— A Subaru acceleration lawsuit alleges Subaru Forester, Legacy and Outback vehicles in California have defects that cause sudden unintended acceleration problems.
Included in the California class action lawsuit are the 2015-2019 Subaru Legacy, 2012-2018 Subaru Forester and 2015-2019 Subaru Outback which allegedly have software problems.
California plaintiff Suzanne Bare purchased a certified pre-owned 2016 Subaru Legacy in July 2019. She says she also purchased an extended warranty from Subaru that provided coverage up to 84 months and 100,000 miles.
The plaintiff says she was driving the Legacy in January 2020 when the Subaru had about 33,000 miles on it. She was stopped with her foot on the brake, but the vehicle suddenly accelerated as she attempted to put the vehicle into PARK.
Even though she says her foot was forcefully applying pressure to the brake pedal, the Legacy shot forward and hit a fence. The Legacy suffered $1,600 in damages, with her insurance paying for everything except a $500 deductible the plaintiff had to pay.
A Subaru dealership said technicians didn't find any problems and the Legacy was “operating as designed.” Now the plaintiff says she doesn't feel safe in the Legacy and drives "very reluctantly."
California plaintiff Michael Nickel purchased a used 2014 Subaru Forester Limited 2.5 from a private party in November 2019. The plaintiff says the Forester has suffered several unintended acceleration incidents since owning the vehicle.
He says it usually occurs while stopped with his foot on the brake pedal when the vehicle "will suddenly go into gear and lunge forward for a couple of seconds."
The plaintiff says he has been able to apply the brakes until the acceleration stops, but Nickel "remains concerned that the car is unsafe."
The class action alleges the controller area network, called a CAN bus, has software errors. In addition, the brake override system is allegedly defective and doesn't prevent unintended acceleration. Subaru owners allegedly claim pushing the brake pedals to the floors has no effect on sudden acceleration.
The plaintiffs claim Subaru has failed to issue a recall or even a technical service bulletin about unintended acceleration in the vehicles. The plaintiffs also allege the automaker has ignored acceleration problems and blamed drivers when incidents occurred.
According to the Subaru acceleration lawsuit, the problem can occur when there is a disturbance in the electrical current inside the throttle body. But the lawsuit alleges electrical errors are also difficult to trace by technicians, providing Subaru an opening to blame drivers.
The Subaru acceleration lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California: Bare, et al., v. Subaru of America, Inc.
The plaintiffs are represented by Casey Gerry Schenk Francavilla Blatt & Penfield LLP, Morgan & Morgan Complex Litigation Group, and Emerson Firm, PLLC.
CarComplaints.com has driver complaints about the Subaru Forester, Subaru Lagacy and Subaru Outback.
