2014 Subaru Forester

I WAS MAKING A ROUTINE VISIT TO MY MOTHER AT HER APARTMENT. TURNED LEFT INTO THE COMPLEX THEN TURNED RIGHT AND WENT UP A SMALL HILL. AT THE TOP OF THE HILL AT NO MORE THAN 5-10 MPH I TURNED FAIRLY SHARPLY TO THE RIGHT TO ENTER THE PARKING SPACE. AT THAT POINT THE VEHICLE SUDDENLY ACCELERATED AND SURGED FORWARD. THE VEHICLE HIT A TREE APPROXIMATELY 15-20 FEET AWAY. THE FORCE OF THE CRASH CAUSED THE DRIVER SIDE AIRBAG TO DEPLOY AND THE FRONT END RECEIVED EXTENSIVE DAMAGE RESULTING IN THE TOTAL LOSS OF THE VEHICLE. I'VE BEEN DRIVING FOR OVER 30 YEARS WITH NO ACCIDENTS AND CONSIDER MYSELF AN EXCELLENT DRIVER. OF COURSE I QUESTIONED WHETHER OR NOT I COULD HAVE HIT THE GAS BY MISTAKE, BUT THIS VISIT IS SO ROUTINE AND HAVE MADE THIS SAME TURN INTO THE PARKING SPACE SO MANY TIMES, I DON'T BELIEVE THAT IS THE CASE. IT'S HARD TO BELIEVE THAT THE VEHICLE COULD HAVE SURGED FORWARD AND HIT THE TREE WITH THAT MUCH FORCE IN SUCH A SHORT DISTANCE. LUCKILY THERE WERE NO OTHER PEOPLE INVOLVED AS I WAS ALONE IN THE VEHICLE. I CAN'T HELP BUT WONDER HOW MUCH WORSE IT COULD HAVE BEEN. I DID REPORT THE INCIDENT TO THE SUBARU DEALER AND WILL BE MAKING A REPORT TO THE MANUFACTURER SUBARU OF AMERICA. *TR

WHEN SOMEONE DEPARTS ROAD ON AN EXIT AND THEY ARE DECELERATING EVEN IF THEY ARE CLEAR AND OUT OF THE LANE THE CAR WILL PRACTICALLY STOP ON THE HIGHWAY, SLAMMING ON THE BRAKES HARD. EVEN UNDER NORMAL USE OF THE CRUISE CONTROL THE EYESIGHT SYSTEM DOES NOT ENGAGE THE BRAKES SLOWLY IN A PROGRESSIVE PATTERN IT HITS THEM ABRUPTLY. I AM IN A CONGESTED AREA AND HAVE OFTEN HAD TO OVERRIDE THE SYSTEM BY HITTING THE BRAKES MANUALLY TO DISENGAGE THE SYSTEM OR FLOOR THE GAS TO PREVENT SOMEONE FROM REAR ENDING ME ON THE HIGHWAY. I BROUGHT IT TO THE DEALERS ATTENTION THEY SAY IT IS OPERATING AS IT SHOULD AND HAVE BROUGHT IT TO SUBARU CORPORATE CUSTOMER SERVICE ATTENTION ON AT LEAST 3 OCCASIONS ASKING FOR A SOFTWARE UPDATE AND HAVE HAD NO RESPONSE. I BELIEVE THE SYSTEM IS GOOD BUT NEEDS REFINEMENT OF ITS SOFTWARE BEFORE SOMEONE GETS HURT OR KILLED.

DRIVING ABOUT 15-25 MILES PER HOUR. AS I STARTED TO TAKE FOOT OFF THE BRAKE CAR SPED FOWARD(FORCING ME TO SLAM ON THE BRAKES).ONE TIME MY WIFE HIT CAR IN FRONT OF HER. THIS HAS HAPPENED FIVE TIMES IN THE LAST MONTH. DEALER STATES NOTHING WRONG WITH CAR. HAS HAPPENED WITH BOTH MYSELF AND WIFE DRIVING. VERY DANGEROUS. DO NOT KNOW WHAT TO DO. *TR

AFTER A ROUTINE PERIODIC MAINTENANCE THAT WAS REPORTED TO INCLUDE A SOFTWARE UPDATE (UNRELATED?), INTERMITTENT EVENTS WITH UNEVEN AND BRIEFLY ABSENT ACCELERATION OCCURRED WHEN ATTEMPTING TO INCREASE VEHICLE SPEED FROM SLOW SPEEDS OR FROM A STOPPED CONDITION WHEN DEPRESSING THE THROTTLE. NO INDICATOR LIGHTS WERE PRESENT ON THE DASH OF AN ELECTRONIC CONTROL PROBLEM OR ANY UNSAFE CONDITION. AFTER INITIALLY DENYING THE PROBLEM THE DEALER WAS ABLE TO REPLICATE IT. ELECTRONIC DATA WAS REPORTED TO BE COLLECTED ON THE EVENT AND EXAMINED BY SUBARU. SUBARU AMERICA IS REPORTED TO HAVE SUGGESTED CHECKING THE KNOCK SENSOR CONNECTION. DEALER REPORTED "TIGHTENING" THE CONNECTION. NO PARTS LISTED AS REPLACED, NO REASON FOR "LOOSENING" GIVEN (AT 11500 MILES), NO REASON GIVEN FOR "INTERMITTENT" PERFORMANCE, NO REASON GIVEN FOR LACK OF INDICATION/DASH LIGHT FOR A PRESUMED UNCERTAIN STATE IN A SENSOR CONTROLLING ACCELERATION/FUEL IGNITION. I GUESS THE DEALER AND SUBARU AMERICA KNOW THEIR PRODUCT BEST - AND THIS ISSUE IS RESOLVED - BUT I AM SURPRISED THAT AN INTERMITTENT CONNECTION TO A SENSOR IMPACTING ACCELERATION WOULD NOT RESULT IN A DASH INDICATOR OR CODE. ALSO, SINCE NO REASON FOR THE "DISCONNECTION" WAS GIVEN - AND NO PARTS WERE REPLACED - I CAN ONLY ASSUME THAT A FACTORY ASSEMBLY DEFECT OCCURRED (MANIFEST JUST AFTER A SOFTWARE CHANGE?). IN ANY CASE, SUBARU AMERICA INDICATES THIS PROBLEM IS RESOLVED. NO ACCIDENT OCCURRED, BUT SINCE THE PERFORMANCE ISSUE WAS ASSOCIATED WITH ACCELERATION CONTROL, IT DESERVES TO BE NOTED. *TR

THIS VEHICLE IS A FORESTER XT TURBO. I WAS OPERATING ON CRUISE CONTROL AT 78 MPH, APPROXIMATELY 900 MILES FROM HOME, WHEN A SUDDEN LOSS OF PROPULSION OCCURRED. DASHBOARD HAD MULTIPLE WARNING LIGHTS. ENGINE WAS STILL OPERATING, THOUGH AT VERY LOW RPM SO I WAS ABLE TO MAINTAIN STEERING AND BRAKING CONTROL. AFTER MANEUVERING TO THE SIDE OF THE ROAD, I NOTICED THE TACHOMETER WAS FLUCTUATING BETWEEN 500-800 RPM. I TURNED OFF THE ENGINE AND WAS ABLE TO RESTART. THE FOLLOWING WARNING LIGHTS WERE STILL ILLUMINATED: CHECK ENGINE, HILL CONTROL, CRUISE CONTROL, AND OPERATING MODE. OPERATING MODE WAS STUCK IN "SPORT" MODE. I WAS ABLE TO DRIVE VEHICLE AT NORMAL SPEED TO NEAREST DEALER APPROXIMATELY 10 MILES AWAY. THE SERVICE TECHNICIAN STATED I HAD AN ERROR CODE OF P0606. THIS IS A VOLTAGE ISSUE ON THE ENGINE CONTROL MODULE, (ECM). THE CORRECTIVE ACTION IS TO RE-FLASH THE ECM COMPUTER CHIP. THIS IS A RESTRICTED ACTION, REQUIRING A FIELD SERVICE ENGINEER TO COME TO THE DEALER TO DO THE PROCEDURE. THE TECHNICIAN STATED THEY HAD ALREADY EXPERIENCED THIS WITH A VEHICLE THEY SOLD BUT THE PROBLEM WITH THE MODULE USUALLY OCCURS ON ENGINE START. THE TECHNICIAN CLEARED THE ERROR CODES AND I CONTINUED ON MY TRIP. UPON RETURNING TO MY HOME, I TOOK THE VEHICLE TO MY DEALER TO BE SERVICED. MY DEALER STATED THEY WERE ONE OF THE FIRST TO EXPERIENCE THIS ISSUE. I AM WONDERING WHY THERE HAS BEEN NO RECALL/NOTICE TO OWNERS OF THIS PROBLEM SINCE IT HAS BEEN KNOWN FOR A WHILE. IT IS FRIGHTENING TO LOSE POWER WHEN CRUISING AT HIGHWAY SPEED. *TR

I WAS TURNING RIGHT TO PARK AT A STATE PARK. THE PARKING AREA IS SANDY AND FULL OF POT HOLES. I WAS ALMOST STOPPED WHEN THE CAR ACCELERATED VIOLENTLY. MY CAR MOUNTED A FLAT BOULDER, ONE OF MANY IN THE PARKING AREA. I STILL DON'T FEEL LIKE I COULD HAVE STEPPED OR STOMPED ON THE GAS PEDAL VS THE BRAKE PEDAL, BUT IT IS A POSSIBILITY. I AM A VERY CAUTIOUS DRIVER. COULD THIS BE A DEFECT IN THIS CAR? I FEEL THAT IT SHOULD BE REPORTED AND NOTED IN CASE OTHERS HAVE THE SAME EXPERIENCE. *TR

THE ADAPTIVE CRUISE HAS NOT RECOGNIZED STOPPED VEHICLES, AND DID NOT SLOW THE VEHICLE DOWN THUS POTENTIALLY CONTRIBUTING TO A CRASH AND INJURY. THE CAR HAS BEEN EVALUATED MULTIPLE TIMES FOR THIS BY THE DEALER AND HAS NOT FOUND A PROBLEM. THE DYSFUNCTION CONTINUES; THERE WERE 4 INCIDENTS TODAY WHERE THERE WAS FAILURE OF THE ADAPTIVE CRUISE CONTROL SYSTEM TO INITIATE ANY SAFETY MANEUVERS TO AVOID A CRASH. *TR