general problems of the 2009 Subaru Outback

The rear hatch on this Outback won't lock. As a woman on her own, my safety is at risk. I have read of other people who have this issue and has been able to fix this on their own. This is a safety issue if your vehicle won't lock completely because the wires in the hatch are compromised.

Previously submitted complaint regarding my Subaru Outback stalling. I was assigned complaint number 11414502 (attached) but when I didn't receive the email, I checked and it didn't pull up so I'm resubmitting.

The contact owns a 2009 Subaru Outback. The contact stated while driving at various speeds, the vehicle shut-off with the check engine, traction control and cruise control warning lights illuminated. On several occasions the vehicle would not immediately restart. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer for service. No further information was available. The manufacturer was also notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 81,000. The VIN was not available.

Car intermittently stalls and is hard to restart. Happens randomly with no check engine light or code in the ecu. Has happened on the highway at interstate speed and while stopped. Will not restart immediately. Rough idle at restart then back to normal. Mechanic was unable to recreate the problem and thus unable to repair. Creates potentially dangerous situation when stalling on the highway, intersection, etc.

2009 Subaru Outback stalling while driving. The engine turned off while driving with light acceleration at low speeds (5-20 mph) without warning. Warning lights flickered on and off. I was able to restart the car. This is a huge safety issue to have the car stall out without warning. Subara south blvd dealership say they do not know the root cause. Prior to the above incidence the car, while driving at low speeds, would occasionally shudder and the warning lights would flicker on then go off. It felt like the car was going to shut off but it didn't. Now it is shutting off. It's completely unsafe.

Rear gate electrical cord premature failure at rubber accordion bend.

When it rained dash lights come on would not go out when turned car on for a few days next rain went to check car when started lights came on then all went out and a loud noise and fire under hood.

Individual wires in the harness powering and controlling the brake, turn, backup, and license plate lights, and the rear wiper motor and washer pump, may fail without warning. This failure could result in an rear end collision or impairing vision out the rear window in inclement weather. The point of failure is inside the flexible rubber boot protecting the harness where it passes from the rear frame of the main body to the top of the rear lift gate. It appears that repeated flexing of the wires inside the protective boot, as the rear lift gate is opened and closed, work hardens the insulation and copper wires causing them to eventually break. Symptoms may appear as static on the radio, failing rear lights, and/or failing rear wiper/washer motors. In my case, I experienced radio static and a failure of the rear wiper/washer motors. Trouble shooting led me to cut open the protective boot revealing the broken wires. Further inspection revealed that the wire insulation was brittle in the area of the breaks. A search online revealed this is not an isolated incident.

"air bag" warning light in the instrument panel (combination meter) is on. The airbag light has come on since it has been cold out. It keeps on every cold day. It is a safety issue and if possibly not deploying the srs to protect driver and passenger in a collision. This problem was reported by many drivers of Subaru, but Subaru company is still no response.

2009 Subaru Outback. Consumer writes in regards to vehicle shuts down while driving. The consumer believed the vehicle shutting down, was the result of a faulty ignition.

When locking the vehicle, the rear lift gate will not lock. Subaru dealership found a broken wire leading to the rear lift gate actuator, and fixed. June 2015, problem occurring again. Just looked, and wire was broken again (found by removing passenger side rubber boot covering wires between lift gate and body). Will try to fix myself, this time.

Started my car at night to find out my headlights would not turn on, but the safely lights were still on. Upon further inspection, the brake lights and reverse lights would not work either. The lights above my rear license plate had been out for a couple of weeks also so I am not sure if that is related as well. Looked on-line to find out many other Subaru Outback owners had a similar problem and suggested looking at the harness that housed many electrical wires on the upper corners of the hatchback. Many of the wires were either broken or loose. I have read that because of its location, the wires become brittle and break because they are constantly being bent when you open and close the rear hatchback door. Took my car into the dealership and they had to resolder the wires and charged me $225 for the labor and parts needed. If I had to replace this, it would have cost me over $600 so the dealership discouraged me from doing this. I feel this should be covered by Subaru since it is due to bad design and performance and the service I had done does not guarantee that this will not happen again.