Consumer Complaints
| Fail date | miles | occurences | Purchase date |
|---|---|---|---|
| ELECTRONIC STABILITY CONTROL | |||
| 01/17/2011 | 47655 | ||
| I own a 2006 subaru outback 2.5 with a manual transmission. this vehicle is an early warning indicator for black ice on the road surface. the outback vehicle has a stability control problem in certain conditions. while driving at constant speed (constant and low throttle position) on a flat road, the back end of the vehicle tends to oscillate from side to side in icy conditions. the vehicle feels like it is going to spin out, although that hasn't happened to me yet. other vehicles on the road at the same time seem to have adequate traction (2wd, awd, 4wd). the problem is not traction while: 1) cornering under slippery conditions, 2) hard acceleration on ice, or 3) braking on ice. road conditions that i have experienced the oscillation on are very thin ice (black ice). i suspect there is something wrong with the rear suspension design on my outback. the problem is more prevalent and pronounced when the vehicle has occupants in the rear seats. the stability of this vehicle seems to be marginal and it only takes certain conditions (road and vehicle parameters) to be on the edge of disaster. subaru released technical service bulletin 05-36-07 which eliminated the positive side of the original toe tolerance for rear tire alignment. i think the vehicle experiences large rear tire toe in when weight is added. i suspect this large rear tire toe in when weight is added contributes to the stability problem in icy conditions i have brand new (jan 2010) hankook ipike w409 studless winter tires. its not the tires. those who have not experienced this situation naturally respond by saying it is ice, what are your expecting, just slow down. i have lived in colorado since 1981 and consider myself a competent driver in all weather conditions. please respond as i would like to get this problem fixed if possible...the car just turned 50,000 miles. | |||
| 10/26/2009 | 1 | ||
| 2006 subaru outback auto trans. on many occasions the vehicle's rear-end side-steps or oscillates on icy/snow-packed road conditions. this has also been described as ghost-walking where it feels like the awd system in the rear is over compensating, leading to the vehicle being uncontrollable. the behavior seems to happen in the 30-40mph range. although, i prefer not to drive any faster than the road conditions allow, it can be very frightening when other 2wd cars and trucks are passing you going 20mph faster and it's difficult to even keep the car on the road or in a straight line. i have had the alignment checked and had brand-new all season tires installed, with no resolution. the dealer has not found anything wrong. *tr | |||
| 12/24/2008 | 67000 | 1 | |
| I am in my third season driving my 2006 subaru outback to lake tahoe for winter ski season. i've always felt confident driving on snowy or icy roads until my last two trips--christmas 2008, and new year's 2009. on these trips, i experienced very disturbing fishtailing that everyone in the car noticed, and i had to fight to compensate for. this occurred even on long straight sections. each time i had to slow down well below the flow of traffic, and the speed of previous trips. this issue made me wonder about improper tire inflation pressure, so we called the tire dealer, who confirmed this was not the cause. it felt as if the rear wheel traction was overcoming front wheel traction, that made me also wonder whether the all-wheel drive was functioning properly. i also considered weight as a cause, because one day i drove from reno to tahoe with only one passenger, and little cargo, and did not experience the problem. but, the fully loaded vehicle was no different than many trips the previous two seasons, when the fishtailing did not occur, and i could maintain sufficient speed to stay with the flow of traffic. same vehicle, same tires, same loads, same road, same conditions, yet much different performance. i noticed other similar complaints, some of which refer to ghostwalking. please work on identifying the cause and solution for this issue, to prevent serious accident/injury. thank you. *tr | |||
| 12/15/2008 | 1 | ||
| '06 subaru outback(auto) seems to have handling issues caused by awd system. some have described it as ghostwalking, where the rear end of the car shifts side to side when the awd kicks in. please investigate this problem. have replaced tires and checked alignment, problem still exists. *tr | |||
| 12/26/2007 | 49000 | 4 | 03/21/2006 |
| When driving our subaru 2006 2.5i outback wagon (4-speed auto w/sport shift) in winter road conditions, we have had multiple instances where the rear of the car begins to float or do mini-fishtails. it feels like the rear wheels are alternately pushing the car back and forth or like there are wind gusts hitting the car. the floating has a rhythmic feel and may continue for many miles until the road conditions change. when the car is | |||