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Acceleration & cruise control

2000 Subaru Outback Acceleration problems

Owners have filed 14 complaints about the 2000 Subaru Outback's acceleration & cruise control with NHTSA - 7% of all its complaints, most recently on October 1, 2013. They describe 4 crashes, 0 fires and 1 injury. Unintended acceleration, surging, throttle problems and cruise or adaptive cruise faults.

Complaints
14
Recalls
0
Crashes
4
Fires
0
Injuries
1
Deaths
0

Acceleration complaints

Acceleration & cruise control

Sudden acceleration. Was driving at a slow speed due to light traffic at a red light. Car started to feel not normal and I knew something was wrong. I pressed on the brake but the car kept jumping forward, not wanting to stop. I was afraid I would hit the car in front of me. Luckily I was going very slow. Right after the car started accelerating for no reason. I kept my foot on the brake, my foot was never on the gas. I had taken my foot of the gas before the car started acting up, since I needed to slow down for...

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the red light. The rpms were going very high. I was unsure what to do because I never experienced this kind of situation. I panicked and put the car in neutral, and then in park and turned the car off. I called for help and was lucky my step father was around the corner. He pushed the car to a safe spot. Then he turned on the car while still in park and it was still accelerating very high. It went down and went back to normal acceleration. He then drove the car to the mechanic which was about 200 feet away. I am now having a diagnostic done to see if they can figure out a solution to why the car had sudden acceleration. I know for a fact I did not press on the gas instead of the break, and I also know it was not the subaru floor mat. This issue needs to be looked into as it could have been very dangerous. *Tr

Filed Incident Vehicle speed controlNHTSA 10546445
Acceleration & cruise controlCrash

Unintended acceleration in subaru outback (2000) caused serious accident. *Tr

Filed Incident Vehicle speed controlNHTSA 10325751
Acceleration & cruise control

Dt: the consumer stated that the 2000 subaru outback suddenly accelerated. The consumer was driving around 50-55 mph when the rpms revved to 6500. The consumer had to apply the brakes to get the vehicle to slow down. The consumer had to pull over and turn the vehicle off. The consumer found a mechanic that drove the vehicle home for her. The cruise control was not in use. This occurred twice. The dealership was called and they admitted that there were problems with the vehicle acceleration. The...

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manufacturer had not been called. The consumer that was making the complaint was not the owner, but had borrowed the vehicle and experienced this problem. The vehicle was taken to a mechanic who found nothing wrong. *Sc . *Ak

Filed Incident Vehicle speed controlNHTSA 10138442
Acceleration & cruise control

Vehicle suddenly accelerated on its own. Consumer has to pull over and restart the vehicle in order to keep it from increasing speed.*Ak

Filed Incident Vehicle speed controlNHTSA 10117231
Acceleration & cruise control

Engaged car into reverse and immediately the car suddenly accelerated at full throttle. I was able to stop car after approximately 10 feet of movement. Fortunately, there were no injuries to occupants or pedestrians. Brought to dealer, no evidence of problem found on car computer systems. Filed formal complaint with subaru of america. Found this problem has been thoroughly documented by other outback owners. Something must be done! *Nm

Filed Incident Vehicle speed controlNHTSA 10112106
Acceleration & cruise controlCrash1 injury

While driving 60 mph cruise control failed. This caused consumer's to loose control of the vehicle. The vehicle left the pavement and went over a steep bank. The vehicle rolled over at least two times landing on it's roof. Consumer sustained minor injuries, and was taken to the hospital. Vehicle was towed to the dealer for inspection. The cause has not been determined. *Ak *nm

Filed Incident Vehicle speed controlNHTSA 10094320
Acceleration & cruise controlEquipment & accessories

Subaru outback vin[[redacted]], 2000 model vehicle stalls and will not accelerate away from stops. Stalls in middle of road and is dangerous to drive. Dealer reprogrammed pcm on 4/1/04 when taken in for coolant/head gasket issue recall. Performance was poor after this and was returned to dealer 5/04/04. Stated that the spark plugs were the problem, new plugs fitted. Car is worse than before and extremely dangerous to drive due to sudden stalling and bogging on takeoff. My husband has a 1999 subaru imprezza and has similar problems and has returned his car several times with no correction.*Ak *js information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u.S.C. 552(B)(6)

Filed Incident Vehicle speed control · EquipmentNHTSA 10068371
Acceleration & cruise control

After parking the vehicle in the garage consumer was walking away and noticed that vehicle was rolling backwards. Vehicle was in park, but for some reason the mechanism was not engaged. Vehicle was examined by the dealer, but the problem was not resolved. *Ak 2000 subaru outback experienced roll back while parked in garage. Vehicle traveled backwards about 3 feet until consumer was able to open door and engage the emergency brake. Vehicle was taken to dealer where nothing could be found wrong as to why roll backs occurred.*Mr

Filed Incident Vehicle speed controlNHTSA 10050526
Acceleration & cruise controlCrash

While going backwards into garage, the vehicle accelerated and went through the back of the garage off deck and hit a tree. *Ak ph *jb

Filed Incident Vehicle speed controlNHTSA 10021860
Acceleration & cruise control

My subaru outback wagon with 50k miles began having occasional engine surge after the brakes were checked by the dealer. It has been to the dealer 2x and they have not found the problem. Just applying the brake will kick the engine into high, and the engine must be turned off to stop the surge. It has happen to me 4x in 2 weeks. I have the car but will not drive it. The dealer is consulting with subaru. Apparently this is an on going problem which at present has no solution. This is a very dangerous defect and I feel immediate action should be taken and the public notified. Ts

Filed Incident Vehicle speed controlNHTSA 10002844
Acceleration & cruise control

Vehicle will intermittently accelerate while consumer was driving. It would usually have at very low speeds, usually when the vehicle was coming to a stop. Contacted dealer. *Ak

Filed Incident Vehicle speed controlNHTSA 8009678
Acceleration & cruise controlCrash

While at driveway put vehicle in reverse and just tapped accelerator pedal, and engine over accelerated, causing consumer to crash into driveway.*Ak *slc

Filed Incident Vehicle speed controlNHTSA 882355
Acceleration & cruise control

On three occassions, while vehicle was in drive with foot applied to brakes, vehicle accelerated 5- 10 feet, cause unknown. Please give any further details.*Ak

Filed Vehicle speed controlNHTSA 881447
Acceleration & cruise control

After intial fueling, engine warning light "lights" on dash. Light continues to stay on for 3/4 of the tank of gas. Incidence of occurring is about 90%. Engine hesitation is occuring 100% at initail acceleration. Hesitation lasts for 2 to 3 seconds and then normal power resumes. After initial takeoff engine seems to accelerate as to be expected.

Filed Incident Vehicle speed controlNHTSA 726317

Subaru Outback acceleration complaints by year

Outback acceleration problems, every year

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Source: U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) complaints and recalls, checked . Complaints are owners' own reports and are not verified. How we use the data

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