Vehicle Speed Control Problems of Subaru Outback - part 2

While driving on the nys thruway (i90), I started to pass a tractor trailer, I put my blinker on and began moving to the right to pass. There were 2/3 cars in back of me also passing. I was using cruise control and I began to put my foot on the accelerator to finish my passing and move over to the right hand lane to let the other vehicles pass me. However, upon accelerating, my car started to drop power, multiple lights displaying simultaneously indicating a potential problem. (eyesight assist, vehicle dynamic control, brake & engine lights), the vehicle started jerking back and forth and I lost all but maybe 5 miles of power. My choice at that time was put my blinker on and try and move to the right - letting the tractor trailer pass me on the right and hope there was not another vehicle behind so I could move over safely at that crawling speed or go to the left into the gully. This could have been a multiple car collision and maybe fatalities due to the speed and loss of control of my vehicle. After towing to the nearest dealer, they determined it was the thermo control valve. I see now that there is a "service bulletin" and design change of this component and that other Subaru drivers have been affected the same way. This is a very serious situation. I ask, why no recall from Subaru. I have been without my vehicle now for 4 days and may not have it back until next week. I am very fearful of driving that vehicle again.

See all problems of the 2020 Subaru Outback 🔎.

The contact owns a 2016 Subaru Outback. The contact stated while the was stationary at a traffic light, the vehicle accelerated independently while depressing the brake pedal. The contact stated no warning light was illuminated. The contact stated that the rpm’s was elevated to 5,000. The contact stated that he turned off and restarted the vehicle and was able to continue driving to his destination. The contact called the local dealer and made them aware of the failure. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer had not been informed of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 35,000.

See all problems of the 2016 Subaru Outback 🔎.

At low rate of speed, while parking vehicle accelerated without warning and damaged 3 cars . This happened previously with separate family drivers without damage. This is a serious defect and could potentially cause serious injury or death. This was not driver error. The car lurched forward with absolutely no gas pedal involvement. The previous times it happened at a stoplight with enough room in front to hit the brake. Not this time.

My vehicle accelerated when I was at a red light. My foot was on the brake. It also accelerated when I was backing out of our driveway. This resulted in a type of “ lurching” motion. The incident at the red light happened once. The incidents while backing out happened 3 times. No warning light were displayed. The vehicle has not been inspected yet. My safety was at risk because it accelerated once when my foot was on the brake and excessively when I was slowly backing up.

See all problems of the 2017 Subaru Outback 🔎.

When we started vehicle, a wide array of systems shut down including cruise, eye sight, lane detection, auto high bean, adaptive light cornering - essentially anything “automated” or assisted - along with the heating. The car ran at a higher rpm at idle - 2000 vs a usual 700-800 - and rough shifted at speed. Again, as if the automatic transmission lost its sync. The water temp gauge was also off. Have since learned this was the “thermo control valve” and somewhat of a known fault on Outbacks of this year. We were lucky to reach home from the long trip we were on and to the dealership. At the dealership, the service team did not admit this was wide spread. Nor did they tell us there is an updated part from Subaru available. They intend to install the oem part, which concerns us that in another 40-50k we will face the same $2k problem. We are unlucky that we just went over 60k miles, so this will not be covered under Subaru’s 60k drivetrain warranty. That Subaru is covering a cooling system problem under the guise of being drive train tells me they know they have something to keep quiet.

I pulled into my driveway, came to a stop and planned to back up a short distance to be nearer the front walkway. Before I could shift into reverse the car started to accelerate forward. I slammed my foot onto the brakes which had no effect on the acceleration. The car stopped when the lower bumper hit and ran up onto a large boulder on the edge of the driveway. The car was partially wedged on the top of the boulder but I was able to back it off the boulder, park and turn off the car. I have scheduled an appointment with the service department on February 1st, at the dealership where I purchased the vehicle in June 2020. Of note, I had a routine oil change and service check at this dealership on January 16 with no engine problems noted.

While attempting to come to a complete stop, depressing the brakes, the vehicle continued to accelerate even though the brake was depressed to the floor. At no time was the driver's foot on the accelerator. This is one of 2 incidents with the vehicle.

See all problems of the 2015 Subaru Outback 🔎.

Purchased a low mileage, 2019 Subaru Outback limited, had 16,407 miles on vehicle, had accident damage reported by carfax. At 27,383 miles an oil leak in valve cover gasket was discovered, Subaru fixed leak under warranty, engine removed. Upon driving the vehicle home following repairs, the car lunged forward through the garage door, into the garage, and damaged vehicle and garage interior as I approached the garage. Sudden acceleration occurred. Vehicle taken on flag bed to Subaru shop for repairs and investigation of incident by Subaru of America. Insurance company provided damage/repair estimate.

See all problems of the 2019 Subaru Outback 🔎.

I experienced a sudden unintended acceleration of my 2013 Subaru Outback while braking to make a left hand turn at a stoplight on federal road in brookfield, CT. I was able to squeeze the brake hard while shifting into neutral to avoid slamming into the car in front of me while the engine raced. The car would have gone out of control had I not been able to press very hard on the brake pedal. This incident was not the first time this unintended acceleration of the vehicle occurred. About a month ago, I was in a similar situation on the road when I was decelerating and applying the brake that the car had a rapid unintended acceleration that caused me to press very hard on the brake pedal to keep the car from lurching forward. I’ve owned the vehicle since December 2012 and this situation has probably occurred less than 5 times over the 10 years of operation. Each time I thought it was perhaps my error for somehow touching the accelerator with my foot while the brake was applied. After the recent November 22 incident, I now realize that there is likely a systemic problem with the accelerator. I plan to have accelerator inspected by the dealer.

See all problems of the 2013 Subaru Outback 🔎.

Yesterday, I was accelerating at a reasonable rate from a stop. My Outback stopped responding to the accelerator pedal and kicked up to 3500-4000 rpm. My brakes could barely hold the vehicle back and it forced me to slip my transmission in and out of neutral to prevent a crash. I pulled over twice to restart the car, hoping to reset something and address the issue, but it was still present when I pulled into my driveway and stopped the car for the evening. This morning, I started the vehicle and to my surprise, it started normally. I took it to my local mechanic who checked for codes or lights ( and carpets on the accelerator, etc,) and there were none. He also went under the hood and checked air filters and the entire intake system and found nothing. This is the third time I have experienced this issue. The first time I was making a right hand turn into a parking lot. I restarted the car and the issue went away. The second time it lasted a little longer but also was resolved by restarting the car. This third time, I was also making a right turn, but this time from a parking lot to the road, where I continued to drive. Two attempts at restarting did not resolve and it remained in this out-of-control condition until I turned it off.

I was driving my 2017 Subaru Outback on a trip from new york to florida. On I-95 in heavy traffic I hit a bump in the road, and at that instant, nearly every warning light on my dash came on, including eyesight, lane departure, and emergency braking. My adaptive cruise immediately disengaged causing the vehicle to suddenly slow (this incident was at highway speed). The "brake" light was also illuminated. Not knowing what happened, I pulled over on the side of the highway and found that the wire to the electric parking brake on the passenger side had disconnected from the brake module. I tried to plug it back in, but it would not stay. I secured the cable with a hair tie and continued on the trip. Approximately 500 miles later, I hit another bump or pothole, and the same thing happened. I checked under the car again, and discovered that the driver side had failed in the same manner. I secured the cable with another hair tie and was able to complete my trip. When I returned home, I discovered that this is a known issue and there is a Subaru TSB published, 06-63-18r. There is no warranty on this issue, and I was charged nearly $750 to fix a known problem caused by a plastic retainer. In my opinion, this issue should be treated as a safety defect and subject to a recall to replace with the newer part. Having all of your vehicle assists suddenly fail at highway speed in heavy traffic is a disconcerting and dangerous event.

I purchased the car new in January 2021. During the first several months there were no issues. After that, the "infotainment" system which controls the sound, nav, hvac, etc. Systems would suddenly go black and those functions would stop working. It would seem to reboot as a computer does when you restart it. That was distracting but mostly just annoying, lasting less than 30 seconds. I will call that a "soft reboot. " that happened many times over the next few months. On two occasions, the screen would black out and not only those systems would cease to function, it would shut down cruise control and eyesight. Call that a "hard reboot. " this was very dangerous. In traffic at 70-75 mph when the cruise control suddenly stops working, the car decelerates immediately and quickly. There are no warning signs or messages; it just goes black and shuts down those systems. Cars following would quickly be within a dangerous proximity. Not a safety issue but a hard reboot also wipes clear some settings including the nav destinations. During that period I spoke with service managers at two Subaru dealerships who said that it was a common problem and Subaru had issued a "patch" that was supposed to fix it. I live approximately an hour from the nearest dealership and had some difficulty finding a time to take it in for the upload. Finally I took it in to scenic Subaru in mt. Airy, nc on September 9, 2022 to get the update, with around 22,500 miles into a 36,000 mile warranty. I left the dealership at approximately 4 p. M. Headed for winston salem, nc, approximately an hour drive. Within 5 miles from the dealership it did a soft reboot. That happened two more times. I called the dealership to advise them but it was too late to return. Then, still within an hour from the dealership, it did a hard reboot, shutting down everything as I described above. It functioned properly until it did a soft reboot today, 220 miles after the update.

See all problems of the 2021 Subaru Outback 🔎.

Car jerked back and suddenly accelerated without warning as driver had foot on brake and was slowly pulling into parking spot. Car hit wall of parking garage causing front end damage. Parking collision warning did not sound at any point. Car was going 1-2 mph and was 5 feet from end of parking spot when incident occurred. Sudden acceleration when driver has foot on brake can cause injury to driver, passengers or others in the path of the car. No hazards in parking garage were present that could have caused accident, which was witnessed by driver's work colleague. No police report filed. Incident was reported to Subaru, which ran diagnostic and could not replicate issue. No warning messages were present prior to the incident. It appears there are 2 current class action lawsuits filed against Subaru reporting similar issues with 2018 Outback. I am unsure what component failed to cause this issue; car is available for inspection on request.

See all problems of the 2018 Subaru Outback 🔎.

I was driving home on a road I drive on regularly at 40 mph. The car unexpectedly accelerated to a high rate of speed causing me to go off the road. I was unable to stop. The brake pedal went to the floor. The car went airborne, just missing a huge tree. It slammed into the ground & continued on to crash into 3 cars & someone’s garage! the car continued to rev & was bouncing back & forth between the 2 vehicles in the garage. The engine continued to rev after I got out. The homeowner shut it off. He said my brake lights were flashing on and off on the dash. The air bags never deployed. I have a witness. I wasn’t able to do anything!! I’ve since learned there’s a class action lawsuit against Subaru for this problem. Please do something about this. I could be dead, that homeowner that was in his garage could be dead right now. All I want is for people to be aware of this & for Subaru to get held accountable. It’s not right that they are aware of this and doing nothing about it!!.

See all problems of the 2014 Subaru Outback 🔎.

The vehicle will accelerate all on its own I was pulling into a parking spot and the vehicle just accelerated thank god there was not another car in from of me or I would have hit them. Then later that same day with the cruise on the vehicle just started speeding up. I had to hit the brakes to turn cruise off or who knows how fast it would have taken me.

See all problems of the 2012 Subaru Outback 🔎.

The gas pedal and brake pedal are not adjustable due to them being digitally programmed. The position of the brake is higher than the gas pedal, which causes stress on my knee, ankle, and hip joints and has caused me significant pain so I can't drive. The gas pedal needs to be pressed hard to get the car going, which has been causing me knee pain. I asked the premier Subaru of fremont, where I leased my Subaru Outback in may 2022, if they could tighten the brake pedal and adjust the gas pedal, but they said it was impossible. This is injuring my knee and causing me to have sciatica.

See all problems of the 2022 Subaru Outback 🔎.

I had a driver-side mirror damaged in a small crash. The wiring harness for the mirror was pulled from its location. The mirror was replaced, and the wiring harness was not to my knowledge. Since that repair, the vehicled dynamic cruise control, called eyesight has failed more than 50 times. I have had the vehicle at the dealer 2 times. They concluded yesterday the unit checked out. I drove it for 5 minutes, and it failed again. I believe it could be related to them not replacing the wiring harness. They believe it may be related to a new windshield, which I find it hard to believe. They recalibrated the eyesight with the non-oem windshield. Subaru technicians believe it is related to the non-oem windshield, and I am having a brand new windshield replaced with the oem windshield. Which I also believe is inferior because of cracks in my orginal windshield.

Vehicle is failing to shift correctly causing low acceleration and road safety issues. Cruise control and manual shift paddles not working, multiple warning lights on.

See all problems of the 2011 Subaru Outback 🔎.

•driver’s window failing to properly and completing retract. This has been particularly troublesome in the bitter cold of northern minnesota. On each visit to Subaru I have requested that the window be repaired. All efforts have been unsuccessful. •battery failure without cause or prior warning signs. On previous visits the service center failed to address and resolve the battery problem that I brought. In my most recent visit they referred me to a legal settlement action which prevents them from further addressing the battery issue. I brought the vehicle in twice for repair/replacement of the battery. Not resolved. •eyesight driver assist malfunction. Upon presenting the issue, the service manager suggested that the cause was sunlight hitting the sensors and he did not work on the issue. Even when I noted that the problem happened in the evening as well as during the daytime, no response. •check engine warning indicator signifying any number of important malfunctions while also causing cruise control, eyesight, rab, and other critical, electronic systems to deactivate. More importantly, the Subaru service center informed me that there is a life-threatening risk associated with the underlying cause of this check engine light appearing, and, consequently, they would not permit me to drive the car from the service center until necessary repairs and part replacements were made. I have been waiting over two months for the automobile to be repaired and returned to me. I had previously brought the vehicle in specifically for this issue. At that time the service center failed to correct the problem and suggested it would disappear on its own (the warning light would turn off after a number of ignition starts). When I requested that they clearly understand the problem and fix the lighlight warning, the manager refused to continue to work on the vehicle.

My wife who is a small statured woman was leaving parking lot of church onto a narrow 2 lane street. As she made a left turn, the right front tire climbed the curb and dropped back onto the street. The car suddenly accelerated to top speed and crushed into a tree about 50 yards down the street. Airbags deployed causing bone breaks in left cavalcule, fractured ribs and t12. The driver is short and must sit almost against the steering wheel to drive. Without much effort to stretch her toes, she is unable to push the accelerator to the floor. She said she tried to push on the brake with no results. Eyewitnesses said they watch as she was leaving, they noted the car "jumping the curb" and said the car suddenly accelerated to a very high speed and crashed into a tree. There were no distinctive marks to show any stopping action.

The navigation system will randomly go blank and then restart while driving. This not only affects any navigation which is currently in progress, but also disables the cruise control, eye sight, lane departure and other safety devices. This has occurred numerous times while driving on an interstate highway and is dangerous and life threatening.

The contact owns a 2021 Subaru Outback. The contact stated while driving 20 mph, the brake pedal was depressed; however, the vehicle independently accelerated. There was no warning light illuminated. The vehicle struck the curb before coming to a stop, causing damage to the rim and tire. The vehicle was towed to the dealer but was not yet diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 16,000.

The contact owns a 2019 Subaru Outback. The contact stated while at a complete stop with foot on the brakes, it automatically accelerated. There were no warning lights on the instrument panel. The vehicle has not been diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer has not been notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 21,000.

The engine will randomly loose power. This has happened three times now. You must coast to a stop, turn the key off and try to restart the car. Sometime it will take several tries to restart. I see this as a real safety concern in heavy traffic. Especially so if heavy traffic makes it impossible to reach the side of the road safely. The service code points to the throttle peddle position sensor. Reading some of the internet forums it seems to be a fairly common issue. Of course internet forums must be considered carefully. However with the above said I see this issue as a real safety concern. Not only for my safety but those around me if this happens in heavy traffic. Thank you.

See all problems of the 2006 Subaru Outback 🔎.

On April 13th 2022, me and my wife were returning home. We were at a complete stop on a left only turn intersection red light (spring-cypress rd & telge rd in cypress, TX. Coordinates: 29. 985660988461188, -95. 65465736615674). There was a vehicle ahead of us and also behind us at the light. It was raining lightly and the roads were wet. When the light turned green we started slowly accelerating making our left turn and as we were doing so, the vehicle skid causing uncontrolled acceleration, non-responsive braking and non responsive steering. I tried my very best to save us from running over the curb into the ditch ahead and succeeded to do so resulting in the vehicle hitting the curb at probably 15-20 mph. The steering and brakes were non-responsive and it took a lot of effort on my part to save us from running over the curb into the ditch ahead. This accident resulted in the right front passenger wheel, suspension, axle etc. To break. No other vehicle was involved in the accident. No warning or safety lights were displayed to the best of my knowledge. The vehicle was disabled and could not run, it was blocking the intersection and traffic. I called the police who then arrived to redirect traffic and also help with the tow. Currently, my car is being repaired through my insurance. My vehicle was purchased in Jan 2020 and has approx. 9500 miles on it. The reason I brought a Subaru was because of its capability to handle most weather conditions and also its great safety ratings. This unfortunately wasn't the case for me and wife and we were left stranded in the road because of some safety feature/software/mechanical malfunction of the vehicle. I request the NHTSA administration to look into this issue with Subaru and help me reach closure on the safety of this vehicle. Thank you.

The vehicle, a 2018 Subaru Outback limited 3. 6r, was being pulled into the garage at the owner’s home. With brakes applied, and while putting vehicle into park, the vehicle suddenly accelerated forward making contact with a suspended shelf attached to the back wall of the garage. The force of the vehicle was such that the shelf and back wall of the garage were completely separated from the home in one piece and pushed approximately 10 yards away from the home before the shelf broke away from the wall upon impact with the ground, perpendicular to the back of the house. The vehicle then traveled down two hills in the back yard, across a water saturated easement, over a concrete drainage culvert and came to rest at the base of an incline in an adjacent yard approximately 150 ft from the garage. Air bags did not deploy and the owner suffered minor contusions causing pain and stiffness, but no significant injuries are noted as of this report. The vehicle was totaled and significant damage was caused to the residence. No collision warnings were displayed prior to collision and emergency braking did not apply upon acceleration. This was the first incidence of sudden acceleration experienced by the owner so this issue has never been checked out by a service technician and will not be repaired. The vehicle had less than 8000 miles on the odometer. The vehicle is currently located in a repair lot and the owner’s insurance company has been requested to hold the vehicle for inspection prior to disposal. The cause of the sudden acceleration is unknown, but the owner is confident that the brakes were being applied at the time of occurrence, and that they remained cognizant throughout the incident as they were unable to stop the forward progression of the vehicle until it came to rest on the muddy incline.

The contact owns a 2022 Subaru Outback. The contact stated that while driving approximately 1 to 2 mph on two occasions into a parking spot, the vehicle hesitated then accelerated and crashed into a pole. There were no warning lights illuminated. There were no reported injuries, air bag deployment, or fire. A police report was filed. The vehicle was taken to a collision shop. The contact called the local dealer but the vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was contacted and had an investigator inspect the vehicle but was unable to duplicate the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 700. The VIN was not available.

While parking car in garage, car suddenly surged forward although my foot was off gas and nearly hit end of garage. Engine temp was relatively cold as it had just been started. This has happened several times before. Reported to dealer service the first time it happened and they did not fix.

On 2/13/22 I started my vehicle to move it back into the garage. Upon putting it into 'drive' the engine unexpectedly started to ramp up the rpms accelerating the vehicle forward. Fortunately I had my foot on the break slowing the progression and I was able to switch the gear to 'neutral'. At that point the engine began to continue to ramp up the rpms. I tried depressing and releasing the accelerator to see if the engine would respond and decrease the rpms, it did not. I then switched off the engine to keep it from accelerating/increasing the rpms. About five minutes after the initial incident I started the vehicle. Immediately upon startup the vehicle rpms starting to ramp up. I tired depressing and releasing the accelerator to see if the engine would respond and decrease the rpms, it did not. I then switched off the engine to keep it from accelerating/increasing the rpms. After another five minutes I started the vehicle again. This time I let the car warmup for a minute before placing it into gear. During this time I did not experience another incident.

Sudden acceleration defect has occurred several times with last incident Friday 21jan2022. Each time I have had the brake pedal engaged, yet vehicle fails to stop, and accelerates on it’s own, causing me to go through stop signs with potentially dangerous outcomes for pedestrians, other vehicles, barriers. Dealer appointment rescheduled for Monday 24jan2022. No inspections to date. No warnings- the first time I thought I may have caused it by accidentally touching the accelerator, but now I know that is not the case. First occurrence was in Dec 2021, exact date not known, happened in a parking lot.

When I was idling in park, the car spontaneously accelerated at full throttle. Another incident occurred while braking the car started accelerating at full throttle, even though I was sitting still at a drive through. - it would not stop without turning off the ignition.

The accelerator pedal position sensor is faulty. It is prone to wear in these vehicles based on my research. This caused my car to go into limp-mode on the highway, rapidly cutting my speed in half. The accelerator provides no response until vehicle was restarted. The ecu put out the code p2138 for loss of voltage in throttle system.

1) the car accelerated without any change in my driving. My car is available for inspection. 2) my safety and the car in front of me were at risk since the car was accelerating and removing my foot from the gas didn't reduce the speed. 3&4) I haven't had the car inspected by anyone and it can't be reproduced. 5) there were no warning signs. My car is well maintained and I follow manufacture recommendations for maintenance. The first time it happened was in the morning on my way to work in phoenix, az going the speed limit, when it accelerated and removing my foot from the gas didn't reduce the speed. My first thought was I was going to smash into the car in front of me at full speed. Luckily, my brakes did work and I didn't hit the car that was quickly approaching. The second time it happened, it was early morning in chandler, az, I was going the speed limit and the car accelerated as I was taking the onramp for the freeway. Once again the only way to get the car out of the accelerated mode was to hit the brakes. It has not occurred again within the last 3 weeks.

Thank you NHTSA for being my voice. We need and appreciate the life saving work you collectively do to keep my family, myself, and others safe on our roads. I need your action. My 2013 Subaru continuously variable transmission valve body is failing. This is a major safety issue because my Subaru risks stalling out and potentially being harmed in a crash causing bodily injury or death to the driver, passengers, and other motorists. This is a known issue with Subaru and the NHTSA. Instead of a recall, Subaru of America opted to extend the warranty to 100,000 miles or 10 years for this safety issue. My car is 8 years old and over 100,000 miles. (I have taken amazing care of my beloved car and have already replaced the short block assembly that was a service bulletin under warranty for excessive oil consumption. ) my goal, with your assistance, is to hold Subaru accountable to fix this known cvt failure at their cost (approximately $1,829. 94) by honoring my 8 year old car that is within the 10 year portion of the warranty extension. Although it is a known problem for cars over 100,000 miles, Subaru is denying my claim. The verbiage of this continuously variable transmission issue being covered under an extended warranty of “100,000 miles or 10 years, whichever comes first’ is a protection of the manufacturer only. I am compelled to ask you for your help and appreciate your time and advocacy. I can help in any capacity on my end. I am at your service!.

My 2020 Outback touring has had several issues including the infotainment system rebooting and turning off all safety features: abs, forward collision warning, eyesight, adaptive cruise control randomly turning off (not just adjusting speed), I lose control of all electronics including the digital speedometer. A new infotainment system had been installed and the problems still exist. The date below was the most serious as I was on the highway traveling at high speeds when the system decided to fail and the screens went black. Subaru of America has been informed of these issues but there is no resolution.