What 505 owners told NHTSA about the 2015 Subaru Outback Wilderness

I was within the town limits so I was driving slowly. When I approached the first stop light in town I saw that it was red. There were of three or four vehicles stopped at that light. At that point I was probably only going 5mph. I took my foot off of the gas pedal and put my foot on the brake to make a slow stop. Instead, the car accelerated rather quickly. I continued to brake but the car seemed to speed up. I was able to avoid hitting the truck in front of me by going around it. No vehicles were coming towards me but there were some stopped at the other side of the light. I drove up on the sidewalk to avoid hitting anyone. At that point the front passenger side of the car hit & snapped a pole. The car did not stop immediately upon impact. It stopped acclerating and came to a stop about 10 feet past the pole. I am not sure how fast the car was moving when it hit the pole but I was only going about 5 mph when I put my foot on the break. I would estimate the distance my car traveled from the moment I put my foot on the break until the car stopped was approximately 100-120 feet. It felt like the car went into the cruise resume mode and was trying to accelerate to a predetermined speed. I had not been using the cruise control that day but that is exactly what it felt like. There was one other time this year that the car lunged forward without using the gas pedal. It stopped quickly for me and I just assumed that I had hit the cruise resume button, although I also hadn't been using the cruise that day. The insurance company took the car to an impound lot two hours away. I am sure there has been no inspection and my insurance has not informed me of the status of having my car totaled or repaired. Because of the age of the car, and damage, they think it will be totaled. Yes, my safety and the safety of anyone near me was at risk. The car malfunctioned and the fact no one was hurt was miraculous. There were no warning messages before this accident.

NHTSA ODI 11689049

The contact owns a 2015 Subaru Outback. The contact stated while driving at 20 mph, the brakes would not engage as the brake pedal was depressed. As a result, the vehicle rear-ended a parked vehicle on the side of the road. The air bags failed to deploy. A police report was not filed. Three of the passengers in the vehicle sustained head and neck injuries that required medical treatment. The vehicle was drivable and was taken to a local dealer where it has been for 5 months. The vehicle was diagnosed with nothing needing to be replaced. The manufacturer had been informed of the failure and referred the contact to the dealer to have the engineers look at the vehicle. The failure mileage was 56,000.

NHTSA ODI 11419687

ATTEMPTED TO COME TO A STOP AT A PARKING SPOT IN FRONT OF A SHOP BUT CAR SPED UP AND COLLIDED WITH A WALL 6 FEET IN FRONT OF THE CAR. AUTOMATIC BRAKING SYSTEM DID NOT WORK OR ENGAGE AT SLOW SPEED.

NHTSA ODI 11060724

PLATE GFN9291, SUBARU RE:(#:1-11519581273)

NHTSA ODI 10781306

SLOWING TO A STOP AT A TRAFFIC LIGHT ON A CITY STREET, MANUAL TRANSMISSION IN NEUTRAL, CLUTCH IN. SPEED ROUGHLY 2 KM/HR. WENT TO STOP THE CAR WITH THE BRAKES, BRAKE PEDAL WENT TO THE FLOOR WITH NO BRAKE ACTIVATION. TRIED BRAKE PEDAL AGAIN, SAME RESULT. ACTIVATED PARKING/EMERGENCY BRAKE WHICH ALSO DID NOT STOP THE CAR. CAR HIT THE BACK OF A GRAVEL TRUCK AHEAD, AND SEEMED TO CONTINUE TO PUSH INTO THE TRUCK 7-10 CM, WHICH IS FURTHER THAN I WOULD HAVE EXPECTED GIVEN THE LOW SPEED OF THE COLLISION. COLLISION DAMAGED THE HOOD OF MY CAR AND BROKE THE HEADLIGHT LENS ON THE PASSENGER SIDE, NO DAMAGE TO THE TRUCK, NO INJURIES TO OCCUPANTS OF EITHER VEHICLE. TRUCK TURNED THROUGH TURNING LIGHT, I CAREFULLY MOVED THE CAR UP AND TRIED STOPPING AT THE LIGHT. BRAKES FUNCTIONED NORMALLY, SO I TRIED THE PARKING BRAKE AND IT ALSO SEEMED TO FUNCTION NORMALLY. I PUSHED ON THE BRAKE PEDAL WHILE THE CAR WAS STATIONARY AND NOTICED MUCH MORE TRAVEL THAN USUAL AND A SPONGY FEEL, BUT THERE WAS RESISTANCE WHERE THERE WAS NONE PREVIOUSLY. I DECIDED THE CAR WAS SAFE TO DRIVE AND DROVE SLOWLY TO THE DEALERSHIP WHERE I LEFT IT TO BE INSPECTED.

NHTSA ODI 10780107