WARNING!!! On 8/27/12, we bought a used 2006 Subaru Outback XT with @70K miles. On our first trip to Vermont, with about 400# of dogs and luggage in the back, new all-weather tires and a driver with a spotless 48-year record, on a flat straightaway at @30 mph in snow flurries, the car lurched into the oncoming lane. My husband managed to tweek it back into our lane in time to avoid a head-on collision, but the car then spun out of control and hit a tree.

The air bags broke both our sternums. I am a very small woman and was unable to breathe right afterwards. It was @9pm and the road was just starting to freeze, so we had slowed down from 50 mph to @ 30mph. We ended up sideways in the road with smashed headlights--helpless. My husband managed to climb out and while trying to open my door to attend to me, had to jump out of the way to avoid being hit by an oncoming car that then t-boned my side of our car with me still in it.

They took me out on a back board. We both ended up in the hospital with broken sternums and assorted bumps, including a huge knot on my head where it smashed against the side window when the other car struck my door after the wreck--had it been going much faster, I'm sure I'd be dead. A huge local two-day search restored our two dogs to us, fortunately. We lost the car--totaled, just like us. Costs ran high for medical, transport home to CT, new car, etc. The intense, disabling pain lasted many weeks and I still have pain when the weather is bad--probably always will.

In researching why the air bags nearly killed us both, I ran across the "ghost walking" term on line. Undoubtedly, that was the cause of the accident, since my husband had noted earlier on the trip that the car was handling like there was a strong cross wind even though there was none. That was our only warning of what awaited us that night. The problem is some kind of glitch with the rear suspension that causes the rear wheels to go faster than the front wheels, so the car veers out of control, as did ours.

We have had four Subarus and were dedicated fans. I still drive an '09 WRX which I love, but the unconscionable failure of Subaru to "own" this design defect and notify owners and dealers about this very-dangerous problem with the rear toe-in under moderate loads nearly cost us our lives, and a great deal of pain and money.

I had spent a lot of time researching this vehicle prior to purchase but didn't run across this issue--and am amazed that the 2005-09 Outback wagons still have a near-spotless safety record despite this VERY-serious design flaw. If Subaru handles this like they handle most design problems, nothing will come of our report to them and to NHTSA. (In fact, nothing did come of it. Perspective buyers of the '05-'09 Subaru Outback wagons--American version only--should research this thoroughly.) It only happens to some cars under certain load and road conditions. It you know about the potential problem you can have it checked and fixed (@$500-$1,000) but Subaru is mum about it. Be careful, people. This defect is a killer waiting to strike. I'm sorry that we only owned the car for about a month before it was totaled, so don't have some other details available like gas mileage, etc. That's the last Subaru that we will buy!

I just bought a used 2006 Subaru Outback Wagon with 130,000 miles and have been very surprised and happy with the power and handling on curvy Mountain Roads. While driving on a straight flat freeway I jerked the wheel to see just how stable the suspension was and got a big surprise when the car started to bounce side to side while going straight. It was down right scary and dangerous a driver with limited experience might of had an accident. I was ready to change out the strut but then, I read a complaint on this site that mimics my problem and the other owner said he changed out all the struts and it didn't eliminate the problem! What the F---K!

I can grab the Cargo racks and rock the car side to side pretty easy and there's a squeak coming from the rear end, that is why I assumed it was due to worn struts. I have worked on cars for over 40 years and this being my first Subaru, and a lot lighter car than I'm use to driving I'm not sure if its normal for a petite 220 pound person to be able to rock this car pretty easy side to side. I'm use to driving a 3/4 ton Chevy PU with KYB shocks and I can't even get it to rock at all.

I took the car to our local dealer for a complete inspection to find out if there were any major problems that should be fixed. He told me that the struts were good but that the rear suspension bushing are showing some wear and should be replaced. I did a quick inspection of the rear end to see if I could see any of the cracked rubber bushing the service department said needed to be replaced and didn't find any. It just doesn't seem to me that worn suspension bushing could make this car rock this bad. Thank you in advance for any recommendations that will fix my problem.

I plan to replace the rear shocks with my fingers crossed that it fixes the problem.