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.
2012 Subaru Outback cvt issue car will shudder while braking from highway speeds (40 mph+) down to 10-20 mph. Car lurches, similar to a manual car dumping the clutch. In the case of a hard stop this has caused the engine to stall twice, and come close to stalling many more times. Car starts up and runs fine once placed in neutral or park. I have to be extremely conscious of how quickly I brake, as you can feel when the tcc disengages. If it does not disengage before you stop, the car stalls. This leads to possible unsafe conditions, not knowing if your car is going to stall or not at a critical moment (turning left in a busy intersection). This would have been covered by Subaru's extended warranty that they offered to cover this known problem (seemingly instead of a full recall), but by the time my car exhibited these symptoms it was well past the arbitrary 100K mile mark and past the July 31st deadline (my car is at 116K miles, and this started occuring in the past two months). I drive a large amount of highway miles, and recently I do not feel safe coming to a hard stop if necessary. I do not see how a known issue that can cause the car to stall in traffic is not considered a safety issue that necessitates a recall.
Engine stalls while pressing break pedal rapidly. Was told by the dealer that torque converter is a problem and extended warranty is available to fix this issue. My car has salvage title related to minor flooding and is not covered by this warranty. Manufacturer faulty design should result I recall so all the cars are covered( like faulty air bags). Thyis is potentially more danger problem then faulty air bags and I guess Subaru is waiting for causalities as result of this negligible approach.
Vehicle in motion traveling 65 mph on the highway, vehicle appeared to lose power, all dash lights flash, gas pedal unresponsive, coast to side of road, wait 20 minutes, car starts back up, called Subaru dealership, mechanic states it is okay to try and drive, all dash lights flashing, no cruise control, drove 75 + miles before lights stop flashing, scenario repeats itself X 3 more times, lights flashing, no cruise control, take to dealership, Subaru states, "computer reset", has happened once since the "reset" but the car did not completely shut down. It felt like it lost power for a second but came back on while on the highway.
At times, I have been experiencing the engine shutting off when I come to a complete stop. It kind of shudders first and then just dies. If I'm able to roll through the stop, it doesn't die, but when I come to a complete stop, sometimes it just dies. I have to quickly put it in park or neutral and start it again. This could be very dangerous with people behind me not expecting that long of a stop! I do a lot of driving in town and this happens when stopping at stop signs. It is unknown to me at this point as to what is causing the problem.
The contact was driving a 2012 Subaru Outback company vehicle. While driving various speeds, the vehicle hesitated to stop when the brake pedal was depressed. The contact stated that all the warning indicators illuminated. The vehicle was taken to fitzgerald Subaru (11407 rockville pike, rockville, md 20852, (301) 230-9000) where it was diagnosed that the driver and passenger side knock sensors and the passenger side brake light needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired, but the failure recurred. The vehicle was taken back to the dealer where it was diagnosed that the transmission body and harness needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired again, but the failure recurred. The manufacturer was not notified of the failures. The approximate failure mileage was 73,763.
- Washington, DC, USA
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Letter from senator klobuchar on behalf of constituent regarding Subaru warranty complaint. The consumer stated the vehicle failed catastrophically while away on vacation.
In April of 2017, the transmission completely and suddenly failed while traveling on I 35 southbound in Iowa. (we were traveling around 60 miles an hour when the transmission failed) we had it towed to closest Subaru dealer, who then denied the warranty. We were at approximately 59,000 miles and 2 months shy of the original transmission warranty. Even after they sent out letters less than 2 months later extending the warranty on the transmission to 100,000 miles they have continued to deny the warranty and have continued to blame the 3rd party who performed an oil change on the car. The party that performed the oil change is a well established ase certified company. They only performed an oil change and tire service they did nothing with the transmission. Their refusal has dragged on for almost a year straining our finances. We are still in the process of litigation through our attorney. As a consumer we feel outmatched. It is incredibly frustrating especially since they have admitted that they have a transmission problem. Yet they still refuse to fix or solve the problem in anyway and have hired a partner at an expensive law firm to continue to deny the warranty. How is the average consumer supposed to handle this type of situation? I have read in forbes magazine that consumer groups and your organization are aware of this problem but I wanted to make you further aware that even though they have admitted the problem they still continue to make it a problem for the consumer. Thank you
The contact owns a 2012 Subaru Outback. While the vehicle was placed in park on an incline, the contact suddenly heard a scraping noise and noticed that the vehicle independently rolled away. The contact's wife was leaning into the vehicle and was pulled in reverse along with the vehicle. The vehicle crashed into a curb and the front driver's door struck the hedge, which slowed the vehicle down. The vehicle then crashed into a tree hedge. The contact's wife sustained an injury to the right side of her hip that required medical attention. A police report was filed. The dealer was not contacted. The vehicle was towed to an auto shop where all of the panels were repaired; the manufacturer was notified of the failure. An inspector was sent to inspect the vehicle, but no diagnostic failure codes were found and the failure could not be duplicated. The approximate failure mileage was 47,000.
Vehicle stalling while stopping or attempting to accelerate from a stop. There is a warranty extension on the cvt transmission, but only to 100,000 miles from Subaru. This problem should be a recall, not only a warranty extension. It is a significant safety problem that could easily result in collision with injury or death. Vehicle stalling when slowing down or accelerating from a stop.
My transmission failed at 120K miles. Subaru reimbursed me for a replacement which failed 9K miles later. I replaced that one out of my own pocket with a used transmission with only 35K miles on it. The third transmission failed while my wife and I were in the fast lane on a major freeway. We had to navigate across traffic with absolutely zero acceleration. Subaru claims that their transmissions do not put their customers in danger, but I am on my fourth transmission and the last one almost caused us to get into an accident with a tractor-trailer.
Very low engine RPM, or complete engine quit when coming to a stop. The condition is similar to coming to a stop in a manual transmission equipped vehicle without depressing the clutch pedal. Has happened many times and is more of an annoyance until it happens when I might need to accelerate suddenly again. Subaru service bulletin # 16-90-13 design change to lock-up type torque converter pertains, but Subaru has not issued a recall. Maybe they're waiting for someone to die first.
The vehicle stalls when the driver comes to a quick/hard stop. The RPM's drop, the vehicle makes a shuttering sound/motion, then the engine stops causing the driver to put the car back in park and restart the engine. This has the potential to happen anywhere but is most dangerous if it happens on a highway or in heavy traffic.
My car would stall with a hard stop at an intersection or going uphill Subaru reported that it was a bad torque converte, a bulletin notice was done for this by Subaru.I feel this is a big safety issue any recalls should be done, due to a the car stalling with a drop in RPM and a potential accident could occur while trying to restart the car. This occurred numerous times between the months of March and may when I brought it to the dealership. I had vacuum hoses checked I have had engine spark plugs cleaned out and it was at this point generate 112,000 mile tuneup that they informed me the prom was the tour converter and they knew this was an issue.
Purchased used with 150,000 miles on it. It started stalling and cutting off when braking at intersections or sudden stops but does not do it all the time. Has stalled out in traffic when stopped suddenly and have to quickly put it in park, start the engine again, put in drive and go before being rear ended. It has stalled at stop signs on inclines or declines, on a gravel drive way that goes uphill, behind cars that brake suddenly to where I have to quickly stop, or even moving slowly in a car line and then coming to a stop. Subaru is aware of this issue with legacy and Outback models from 2010-2012 and has issued a service bulletin but not a safety recall. The cost to repair is anywhere from $1400 on up. If it is out of warranty like mine, they do not offer any assistance with price. This is a safety hazard when you vehicle cuts off in traffic and should be recalled.
Vehicle stalls at red lights or stop signs. It also hesitates on acceleration. This is a very dangerous situation when having to restart the vehicle in heavy traffic.
The vehicle suddenly and unexpectedly stalls when coming to a rapid stop, such as approaching a stop sign or braking to avoid hitting the car ahead. When my cars stalls, I lose control which could very well lead to an accident.
Failure of the torque converter caused transmission failure and required a complete overhaul at 82511. I was not informed by the dealership there was a service bulletin by the dealership.
Subaru Outback 2012 has been stalling out when coming to a stop, especially when on an incline or at a fast stop, does not do it every time vehicle stops but does it enough to be a safety hazard. Dealership said it is due to a faulty torque converter and also told me I have to have the valve body replaced due to metal shards falling into it from the torque converter.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Crystal Lake, IL, USA