Within 4 years, my Subaru Outback vcd needed 3 sets of brakes and 4 sets of rotors (not including the "resurfacing" to extend the rotors). Everytime when I brought the car to the dealership, they attribute the problems to my driving pattern. But I owned three other cars before (all were less expensive), and never needed to replace brakes nor rotors. As posted in this website, there are 13 other complains, with virtually identical problems. I strongly recommend NHTSA engineers to analyze the 2001 Subaru Outback brakes and rotors. Not only it is a public safety issue, it is also a company responsibility issue: Subaru should be responsible for all repair cost, not to mention the inconvenience, our time, emotional stress caused to the vehicle owners.

- Clarkston, MI, USA

Unintended acceleration and braking, when depressing the gas pedal it takes right off, can take foot off the gas pedal and it still surges forward. It is hard to slow down the vehicle when hitting brakes. This problem got so bad that it wouldn't let consumer make a turn. Had to keep going forward inside. Railroads tracks were there and hit the mound. Had to replace brake pads and rotors. It was $1000 miles when it was done last June.

- Warwick, RI, USA

The 2001 Subaru Outback seems to have an unusually high incidence of needing brake repairs. We are on our 2nd brake job in under 40,000 miles. The disc rotors have warped twice, resulting in strong vibration (not ABS) when stopping. The brakes also squeal in reverse, annoying, and possibly a symptom of an underlying problem. The dealer has preformed a pad replacement, even though there was adequate material remaining, and rotor turning 2 times. My on-line research, and the consumer reports documentation reports a significant percentage, over 14% have suffered similar problems. If this were occuring in a less critical component I wouldn't be as concerned.however this seems to be a very short lifespan for brakes in a non-high performance vehicle. Additionally the pads aren't wearing, but the rotors are failing.

- Nashville, TN, USA

I own a 2001 Subaru Outback. I bought it new and over the last 4 years it has required 3 complete brake jobs (rotors and pads), so currently the car has it's 4th set of brakes. I have never owned any car that has required that many brakes jobs in such a short period of time. I have had all my repairs done at Subaru dealerships and have been told by the service technicians that the design and materials of the brakes cause the rotors to warp and wear out prematurely, requiring both the pads and rotors needing to be replaced each time, which is expensive. As the wear progresses, the steering wheel wobbles and the wobble gets worse very quickly over time. The first 2 brake jobs were covered under warranty. I had to pay for the last one. I have since learned that there are many other Subaru owners like me experiencing the same premature brake wear. For just one example of other testimonials, visit the website ww.autobytel.com/content/research/forums/index.cfm/action/posts/fid/1959 and you can see that I am not alone in my complaint. I believe the brake design is a factory defect. I think Subaru should redesign them and in the mean time be made to cover the cost of these repeated repairs. I have been in contact with Subaru of America about this problem but their position is that it is "a wear issue". I realize, like tires, certain items on cars do wear out over time and require replacement as part of the normal maintenance of a car. However, I do not agree that the problem with the brakes on my Subaru is simply a wear issue and apparently, neither do their own maintenance technicians.

- Webster, NH, USA

During cold weather (today was 15 F), brakes do not work on first application from a cold start. Brakes have been service twice (pads replaced, rotors turned) but dealer cannot replicate problem since the car has warmed up.

- Newton, MA, USA