Consumer Complaints
| Fail date | miles | occurences | Purchase date |
|---|---|---|---|
| VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL | |||
| 02/10/2010 | 60000 | ||
| On aproximately 10 occasions right after a rain when i start up the car the engine light starts blinking and the car runs roughly with little power. after a short time the car power returns but the check engine light stays on for about a week. once the light goes out the car then runs normal until the next rainstorm. it then does the same all over. | |||
| 02/12/2008 | 22000 | ||
| While driving north on 91 to vermont this car handled great in snow, . on the other hand the return trips the roads were plowed packed snow it was like the rear end was on ice skates(or ghost walking} whatever you call it when it happens it will scare the shit out of you. the first couple times it happened, i had every excuse why it wasn't the car, i thought the stock tires were shot, so i bought 4 brand new dunlop snow tires. i hoped problem would be solved, car handled even better in snow same on packed snow/ice. thought maybe the thule box was catching wind, removed thule box. problem did not get better. i began searching for similar issues online and came across many suggestions that stock suspension sucked, which i kinda new, so i replaced suspension with supposedley the best available kyb hoped that after that investment problem would be solved, i was wrong again. after deeper investigation online i learned of ghostwalking. if i had bought a chevy cavalier or ford taurus or any other piece of crap that you wouldn't expect to handle said conditions it's one thing but for a car that either endores or is endorsed by the us ski team, ski patrol this car is not safe. about two months ago i was driving up a straight away it had rained earlier. i was driving about 55 i the limit is 45 and the rear end slipped out and the car began ghostwalking. i don't feel safe driving my daughter in this car that i hoped to one day give her. i owned a 95 outback and had none of the above problems had reg tires. since finally figuring that i'm not crazy and other people are having this problem that can't be fixed,i want to trade it in but worry that whoever buys it might crash and die, icant very well go trade in this car and tell them this handles great, best car i ever owned just don;t drive it on packed snow you no the reason you want a subaru in the first place | |||
| 11/01/2012 | 80000 | 1 | |
| While driving my outback lost suddenly lost all acceleration. the check engine light immediately came on and the cruise control light began to blink. the car continued to move forward but decelerated to about 15 mph which nearly resulted in my being rear ended. i was able to get to the side of the road where i turned the car off and turned it back on. after doing this the car behaved normally expect the check engine and cruise control lights stayed on. after about an hour, both lights went off. since then, this problem has recurred multiple times. i recently took the car to be repaired where the problem was diagnosed as a bad pedal assembly. however, i'm concerned that this problem will reoccur at speed and cause an accident. *tr | |||
| 09/26/2012 | 1 | ||
| Bought the car from a toyota dealer in june 2011. within 5 days of buying it, when driving the car on highway, within 15 mins of driving, all of a sudden the car jerks, with a sudden drop in speed, with the check engine light turned on and cruise light starting to blink. car would not speed up no matter how much the accelerator is pressed. i had to pull the car to the side of the road. i have taken it several times to subaru service...they seem to know what the problem is and attempt to fix it - i pay them and drive it back home and, the same problem persists. i get the same code each time - p0638. replaced throttle body. replaced timing belt. replaced the throttle control relay. etc. the mechanics seem to test drive it and find no problem with it. every time they seem confident that they have fixed it. but, everytime i begin to drive, the car faults and the speed drops in the middle of the road. it is a danger to anyone in the car and to passengers in other cars. *tr | |||
| 09/26/2012 | |||
| Bought the car from a toyota dealer in june 2011. within 5 days of buying it, when driving the car on highway, within 15 mins of driving, all of a sudden the car jerks, with a sudden drop in speed, with the check engine light turned on and cruise light starting to blink. car would not speed up no matter how much the accelerator is pressed. i had to pull the car to the side of the road. i have taken it several times to subaru service...they seem to know what the problem is and attempt to fix it - i pay them and drive it back home and, the same problem persists. i get the same code each time - p0638. replaced throttle body. replaced timing belt. replaced the throttle control relay. etc. the mechanics seem to test drive it and find no problem with it. every time they seem confident that they have fixed it. but, everytime i begin to drive, the car faults and the speed drops in the middle of the road. it is a danger to anyone in the car and to passengers in other cars. | |||
| 12/27/2010 | 65696 | ||
| Tl- the contact owns a 2005 subaru outback. the contact stated that the accelerator pedal would intermittently become unresponsive. the dealer repaired the defect, but the failure recurred. the manufacturer was not contacted. the vehicle was not repaired. the failure mileage was 65,696 and the current mileage was 75,000. kmj | |||
| 12/27/2010 | 65696 | ||
| Tl- the contact owns a 2005 subaru outback. the contact stated that the accelerator pedal would intermittently become unresponsive, while the vehicle was in motion. the dealer repaired the defect, but the failure recurred. the manufacturer was not contacted. the vehicle was not repaired. the failure mileage was 65,696 and the current mileage was 75,000. nw | |||
| 10/01/2009 | 90000 | ||
| I have been having a problem with my car for the 2-years and has been getting worse. the throttle pedal at times will become non-responsive and the engine idle cannot be controlled. at this time the check engine light is on with a code. p2138. i have taken the car to the dealer with no luck they could not find anything wrong. the car has left me stranded several times and i had to limp or be towed home. the rpm can be anywhere from idle to 3000 rpm and as i said the pedal has no control. i have replaced the accelerator pedal assembly and the problem was gone for the past six months. it has now failed again. | |||
| 05/08/2011 | 67446 | ||
| Tl*the contact owns a 2005 subaru outback. the contact stated while driving on an incline the vehicle responded slowly. the cruise control and check engine light illuminated on the instrument panel. the dealership diagnosis determined that the turbo charger filter was clogged and the shaft in the turbo charger was broken. the vehicle was not repaired. the manufacturer was contacted. the failure and current mileage was 67,446. | |||
| 05/08/2011 | 67446 | ||
| Tl- the contact owns a 2005 subaru outback. the contact stated that while driving the vehicle responded slowing when driving on an incline. the cruise control and check engine light illunimatated on the instrument panel. the dealership diagnosed the turbo charger filter was clogged and the shaft in the turbo charger was broken. the vehicle was not repaired. the manufacturer was contacted. the failure and current mileage was 67,446. nw | |||
| 10/08/2010 | 112470 | ||
| Following a few weeks of a ruff idle at stop lights, the throttle position sensor failed on my 2005 subaru outback 2.5i. after getting off of the highway and sitting at a stop light, the gas pedal would not work. the vehicle was running, however there was no reaction at all from pushing the pedal all the way to the ground and the check engine light was on. after turning the car off and restarting it normal function returned, however i was informed that failure could occur again at any time including while driving. my mechanic read the code as the throttle position sensor and replaced the accelerator pedal position sensor. | |||
| 06/12/2010 | 77000 | ||
| Tl-the contact owns a 2005 subaru outback. while driving at approximately 75 mph with the cruise control engaged the contact applied repeated pressure to the brakes and the cruise control did not disengage. the cruise control also would not disengage when the off button was pressed. the vehicle did not stop until it crashed and was destroyed. a police was filed and the driver and passenger were reported injured. the vehicle was towed to an insurance company lot and has not been examined for the cause of failure. the failure and current mileages were 77,000. sm. | |||
| 11/28/2005 | 500 | 1 | |
| This complaint concerns the intermittent refusal of the cruise control on my 2005 subaru legacy outback to give up control of the engine when the cruise control handle is pulled down to the coast position and to cause an unexpected, dramatic increase in car speed when the intent is to disengage the cruise control and slow car speed (?the problem?). the problem has existed since purchasing my subaru as new in 2005. the problem has been intermittent, occurring out-of-the-blue and when least expected. on more than one occasion when i wanted to slow but not break the car by pulling the cruise control handle to the coast position, the cruise control would refuse to give up control of the engine and, in some instances, the engine would advance to greater speed, almost causing a collision with traffic i was following. in one test i conducted after almost slamming into the rear end of car being driven in front of me, not only did the cruise control not give up control of the engine when i pulled the cruise control lever to the coast position, the engine continued advancing from a speed of 65 mph to 80 mph during the entire time that i held the cruise control lever was in the coast position. the only was i was able stop the cruise control from controlling the engine was by breaking the car. the problem has occurred regularly and continuously on an intermittent basis since my purchase of the car on 5/14/2005 from lithia subaru in reno, nevada. although causes appear to differ, the problem is similar in nature to toyota cars experiencing unexpected speed increase due to defective accelerator pedals as now being described in the news media. *tr | |||
| 03/01/2006 | 30000 | ||
| Tl*the contact owns a 2005 subaru outback. when the contact attempted to move forward, the vehicle accelerated on its own and crashed into another vehicle. there were no injuries. the failure occurred a total of three times. the most recent failure was on january 10, 2009 while parking the vehicle. she took the vehicle to the dealer, but they could not duplicate the failure. a report was filed with the manufacturer and they stated that there was no recall for the vehicle. the failure mileage was 30,000 and current mileage was 44,000. | |||
| 06/21/2008 | 17441 | 1 | |
| 2005 subaru outback. the car was in park and my right foot was tucked back behind my left foot which was resting on the foot rest pad on the far left side of the floor. the engine was idling normally when suddenly it went to very high revs for 4 to 5 seconds and then returned to normal idle. later the same evening, as i slowly entered my garage and applied normal brake pressure, the car first slowed (as expected) then suddenly began to accelerate. i applied hard brake pressure and the car stopped. it did not seem like the engine had revved as high as the earlier incident and it only lasted for a couple of seconds, but there was a definite, brief surge forward as i entered the garage. *tr | |||
| 07/13/2007 | 1 | ||
| 2005 subaru outback faulty cruise control. consumer states that the invoice states that it turns off on its own but it should state that it turns on by itself. *kb the consumer stated while the cruise control was in use, suddenly and unexpectedly the vehicle lunged forward at a high rate of speed, jumping a 10 inch curb, striking a pine tree, then down a grassy slope and off a second curb into a lower parking area. *jb | |||
| 12/15/2006 | 7317 | 1 | 01/14/2005 |
| Tl* - the contact stated that the driver was pulling into a parking space with a 2005 subaru outback when the car unintentionally accelerated. the contact stated that his mother was doing about 5 mph. the contact stated that is was a nice day and weather was not an issue. the contact stated that the car stopped when it struck trees and that front end damage was done to the car. the contact also stated that the car's engine continued to run until his mother turned the car off. *ak updated 1/19/2007 - *nm | |||
| VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL - CRUISE CONTROL | |||
| 09/01/2007 | 26122 | 2 | 04/11/2005 |
| Unintended acceleration of 2005 subaru outback, manual transmission while driving on 2 occasions within 10 minutes and 5 miles of each other. first occurred in 3rd or 4th gear, with no reason to change speeds or stop, when the car suddenly sped forward, and left the road on the right side. i was able to keep it under control, and just as quickly, it returned to normal. with in the next four miles, it was perfectly normal, with no engine lights, strange sounds or behavior. i came to almost a complete stop before turning left onto our gravel road, when again it surged forward, and this time went through a chain link fence, into a flower garden, and came to a stop, wedged against the fence. the car was towed (on a flat bed) to a repair shop, where it was examined and repaired for $5876.11. i contacted subaru of america by e-mail that evening, , and got a letter dated september 6, that arrived on the 8th. it asked for all the details, service records, police reports, insurance company, etc. it also stated that they wished the vehicle to remain in its undamaged condition. unfortunately, this came too late, as the car was already being repaired. i sent in all the required information and i received a call from subaru of america pn sept. 20, saying that they were sorry, but since the car had been repaired, they were unable to do anything about it. *tr | |||
| 01/01/2007 | 57000 | 50 | 11/16/2004 |
| Manual transmission outback wagon non-turbo cruise control turns off unexpectedly on highways. was filed at wilkins subaru in md a while back and they made some change to the computer by soa and it went away. well it came back on my latest road trip. it would kick out at vary durations, on varying terrain, at varying temperatures, and various speeds. the trip went from the gulf coast to the baltimore over 2 days. my wife put 1500 miles on the car in 2 days a week earlier with no troubles and the next 1200 it was a constant problem. it didn't seem to matter if i set the speed and left it or if i set the speed and used the accel deccel buttons. major nuisance and unsafe. i couldn't always tell it turned off until all of a sudden the car behind me was much too close. then the car lunges as i his resume *jb | |||
| 12/01/2005 | 395 | 17 | 11/01/2005 |
| Every time the cruise control is engaged while going downhill the throttle begins to rapidly and wildly accelerate and decelerate as if it is out of control. it stops when cruise control is disengaged. very unnerving. *jb | |||
| 03/15/2005 | 250 | 03/15/2005 | |
| Cruise control does not operate properly with manual transmission. the throttle will hesitatate and surge when descending on even a small hill. this is distracting to the driver and could be a safety concern. i contacted the dealer and was informed that this is how the vehicle was designed and a fix is not possible. | |||
| 01/01/2005 | 1000 | 30 | 10/13/2004 |
| 2005 subaru outback: when cruise control is engaged, acceleration becomes extremely irregular, especially after cresting a hill, engine pulsates as if gas flow to the engine is being interrupted irregularly, car bucks or pulses. *ak | |||