2018 Subaru Outback

The radio headunit which houses the backup camera freezes. When this happens, the backup camera does not work. Vehicle was brought to a Subaru dealership, and confirmed that radio unit freezes, and diagnostic did not improve system. Radio unit requires re-manufacturing. I have contacted Subaru and they refuse to address the problem. There is also documentation that talks about a recall on the Harmon Kardon unit we have.

The head unit on my 2018 Subaru Outback is pressing random buttons all over the screen by itself. It would constantly make the button noise as I drive leading me to lose track of the directions that was being provided from my Apple Maps. It would also disconnect me from CarPlay leaving me with no sense of direction as to where I should be going. I have gotten this fixed before at a Subaru dealership and they ended up replacing the head unit for me, however this is the second time it’s happening and there is obviously a serious problem with the all the units.

2018 Subaru Outback headunit is "delaminated" causing phantom touches on the headunit's touch screen. While driving, the headunit will act as if something is pressing random buttons, changing radio stations, opening/closing maps, going through settings panel and changing car settings, ultimately distracting the driver usually at highway speeds. Many other Subaru owners are reporting the same issue on the forums: [XXX] [XXX] Subaru is reporting the fault as "regular wear and tear" and charging customers $1200+ to replace the headunits. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

The contact owns a 2018 Subaru Outback. The contact stated that the Eyesight system had become inoperable. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, where the system was recalibrated. The vehicle was repaired. Additionally, the contact stated that the infotainment system screen was delaminated, causing the touchpad function to become inoperable. The contact was concerned because the Eyesight system could only be configured through the infotainment screen. Additionally, the contact stated that the infotainment system screen delamination had caused the infotainment system to activate vehicle functions independently. The contact stated that the rearview camera was still operable. The dealer was notified of the failure and informed the contact that it was a common failure. The dealer related the failure to an Extended Warranty. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 35,000.

Car jerked back and suddenly accelerated without warning as driver had foot on brake and was slowly pulling into parking spot. Car hit wall of parking garage causing front end damage. Parking collision warning did not sound at any point. Car was going 1-2 MPH and was 5 feet from end of parking spot when incident occurred. Sudden acceleration when driver has foot on brake can cause injury to driver, passengers or others in the path of the car. No hazards in parking garage were present that could have caused accident, which was witnessed by driver's work colleague. No police report filed. Incident was reported to Subaru, which ran diagnostic and could not replicate issue. No warning messages were present prior to the incident. It appears there are 2 current class action lawsuits filed against Subaru reporting similar issues with 2018 Outback. I am unsure what component failed to cause this issue; car is available for inspection on request.

Eye Sight Blind Spot Warning indicator on each side view mirror does not function intermittently: blind spot warning indicator light does not light up when cars are in blind spot. Eye Sight Rear Cross Traffic Warning camera does not function intermittently in Reverse gear: screen turns black OR camera shows cross traffic AND sound alert does not sound.

The vehicle, a 2018 Subaru Outback Limited 3.6R, was being pulled into the garage at the owner’s home. With brakes applied, and while putting vehicle into park, the vehicle suddenly accelerated forward making contact with a suspended shelf attached to the back wall of the garage. The force of the vehicle was such that the shelf and back wall of the garage were completely separated from the home in one piece and pushed approximately 10 yards away from the home before the shelf broke away from the wall upon impact with the ground, perpendicular to the back of the house. The vehicle then traveled down two hills in the back yard, across a water saturated easement, over a concrete drainage culvert and came to rest at the base of an incline in an adjacent yard approximately 150 ft from the garage. Air bags did not deploy and the owner suffered minor contusions causing pain and stiffness, but no significant injuries are noted as of this report. The vehicle was totaled and significant damage was caused to the residence. No collision warnings were displayed prior to collision and emergency braking did not apply upon acceleration. This was the first incidence of sudden acceleration experienced by the owner so this issue has never been checked out by a service technician and will not be repaired. The vehicle had less than 8000 miles on the odometer. The vehicle is currently located in a repair lot and the owner’s insurance company has been requested to hold the vehicle for inspection prior to disposal. The cause of the sudden acceleration is unknown, but the owner is confident that the brakes were being applied at the time of occurrence, and that they remained cognizant throughout the incident as they were unable to stop the forward progression of the vehicle until it came to rest on the muddy incline.

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2018 SUBARU OUTBACK. WHILE THE CONTACT WAS DRIVING, THE AUTOMATED DRIVING SYSTEM STOPPED WORKING AND THE BACK-UP CAMERA DID NOT FUNCTION. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO THE DEALER (STEVE MOYER SUBARU, 201 S CENTRE AVE, LEESPORT, PA 19533, (888) 696-0345) WHERE IT WAS DIAGNOSED THAT THE COMPUTER THAT CONTROLLED THE ELECTRONIC AND SAFETY SYSTEMS MALFUNCTIONED. THE DEALER EXPLAINED THAT THE FAILURE WAS OCCURRING WITH MULTIPLE VEHICLES AND THAT THEY WOULD REPLACE THE COMPONENT UNDER THE WARRANTY. THE REPAIRS WERE COMPLETED AND THE ELECTRICAL FAILURES WERE REMEDIED. THE MANUFACTURER WAS NOT NOTIFIED. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 12,285. *TT *TR*JB