2018 Subaru Outback

I was driving at 40 MPH in the left lane approaching the left hand turn lane. Once I tturned into the turn lane my car started to accelerate very hard. I hit the brake and the car kept acelerating, I pushed the gear shift into neutral and with both feet hard on the brake I was able to stop completely without cutting into oncoming traffic. I have been driving over 50 years and never had an incident like this happen. I do not drive carelessly. However, now I am affraid to drive this Subaru Outback and I will not let my wife or family even ride in it.

Vehicle was parked with engine idling (waiting for passengers), engine accelerated to very high revs without any operator action. Driver shutdown engine. Driver checked to be sure nothing could have hit the accelerator, nothing found. Restarted the vehicle, could not reproduce the problem. About 2 miles down the road a RED exclamation symbol appeared on dash panel and shut off after 5 to 10 seconds.

The battery has drained twice in the time that I have owned this vehicle. Once I was able to recharge the battery by jumpstarting and letting it run. The second time it required a battery replacement. This was approximately 12 months after the first incident. The electrical system also has unpredictable quirks related to the window functions and lighting. I am uncertain to other resulting irregularities that may be occurring under the hood. Currently, my car is being serviced for a radiator fan and motor replacement for the cooling system. The estimate for repair is $1747 + tax. This is potentially related to the electrical quirks related to the battery irregularities.

Normal vehicle start. While leaving shopping mall parking lot, vehicle suddenly shut down; no electrical, no accelerator, no power steering, no engine. Was able to steer vehicle to safe location out of traffic path. Waited approximately 10 minutes, tried vehicle again, and it started / drove normally. Vehicle inspected afterward by dealer, who found no issues, and returned vehicle with no repairs made. Driver is 86 year old widow, who is terrified of being stranded in an unreliable car.

2018 SUBARU OUTBACK. CONSUMER WRITES IN REGARD TO ENGINE FAILURE. THE CONSUMER STATED THE VEHICLE HAD VARIOUS SAFETY DEFECT ISSUES INCLUDING A RECALL FOR LOW FUEL PROGRAMMING, LOW GRINDING NOISE AND VIBRATION IN THE BRAKES, AND VIBRATION IN THE STEERING WHEEL. THE VEHICLE ALSO HAD VARIOUS ELECTRONIC ISSUES INCLUDING GLITCHES WITH THE INFOTAINMENT SYSTEM, STEREO WOULD FREEZE, SPEAKERS WERE OUT OF SYNC AND RATTLED, SEAT HEATING TEMPERATURE TOO LOW, AND THE PASSENGER SIDE POWER WINDOWS DID NOT OPERATE PROPERLY.

While driving our 2018 Subaru Outback 3.6 the engine quit about 15 miles into our trip while driving at about 45 MPH. It had done this once before where after drifting to a stop and putting it in park it restarted and we finished the trip. This time we drifted to a stop and put it in park and tried to restart the engine. It restarted and immediately quit. We did this several times over a 20 minute time frame. We had it towed to the dealer where it took about 3 hours for them to look at it. It restarted and the fault codes showed it had stalled, but no other problem and no fix to be made. I see this problem in several forums with no fix offered. This is a significant safety issue since braking and steering power are lost.

The batteries cannot seem to hold a charge. We have called AAA several times, but the recharging doesn't last, and they say this is a problem with the Outback. In addition, the Subaru dealer has replaced the battery twice. It just failed again. This most recent battery fail stranded my 70 year old husband in another city. I have contacted the dealer again asking for service. There is no warning whatsoever that the battery has drained. This is not a safe situation. The date below is the most recent incident of a drained battery.

WHILE BEGINNING A LEFT TURN WITH ARROW, THE MOTOR DIED AND THE VEHICLE STOPPED. I PUT THE TRANSMISSION IN NEUTRAL AND ATTEMPTED TO RESTART WITHOUT SUCSESS. I THEN PLACED THE TRANSMISSION IN PARK IN THE DRIVING LANE WITH MOVING TRAFFIC, ATTEMPTED TO RESTART,THIS ATTEMPT WAS SUCESSFULL.IPROCEEDED HOME WITHOUT FURTHER TROUBLE. THE NEXT DAY I LOOKED ON LINE AND READ OF THE FUEL PUMP ISSUE. THE SYMPTOMS SEEMED THE SAME AS I HAD EXPERIENCED. I THEN INQUIRED AT THE SUBARU DEALERSHIP AND GAVE THEM MY VIN # AND THEY INFORMED ME THAT OUR VEHICLE WAS NOT PART OF THE RECALL.PLEASE HELP

I had pulled into our garage and had come to a stop. With my foot on the brake, I was reaching for the ignition button to turn the car off when the car suddenly accelerated forward and struck our large metal tool box, pushing it through the rear wall of the garage. The vehicle has not been inspected by anyone. No warning lamps or messages appeared.

To: Subaru Motors Consumer Reports NHtSA I, Richard McNitt, am the very unhappy owner of a 2018 Subaru Outback (4 cylinder “Touring” model with 33,900 miles), VIN 4S4 BSATCT J3362742. Primarily on the basis of “glowing” Consumer Reports Reviews I chose this model….sad to say this was an unfortunate choice. I list some of the troubles endured: • Shortly after delivery the “radio-GPS” failed, replacement was in short supply(!), Did without several weeks and the re-installation had a glitch. •We were informed that the radio would always “come on” when the car was started, My wife finds this very annoying, •We find the road noise to be excessive, especially at around 25 mph, •We were left sitting twice with a “dead” battery, once at the end of a two hour trip when the radio was on after for less than 15 minutes. ••But the worst situation was this…..My daughter, granddaughter, and I were 500 miles into a 600 hundred mile trip to a North Carolina Beach when we exited the Interstate at Laurenburg NC at about 3PM on a very hot day. At the first intersection stop sign when the accelerator was pushed at first nothing happened…that is the car did not accelerate, then abruptly the car lurched forward. Alarmed we drove it around a large parking parking lot, stopping, then trying to start again..we found the hesitating, then lurching forward to continue, so we changed drivers with the same result. As it was now late on a Saturday afternoon in this small town with no local garages open, we had the car “Roll-Backed” to the nearest Subaru Dealer in Fayetteville, NC and as there were no local car rentals available, we had a family member drive 108 miles (each way) to get us and take us to the beach. The Fayetteville Subaru Dealer called on Monday morning and said “they could find nothing wrong”, and to pick up the car (another 100+ miles each way). Needless to say, I was very nervous the whole way home from the beach ..but the trip was without incident.