2019 Subaru Forester

About a month ago while approaching a stop light turning green at a busy intersection, I was slowing into the left turning lane when my car just stopped. No avoidance, no alerts. I had a semi behind me who started pulling out around me in heavy traffic. I could use my flashers. I turned the car off, then on and it finally restarted. This is a 2019 Subaru Forester, original owner, only one incident - but it was definitely weird, and unsafe!

The contact owned a 2019 Subaru Forester. The contact stated that while driving on a main road at 30 MPH upon approaching a red light the contact attempted to slow down by depressing the brake pedal, however the vehicle would not slow down, the contact proceeded to swerve to the right and in the process crashed into a lamppost and power pole with the entire front end of the vehicle. There was property damage to both the lamppost and the power pole, and the vehicle came to a stop upon impact. The airbags were deployed. The vehicle was going 30 MPH at the time of the crash. The vehicle was towed to a local junk yard. No warning lights were illuminated. A police report was filed. The vehicle was destroyed. The contact was injured, and she was seated in the driver's seat. No one outside of the vehicle was reported to be injured. The contact sustained injuries to her chest, abdomen, and shins. Medical treatment was required for the injuries. The approximate failure mileage was 50,000.

The vehicle is less than 5 years old and has less than 50k miles. While driving with cruise control engaged on the Thruway, my check engine light came on. Almost immediately after the red "BRAKE" warning showed on the dash. When that happened my car engaged the brakes while I was traveling at 75mph and I pulled to the side of the Thruway as quickly as I could as to not wreck with another driver. My engine sounded like it was working overtime so I shut off the vehicle. After a couple of minutes I tried to start my engine and it would not go. After another few minutes I was able to start the vehicle but could not drive because the brakes were still engaged. I needed to turn on/off the parking brake a few times before they released. I then drove the vehicle the remaining 2.5 hours home with the check engine light on and red "BRAKE" light off. This same scenario happened on my way to bring the vehicle to the dealer to fix the issue. The Subaru dealership inspected the vehicle and confirmed the thermo control valve was malfunctioning and would need to be replaced. Thankfully the vehicle was under warranty and did not cost me anything to repair.

The contact owns a 2019 Subaru Forester. The contact stated that while stopping, the contact went to park in a parking lot and the vehicle had launched forward while the foot was still on the brake pedal which caused the contact to crash into a tree. The air bags did not deploy. The vehicle was going 1 MPH. No warning light was illuminated. A police report was filed. The vehicle was towed to a dealership. The vehicle had not been diagnosed or repaired by an independent mechanic or dealer. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and advised the contact to tow her vehicle to the nearest dealership for diagnosis. The failure mileage was approximately 22,000. The VIN was not available.

The contact owns a 2019 Subaru Forester. The contact stated that while driving at various speeds, the vehicle suddenly unintendedly accelerated. The contact depressed the brake pedal to regain control of the vehicle. The contact stated that approximately 10 minutes after the first failure, the failure reoccurred. The vehicle had not been diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 29,000.

Auto safety systems compromised with illumination of check engine light and engine temp warning light. Subaru dealership service department determined problem with Thermo Control Valve. Engine was not overheating as the vehicle was being driven in winter time, February in Alaska. Only indication of problem was indicator lights and reduced heat from cabin heat system. Vehicle went into "limp" mode as soon as warning lights illuminated, disabling advanced safety systems.

There have been multiple incidents where the automatic collision braking system has almost caused me to be in an accident. Although it can be turned off, you must remember to do it manually each time you turn the car on. The dealership has not offered a choice to have this dangerous feature permanently disabled. In this incident, traffic in front of me started to slow down significantly, and I started to make a lane change into the left lane which was open. In the middle of the lane change, the brakes slammed on, which meant if anyone was approaching in the left, they would have to quickly slam theirs on to not rear end me. It is honestly very scary to find yourself suddenly not in control of your vehicle when a human is better able to interpret a constantly evolving situation than a computer system. Case in point, the last time I was scared half to death, the brakes slammed on while I was driving unobstructed as a car pulled out from a store far ahead of me into the lane to my right. I was in the middle lane. At no time was the car crossing into my lane. It had just started to pull out, and my brakes slammed on. If the person behind me didn’t think fast, I would have been hit. There have been lawsuits against Subaru’s eyesight feature because it misinterprets items like trash cans or cones as obstacles. The braking system is going to cause serious harm to someone, and I personally am tired of almost being in accidents because the car brakes without warning. I don’t know at this point what to do to get it disable. Safety features aren’t supposed to cause harm.

The lane keeping assist even when shut off prevents lane changes. A truck drifted into my lane and I had to use extreme force to steer over the car. The collision assist will randomly brake at high way speeds, also while off. The brakes will get squishy, not properly engage and make funny noises while the parking collision is off as well.