NHTSA Complaint #11360419 — 2012 SUBARU OUTBACK

VEHICLE SHUTTERS AND STALLS WHEN BRAKING ON A CITY STREET, ESPECIALLY IN COLDER WEATHER (I FIRST NOTICED THIS IN THE WINTER OF 2018). ON SEPT. 13, 2020, THE VEHICLE VIOLENTLY LURCHED FORWARD AS I PULLED OUT ON A CITY STREET AT LOWER SPEEDS. AFTER THIS OCCURRED, THE CHECK ENGINE LIGHT, OIL TEMP, TRACTION CONTROL LIGHT, AND BRAKE LIGHT CAME ON ON THE DASH. DIAGNOSTIC SHOWED A P0700 AND P2764 ERROR CODES INDICATING A NEED FOR A VALVE BODY REPLACEMENT. SERVICE BULLETIN 16-107-17R INDICATED THAT WHEN REPLACING THE VALVE BODY A NEWLY DESIGNED PART SHOULD BE USED BECAUSE THE OLD PART DOES NOT WORK AS WELL. WHEN I CALLED SUBRARU, THEY DISCOURAGED ME FROM REPLACING THE VALVE BODY WITH THE ORIGINALLY DESIGNED PART EVEN IF IT WAS BRAND NEW. I DO NOT FEEL SAFE DRIVING THIS VEHICLE WITHOUT THIS REPAIR AND I FEEL THAT BECAUSE SUBRARU HAS A NEWLY DESIGNED VALVE BODY PART TO ADDRESS THIS ISSUE, THAT THIS ISSUE IS NOT THE RESULT OF NORMAL WEAR AND TEAR BUT SHOULD BE A CONSIDERED A RECALL INSTEAD.