2009 SUBARU OUTBACK Steering Problems

OUR 2009 SUBARU OUTBACK IS RADICALLY DANGEROUS WHEN DRIVING ON COMPACTED SNOW OR ICE. THE CAR BECOMES ALMOST UNCONTROLLABLE WITH REAR OVERSTEER ON MODERATELY SLIPPERY ROADS; EVEN AT VERY SLOW SPEEDS WITHOUT APPLYING ANY ACCELERATION. OUR VEHICLE HAS ALWAYS DISPLAYED THESE "QUIRKS" BUT IT IS NOW OUTRIGHT DANGEROUS. THE CAR IS A MANUAL TRANSMISSION AND HAS BEEN EXTREMELY WELL MAINTAINED. I CERTAINLY HOPE NHTSA IS AWARE OF THIS ISSUE AS THERE IS CLEARLY A DESIGN FLAW. WE HAVE NEVER BEEN IN AN ACCIDENT BUT LIVING IN THE MIDWEST DRIVING THIS CAR IT FEELS LIKE IT ONLY A MATTER OF TIME. THE HANDLING IS SO BAD THAT IT BECOMES A DANGER TO OVERCOMING TRAFFIC. *TR

DRIVING ON STRAIGHT, SEMI-ICY ROADS BETWEEN NORTHERN MICHIGAN AND NORTHERN WISCONSIN AT SPEEDS FROM 40MPH TO 50MPH THE 2009 SUBARU OUTBACK LOADED WITH APPROX 500LBS OF CARGO AND PASSENGERS (DRIVER INCLUDED) WOULD SUDDENLY SWERVE BACK AND FORTH ( REFERRED TO AS GHOST WALKING ). WOULD HAVE TO REDUCE SPEED AND PULL OVER TO SHOULDER NUMEROUS TIMES AND ALLOW ALL TRAFFIC BEHIND VEHICLE TO PASS SINCE NO ONE ELSE WAS HAVING ANY HANDLING PROBLEMS. VEHICLE WOULD REGAIN STABILITY AND WOULD HANDLE FINE FOR SOME TIME AND THEN WOULD REPEAT THE GHOST WALKING SITUATION ONCE AGAIN. THIS HAPPENED APPROX 6 SIX TIMES FOR A TOTAL DRIVE TIME OF 35 MINUTES. CALLED 4 DIFFERENT SUBARU DEALERSHIPS AND SPOKE WITH THEIR SERVICE DEPARTMENT AND ALL TECHNICIANS TOLD ME THEY HAVE NEVER HEARD OF SUCH A PROBLEM. RESEARCHED THE ISSUE WITH NUMEROUS SUBARU WEBSITE FORUMS AND FOUND MANY COMPLAINTS OF WHAT APPEARS TO BE THE...

VEHICLE HAS A SHIMMY WHEN DRIVING AT HIGHWAY SPEEDS: 70-75 MPH. SHIMMY HAS BEEN PRESENT SINCE VEHICLE DELIVERY. 5 TRIPS TO THE SERVICE DEPARTMENT OVER 10 MONTHS DID NOT RESOLVE THIS ISSUE. *TR