2014 SUBARU OUTBACK Complaints

I PURCHASED THE OUTBACK 3.6 R LIMITED BRAND NEW AND SOON AFTER I NOTICED THAT VEHICLE PULLED RIGHT AND I HAD TO CONSTANTLY CORRECT IT -WHICH BECAME EXHAUSTING AND A SERIOUS SAFETY ISSUE. AT FIRST I THOUGHT IT WAS RELATED TO ALL WHEEL DRIVE (SINCE I NEVER OWNED AN ALL WHEEL DRIVE). AFTER SOME RESEARCH I REALIZED VEHICLE SHOULD NOT HAVE THIS ISSUE. I REPORTED THE PROBLEM WHEN I TOOK IT TO DEALER FOR ITS FIRST MAINTENANCE SCHEDULE AT 3,000 MILES. I WAS INFORMED THAT IT WAS THE WHEEL ALIGNMENT AND THEY FIXED. THE PROBLEM APPEARED TO BE RESOLVED AT FIRST BUT AFTER 1 WEEK IT STARTED PULLING RIGHT AGAIN -BUT NOT AS NOTICEABLE AS BEFORE. I REPORTED TO DEALER BUT WAS TOLD THAT THAT IS THE WAY ITS SUPPOSE TO DRIVE. PLEASE INVESTIGATE AS MANY OTHERS HAVE HAD THE SAME COMPLAINT AND APPEARS TO BE A REPETITIVE PATTERN AND I AM VERY CONCERNED. *JS

THE ISSUE THAT CONCERNS ME INVOLVES THE INITIAL HOOD RELEASE THAT IS LOCATED INSIDE THE CAR ALONG THE LEFT SIDE (DRIVER'S SIDE). SPECIFICALLY, ON NUMEROUS, RANDOM OCCASIONS THE TOE OF MY RIGHT FOOT RELEASED THE HOOD AS I AM PIVOTING TO EXIT THE CAR. A FEW TIMES, I HAVE NOTICED THE HOOD IS SLIGHTLY RELEASED AND I SHUT IT. HOWEVER, MORE OFTEN, I DIDN'T NOTICE THE HOOD UP SLIGHTLY AND STARTED OFF ON MY TRIP. FOR EXAMPLE IN SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER WE MADE A ROUND TRIP FROM MILFORD, CT TO BRADENTON, FL. AND RECENTLY REPEATED THE TRIP FROM MILFORD. AT LEAST 6 OR 8 TIMES ALONG I-95 I-10 OR I-75, I NOTICED THE HOOD WAS RELEASED AND I HAD TO PULL OVER TO THE ROAD SIDE FROM A HIGHWAY WHERE THE SPEED LIMIT RANGES FROM 50-70 MPH. AS I AM SURE YOU KNOW, THERE IS A SECONDARY HOOD RELEASE THAT HAS TO BE MANUALLY RELEASED FROM THE FRONT OF THE CAR. HOWEVER, SHOULD THAT SECONDARY RELEASE FAIL, THE HOOD WOULD BLOW OPEN WHILE WE WERE IN MOTION AND EITHER BLIND OUR VISION OR BLOW OFF TO ONLY GOD KNOWS WHERE. I HAVE CALLED THIS MATTER TO THE ATTENTION OF PREMIER SUBARU IN BRANFORD, CT AND ASKED THAT THEY INFORM SUBARU. I HAVEN'T HEARD FROM EITHER COMPANY. *TR

CAR STOPS WITHOUT WARNING. A CLICKING SOUND IS HEARD AND THEN THE FRONT DISPLAY PANELS BECOME BLANK. THERE IS NO STEERING OR BRAKES. THIS HAS HAPPENED 10 TIMES. THERE IS NO WAY TO PREDICT WHEN THIS MIGHT HAPPEN AND THERE IS NO PRECIPITATING FACTORS. HAVE HAD THE CAR TO THE DEALERSHIP TWICE, BUT THE PROBLEM CANNOT BE FOUND AND AM STILL DRIVING THIS UNSAFE CAR. *TR

BRAND NEW CAR AND ENGINE BURNING OIL ISSUE: SUBARU OF GEORGETOWN, TX, DEALER TOLD ME THAT I DID NOT HAVE TO CHANGE THE OIL UNTIL I REACHED 7500 MILES ON MY BRAND NEW 2014 SUBARU OUTBACK. AT 4900 MILES, OIL PRESSURE AND LOW OIL LIGHTS CAME ON BRIEFLY, THEN TURNED OFF 30 MILES LATER. I DIDN'T CHECK THE LEVEL SINCE THE LIGHTS TURNED OFF. THEN 50 MILES LATER, BOTH TURNED ON AGAIN. I CHECKED THE DIPSTICK, AND THERE WAS APPROX. 1MM OF OIL REGISTERING ON THE BOTTOM OF THE DIPSTICK. THE SUBARU OF BATON ROUGE, LA DEALER TOLD ME THIS WAS NORMAL AND CHANGED THE OIL AT 5400 MILES. *TR

ENTERING A MAIN STATE HIGHWAY FROM A RURAL ROAD I PRESSED DOWN ON THE ACCELERATOR RESULTING IN NO RESPONSE PLACING MYSELF IN JEOPARDY FOR A A COLLISION FROM RAPIDLY APPROACHING CARS BEHIND ME THIS INTERMITTENT STALLING PROBLEM ALSO OCCURRED PREVIOUSLY AT SLOW SPEEDS UPON EXITING A SHOPPING MALL ON TO A BUSY LOCAL HIGHWAY. *TR

DATE COMPLAINT FILED: 10/18/2014 COMPONENT(S): STEERING DATE OF INCIDENT: 10/17/2014 NHTSA ID NUMBER: 10648531 DEAR NHTSA CONCERNING ODI COMPLAINT NUMBER 10648531. THIS ISSUE HAS BEEN RESOLVED. AFTER FILING THE COMPLAINT I TOOK THE CAR TO THE DEALERSHIP ON 10/23/2014. THEY TEST DROVE THE CAR AND PERFORMED A 4 WHEEL ALIGNMENT WHICH CORRECTED THE PROBLEM. . SO IF OTHERS ARE EXPERIENCING THE SAME ISSUE OF WANDERING, ALIGNMENT MAY BE IN NEED OF ADJUSTMENT FOR THEIR VEHICLE AS WELL. *TR

MULTIPLE INCIDENTS OF LAG WHEN DRIVING SLOWLY INTO CROSS TRAFFIC OR FROM A DEAD STOP THAT SOMETIMES LAST UP TO SEVERAL SECONDS THAT HAS RESULTED IN SOME VERY CLOSE CALLS IN HEAVY TRAFFIC. THE WORST TIMES HAVE BEEN WHILE MAKING A LEFT TURN ACROSS TRAFFIC WHEN YOU ARE CREEPING OUT AND TRY TO ACCELERATE AND NOTHING HAPPENS! I HAVE CALLED THE DEALER AND TAKEN IT INTO THE DEALER AND THEY TELL ME IT IS A DESIGN FLAW IN THEIR CVT TRANSMISSION AND THAT THERE IS NO FIX AT PRESENT. THEY DID SOME UPDATES TO THE CARS COMPUTER AND THOUGHT THAT MIGHT HELP BUT ON A TRIP IN ST. GEORGE UT A FEW DAYS LATER WE WERE ALMOST IN AN ACCIDENT MERGING RIGHT INTO HEAVY TRAFFIC WHEN WE WERE LEFT SITTING IN THE MIDDLE OF THE STREET FOR SEVERAL SECONDS BEFORE THE CAR WOULD MOVE. THE SERVICE WRITER SAID HIS 20013 LEGACY DOES THE SAME THING AND THIS IS A COMMON COMPLAINT. I HAVE RESEARCHED THIS ON LINE AND CAN'T FIND ANYTHING ABOUT IT, WHY? THIS IS A VERY DANGEROUS PROBLEM, WE PURCHASED THIS CAR WITH THE EYESIGHT ACCIDENT PREVENTION SYSTEM BECAUSE WE WANTED ALL THE SAFETY FEATURES IT HAS, NOW WERE TOLD THAT IT'S NORMAL TO LEAVE YOU HANGING IN TRAFFIC WAITING FOR THE CAR TO RESPOND? *TR

DRIVING WITH CRUISE CONTROL (CC) ENGAGED ON ROLLING TERRAIN, THE VEHICLE SPEEDS UP ON A DOWNHILL SLOPE UNTIL BRAKES ARE APPLIED (BY CC), THEN AT BOTTOM OF HILL PICKUP IS SLUGGISH AND SPEED FALLS OFF 2-3 MPH BELOW SET POINT. THEN THE POWER COMES ON LATE AND HARD, AND THE VEHICLE GOES OVER THE CREST OF THE HILL ACCELERATING AT PEAK POWER LEVEL, 2-3 MPH ABOVE SET POINT. AN ASSOCIATED ISSUE, OBSERVED SINCE THE CAR WAS NEW, IS THAT WHEN CLIMBING A UNIFORM 3-4% GRADE AT HIGHWAY SPEEDS, THE ENGINE RPM CYCLES CONSTANTLY OVER A RANGE OF 800-1000 RPM AT A FREQUENCY AROUND 4 CYCLES/MINUTE. THIS IS ANNOYING TO THE DRIVER AND PASSENGERS, AND INCREASES THE STRESS LEVEL ON THE DRIVER. WE HAVE HAD THE VEHICLE BACK TO THE DEALER THREE TIMES, AND A FACTORY REP HAS EVALUATED IT, THE RESPONSE WE GET IS THAT THE VEHICLE IS OPERATING WITHIN SPECIFICATIONS, AND NO ACTION WILL BE TAKEN, NOR WILL ANY ADJUSTMENTS BE MADE. *TR

STEERING NEEDS CONSTANT CORRECTION, IF THE CAR DRIFTS TO THE RIGHT AND YOU CORRECT BY SLIGHTLY TURNING LEFT IT WILL OVER CORRECT & DRIFT TO THE LEFT FORCING THE DRIVER TO CORRECT BY SLIGHTLY TURNING RIGHT, WHICH IS THE CONSTANT CYCLE WHILE DRIVING THIS VEHICLE. IT WILL NOT TRACK STRAIGHT DOWN THE ROAD. THIS IS DANGEROUS AS IT CAUSES THE VEHICLE TO WEAVE BACK & FORTH IN THE LANE. YOU CAN NOT GET THE CAR TO TRACK STRAIGHT, IT IS ALWAYS EITHER PULLING RIGHT OR PULLING LEFT. THE DRIFTING IS NOT DRASTIC BUT IT IS CONSTANT. I HAVE OWNED MANY CARS AND TRUCKS INCLUDING 4 WD, THIS IS NOT NORMAL. I AM FILING THIS COMPLAINT IN ORDER TO HEIGHTEN AWARENESS OF THIS HAZARDOUS CONDITION WHICH IS COMPOUNDED BY THE FACT THAT IT CAUSES DRIVER FATIGUE, LESSENING THE DRIVER'S ABILITY TO REACT TO THE VEHICLES CONSTANT NEED FOR STEERING CORRECTION. THE CONSUMER STATED THE ISSUE WAS RESOLVED. THE DEALER PERFORMED A FOUR WHEEL ALIGNMENT. UPDATED 12/02/14*JB

THE CAR DOES NOT STAY ON. STARTED THE CAR BY TURNING THE KEY TO THE "START" POSITION FROM THE "ON" POSITION. THE CAR STARTS BUT ONCE THE KEY MOVES BACK TO "ON", THE CAR STOPS. THIS IS THE SECOND TIME I'VE BEEN STRANDED BY THIS OCCURRENCE. AFTER 20-30MINS, THE CAR STARTS AGAIN. BOTH INCIDENTS OCCURRED WHEN IT WAS RELATIVELY HOT (+85 DEGREES F). SEEMS TO BE AN IGNITION ISSUE. *TR