2012 Subaru Outback

I own a 2012 Subaru Outback 2.5i Premium. The vehicle has approximately 161k miles. Recently, I have noticed the car beginning to stutter when approaching an abrupt stop. There have since been several instances where the car will stall when coming to a quick stop. This happened to me in the middle of traffic one day and I had my family in the car with me. In my opinion, this issue jeopardized the safety of my family. Stalling in the middle of the road and having to restart the car each time is a huge concern for me. My wife and I are now terrified to drive the car due to the looming safety concern. Upon further research, the problem stems from a faulty torque converter on the car, confirmed by TSB 16-90-13R. Subaru has not made this a recall unfortunately, but I don't feel I should be the one to pay the cost for a repair that is in my opinion very serious. Please take action to make this needed repair a more serious concern.

Vehicle has always stuttered coming to stops but has began to start stalling. The problem was never diagnosed previously. Now that it is have found to be the torque converter I actually know what is happening. I don’t think being unable to rely on you vehicle to continue running in an emergency stop or break pump is a safety issue Subaru should take lightly. I have been faced with two Subaru known problem repairs recently that I didn’t know of at the time of purchase. The head gasket which left me stranded on a trip and a torque converter. The first was close to a 4k$ repair and the second is coming close to 2k$ repair. I am growing frustrated with Subaru ignoring how dangerous this and also how they are ignoring customer concerns. Both these issues are well documented by owners experiencing the same things I am. I would like to express this has happened since the vehicle was new but has gotten worse and is now stalling. Thank you, Joni

I own a 2012 Outback 2.5 Limited, which I purchased new from a Subaru dealer in Evanston IL in June 2012. It currently has about 76000 miles on it. In the last 6 months my car started to shudder when coming to a stop at a traffic signal, or sometimes while being stopped at the signal. The shudder is significant but typically momentary and happens randomly. From the last 2-3 weeks, the car has started to stall and the engine shuts down abruptly when coming to a stop. This is very stressful, but fortunately, so far I have been able to put the car in P and start it again every time. However, this is very dangerous and puts me and my family at grave risk of a serious accident from cars coming from behind as my car stalls abruptly. Again, this happens randomly which makes it even more dangerous and impossible to mitigate as a driver. This has now happened multiple times and I called a local Subaru dealership. They gave an estimate of over $8000 to repair this issue. They also said they will repair the car only if they are able to recreate the problem. I am afraid that they will not be able to recreate the problem as it happens randomly as mentioned earlier. As far as I know no warning lights on my dash are on and the car otherwise runs normally.

I experienced issues with the engine of my 2012 Subaru Outback shutting down at times when coming to a stop, and also stalling/idling when accelerating (such as when entering freeway). My engine light and brake light also turned on at the same time. Very concerned, I took it in to the local Subaru service center at around 112,000 miles. They inspected the car and replaced 2 spark plugs, and must have restart the computer to turn the warning lights off. Recently at 117,000 after entering the freeway at night , my car roughly idled and the stalled and would not properly accelerate, almost causing me to crash as it happened suddenly while driving on freeway. The engine light was flashing and brake light came on as well. I immediately pulled over. After the Subaru inspection the next day, I was told that this was being caused by the torque converter and is a known issue on this model. This is a very dangerous issue, I believe that if this incident would have happened the next morning while on my commute instead of at the less busy hour at night, a crash would have occurred. I believe a recall is warranted on this dangerous issue as it is known by Subaru that this issue affects certain models and they will not provide much help to customers if they are past the extended warranty. The issue can occur past the 100,000 mile mark on an otherwise good condition and well cared for vehicle. This puts the customer and other drivers at great risk. I am very concerned and upset about the danger this put myself and others in. I was personally left on the side of the freeway at night at 7 months pregnant, but the situation could have been much worse. Since Subaru is not required to let customers know of this issue, customers may experience this issue without proper remediation until a serious issue happens.

Torque Converter issue consistent with Subaru Service Bulletin 16-90-13. Although Subaru issued a service bulletin with extended warranty rather than a recall, I want to document this as an ongoing problem with the model year and still a dangerous one. 08/09/2021 the vehicle shuddered while coming to a stop at a light, like the RPMs were dropping too low. At the next light, the vehicle shuddered and stalled while coming to a stop at the light. I was able to restart the vehicle after I realized the engine was dead and I needed to put the vehicle back into park before it would turnover. I couldn't immediately identify what I needed to do to restart, since the car won't turnover in drive, so I was stalled for a cycle of the stoplight. A few days later, the vehicle again shuddered and stalled while coming to a stop at a light. I had been driving for maybe 3 minutes from a cold start. I was again able to restart the vehicle. The second stall definitely felt like a transmission issue, and matched the description of a bad torque converter (technical service bulletin 16-90-13) for this model year. I had the issue diagnosed at my local Subaru dealership, and they identified it as being consistent with a bad torque converter, possibly requiring replacement of the valve body assembly if torque converter replacement was ineffective. I had the torque converter replaced by a Subaru dealership on 09/15/2021. My vehicle is outside the extended warranty period. I've made several stops without issue since the repair. With this issue, I was concerned what would happen if I was on the freeway and needed to suddenly decelerate, or what would have happened if my first time experiencing the issue, where I was stalled for almost a minute and was unable to restart the vehicle immediately, would have occurred during a freeway slowdown. I would have been a sitting duck. Even being stalled at a busy light could have been dangerous for me.

THE VEHICLE STALLED A FEW TIMES IN 2017 AND 2018 WHILE SHIFTING FROM REVERSE TO DRIVE; AND WHILE COMING FROM A STOP, ON STEEP HILL, AND RELEASING BRAKE TO GET MOVING IN TRAFFIC. IT ALSO SHUDDERED RANDOMLY WHILE TRANSITIONING GEARS FROM PARK TO REVERSE/DRIVE OR REVERSE TO DIVE AND VICE VERSA. I TOOK IT TO THE DEALER WHO WE PURCHASED IT FROM AND THEY IDENTIFIED IT AS A TRANSMISSION ISSUE THAT CAN BE RESOLVED VIA AN EXTENDED WARRANTY. AT THE TIME THE VEHICLE HAD ABOUT 70K MILES. THEY REPLACED THE TORQUE CONVERTER, VALVE BODY AND STRAINER IN 2018. THE CAR RANDOMLY SHUDDERS SLIGHTLY BETWEEN SHIFTS FROM REVERSE TO DRIVE AND VICE VERSA, BUT THE DEALER WHO REPLACED THE PARTS COULD NOT IDENTIFY IT. I TOOK VEHICLE TO ANOTHER DEALER WHO COULD ALSO NOT REPLICATE THE ISSUE. THERE WAS ONE TIME WHERE IT SHOOK NOTICEABLE AFTER EXITING THE FREEWAY AND COMING TO A STOP BUT THE CAR DID NOT STALL. IN 2021, WITH THE CAR APPROACHING 97.5K IN MILES, STALLED WHEN I SHIFTED FROM REVERSE TO DRIVE GETTING OUT OF A PARKING SPOT ON A BUSY STREET. IT RESTARTED AFTER I PUT INTO PARK AND WAS ABLE TO CHANGE GEARS AND GET OUT SAFELY. I NOTICED IT SHUDDERS WHEN THE ENGINE IS WARM. SOMETIMES IT FEELS UNSAFE WHEN I AM TRYING TO GET OUT OF A PARKING SPOT ON A BUSY STREET OR ON A HILL. I TOOK IT BACK TO DEALER WHO MADE THE WARRANTY REPAIR. THEY COULD NOT REPLICATE THE ISSUE. THEY CLEANED THE THROTTLE BODY AND FOUND NO CODES ON THE ECU. THEY SAID THEY FELT A SLIGHT SHUDDER BUT THAT THIS IS NORMAL. THEY SAID I COULD TAKE IT FOR A SECOND OPINION BUT I DID THAT ALREADY AT ANOTHER DEALER PREVIOUSLY. I SPENT HUNDREDS OF DOLLAR TO TRY TO GET A DIAGNOSIS BUT TO NO AVAIL. I HAVE PROPERLY MAINTAINED THE CAR AS RECOMMENDED. IT FEELS VERY STRANGE THAT THIS CONTINUES TO HAPPEN BUT THE DEALER CANNOT REPLICATE AND IDENTIFY. SOMETIMES WE FEEL UNSAFE OR WORRIED THAT IT WILL STALL AT THE WRONG TIME.

SUBARU OUTBACK (2012), WHEN STOPPED FOR 1-2 MINUTES, WITH THE ENGINE AND IGNITION OFF, AND THE GEAR SHIFT IN PARK, ON A SLIGHT INCLINE (TO CHECK A POTENTIAL SAFETY HAZARD) SUDDENLY ROLLED BACKWARDS AS I WAS LEANING IN TO RETRIEVE MY BAG. I WAS DRAGGED ACROSS THE NORMALLY BUSY ROAD, BARELY ABLE TO HANG ON (BY BOTH HANDS GRABBING ANYTHING I COULD INSIDE THE CAR). MY LEGS SCRAPED ON THE GROUND VIOLENTLY BURNING THOUGH MY SNEAKER THEN ANKLE FLESH AND GRAZED THE BONE BADLY. MY LEGS ON THE ROAD TURNED THE 1.5 TON VEHICLE A FEW DEGREES AS IT CAREENED UNDER RAPID ACCELERATION REACHING AN ESTIMATED 8-10 MPH BUMPING OVER 2 KERBS PULLED ME EVEN FURTHER OUT OF THE CAR, BUT STILL HANGING ON. LUCKILY THE OPEN DRIVER'S DOOR ENGAGED WITH A HEDGE WHICH RIPPED THE DOOR ALMOST OFF THE CAR AND TURNED THE CAR ANOTHER 35 DEGREES OR SO, AVOIDING A VIOLENT CRASH INTO THE NEIGHBOR'S HOUSE. INSTEAD THE CAR GRAZED A WOODEN POST (FURTHER SLOWING IT) THEN HIT A SECOND POST WHICH BROUGHT THE CAR TO A HARD STOP. THIS PUSHED ME OUT OF THE CAR ONTO A PATCH OF GRASS, BACK TO THE CAR. AN ENGINEERING ASSESSMENT LATER REVEALED THE SHIFT-INTERLOCK HAD FAILED (INVOLVING A COUPLE OF PARTS) SO THAT THE GEAR MAY BE SHIFTED (OR SHIFT ITSELF) WHEN THE ENGINE AND IGNITION ARE OFF WITH THE KEYS STILL IN. MY INJURIES INCLUDE ANKLE (ON A LEG WITH A HIP REPLACEMENT), PTSD (DIAGNOSED AS CAUSED 100% BY THE CRASH) AND EXACERBATION OF MULTIPLE-SCLEROSIS CAUSING DEBILITATING BOUTS OF TRIGEMINAL NEURALGIA AND WITH ADDITIONAL BRAIN DAMAGE (PROVEN BY INCREASED LESION LOAD ON MRI SCAN). THEREFORE THE VEHICLE FAILURE ON THIS MODEL IS ALSO POTENTIALLY DANGEROUS TO OTHER OWNERS OF THE SAME MODEL CAR. WE ALSO RESEARCHED AND FOUND ONE ALMOST IDENTICAL CASE WITH THE SAME MODEL, THE SAME ROLL-IN-PARK BUT FAR MORE SERIOUS INJURY AS THE DRIVER WAS KNOCKED DOWN BY THE DOOR, APPARENTLY AS THE CAR ROLLED OVER.

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2012 SUBARU OUTBACK. THE CONTACT STATED THAT WHILE ATTEMPTING TO REVERSE OUT OF A PARKING SPACE, THE VEHICLE MADE A GRINDING SOUND BUT FAILED TO ENGAGE IN REVERSE. THE CONTACT SHIFTED THE GEAR SHIFTER TO NEUTRAL AND HAD ASSISTANCE FROM A BYSTANDER TO PUSH THE VEHICLE OUT OF THE PARKING SPACE. THE VEHICLE WAS SHIFTED INTO DRIVE AND OPERATED AS DESIGNED. THE CONTACT NOTIFIED BURLINGTON SUBARU (351 SHELBURNE RD, BURLINGTON, VT 05401) OF THE FAILURE, AND WAS INFORMED THAT THERE WAS NO RECALL RELATED TO THE FAILURE. THE MANUFACTURER WAS NOT NOTIFIED OF THE FAILURE. THE CONTACT'S HUSBAND DIAGNOSED THE FAILURE AS A FRACTURED REVERSE FORK SHIFT IN THE REVERSE CORD AND THAT THE TRANSMISSION NEEDED TO BE REPLACED. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT YET REPAIRED. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 117,450.

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2012 SUBARU OUTBACK. THE CONTACT STATED THAT WHILE DRIVING AT VARIOUS SPEEDS, THE VEHICLE HESITATED WHILE DEPRESSING THE ACCELERATOR PEDAL, WITHOUT WARNING. THE CONTACT INITIALLY TOOK THE VEHICLE TO TWO SEPARATE INDEPENDENT MECHANICS WHO INFORMED HIM THAT THE TRANSMISSION WAS DEFECTIVE AND NEEDED TO BE REPLACED. THE CONTACT THEN CALLED SUBARU OF SPOKANE (423 W 3RD AVE, SPOKANE, WA 99201) AND RAIRDON'S SUBARU OF AUBURN (3025 AUBURN WAY N, AUBURN, WA 98002) AND WAS PROVIDED ESTIMATES FOR A NEW TRANSMISSION. THE MANUFACTURER WAS NOT NOTIFIED OF THE FAILURE. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT REPAIRED. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS APPROXIMATELY 130,000. *BF