NHTSA Complaint #10553127 — 2013 SUBARU OUTBACK

AFTER STOPPING AT A STOP SIGN, I ATTEMPTED TO DRIVE OFF, BUT THE CAR DID NOT ACCELERATE ON APPLICATION OF THE THROTTLE PEDAL. THE ENGINE REMAINED AT IDLE, AND THE CAR ROLLED SLOWLY INTO THE INTERSECTION. NOTHING I DID CORRECTED THE PROBLEM UNTIL I PLACED THE TRANSMISSION IN PARK, TURNED OFF THE ENGINE, THEN RE-STARTED THE CAR. THE CAR THEN PERFORMED NORMALLY UNTIL I REACHED THE NEXT STOP SIGN, WHERE THE PROBLEM REPEATED. IN ALL, THE PROBLEM OCCURRED SEVEN (7) TIMES ON THIS DAY, APPARENTLY AT RANDOM. THAT IS, AT SOME STOPS THE CAR PERFORMED NORMALLY, AND AT OTHER STOPS, THE CAR FAILED TO ACCELERATE WHEN THE THROTTLE PEDAL WAS DEPRESSED. THE SERVICE DEPARTMENT AT MY SUBARU DEALER WAS UNABLE TO REPLICATE THE PROBLEM AND THEREFORE PERFORMED NO REPAIRS. TWO WEEKS LATER, THE PROBLEM OCCURRED AGAIN, THREE (3) TIMES IN TWO DAYS. THIS IS AN EXTREMELY DANGEROUS PROBLEM, BECAUSE IT CAN LEAVE THE CAR IN A BUSY INTERSECTION WITHOUT THE ABILITY TO MOVE UNTIL THE DRIVER TURNS OFF THE CAR AND THEN RE-STARTS IT. THIS PROBLEM HAS BEEN NOTED BY OTHER SUBARU OUTBACK OWNERS IN ONLINE FORUMS, AND AT LEAST ONE OTHER VEHICLE SAFETY COMPLAINT HAS BEEN FILED REGARDING THIS PROBLEM. *TR