2018 Subaru Legacy

WHILE EXITING OFF HIGHWAY, THE CAN UNEXPECTEDLY SHUT OFF NEARLY CAUSING A WRECK. CAR WOULD NOT RESTART. THE ENTERTAINMENT SCREEN REMAINED WORKING THE ENTIRE TIME. THE INSTRUMENT CLUSTER WENT BLACK AND REMAINED THIS WAY. AUTOMATIC WINDOWS, ENTERTAINMENT SCREEN, RADIO ALL WORKED BUT CAR WOULD NOT START. A SIMILAR ISSUE HAD HAPPENED TWO WEEKS AGO BUT WE WERE NOT DRIVING... THE CAR WOULD NOT START AND A MASTER SUBARU TECH LOOKED AT CAR AND THEY SAID NOTHING WAS WRONG WITH IT.. OBVIOUSLY THEY WERE WRONG. VERY DISAPPOINTED IN SUBARU. THIS IS A VERY DANGEROUS ISSUE.

MY SUBARU STARLINK INFOTAINMENT SYSTEM HAS EXPERIENCED 5 EVENTS OF TOTAL BLACKOUT TO THE INFOTAINMENT SCREEN OVER THE 9-MONTH PERIOD SINCE PURCHASING. THIS HAS RESULTED IN LOSS OF FUNCTIONALITY TO THE PHONE, BLUETOOTH, RADIO AND BACKUP CAMERA CAPABILITIES. SAFETY WAS THE NUMBER ONE REASON WHY I CHOSE THIS CAR (BACKUP CAMERA, LANE DEPARTURE ASSIST, ADAPTIVE CRUISE CONTROL). TO KNOW THAT ROUGHLY 30% OF ALL MINOR VEHICLE ACCIDENTS OCCUR DUE TO BACKUP-RELATED ISSUES, IT SCARES ME THAT MY CAR IS NOT PROTECTING ME FROM THIS POTENTIAL RISK. NOT ONLY IS THIS A RISK TO BASIC SAFETY PRINCIPLES, BUT IT ALSO MAKES MY EVERYDAY TRAVEL CHAOTIC AND STRESSFUL. I DRIVE FOR UP TO 2-3 HOURS AT A TIME, AND TO HAVE ZERO ACCESS TO BASIC FM RADIO, SIRIUSXM RADIO, BLUETOOTH-CONNECTED PODCASTS / E-BOOKS MAKES FOCUSING DIFFICULT. ADDITIONALLY, WITH NO BLUETOOTH PHONE CONNECTION AVAILABLE, I AM FORCED TO HOLD MY PHONE WHILE DRIVING, TAKING ONE OF MY HANDS OFF THE WHEEL, AND DISTRACTING ME FROM FOCUSING ON DRIVING. IT'S ABSURD TO ME THAT THIS ISSUE HAS BEEN RAISED BY HUNDREDS OF SUBARU OWNERS ACROSS MULTIPLE MODEL VEHICLES, AND IT HAS NOT BEEN ADDRESSED. IF, GOD FORBID, SOMETHING WAS TO HAPPEN TO ME OR MY WIFE WHILE DRIVING THIS CAR DUE TO AN ISSUE THAT SUBARU KNEW ABOUT, I DON'T KNOW WHAT I WOULD DO. TO MAKE MATTERS WORSE, I WAS JUST INFORMED AFTER 2 HOURS IN THE SERVICE WAITING AREA THAT THE SUBARU-ISSUED SOFTWARE UPDATE WILL NOT FIX THE ISSUE, AND I HAVE TO COME BACK IN 2-3 WEEKS AFTER THE DEALERSHIP RECEIVES A COMPLETELY NEW RADIO DISPLAY BOARD SYSTEM FOR INSTALL. WHEN THERE IS SOMETHING SAFETY-RELATED AT HAND, AND THE COMPANY IN QUESTION MAKES NO ESCALATED EFFORT TO EXPEDITE THE SOLUTION, IT HEIGHTENS MY CONCERN WITH THE COMPANY'S COMMITMENT TO SAFETY. THIS SITUATION IS FRUSTRATING, YES; BUT MORE THAN ANYTHING, IT QUESTIONS WHETHER OR NOT I AM BEST PROTECTED WITHIN THE CONFINES OF A SUBARU.

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2018 SUBARU LEGACY. THE CONTACT STATED THAT NHTSA CAMPAIGN NUMBER: 18V773000 (ELECTRICAL SYSTEM) EXCEEDED A REASONABLE AMOUNT OF TIME FOR REPAIR. THE CONTACT RECEIVED THE RECALL NOTIFICATION IN NOVEMBER OF 2018. PRESTIGE SUBARU (4271 E BLACK HORSE PIKE, TURNERSVILLE, NJ) STATED THAT THE PARTS WERE NOT AVAILABLE FOR THE REPAIR. THE MANUFACTURER WAS NOT CONTACTED. THE CONTACT STATED THAT THE FUEL GAUGE DISPLAYED THAT THE VEHICLE HAD 40 MILES LEFT. AFTER THE CONTACT DROVE 10 MPH, IT RAN OUT OF FUEL. PARTS DISTRIBUTION DISCONNECT.

ON THE DASHBOARD SHOWED THAT THE REMAIN MILEAGE WAS 70, BUT IT STOPPED ALL THE SUDDEN DUE TO NO GAS. I ALMOST CAUSED AN ACCIDENT BECAUSE THE CAR STOPPED ON A PUBLIC STREET WITH HEAVY TRAFFIC. AFTER MANY TIMES TRYING TO START THE CAR, IT DID NOT WORK; IT WAS COMPLETELY DEAD. I HAD TO LEAVE THE CAR STRANDED TO GO AND GET GAS TO THE NEAREST GAS STATION.

THE RADIO/NAVIGATION SCREEN WENT BLANK. THE REAR VIEW CAMERA, NAVIGATION, STEREO. ETC. NO LONGER WORK. I TOOK THE CAR TO THE DEALER TODAY AND WAS TOLD THE RADIO HEAD NEEDS REPLACED. PROBLEM IS THEY ARE ON NATIONAL BACK ORDER AND NO ONE CAN SAY HOW LONG IT WILL TAKE TO GET IT. THIS IS A MAJOR SAFETY ISSUE BECAUSE BACK UP CAMERA NO LONGER WORKS AND CROSS TRAFFIC WARNING NO LONGER WORKS AND THE NAVIGATION NO LONGER WORKS.

CAR WAS PARKED AND LOCKED. KEYLESS ENTRY SYSTEM ALLOWED DOORS TO BE OPENED. UPON SITTING IN DRIVERS SEAT, BEFORE ANY ATTEMPT TO START CAR, A MESSAGE ON DASH SAID "REMOTE KEY DEACTIVATED". AFTER THAT, NOTHING WORKED, NO FURTHER MESSAGES, COULD NOT LOCK DOORS, COULD NOT START CAR, NOTHING FUNCTIONED. FINALLY HAD CAR TOWED TO DEALER, CASEY SUBARU, NEWPORT NEWS, VA. LATE NEXT MORNING, DEALER CALLED TO SAY CAR WAS READY FOR PICKUP. THEY COULD FIND NO PROBLEM, BOTH REMOTE KEYS FUNCTIONED WELL, NO PROBLEM CODES FOUND. CAR OPERATED WELL ON MY DRIVE HOME, <5 MILES. HOWEVER, I HAVE A REAL CONCERN OF GETTING STRANDED IN FUTURE.

PURCHASED A NEW SUBARU LEGACY FEB. 28, 2018. AFTER ONLY 70 MILES THE WARNING LIGHT FOR SEAT BELTS AND AIRBAG MALFUNCTION APPEARED ON A STARLINK SYSTEM AND DASH. AFTER IMMEDIATELY TAKING IT IN AT THE LOCAL CAR DEALER, SERVICE AGENTS CLAIMED THAT A "RODENT" HAS CAUSED THE DAMAGE. AFTER FURTHER RESEARCH, WE HAVE DISCOVERED A NATIONAL CIVIL SUIT AGAINST SUBARU. APPARENTLY THEY ARE USING BIODEGRADABLE MATERIALS ON THE WIRING OF MANY NEW CARS THAT ATTRACTS SQUIRRELS AND MICE. WE HAVE LIVED AT OUR CURRENT RESIDENCE FOR OVER 35 YEARS WITH NUMEROUS CARS IN THE DRIVEWAY WITHOUT THIS PROBLEM. CONSUMER REPORTS ON JULY 10,2017, REPORTED THAT THEY HAVE UNCOVERED VARIOUS TECHNICAL BULLETINS FROM FORD, GM, HONDA, TOYOTA, AS WELL AS SUBARU CONCERNING THIS ISSUE. DEALER, AT THE MOMENT, REFUSES TO FIX IT WITHOUT EXTENSIVE COST TO US. THIS IS A SERIOUS PROBLEM WITH THIS CAR--DRIVING IT WOULD NOT ONLY BE UNSAFE BUT ILLEGAL SINCE THE AIR BAG AS WELL AS THE SEAT BELTS SHOW A MALFUNCTION. FIXING IT MAY NOT SOLVE THE PROBLEM ON PERMANENT BASIS.