2018 Subaru Legacy

STARLINK INFOTAINMENT SYSTEM (AUDIO HEADUNIT),(DEFECTIVE)...FREEZING, MALFUNCTION, SCREEN BLACK OUT AT ANY TIME...BLACK OUT WHILE IN MOTION (REVERSE) USING BACK UP CAMERA. INTERMITTING BEEPING SOUND THOUGH CARS SPEAKERS WHILE DRIVING...MAJOR DISTRACTION...UNSAFE!.... FINDING WAS WITHIN A AUGUST.2019 CLASS ACTION LAWSUIT OR SO (RECALL) : FEDERAL MOTOR VEHICLE SAFETY STANDARD (111).I ALSO HAVE (DOCUMENTED) RECENT PROOF FROM WINNER SUBARU OF DOVER DELAWARE.. WHICH CONFIRMED THE (EXACT) SAME FACTS.... CONTACT:REP...NAME:(BROOK).I REACHED OUT TO SUBARU AMERICA ADVOCATE.... CAMDEN NEW JERSEY... CONTACT NAME: (NIKO)...#800-782-2783 EXT#119027....CASE# [XXX]...I WAS OFFERED $750 GOOD WILL PAYMENT...FOR A USED HEADUNIT... THOUGHT WINNER SUBARU OF DOVER DELAWARE...A NEW HEADUNIT REPLACEMENT THEY QUOTED $2,500.00....THEY WANT GIVE ME THE $750 AND MAKE ME PAY $759 FOR LABOR....FOR THE (FACT) THAT THEY HAVE KNOW FOR YEARS THAT THE STARLINK INFOTAINMENT SYSTEM IS (DEFECT)...AND HAS PAID OUT 6.25 MILLION DOLLARS.. IN REFERENCE TO IT! I ONLY OWN THIS CAR 3 MONTHS 7 DAYS....ALSO... WINNER SUBARU DOVER DELAWARE...INFORMED ME THAT THE CAR HAD AFTERMARKET SWAY BAR LINKS... THOUGH CARFAX...AND RESEARCH I WAS ABLE CALL COLONIAL VOLKSWAGEN SUBARU... FEASTERVILLE TREVOSE PA ON 1/08/2024 ....WAS THE DEALERSHIP THAT HAD PUT THEM ON.IT WAS SUPPOSED TO HAD BEEN ORIGINAL SUBARU PART NOT AFTERMARKET...I TOLD BROOK OF WINNER SUBARU ..THAT's WHAT I FOUND OUT DO TO SPEAKING TO A SERVICE... SUPERVISOR...THAT STATED AND CONFIRMED THE WORK WAS DONE THERE.I ALSO REACHED OUT TO SUBARU AMERICA..IN REFERENCE TO THIS...TO NO RESPONSE....THIS BOTH AS A WHOLE IS UNSAFE PRACTICE AND BAD BUSINESS....I SHOULD NOT HAVE TO PAY FOR LABOR FEES OF SORT...FOR WHAT KNOW AND HAVE KNOW FOR A FACT FOR YEARS...AND STILL GOING ON TILL TODAY. IM A HARD WORKING AMERICAN CONSUMER...THAT BOTH THIS CAR 13 WEEKS AGO...TO BE DRIVING AROUND WITH (DISTRACTING) SAFETY ISSUE. MY CELL# [XXX] INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6

For context, we are the original owners of the 2018 Subaru Legacy car (leased in 2018, and then purchased outright in 2022). At the time of the incident, the car was in pristine condition. We had the oil changed in accordance with the maintenance agreement during the lease, and then every 6,000 miles or whenever the dealership called us to bring in the car. The car had 39,000 miles on it at the time of the incident and had an oil change as recently as 2.5 months prior. While stopped in traffic, the car began making a sputtering noise and all the lights on the dashboard turned on at the same time. When pushing on the gas the car began rolling down the hill towards the car behind me. I put the car into park and then turned it off, and then waved traffic to pass me. After reinserting the key into the ignition, the car began to make the sputtering noise again, but I was able to move the car very slowly onto the shoulder of the road. The greatest danger is that this occurred in moving traffic. Thankfully, there was no harm done to me or anyone else. I had the car towed to the nearest auto mechanic shop. Initially, the shop informed me it was an issue with the spark plug, but upon further investigation, they told me the problem was with the engine and asked me to bring it to the dealership. The dealership is unsure of the exact issue, but stated that it was engine failure (more details in screenshots below). The technician has stated that we will need to completely rebuild the engine to fully identify and fix the problem.

My car stereo has gone crazy causing major distractions while driving. Hands free calling doesn’t work, in fact it calls random people on my call list. The screen dances and changes screens all by itself causing major distraction and it has almost caused an accident by the distraction. I’ve read that this issue is a known manufacturing issue and a class action lawsuit was brought against Subaru. I called Subaru and they have refused to give me a warranty radio even thou my dealer confirmed my radio is suffering from the De-lamination issue that’s well known problem with my car.

During regular use of the radio and head unit, at times the touch screen or controls, dials, buttons will be unresponsive. The Android Auto software tends to malfunction and will randomly disconnect and the audio will blast, full volume at the driver with the inability to control the volume other than to pull over and turn the vehicle off or manually power down the radio. This has happened on several occasions and with young children in the car, it can damage hearing, cause traumatic injury OR if in motion the driver can become quickly surprised or distracted and jerk the steering wheel or react to the jump in sound level that could injury passengers, or other vehicles occupied that may be nearby. This seems to be an issue with the inability to control sound level between different modes. At times though, the car will start and the radio will be blank, or be unresponsive until the car is turned off and back on again.

The infotainment system malfunctions - GPS stops working, screen goes blank, buttons don't work, sound doesn't work, radio stops, etc. This is dangerous if I'm driving on the highway in an unfamiliar place where I'm depending on the GPS and have to pull over and restart the car in order for the GPS to start working again. Unplugging and replugging my phone don't help. I've informed Fitgerald Subaru about this happening since I bought the car in March 2018. They updated the software several times, but nothing has helped. In December 2022 they said they'd replace my infotainment system, but it's still backordered and it's been 4 months. I have video showing it not working. I didn't know about the class action lawsuit.

I was going down the hill in my development, I made it approximately 2-300ft at 7-10MPH when suddenly there was a loud “bang”. I could not see anything, my airbags had deployed and blocked my field of vision. I ended up hitting an electrical pole. There was no need for the airbags to go off. I could have been killed. There is no airbag recall on my VIN number.