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.
Twice in the last 4 months, after turning into a parking place and accelerating gently to pull forward into the space, the car surged forward much more than it should have given my light acceleration. The first time this happened I slammed into a split rail fence which broke, damaging the vehicle. The fence parts went over a restraining wall and damaged a house. I was able to stop the car but it came very close to going over the 6 foot restraining wall, which might very well have killed me. It happened again today in a different location but similar circumstance and no damage was done because I was able to stop before it hit the house. The car surged on its own. I had the damage to the car fixed, but the problem has not been confirmed by a service center. The damage was inspected by my insurance company and repaired by an auto body shop. My insurance rates will be increased because of the incident. There were no warning lights, messages or other symptoms prior to the episodes.
While reversing out from a drive way and turning to get into the lane the cars velocity massively increased from no throttle coasting to approximately 20 mph. Panic braking and enough space due to it being a cul-de-sac saved us, but we were launched forward in our seats and slammed back during breaking. we were very fortunate not to have anyone or anything behind us as we nearly went over a curb and into a lawn. A very scary experience that has cast doubt onto this vehicles driving suitability.
I was the first car stopped at a red light of an intersection coming off the freeway, in far right lane. When the light turned green, as I released my foot off the brake and not even stepping on the gas the RPM surged with full force accelerating without my foot on the gas. I stepped on the brake but it would not engage - it locked. The steering wheel locked and only had minimal movement, as much movement as you would get in a parked position. There was no way to stop the car. Given the lane position and obstructions ahead (freeway on ramp), the car ran over a median and scraped along side the curb and on top to damage the front passenger wheel enough for it to pop. Only when the wheel broke did the car-??s brake re-engage and I was able to put it into park. The vehicle has not yet been inspected and is available in my driveway for inspection. There was no warning or indicators leading up to this. In fact, the vehicle had just been inspected for an oil change at the dealership three weeks prior. This accident would have caused a fatality, mine, if not many others if there had been cars ahead of me or cars had been in the intersection or if the wheel did not break in time before merging with the freeway traffic. I am fearful to drive this car again. There were absolutely NO indicators leading up to this or right before it happened. The car simply took over and there was no control of it.
I took our 2018 Subaru Forester through a car wash. The usual washing procedure went just fine with me in the car idling in neutral as it went through. When it came to the end of the wash cycle, I coasted out and then shifted into drive. Instantly the car surged forward at an alarming speed and I could not stop it. The car crossed a busy street. I fortunately did not collide with cars. The car continued into a field next to a Ford dealer-??s lot at a high speed and I was unable to stop it. I managed to swerve right to avoid crashing into the cars parked on the Ford lot. This sent the car back toward the road. Fortunately I hit a lone fire hydrant along the road, shearing the hydrant completely off. The hydrant was dragged along under the front left tire until it hit the curb stopping the car. The air bag did not deploy and I was not injured. This all occurred in a matter of seconds.
Unknown system that failed but vehicle equiped with EyeSight and all of Subaru safety features. Air bag did not deploy. Pulling into curbed parking space at city park. Speed <10 mph while in parking lot. Applied brake while pulling in space to park and car accelerated jumping the curb. The car was out of control and luckily heading into the woods. Tried to apply brake again but car kept accelerating. Car went approximately 10-12 feet and crashed into a tree. I suffered only stiffness and sore muscles from the seatbelt. An accident report was filed with local police department. No warning lamps, messages or other messages appeared prior to the incident.
- Clayton, NC, USA
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Sudden unexplained acceleration incident. Car accelerated without input from driver and rear-ended a parked vehicle in front of the vehicle Eyesight system did not engage to warn or prevent impact with rear end of car in front. The vehicle was travelling at low speed and suddenly accelerated. This is dangerous because it does not provide enough time to prevent from hitting an object in front of the vehicle like a car or person. The problem has not been reproduced by by the manufacturer who sent a technician who inspected the vehicle and could not find any saved info in the event data recorder or saved diagnostics codes. Complaints were filed with the dealership before the incident that the eyesight system did not appear to be functioning correctly. The first time this has happened was 6/02/2021 in the afternoon on a clear day on a clear pathway without any obstructions. The second time this happened was 9/06/2021. The second incident the vehicle accelerated while travelling at lo speed with the eyesight system briefly warning tone beeping. The brakes were applied quickly and the carr seemed almost to stall. The engine made a noise as the stalling conditions ended and the car went back to normal. Subaru filed a service request previously. SR# 1-70302162357.
Sudden unexplained acceleration incident. Car accelerated without input from driver and rear-ended a parked vehicle in front of the vehicle Eyesight system did not engage to warn or prevent impact with rear end of car in front. The vehicle was travelling at low speed and suddenly accelerated. This is dangerous because it does not provide enough time to prevent from hitting an object in front of the vehicle like a car or person. The problem has not been reproduced by by the manufacturer who sent a technician who inspected the vehicle and could not find any saved info in the event data recorder or saved diagnostics codes. Complaints were filed with the dealership before the incident that the eyesight system did not appear to be functioning correctly. The first time this has happened was 6/02/2021 in the afternoon on a clear day on a clear pathway without any obstructions. The second time this happened was 9/06/2021. The second incident the vehicle accelerated while travelling at low speed with the eyesight system briefly warning tone beeping. The brakes were applied quickly and the car seemed almost to stall. The engine made a noise as the stalling conditions ended and the car went back to normal. Subaru filed a service report SR# 1-70302162357. State Farm opened a claim 3620R756C.
Follow up-to complaint #11420905 submitted 6/14/2021. The car was taken back to the dealership due to stall, hesitation, slowness, and erratic uncontrolled acceleration. Safety was the main issue. The dealer confirmed the concern and replaced the transmission with a remanufactured one. The problems still remain with the exception of the stalling. We believe this situation requires further thorough investigation and possible recall or new transmission installation.
The 2018 Forrester XT was taken to Subaru Dealer (Gwinnett) for a routine 42,000-mile service. There were no issues with the car. Shortly after picking up and driving approximately 30 miles the car stalled twice at traffic lights. The engine was restarted but started to exhibit sluggish and erratic acceleration, especially from 0-45 MPH. The car was taken back to Gwinnett Subaru the next day. They did some data retrieval and found a mass airflow event, cleaned the air filter, test drove the car, and released it to us. The next few days, the same problems were experienced but the car did not stall. At one point, at a traffic light, the car would simply not accelerate even with full pedal pressure which was gradually increased. When it finally did, it was uncontrolled and erratic. Highway driving once speed was reached seemed normal, but any acceleration from a slower speed was problematic. On Monday 6-14-2021 the car was taken back to the dealer due to serious concerns about safety and the possibility of the loss of power when critically needed or when on the highway. The dealer promised to investigate the problem further. That evening, we were informed that it was their assessment that the car would need a brand new CVT transmission. The car has approximately 41,100 miles and we were told that it would be covered by the 5 years/60,000 miles powertrain warranty. Expected to take 7-10 days for repair.
I turned into a parking space covering the brake and came to a stop. I went to shift into park and when the gearshift lever started to move the car accelerated uncommanded and ran into the building.
The contact owns a 2018 Subaru Forester. The contact stated while driving 8 mph, the vehicle accelerated without warning which resulted in the vehicle crashing into a parked vehicle. The contact stated no warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was taken to a local dealer (Subaru white plains 258 E main St, elmsford, NY 10523, (844) 338-8731) where it's awaiting diagnosis. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not informed of failure. The failure mileage was approximately 18,000.
Upon entering a parking space, with break peddle engaged, the vehicle lunged forward at extreme speed hitting a protective barrier. After a rest period, the vehicle was put in reverse and with break peddle engaged lurched backward at the same excessive speed hitting another object. After a long period with engine turned off, the operator was able to drive the car slowly. The vehicle is to be examined to determine the problem.
The contact owns a 2018 Subaru Forester. The contact stated that while attempting to switch from drive to reverse, when they pressed the brakes the vehicle suddenly accelerated forward. The vehicle crashed into the contact's garage door through the garage door and partially through the cement wall inside the garage. The air bags failed to deploy. A police report was filed. The vehicle was towed however it was still being determined whether the vehicle would be deemed totaled. The contact's wife received injuries the hip and leg area. Medical attention was needed. The contact had spoken to the dealer (castle Subaru burnsharbor mi) who referred the contact to the manufacturer. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure who requested the black box and opened a case regarding the matter. The vehicle had not been repaired. The approximate failure mileage was 47,000.
A few incidents have happened since the latter half of 2020: While at a stop light that turned green, my car stopped moving for a few seconds despite pressing on the gas pedal and the RPM went up to 6/ loudly revved. I was almost rear ended at this light.the car has also had this lack of movement issue on the freeway while in traffic. My car jerks several times on slight inclines especially after surpassing 40 mph. Often times, I cannot accelerate past 40 mph regardless if the drive is on a flat surface or an incline. The RPM will increase, but the gear feels like it will get stuck and the car makes a loud noise. This is the most noticeable going from 40 mph to 50-55 mph. These incidents are on city streets. However, power often gets lost going on to freeways for the same reason. I cannot surpass 40 mph when entering a freeway and was almost sideswiped on the driver's side by an impatient person entering too early where the on-ramp merges with the freeway because of this. While on a freeway, the car will continue to accelerate despite attempting to slow it down by pressing on the brake or coming to a complete stop. This has also happened on city streets and poses a safety issue. The acceleration when this happens is much faster than when I try to manually accelerate the car myself in other contexts, like mentioned above. I believe it is the cvt as this seems to be a common problem with cars of my make, model, and year.
As it stands in P (park) it has a really high idle even in neutral as if it wants to go. Then in drive it will lurch really fast. Or I have my foot on the break and it starts to rev high then after 3-5sec of seeing rev cycle in the 2000-3000S it calms down. I almost rear-ended a car yesterday. If you slightly pull off the brake the car will want to jolt forward. When it revs high and I take my foot off the brake it jolts forward then slows as if it recognizes I never had my foot on the accelerator. In all of these times I never had my foot on the gas pedal. I don't have pictures because obviously it's scary and I'd rather Focus on the driving then my car acting strange. But I realised that when this was happening more and more frequently my brakes completely wore out. I went from a 7/10 to a 1/10 in between a 3000 mile service! it all became more apparent after the 30,000 mile mark
I had my foot on the break (riding the break and was slowing down to take a left turn onto a residential road, and as I left off the break to start turning because I was now going slow enough, the car accelerated for a second. RPM randomly shot up and the car jumped forward. It happened quickly and subsided just as quickly.
The contact owns a 2018 Subaru Forester. The contact stated that while driving at various speeds, with the cruise control activated, the vehicle would accelerated independently without warning. The contact stated that the failure occurred for approximately 3 seconds before resuming normal operation. The vehicle was taken to mark miller Subaru (3535 state St, South salt lake, ut 84115) and an unknown dealer in austin, Texas, however, neither dealer were able to provide a conclusive diagnosis of the vehicle. The manufacturer had not been notified of the failure. The vehicle had not been repaired. The failure mileage was approximately 31,000.
The contact owns a 2018 Subaru Forester. The contact stated that while driving at approximately 5 mph, the brake pedal was depressed and the vehicle independently accelerated. The vehicle was taken to mark miller Subaru South towne service located at 10920 state St, sandy, ut 84070, (888) 791-4530, to be diagnosed which was still pending. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not contacted nor informed of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 26,457.
On several occasions while driving on the highway, my eyesight feature suddenly disengages and my cruise control ceases to work and no lane assist or other safety features contained with the "eyesight package" work for extended periods of time. This has occurred when it is raining or snowing.
As I was easing into a parking space in my townhome community in front of my neighbor's house, the car suddenly accelerated on its own and jumped the curb, landing on the sidewalk and pushing in the wall of the house. Airbags did not go off and luckily nobody was home or standing on the sidewalk. I was not injured. The car sustained minimal damage (bumper was askew) but the house wall needed to be replaced and the tenants were unable to live there for two weeks.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Williamstown, MA, USA