NHTSA Complaint #11139853 — 2017 SUBARU OUTBACK

WE LIVE IN LA. WE BOUGHT OUR CAR NEW ON 5/31/17 FROM SUBARU OF SANTA MONICA. AT AROUND 6,000 MILES WE HAD ITS OIL CHANGED PRIVATELY IN DURANGO, CO, WHERE WE SPEND SUMMERS. BACK IN LA ON 12/17/17 WE WENT TO SUBARU OF SM FOR ANY REQUIRED ADDITIONAL SERVICE. THEY DECIDED TO PERFORM THE 12,000 SERVICE WITH 10,107 MILES ON THE CAR. WHEN SERVICE WAS COMPLETED, I DROVE THE CAR OFF. IT STALLED FOR MAYBE 5-10 SECONDS (BUT DIDN'T SHUT DOWN) ABOUT 100 YARDS FROM THE SERVICE AREA. INITIALLY, IT JUST WOULDN'T GO WHEN I DEPRESSED THE ACCELERATOR. I THEN REPEATEDLY DEPRESSED IT AND FINALLY THE TRANSMISSION SEEMED TO 'CATCH' AND THE CAR MOVED FORWARD NORMALLY. LATER, AT MY REQUEST, MY WIFE MET WITH THE SERVICE WRITER (A LADY) TELLING HER ABOUT THE STALLING. HER RESPONSE: THIS HAPPENS ON ALL SUBARUS'THEY OCCASIONALLY STALL FOR ABOUT 5 SECONDS. SUBSEQUENTLY OUR CAR HAS STALLED ON SEVERAL OCCASIONS WITH MY WIFE DRIVING. AND IT ALSO HAPPENED TO ME AGAIN, THIS TIME AFTER ITS 24,000 SERVICE BY THE DURANGO SUBARU DEALER ON 10/10/18 (SEE SERVICE WRITE-UP). AS I WAS DRIVING AWAY, I STOPPED ON A DRIVEWAY BEFORE TURNING ONTO A CITY STREET. THAT'S WHEN THE CAR STALLED. [I HAD PREVIOUSLY TOLD THE SERVICE WRITER ABOUT THE STALLING, BUT THE DEALER'S MECHANIC COULDN'T GET IT TO STALL.] THE TWO DESCRIBED STALLINGS OCCURRED WHEN THE CAR WAS STOPPED AND I WAS ABOUT TO TURN ONTO A CITY STREET. WE JUST RECEIVED A CVT TRANSMISSION WARRANTY EXTENSION LETTER (SEE ENCLOSED) APPLICABLE ONLY TO 2016 AND 2017 SUBARUS (MOST MODELS) WHICH TELLS ME SUBARU KNOWS ALL ABOUT THIS PROBLEM AND HAS FIXED IT ON ITS 2018 AND 2019 MODELS. I RESPECTFULLY REQUEST THAT THERE BE A RECALL OF ALL 2016 AND 2017 SUBARU VEHICLES DESCRIBED IN THE ENCLOSED WARRANTY EXTENSION LETTER SO THAT THIS VERY FRIGHTENING PROBLEM CAN FIXED. THANK GOD OUR OUTBACK DIDN'T STALL AT A TIME WHEN ONCOMING TRAFFIC WOULD HAVE PLOWED INTO IT.