NHTSA Complaint #11362065 — 2018 SUBARU OUTBACK

ON INFREQUENT YET MULTIPLE OCCASIONS SINCE PURCHASING THE CAR IN SPRING 2018, AFTER HANGING UP FROM A BLUETOOTH PHONE CALL, THE RADIO WOULD BLAST AT FULL DECIBELS AND BE UNRESPONSIVE TO ATTEMPTED ADJUSTMENTS WITH THE VOLUME CONTROL. ON ALL OCCASIONS EXCEPT FOR TODAY'S EVENT, I WAS DRIVING ON MAJOR HIGHWAYS, BECOMING STARTLED, THEN HAVING TO IMMEDIATELY TRY TO RECTIFY THE EAR-BLASTING SOUND. TODAY, I WAS IN A PARKING LOT, HAVING TURNED OFF THE ENGINE--THE RADIO CONTINUES TO PLAY AND THE BLUETOOTH REMAINS LIVE IN AN OUTBACK FOR 5 MORE MINUTES, UNTIL THE DOOR IS OPENED--I MADE A CALL, HUNG UP, AND THE RADIO VOLUME WAS FINE; I IMMEDIATELY MADE ANOTHER CALL, HUNG UP, AND THE RADIO BLASTED AT FULL DECIBELS AGAIN. THIS TIME, I WAS UNABLE TO ELICIT A RESPONSE BY TURNING THE VOLUME KNOB, WITH THE RADIO STOPPING SHORTLY THEREAFTER BECAUSE IT HAD REACHED THE 5-MINUTE LIMIT. THIS EVENT OCCURRED WHETHER I HUNG UP FIRST OR THE OTHER PERSON HUNG UP FIRST. I HAVE HAD THE CAR BACK TO RAFFERTY SUBARU ON MULTIPLE OCCASIONS, WITH A VARIETY OF FIXES ATTEMPTED, MOST RECENTLY BY SWAPPING OUT MY AMP WITH ONE FROM A LOANER VEHICLE. I HAVE FOUND IDENTICAL COMPLAINTS ON THE SUBARUOUTBACK.ORG FORUM, WITH OTHERS ACHIEVING NO RESOLUTION AS WELL, AND WITH OTHER BEING CONCERNED ABOUT THIS UNCONTROLLABLE CONDITION OCCURRING WHILE DRIVING AT HIGH SPEED ON HIGHWAYS. THIS APPEARS TO BE A PROBLEM IN THE 2019 AND 2020 MODELS AS WELL.