2019 Subaru Forester

When I am stopped at a traffic light or stop sign, and I have not manually turned off the auto stop-start feature, from time to time the car will not start when I depress the gas. Often this is accompanied by a screeching sound - the sound the car makes if you try to shut it off when it is in gear. The danger is that I cannot move the car forward without putting the car in park, turning the engine off, then turning the car/engine on, and then depressing the gas. If there were no other drivers on the road, this would be an inconvenience but not a safety hazard. But there are other drivers who have no idea why I am not moving forward and they get impatient and try to pass me in areas where drivers coming in the other direction do not expect it. I have witnessed several near accidents. I have taken it to the dealer who cannot reproduce the problem but an internet search reports many other Suburu drivers who have experienced the same problem.

The engine cuts out and stalls while turning through an intersection (with danger of being rear ended) or driving through parking lots at low speed. The car will zoom forward right after that, usually while in a parking lot nearly hitting pedestrians on several occasions! This issue is a frequent occurrence becoming more dangerous the past 2 years. We have our car serviced at the Subaru dealership in Prescott, AZ and have told them about this. They tell us the same thing when we tell them what it does, they say "NO IT DOESN'T".

On Friday, December 15, 2023 I started my car, Subaru Forester Touring 2019. After starting these lights came on the dashboard: check engine, flashing S drive, no eyesight, RAB off. I was reading online that there have been complaints to NHTSA similar to my problem ( NHTSA ID # 11490232, 12479843, 11511658, 11490977, 11479843, 11499756, 11480952, 11491752, 11474804) to name a few reports.This has never happenedbefore. The mileage on my car is about 54,400 miles at time of incident. It seems to me that there is a pattern here that needs to be resolved and the owners informed so they can get if fixed before it happens and causes safety problems for Subaru Forester owners. I am kindly asking your office to seriously look into this specific problem and help us, the consumers, to inform Subaru to fix these issues. I thank you for taking the time to read my letter.

2019 Subaru switched from a thermostat to a "Thermo Control Valve" (TCV). They eventually redesigned it in 2022 due to so many failures. Mine failed rendering the cars "eyesight", lane assist, cruise control and brake assist useless. Check engine light and oil temperature light remain on. Engine code is P26A6 and P26A5. Subaru has known about this issue for years yet charge $600 for the new "Thermo Control Valve" and $1,000 to install it. These "TCV" valves fail indiscriminately with mileage not being a factor, rather the product itself. Any search online and you will find hundreds (if not thousands) of people affected in and outside the warranty. No recall has been given.

Three times in the last week or so, coming to a stop, in traffic, the car throws a warning about the EyeSight not working and it shuts the car off. The first time I was still rolling and had not come to a stop. The other two times I was just barely stopped and it happened. It would be horrible if it happened while driving fast. You have to put it in park and hit the start button to turn the electrical off and then hit the button again to start the car. Windshield is clean. No visible obstruction to the camera system. Clear weather every time. No rain. Daytime driving.

2019 Subaru Forester with 38,000 miles. Heat stopped working. 30 minutes later, check engine light came on. Warning on dash stating that Eyesight cannot turn on. Lane assist and adaptive cruise control will not turn on. Mechanic found it needs the Thermo Control Valve replaced or the car will have no heat and the engine can overheat. Quoted a $2,000 repair cost and 3 weeks before we can get the part.

This is the second time I am reporting this issue in the past few months. Three times this week my car has gone into the "gas saving" mode at a stop sign or red light and has not turned back on. I get a warning and need to turn the car off and then back on. This has put me in very u safe situations as people assume I'm going to start driving once the light changes and I've been nearly rear-ended multiple times, screamed at, cursed at, etc. This has happened an uncomfortable amount of times and I think you should do an investigation before I, or someone else gets hurt!