NHTSA Complaint #10343509 — 2010 SUBARU OUTBACK

I PURCHASED MY NEW 2011 2.5 PREMIUM 6MT (NON-PZEV) SUBARU OUTBACK ON JUNE 25TH, 2010. JUST A FEW DAYS LATER, WITH ONLY 50 MILES ON THE CAR AND MY FIRST TIME DRIVING WITH THE A/C ON, I EXPERIENCED MY FIRST NEAR-STALL ENGINE SHUDDER WHILE COMING TO A STOP. AS OUTSIDE TEMPERATURES HAVE GONE UP LATELY, SO HAS MY USE OF A/C, AND SO HAVE MY OCCURRENCES OF ENGINE STALLS AND NEAR-STALL SHUDDERS. THE REVS WILL DROP BELOW 500RPM, THE HVAC FAN SPEED WILL AUDIBLY SLOW, SOMETIMES THE "BATTERY/ALTERNATOR" WARNING LIGHT WILL ILLUMINATE ON THE INSTRUMENT CLUSTER, AND THE HEADLIGHTS WILL DIM. THE SHUDDER IS SOMETIMES QUITE VIOLENT, AND SHAKES THE CAR. A FEW TIMES, THE CAR HAS ACTUALLY STALLED OUT. THIS COULD BE A SERIOUS SAFETY ISSUE, AS POWER STEERING AND POWER BRAKES ARE LOST DURING AN ENGINE STALL. I'M 33 YEARS OLD. I'VE BEEN DRIVING MANUALS SINCE 17. THIS IS MY 3RD SUBARU AND MY 6TH CAR ' ALL MANUALS. I'M PRETTY SURE I'VE GOT MY HEAD WRAPPED AROUND DRIVING STICK. THE SHUDDERS AND STALLS WILL OCCUR EVEN IF THE GEAR STICK IS IN NEUTRAL, SO I KNOW THIS IS NOT DUE TO INSUFFICIENT OR IMPROPER USE OF THE CLUTCH. THE SECOND ISSUE I'VE BEEN HAVING WITH MY NEW OUTBACK IS A SLIGHT SHAKE OR SHUDDER IN THE STEERING WHEEL AT HIGHWAY SPEEDS. *TR