2020 Subaru Outback

On November 21th, 2023, we were driving on a 30 mph street at 8:00 pm with no traffic and our automatic emergency braking system deployed on our 2020 Outback, we jolted to a stop for no apparent reason. This could have been dangerous if a car was behind us. Just had our oil changed with free inspection at Miller Hill Subaru 1 week prior. First incident. Will have the dealership inspect ASAP. The "Auto Start /Stop No Activity Detected" indicator message light came on afterward.

Automatic Braking system has almost caused a rear-end collision 5 times, because it thinks a shadow is an object. We’ve brought the car to the dealership but they told us twice that they can’t replicate the problem. That doesn’t change the issue. I don’t want to wait until we have a collision and have to go through physical therapy and repairs to address this. Front headlights are blinding other drivers causing them to flash their brights at us regularly on the freeway and local roads which then blinds us and causing us to slow down and break. The dealership say that the lights can be adjusted but this is a serious risk to us and something that happens every night. It’s stressful to drive the car anticipating this all the time. We’ve replace the starter last year and having issues again. The car struggles to start. Last year they said this was a known issue and also replaced the battery. But it’s happening again. This indicates a more complicated issue in the electrical. I don’t want to have to replace the starter every year.

Per Subaru there is something wrong with the Cockpit Control Module (CCM) that is causing a constant / parasitic draw on the battery. This results in the battery being dead within 4 hours, leaving us constantly stranded. Because the CCM also controls the electrical system, many of the safety features (auto breaking, lane departure, etc) turn off randomly. This is the diagnosis from our local Subaru dealership: COCKPIT CONTROL MODULE IS DRAWING 2 AMPS. WITH COCKPIT UNPLUGGED THERE IS STILL A 1 AMP DRAW. WILL NEED TO REPLACED CCU THEN FIGURE OUT WHERE THE OTHER 1 AMP DRAW IS. UNABLE TO DIAGNOSE WITH MULTIPLE SYSTEMS DRAWING I have opened a case with Subaru of America, but with no resolution.

The factory 2020 Subaru Outback Wagon is built with a Thermo Control Valve that is, essentially, made out of a composite plastic. As this part is part of the engine cooling system, it is placed under both heat and pressure. While it controls the anti-freeze to the heater core in the passenger compartment, it is also attached under cover to metal fittings. While the car now has about 90,000 miles, this control valve cracked and began to leak anti-freeze on top of the engine. Without cooling, the engine would likely be ruined. Thus, the car required immediate service. When a fault like this occurs, by the way, the Subaru Eyesight System shuts down taking with it various safety features. I had the defective part replaced and it's replacement is not made of composite plastic but, rather and more appropriately, metal. It is my belief that the selection of the orignal part was a design defect ignoring the potential for differential expansion of the parts when exposed to such temperatures. Failure was inevitable. It is worth noting this is not an inexpensive repair as numerous parts have to be removed to access this valve. Likewise, the service representative made note that numerous other customers have had to have the same service.

The contact owns a 2020 Subaru Outback. The contact stated that while driving approximately 60 MPH, there was a cracking sound coming from the windshield. The contact stated that the windshield cracked without impact. The vehicle was taken to the dealer however, the windshield was not replaced. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and opened a case to assist with the cost of the windshield replacement. The approximate failure mileage was 72,000.