NHTSA Complaint #11196205 — 2017 SUBARU OUTBACK

FUEL GAUGE IS INACCURATE AND DOES NOT SHOW NEAR EMPTY WHEN NO USABLE FUEL IS LEFT IN THE TANK. WE WERE DRIVING TO AN EVENT WITH SLIGHTLY LESS THAN 1/4 OF A TANK OF GAS REMAINING WHEN THE VEHICLE RAN OUT OF FUEL. COMPLETE ENGINE STALL (NO SPUTTERING/ETC. BEFORE) AT 70MPH ON THE HIGHWAY, REQUIRING AN EMERGENCY STOP ACROSS SEVERAL LANES OF TRAFFIC. THIS IS CLEARLY A DANGEROUS PROBLEM, AND IT SEEMS SEVERAL OTHER 2017 OUTBACK OWNERS HAVE REPORTED SIMILAR ISSUES. IT APPEARS TO BE SIMILAR TO THE 2018 FUEL GAUGE RECALL (WTW-82) BUT FOR 2017 VEHICLES. UNFORTUNATELY, I DIDN'T THINK TO TAKE A PICTURE OF THE FUEL GAUGE, BUT WAS ACTUALLY PAYING CLOSE ATTENTION AS I HAD RECEIVED THE NOTIFICATION FOR SUBARU'S WUD-89 "DISTANCE-TO-EMPTY SOFTWARE UPDATE," SO I KNEW THE DISTANCE-TO-EMPTY INDICATOR WAS WRONG, BUT GIVEN THE NOTICE SAID NOTHING ABOUT THE FUEL GAUGE ITSELF AND ONLY MENTIONED THE DTE SOFTWARE WAS INCORRECT, I MADE THE NATURAL ASSUMPTION THAT THE GAUGE ITSELF WAS STILL AT LEAST REMOTELY ACCURATE.