2021 Subaru Outback Collision Avoidance Problems

The contact owns a 2021 Subaru Outback. The contact stated that while driving approximately 68 MPH with the cruise control activated, the vehicle suddenly lost motive power. No warning lights were illuminated. The contact stated that it was difficult while attempting to shift the gear lever out of drive(D). The contact stated that once she was able to shift the gear shifter, she shifted into park(P) to turn off the vehicle. The vehicle was restarted after multiple attempts. The contact then noticed that the parking brake had engaged independently. The vehicle was taken to a local dealer, where the failure could not be duplicated. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 14,000. The contact stated while driving on Mass Pike the Adaptive Cruise control was engaged, in the middle lane and no problems the vehicle lost power. After five minutes and traffic moving, the vehicle was trying to reboot but the emergency brake was on without anyone applying it. And the contact had a difficult time putting the vehicle into to park to restart the engine.

*Eyesight system detects collision hazard and applies brakes when entering certain curves. *Unexpected braking in curve, particularly when roadway is wet poses a danger to driver and other motorists. *Not reproduced by dealer or service center, problem is captured on dashcam video. *Vehicle has been inspected by dealer *Eyesight system seems to "glitch" frequently, causing a variety of warning lamps on dashboard, full shutdown of infotainment system, and disabling all built in eyesight safety features.

THE MAIN COMPUTER SYSTEM THAT CONTROLS THE EYESIGHT SYSTEM, CRUISE CONTROL, LANE DEPARTURE, ALL HVAC CONTROLS, NAVIGATION, ETC. SHUTS DOWN (GOES BLACK), AND REBOOTS RANDOMLY. WHEN THIS OCCURS, ALL OF THE FUNCTIONS AND CONTROLS ASSOCIATED WITH THE COMPUTER SYSTEM ARE LOST. CRUISE CONTROL DROPS OUT AND THE BUILT IN SAFETY FEATURES ARE DISABLED. IT IS DISTRACTING TO THE DRIVER AND REQUIRES THE DRIVER'S ATTENTION TO RESET FEATURES THAT WERE LOST. IT IS A KNOWN PROBLEM BY SUBARU AND HAS NOT BEEN FIXED ON MY VEHICLE FOR OVER A YEAR NOW. THIS COMPLETE COMPUTER BLACKOUT EVENT OCCURS ALMOST EVERY TIME I DRIVE THE VEHICLE.

The Subaru Eyesight system malfunctioned while I was driving. All Eyesight components were enabled at the time of the incident, including pre collision braking and forward collision warning. I had been stopped at a red light at a four way intersection. I was the first car waiting at the red light, with other cars behind me and to each side. The intersection had multiple lanes in each direction. There were four lanes going the direction I was driving, and I was in the second from the right. When the traffic light turned green, I took my foot off the brake and onto the gas to begin accelerating. I accelerated through the large intersection reaching approximately 20 miles per hour. The speed limit is 25 or 30 there so I was continuing to accelerate to that speed and was just about through the intersection when the pre collision braking suddenly engaged with no warning at all. My foot was still on the gas trying to accelerate when this happened. All of the lights that show on the windshield seemed to light up red, and it showed that the pre collision braking had engaged on the dashboard screen behind the steering wheel. The car came to an immediate stop in the middle of the road and would not move forward. I took my foot off the gas and my car would still not move. My dashboard said something along the lines of “firmly press brake to hold stop.” I hit the brake, then everything returned to normal and I could move forward. I moved forward, safely switched to the right lane and pulled into the nearest driveway to get off the road and park. I then disabled all Eyesight features and called my Subaru dealership who said they will “diagnose and recalibrate” the system on 1/14/2022. My car and windshield were clean and my windshield is the same from the factory with no defects. No cars were in front of my- the road ahead was wide open, clear, flat, and straight. No one turned in front of me or anything. Fortunately I was not rear ended but it was very scary and dangerous.

The emergency braking forward collision system has deployed several times when it should not. In some circumstance the braking could result in the person behind me rear ending me. The main problem is that if the car detects another car directly in front of you, the system will sometimes deploy even if the vehicle is not in the same lane as you. I've had the emergency brakes deployed incorrectly in the following situations. I am driving in the left lane of a 2 lane road with a speed limit of 45 mph and the road is banking sharply to the left. Because of the sharp bank, a car was directly in front of me but in the right lane, so this is a normal non dangerous situation but the brakes deployed. I exited a parkway, the exit ramp banks sharply to the right as most exit ramps do. Directly ahead of me but off the road is a disabled vehicle. There is no danger to me as it is safely off the road, but the brakes were deployed. In both instances there was no one following close behind me but if there was, either situation could have resulted in them rear ending me. I have taken to disabling the emergency braking feature because I no longer feel safe using it. Unfortunately this takes 7 key presses to accomplish and it resets every time you turn the car on. I contacted Subaru customer service to complain, but got ridiculous suggestions, like just turn off the emergency braking when you expect to be driving with a lot of cross traffic. If not rectified, sooner or later that's going to cause an accident.

Subaru has apparently integrated their Eyesight Collision avoidance system with their infotainment system and the infotainment system crashes constantly. When it crashes about 50% of the time Eyesight goes offline and kicks cruise control off. At highway speeds this is VERY dangerous. The vehicle will slow down 5-10 mph between when the system crashes and when someone realizes what has happened in order to put their foot on the gas pedal to keep their speed up. I've almost been rear-ended multiple times now because of this. Subaru has been aware of this issue for TWO FULL model years now and is going into a 3rd year with the SAME problem. The update they issues in Spring 2021 made the problem worse not better. Subaru must be forced to either fix the issue immediately or recall the entire system and replace it before someone dies in a highspeed accident caused by this system. Until two days ago Subaru of America's employees were arrogant, condescending, and beyond unhelpful. Wendy Clough has stated Subaru plans to issue an update in August has no actual confirmed timeframe. Subaru has done NOTHING to communicate with owners or dealers on mitigation options, if any, nor to warn customers of potential risks. Subaru must be forced to notify all owners of the issue immediately.

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2021 SUBARU OUTBACK. THE CONTACT STATED THAT WHILE DRIVING 60 MPH, THE BRAKES ENGAGED INADVERTENTLY. THE CONTACT TOOK THE VEHICLE TO HYMAN BROS. SUBARU (11960 MIDLOTHIAN TURNPIKE, MIDLOTHIAN, VA 23113) WHERE THE FAILURE COULD NOT BE DUPLICATED. THE DEALER STATED THAT THE EYESIGHT BY THE REAR VIEW MIRROR NEEDED TO BE RECALIBRATED. THE VEHICLE REMAINED AT THE DEALER UNREPAIRED. THE MANUFACTURER WAS INFORMED OF THE FAILURE. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 900.