing weather.

Our 2002 Subaru Outback eddie bauer edition has experienced a consistent brake failure the first thing in the morning on days where the outside temperature is at or below 45 deg f. The failure is repeatable as follows: after starting the vehicle with foot on the brake, the car initially seems okay with normal brake pedal feel (soft but not stiff) - in about the time it takes to put the car into reverse the brake petal stops responding and becomes very stiff. Also, brake assist disappears and it becomes very difficult (almost impossible) to stop the vehicle, even on the slight downgrade of our driveway. - under the force of gravity, it is possible for the car to drift backward into oncoming traffic, or anything else that happens to be located behind the car such as pedestrians and trashcans, for example. No accidents or near-misses have occurred as of the time of this writing, but this is not to say that they could not have occurred under normal vehicle use and traffic conditions in our area. The car usually comes to rest within 2 to 3 seconds after which the brakes seems to recover to normal function. - good functionality seems to continue as long as the car has not been sitting in the cold and/or as long as the engine compartment is warm. This problem has been brought up to two local Subaru dealers who both indicated they have never see this problem before. Also, one was able to replicate the problem. Given their expert commentary and physical evidence it is suspected that the car's behavior might constitute an emerging safety flaw to the vehicle's braking system. System will be repaired by consumer. Consumer has contacted Subaru customer support regarding this matter. They indicated that this was not an officially known issue per the list of NHTSA recall actions; hence, they took no action to remedy/investigate the problem. See Subaru case #: 936244 for details. See also nhtsb complaint #: 10106583.

2002 Subaru Outback, ll bean edition. Brakes have failed to work on several different occasions when outside temperature is less than approx. 28 deg f. This is usually first thing in the morning when leaving for work. Car is parked on driveway with a slight downgrade to the street, and car has drifted into driveway across the street before coming to a stop. Brakes are usually fine after several minutes of driving.

This is the second time in 2 months that the brakes have failed while driving at low speed on a wet, but totally ice-free paved road. Have taken car to be repaired at Subaru dealer (2 different ones) but both times was stated hunter's invoice that they could not duplicate the customer's (me) concern, so no action was taken to fix the brakes. Brakes definitely feel spongy when braking while driving forward, but brakes feel good and solid when going in reverse. Last Friday, I took my car to prestige, on Feb 8th to address the second time the brakes have failed. Service manager, dave lindsey said he couldn't duplicate the brakes failing again and so was not going to do anything to fix my brakes. I voiced my concerned that I was very afraid for my safety with these weird brakes and he emphatically told me he wouldn't fix the brakes until the brakes failed again!!! when I went into prestige's salesroom to get a 800 number to contact Subaru to let them know my brakes had indeed failed again, dave lindsey marched into sales room of prestige Subaru and demanded I leave the Subaru prestige premises at once. He never even gave me the work order/invoice showing that he had even looked at my car for the failed brakes!!! I think that prestige Subaru needs to be investigate. There is a very steep hill you have to go down in order to exit the prestige Subaru premises and I was very concerned about traveling down it, after having no work done on my brakes following my brake failure on February 7th, 2002.