1.6
hardly worth mentioning- Crashes / Fires:
- 0 / 0
- Injuries / Deaths:
- 0 / 0
- Average Mileage:
- 105,679 miles
About These NHTSA Complaints:
The NHTSA is the US gov't agency tasked with vehicle safety. Complaints can be spread across multiple & redundant categories, & are not organized by problem. See the Back button — blue bar at the very top of the page — to explore more.
I had run into a few small problems this winter, like my steering wheel not turning when the car was cold, but I experienced my first major problem while my vehicle was stationary, but had been running. I was going through a drive through, had to put my car in park, then when I went to shift it back into drive, nothing would happen. It was stuck in park. I don't think the problem was temp. Related, it was about 40 degrees outside. After turning the car on/off four or five times I was able to get it going, but my headlights went out, which I thought was strange. While driving home I noticed that the "brake" light was illuminated. The next day, I started my car before work to defrost my windows. The car started just fine (all the electrics worked and the engine was on and running), and I went inside. About 15 minutes later I came back to my car, and the engine had turned off. At first the electrical components worked. My friend came and tested the voltage anyway, because a dead battery is common when it gets cold, and the battery was fine. The warning lights that I noticed were on were the "brake" light, as well as the "ABS" light. After trying to turn it on a couple times, all the electrical components stopped working as well. It will start if I leave it for a few hours, but I am terrified to drive it anywhere to figure out what is going on.
- Missoula, MT, USA
Car would not accelerate upon entering the highway after pushing on the gas pedal the car wouldn't do anything. I was able to get off to the side and missed being hit from behind from on coming traffic...I notice check engine light and flashing cruse control light... second time some weeks later it did the same thing this is very dangerous because you never know when this will happen.
- Genoa, WV, USA
The cylinder head gasket went out with only 67,000 mileage on the engine and I hear this happening on this style and year of the car. I have heard that Subaru is recalling many of the engines from 2012 to 2013. This is a major issue and Subaru should recall the engines and fix this problem free of charge.
- San Jose, CA, USA
The contact owns a 2006 Subaru Legacy. While driving various speeds, the vehicle lost acceleration and the check engine and cruise control warning indicators illuminated. The contact coasted to the side of the road. The vehicle was towed to the contact's residence. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, but the technician could not find a code to identify the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 80,000.
- Newark, DE, USA
Was in cruise control around 45 mph, came to a stop and ce and cc lights illuminated, and gas pedal was dissabled, so a fellow motorist helped me push the car away from the intersection. After turning engine on and off several times throttle control came back and I could drive home (ce and cc lights still on). I replaced the gas pedal and reset the lights. Similar problem reoccurred on way to work, ce and cc lights came on but still had throttle control and cc was inactive. I suspect a disconnect in the drive by wire logic for the gas pedal versus the cc.
- Kintnersville, PA, USA
While driving engine light and cruise lights come on and vehicle will not accelerate. I almost got rearended because of it. It set a code #P2138. It is very dangerous and there should be a recall on it.
- Walton, WV, USA
The contact owns a 2006 Subaru Legacy. The contact stated that the vehicle would not accelerate when the accelerator pedal was depressed. In addition, the check engine and the cruise control warning lights remained illuminated. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was 140,000. The VIN was not available.
- Wareham, MA, USA
The engine shutoff while my wife was driving this car in traffic. The resulting problem was a failed crankshaft position sensor. This failure shut the engine off and the car was without power to pull to the side of the road. Had she been making a left turn in front of oncoming traffic, this could have resulted in a major multiple car accident. My question to Subaru (given they like to tout their automobiles' safety record) is why would any engine sensor failure leave the car without power" isn't this the same as the infamous GM ignition switch tragedy" since the sensor was replaced, my wife is afraid to drive the car for understandable reasons.
- Salt Lake City, UT, USA
The contact owns a 2006 Subaru Legacy. The contact stated that while driving at approximately 20 mph, the vehicle stalled without warning. The vehicle was able to restart after multiple attempts. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic, who diagnosed that the position sensor needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 181,000.
- Sonora, CA, USA
While crossing a four-lane road, the accelerator pedal went limp and caused the engine to become unresponsive. The car would not accelerate and barely made it across the lanes of traffic to the median safely. The check engine light illuminated and when placed into park, the engine revved to approximately 2500rpm without my foot being on the pedal. I turned the engine off, and restarted it only to have it rev again on its own to 2500rpm. It took 5-6 attempts to restart it before the engine idled appropriately and the accelerator became responsive again. The check engine light remained on and obd code P2318 was returned when I plugged in a scanner to the port. This is not the first time this event has occurred; it has been random and sporadic for about 8 months now, sometimes occurring as often as 3-4 times per week to going 2 months in between episodes. Speed does not seem to be a factor, it's happened at both freeway and parking lot speeds, in all kinds of weather and at various temperatures, with the cruise control on and with the cruise control off.
- Laurel, MD, USA
The vehicle stopped responding to throttle pedal input, resulting in having to pull off the road, across lanes of traffic. Engine light comes on and cruise control light flashes. After restarting 3 times the lights go away. Dealer couldn't replicate so would not cover under warranty. This has happened on several occasions since, usually only in summer. Code is P2138 and appears to be a consistent problem with Subaru vehicles.
- Westminster, CO, USA
I was driving with my 6 month pregnant wife. No indication of impending problem. Suddenly the at oil temp indicator lighted up and split second I loss engine power with steering became stiff. Good thing I was not in the freeway yet and was able to safely pull over with residual momentum. This could be worse if I am passing thru my daily commute of using the bridge or if it happened in the freeway because I do not have total control of the car brought the car to the dealer to diagnose the er-hc error in the dash and was advised that the issue was due to melted wiring harness connecting all the computer systems. Their only reason is that it has been driven for 133K miles that's why we saw the issue. I think this is a reliability/safety issue that needs to be taken into consideration.
- Hayward, CA, USA
The contact owns a 2006 Subaru Legacy. The contact stated that while driving approximately 25 mph, the cruise control and check engine warning lights illuminated. The vehicle would not accelerate and engaged into limp mode. The contact shut the engine off and after restarting the vehicle, the contact was able to drive without failure however, the warning lights continued to illuminate. The failure recurred three times intermittently. The vehicle was taken to the dealer for diagnostic testing. The technician was unable to diagnose the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The approximate failure mileage was 72,300. Updated 1/30/13 the consumer stated the vehicle didn't immediately go into limp mode, but it did after a period of 2-10 minutes after the hazard lights illuminated. Updated 01/31/13
- Santa Fe, NM, USA
While driving the check engine light came on and the cruise control started flashing, with no response from the gas pedal, only a high idle. Had the check engine light cleared and everything was fine. Out of town for the second occurrence same thing happened, now Subaru has the car and I was told the engine harness has to be replaced at a cost of $1883.36. It seems to me that this should be covered under my extended warranty.
- Chicago, IL, USA
The turbocharger in my 2005 Subaru Legacy GT has needed replaced multiple times. Each time the car becomes un-drivable and has also cut off while in motion in the middle of the road. The vehicle had this occur in January 2011, August 2012 and now again in October 2012. The car has been serviced regularly and has been driven under normal conditions. Subaru has acknowledged that is defective but has not issued a recall for this safety concern. I am one of quite a few customers reporting the same issue. Despite having the vehicle serviced by Subaru each time they have been unable to rectify this recurring hazard. There should be no reason that a vehicle should have an issue of this magnitude or severity at 63000, 68000 and again at 69000 miles. Aside from the expense involved the issue is certainly of great safety concern.
- Odenton, MD, USA
- Chicago, IL, USA