This data is from the NHTSA — the US gov't agency tasked with vehicle safety. Complaints are spread across multiple & redundant categories, & are not organized by problem.
So how do you find out what problems are occurring? For this NHTSA complaint data, the only way is to read through the comments below. Any duplicates or errors? It's not us.
My wife was pulling into a parking spot at a Safeway in Seattle. The car, instead of stopping, sped up when she stepped on the brakes, slamming into a brick wall. She shifted into reverse, and the car sped backwards, then shifted to drive, and sped forward and slammed into a wall again. She shifted to park and pulled on the parking brake. Then, after 5 minutes with the car off, she drove home without incident and parked, although the car was severely damaged.
Front brakes squealing at low speed stops. This was confirmed at the dealership when pulling into the service department. And, severe vibration and shuttering in the steering wheel and break pedal when applying brakes at high speeds. This could not be replicated at the dealership. Dealership inspected front brakes and 're surfaced front rotors twice during same visit. Same symptoms still occur. No visual early warning signs are or were present.
The parking/emergency brake lever was accidently activated while traveling at highway speed of 70mph. The lever is in a BAD location and close to where cell phone is charged, cup holders are and transmission shift lever. Cell phone charge cable caught on lever and LOCKED up rear brakes at 70MPH. Almost resulted in loss of life and crash!
I had brakes replaced in December 2020 with 50,000 miles on the car. For the last few weeks, I have noticed wobbling/pulsing when I press on the brake. Suspicious that it was the rotors, I had the mechanic who was doing my 60,000 mile service check the rotors. He let me know that the rotors aren't even close to being warped. I called Subaru of America who in turn told me that this was a "new" problem with a "new" limited availability part that just came out in the past two weeks. Both Subaru of America and the Subaru dealership I deal with say this is under normal wear and tear and they will not replace it under warranty. I understand that brakes are wear and tear, but I already replaced my brakes and paid for those out of pocket. It is not my fault that there is an issue with the manufacturing of replacement brakes to where the car has this problem. Since it is the braking system, it could obviously be a safety issue. They want me to pay out of pocket for this brake pad kit (to the tune of $200+ after labor) when all I did was replace the brakes with what they came up with. If that part is wrong, Subaru needs to take care of it.
Brakes shook violently at highway speed and while descending mountain. Took to dealer and they said this is a known issue. Had to replace brakes and rotors on all 4 wheels. Ascent had only 7600 miles. Vehicle needs to be recalled and retrofitted with new brakes/rotors that can handle the demands/weight of the Ascent.
- State College, PA, USA
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At about 13,000 miles the vehicle showed symptoms of warped front rotors. They were machined smooth. At 21,000 miles the symptoms returned and this time they front rotors and brake pads were replaced. The vehicle now has 32,000 miles and is presenting with the same symptoms. The symptoms are: Shaking when braking and a noticeably delayed stopping time.
I purchased the Subaru Ascent 2019 in September of 2018. Recently while traveling at highway speeds and applying the brakes a strong vibration resulted while braking. I took the car to the Subaru dealer and was told the rotors needed to be turned. The car only has 14,000 miles and the brakes are already failing.
At freeway speed, the brake makes noise and vibrate when you press the pedal lightly to reduce speed, this happens mostly when you go downhill. Battery drains when parked inside the garage overnight, rear gate does not lock when closed.
The brakes squeal, like metal to metal.this does not happen all the time. The rotors were replace at about 13,000 miles. I was told by the tech at the dealership the rotors need replaced again. I was told this is not a safety issue but when applying the breaks it seems I need more pressure that before. I think may be safety issue.
Our windshield cracked and we had to replace it not too long after purchasing. We have had problems with our heater locking and not being able to turn it off or our drunk locking and we cant open it we are unable to unlock it.... we put in several complaints about a grinding noise when we break since we bought the car. I noticed it when I first drove it and they told me it was normal. When the car takes off there is a shake and stall before it moves. Also when driving it feels like it jolts and then goes again also a complaint....
This started with only 6K miles on 2019 Ascent, the brakes ride extremely rough. Braking does are not as effective as they should be. This makes braking, give the car a bumpy ride as it decelerates and the driver an uneasy feeling.
In a matter of 3 weeks, the Ascent came to a complete stop in the middle of the road with no objects in view of the car on 2 different occasions. The anti-collision braking system initiated from approximately 35 mph to a complete stop, thinking the fog was an object. This is extremely unsafe as the vehicle can stop at anytime, in the fog. If there was traffic on the road, we would have been rear ended. Dealership could not replicate problem, will be contacting Subaru directly next. Mileage is approximately 8,500.
Brakes made loud noise even when driving off the lot. Told it was a new car and it will subside. The noise did not subside. It grew louder. Took car to Subaru dealer where they told me the rotors would need to, be cut! on a new car with under 900 miles! took it home and the noise was less but grew louder as the week went on. Brought the car back to Subaru and they indicated they would replace the rotors and the brake pads. Of course, they didn't mention it would take over a week and a half to get the parts. Noise was when braking whether stationary or moving. Another issue is when my cell phone rings, the radio starts blasting! I almost ran off the road. This happened twice and the dealership can't seem to replicate the issue. They told me they had not had to resolve both the brakes and radio issue with anyone else in their dealership. I find this hard to believe, unless they did not sell many Ascents. I am also worried about the electrical and transmission problems I keep hearing people complain about.
The collision avoidance system is incorrectly identifying parked cars or cars exiting the freeway in an adjacent lane as obstacles and slams on the brakes. This is happened on the interstate at highway speeds and at speeds as low as 30 mph while traveling on a city street. I'm terrified that I am going to be rear ended when my vehicle goes from 70 to zero mph when there is absolutely nothing in front of me but the 'safety equipment' is malfunctioning. I have been telling the dealership about it for several months with minimal response.
The contact owns a 2019 Subaru Ascent. The contact received a recall notice for NHTSA campaign numbers: 19V856000 (engine and engine cooling) and 19V855000 (power train). The contact stated that the gps unit was inoperable. Furthermore, while at a stop sign/light, the vehicle would accelerate when the brake pedal was depressed and there was an abnormal clunking, squeaking noise detected from the steering/suspension. Also, while driving various speeds, the vehicle shuddered and shook forward and backwards, and the driver and passenger doors made an abnormal buzzing noise. There were no warning indicators illuminated. The vehicle was taken to puente hills Subaru (17801 E gale ave, city of industry, ca 91748, (626) 626-4800) multiple times and the contact was informed that the vehicle was working as designed. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was contacted and provided case number: Sr#:1-50458273772. The failure mileage was 1,000.
A couple of months ago, my wife started the car and backed off a parking lot. When she pressed the brake and felt wired - the brake could not be pressed down and felt like it's jammed somehow. The car did not stop even she switched the car to parking! it eventually stopped after hit a parked car behind. Because the speed was very low so there was no obvious damage to both cars. But after restarted the car, all the warning lights went on - rab, eye sight, at oil temp, low tire pressure, and the sun roof and sun shade not working.
Within my first two weeks (200-300 miles) of owning the vehicle I was told by stevens creek Subaru that the car was not safe to drive and here we are again. Another failed strut. So by deduction, it's unsafe to drive but that hasn't stopped Subaru from putting me back in it, fully aware that the strut has failed verified at 20,000 miles but problem started 12,000 miles ago. In motion this is a problem everywhere. Safety issue. Subaru is not making me drive for almost a month with a failed strut, waiting on parts. Let's talk about brakes next... so they replaced the front pads with "special" brakes, hand delivered from Japan. Why" what are these "special" pads and how are they different? I really want to know what's different about these? are they softer? will they wear out faster" I'm not honestly thrilled that they resurfaced the rotors. Again... brand new car... brand new rotors... now they have extra "wear" as a result of the bad brakes from the factory and they will wear out faster. Would have preferred them to be replaced. This only adds additional out of warranty costs to me in the end. Especially if the new pads also wear quicker. Safety we just blindly applied the ECU firmware upgrade with no pre-drive test to verify the problem. Which was why the car was left overnight in the first place initially. So we have no documentation of the issue just that we flashed the firmware. From my tests the past two mornings it seems better and possibly resolved but again, this should have been properly documented and tested and was not. The surging engine condition / transmission gear ratio hunting problem was never verified by the dealer. They blindly flashed the firmware and also didn't road test after the fact. There also still an undiagnosed transmission problem. Additionally there's many more things wrong with my car but your form limits me to three at a time.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Seattle, WA, USA