2012 Forester 2.5X, 4-spd automatic transmission: When traveling at highway speeds, 50+ mph, any attempt to quickly accelerate causes the automatic transmission to downshift all the way to second gear. This results in very high rpms, but a loss in velocity as the downshift to second gear is not appropriate at the high end of the allowable rpms for the engine. The loss in speed when attempting to accelerate is very unsafe and has caused me to have to unexpectedly return to my lane when attempting to pass another vehicle. Likewise, attempting to merge into traffic traveling faster in another lane is also unsafe as I lose speed while emerging into the lane with faster traffic. This downshift into second gear rather than third gear at highway speeds occasionally causes the check engine light to turn on and the traction control warning light to turn on. This is an ongoing problem and can be replicated at any time. This occurs at highway speeds, and can be replicated by depressing the accelerator pedal quickly, or just tapping on the accelerator. The vehicle should not be able to downshift to second gear at high speeds using an automatic transmission. I have returned it to the dealer twice and the dealers mechanics are easily able to replicate the problem. After numerous attempts to fix the problem, the dealership contacted the Subaru headquarters and were told this is normal operation. It is anything but normal for an automobile and is very dangerous. There appear to be a number of complaints on various internet sites on Foresters with similar problems.

- Elk Grove, CA, USA