NHTSA Complaint #10469152 — 2012 SUBARU OUTBACK

SITUATION: TRAVELING AT 60MPH UP A STEEP HILL ON I70 WEST BOUND IN LEFT PASSING LANE. CARS FOLLOWING CLOSE, AND CARS IN THE RIGHT LANE. FOR THE FIRST TIME (NEW CAR) I USED THE DOWNSHIFT PADDLE ON THE LEFT SIDE OF THE STEERING WHEEL TO DOWNSHIFT TO ACCELERATE. I TAPPED IT TO DOWNSHIFT ONE GEAR. IT INSTANTLY DROPPED TO 1ST GEAR. THE ENGINE RPMS WENT TO RED LINE OR ABOVE. THE CAR DECELERATED DRAMATICALLY, AND I WAS TOSSED FORWARD. I ATTEMPTED TO UPSHIFT USING THE RIGHT PADDLE BUT THERE WAS NO RESPONSE, AND THE CAR REMAINED IN FIRST GEAR. THE CAR BEHIND NEARLY HIT ME. THE ONLY USEFUL CONTROL THAT I HAD WAS THE STEERING WHEEL (BRAKES OR ACCELERATOR USELESS). FURTHER, I ASSUMED THE BRAKE LIGHTS WERE NOT LIT. DUE TO THE ALERTNESS OF THE DRIVER BEHIND AND THE DRIVERS TO MY RIGHT AS I SLOWED DRAMATICALLY AND GOT OFF THE HIGHWAY TO THE RIGHT SHOULDER, A SERIOUS ACCIDENT WAS AVOIDED. DASHBOARD LIGHTS WERE LIT, BRAKE LIGHT FLASHING, ETC. CAR WAS TOWED TO FLATIRONS SUBARU IN BOULDER, CO. THERE THE COMPUTER DATA LOGGING CONFIRMED BOTH MY SPEED AND THE RPMS AT REDLINE OR ABOVE. THEY WERE UNABLE EITHER TO REPRODUCE THIS BEHAVIOR, OR TO DETERMINE THE CAUSE. I UNDERSTAND THAT THEY WERE TOLD BY SUBARU THAT THIS WAS THE FIRST TIME THIS HAD BEEN KNOWN TO HAPPEN, AND THEN TOLD TO REINITIALIZE THE "ADAPTIVE" PORTION OF THE COMPUTER, WHICH I BELIEVE THEY DID. OVERALL, I WAS TOLD THAT "THIS COULDN'T HAPPEN BECAUSE THERE WERE SAFETY LOCKS TO PREVENT IT". WHEN THE RECORDED DATA CONFIRMED MY DESCRIPTION, I THINK THE MECHANICS WERE VERY SURPRISED, AND DID TRY HARD TO UNDERSTAND THIS. I WOULDN'T ACCEPT THE VEHICLE BACK BECAUSE I AM OF THE OPINION THAT IF YOU DON'T KNOW WHY SOMETHING HAPPENED, YOU CAN'T BE SURE IT WON'T HAPPEN AGAIN. *TR