What 280 owners told NHTSA about the 2019 Subaru Crosstrek Wilderness

I sent my Crosstrek to the dealer for the WRE21 recall. After retrieving the car from the dealership with the recall fix in place, the engine stalled while I was at a red light and I could see smoke coming out from the hood. This occurred after driving less than 4 miles from the dealership. I opened the hood and could see that one of the coil packs on the driver side cylinder bank was on fire. I called 911 and the Fire Department had to extinguish the fire. The fire has rendered the vehicle inoperable and smoke damaged.

NHTSA ODI 11624885

unexplained acceleration. I was in a parking lot and driving slowly and the car just took off. I had to crash it into the building at the mall to avoid cars and people. The car was totaled and my husband had a broken rib. We were taken to the hospital. Car was inspected and serviced. by the dealership, no problems before this accident, no warnings.

NHTSA ODI 11505736

The contact owned a 2019 Subaru Crosstrek. The contact stated while her husband was driving at 25-30 MPH downhill, the tractor trailer before him slowed down at a curve. The contact's husband depressed the brake pedal but it failed to respond and the vehicle accelerated unintendedly, causing the vehicle to fall into a ditch where it bounced and hit the rear of a trailer, then bounced back into the embankment. The passenger's side and driver's side roof rail air bags deployed. The frontal air bags failed to deploy. The emergency units transported the contact and her husband to the hospital where it was diagnosed that the contact had sustained a compression fracture in her back. Her husband did not sustain any injuries. The occupant of the trailer did not sustain any injuries. A police report was filed. The vehicle was towed to a tow lot where it was totaled. The dealer was not notified of the failure. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and a case was opened. The contact was awaiting a call back from the manufacturer. The failure mileage was approximately 31,200.

NHTSA ODI 11496704

On July 13,2022, while easing into a parking slot with foot on the pedal brake, with final stop and reaching to shift gear into parking mode, my 2019 Crosstrek engine suddenly accelerated and made the car surge forward. My brake pedal was on the floor with no response and the car continued to shoot pass the curb and sidewalk onto a vegetation embankment, heading towards the building and its glass door. I was terrified as the car did not respond to braking and tried to shift into neutral but the shift gear was struggling, until the car got stopped by the vegetation bank and continued to rev loudly, but then allowed me to shift into neutral. There was no warning of any sort when the phenomenon took place. When the tow truck arrived, tow personnel turned on the engine and tried the brakes pedal which went straight to the floor, with no pressure response. What was terrifying was the car engine suddenly accelerated forward and would not stop until the car was stopped by the dirt and vegetation. Without the vegetation, my car would have plowed into the building and the tall glass windows. The front of my car was damaged. It is now in a body shop. My car was bought brand new, has been serviced regularly by the dealership that I ordered it from. The last maintenance was March 2022, for a 24k service, with all in good operation. It currently has 25K miles. In the aftermath, I researched the web for info, and I found out that there is a current class action suit against Subaru for this type of sudden acceleration on several models of Subaru. This sudden acceleration is when cars are ready to park, with brake pedal applied, yet cars just accelerate. This is a life endangering car malfunction for drivers and other nearby drivers. Please help keep us all safe. Thank you for reviewing my report.

NHTSA ODI 11473916

I've owned cars for 40 years. And not once in 40 years, has the ash from a cigarette caused a seat to immediately burn. And I mean burn. Not just a burn on the outside of the fabric, but deep down into the padded material within seconds. Thankfully, I was able to put it out in the heavy smoke phase, before it turned into a full blown burning flame, burning the entire car seat and car. After my experience, it floored me that wasn't discovered during any type of testing that might be done on a vehicle. A major safety issue in my mind. I decided to report it now, because I'm surprised nobody else has. Considering there aren't a lot of cigarette smokers it's not surprising I guess.

NHTSA ODI 11452072

My daughter was in process of pulling her car into the garage when it experienced sudden acceleration and crashed into the garage. My daughter was unable to stop the car as the brake system failed during the incident. She is now too terrified to drive the car. Subaru claims that the car is and has been operating as intended. The Subaru Eyesight, Anti-Lock Braking, Vehicle Dynamic Control systems all failed during the sudden acceleration event. It's fortunate that this incident did not happen at a stoplight (intersection).

NHTSA ODI 11430534

IN JUNE OF 2020, MY BRAND NEW 2019 SUBARU CROSSTREK CAUGHT FIRE WHILE DRIVING ON THE HIGHWAY. THE MORNING OF THE FIRE, IT WAS CONFIRMED VIA THE APP THAT ALL CAR SYSTEMS WERE IN CHECK AND NO MAINTENANCE WAS REQUIRED. WHILE DRIVING ABOUT 65MPH, WE COULD NO LONGER ACCELERATE. WHILE PULLING OVER, THE DASHBOARD LIT UP WITH ICONS. WE THEN NOTICED SMOKE, THEN FIRE. THIS WAS ABOUT WITHIN A MINUTE AND A HALF TIMES. THE CAR REMAINS BURNT ON THE LOT UNTOUCHED AND SUBARU HAS YET TO DO ANYTHING ABOUT IT 3 MONTHS LATER. IF THERE IS A RECALL, IT WAS VERY UNSAFE FOR SUBARU CROSSTREK DRIVERS TO BE ON THE ROAD.

NHTSA ODI 11350991

VEHICLE IN MOTION ,ACCELERATED WITHOUT WARNING , AND COLLIDED INTO A TREE LOCATED ON CURB OF SIDEWALK, NO INJURIES TO 2 OCCUPANTS WEARING SEATBELTS, MAJOR DAMAGE TO FRONT OF VEHICLE. NO EXPLANATION FOR VEHICLE MOVING UNEXPECTLY

NHTSA ODI 11343750

PULLED INTO A PARKING SPACE AND PLACED THE VEHICLE IN PARK,TURNED THE VEHICLE OFF, REMOVED THE KEY AND EXITED THE VEHICLE. WHEN RETURNING TO THE VEHICLE WITHIN 5 MINUTES, THE VEHICLE HAD ROLLED BACKWARDS 25 FEET AND HIT 2 PARKED CARS. I UNLOCKED THE VEHICLE, ENTERED IT AND STARTED THE CAR TO RETURN TO MY ORIGINAL PARKING SPACE SO I COULD CALL THE POLICE TO REPORT A FENDER BENDER. I WILL BE CALLING MY DEALERSHIP IN THE MORNING TO HAVE THE VEHICLE INSPECTED FOR SAFETY. IN THE MEANTIME I PARKED THE VEHICLE AND APPLIED THE EMERGENCY BRAKE AS AN ADDED PRECAUTION.

NHTSA ODI 11318753

WHILE DRIVING ON A WOODED TREE LINED STREET AT APPROX. 40MPH, THE RIGHT REAR PASSENGER WINDOW IMPLODED. THE GLASS SHATTERED AND FELL ONTO MY DAUGHTER WHO WAS IN HER CAR SEAT. GLASS PIECES DID CAUSE MINOR SCRATCH ON HER FOREARM. THERE WAS NO IMPACT TO THE WIDOW. MY DAUGHTER WAS JUST ROLLING IT UP AT THE TIME OF THE INCIDENT. WE TOOK VEHICLE TO DEALERSHIP AND WILL BE UNDER INVESTIGATION FOR THE NEXT 4-6 WEEKS. THE VEHICLE AT THE TIME OF INCIDENT, HAD APPROXIMATELY 200 MILES ON THE ODOMETER.

NHTSA ODI 11251950