2002 Subaru Forester: sudden unintended acceleration

Filed Aug 22, 2015 · Acceleration, Engine · 160,823 miles · CA · crash

I had stopped my forester in the left hand turn lane about 3 to 5 feet behind another vehicle while waiting for the signal to change from red to the green arrow. I put my vehicle into park and took my foot off the brake. I turned to check the pocket of my jacket in the rear seat. I turned back in the driving direction, put my foot on the brake and moved the automatic gear shift into the drive position. My car surged forward with the engine racing and hit the vehicle in front of me. I could not control the speed with the brakes, so I shifted back into park. This stopped my car. There is damage to my front grill and hood. This is not the first time I had this happen. The first time this occurred, I called subaru headquarters and explained the issues to a subaru representative. I was told this was a new issue and no recall was being considered. I took my car into the subaru dealer and they checked it and said they could not find any problems. The same thing occurred at least two more times prior to august 10, 2015. I never had any damage to my subaru or any other vehicle because I was not near any other vehicle when this surging occurred and I could get control of my subaru by putting the automatic gear shift into park. I purchased my subaru forester new and currently have 160,845 miles.

Filed Feb 22, 2010 · Acceleration · 105,000 miles · PA · crash

I was entering a parking space at a local grocery store when the vehicle surged forward into another parked car. I had my foot on the brake and had placed the vehicle in park when it suddenly and unexpectedly lurched forward. I damaged the parked car and my own. This has happened previously when backing out of a parking space going from the park position. Am contacting subaru to see if this has anything to do with the recall.

Filed Mar 27, 2006 · Acceleration · 12,430 miles · AK · crash

We purchased this low-mileage vehicle (~11k miles) 2nd hand from local subaru dealer mid-feb 2006, & noticed only rough shifting when engine is cold- no other problems. Today, while turning left at low speed, the car suddenly accelerated, & seemed to do so for a short time after braking harder. I assumed I had inadvertently stepped on the gas & brake at the same time, & resolved to be more careful. After turning the car off & restarting, I turned right at low speed. As I rounded the corner (maybe as the wheel turned back to the left??), the vehicle again accelerated, continuing to rev as I stood on the brake. The car stopped after striking the bumper of the truck in front of me. Low-speed impact, no air bag deployment, no observable damage to either vehicle. Before I moved my feet, I looked down: my foot was not on the gas pedal. As the gas pedal is somewhat recessed, it would be quite difficult to hit it while braking. Cruise control had been on earlier in the day, but is supposed to shut off when the car is turned off, & so should have been off during both of these incidents. Afterward, I did not look at the cruise control to verify that it was off. The dealer will look at this in 2 days.

Filed Feb 10, 2006 · Acceleration · 32,000 miles · VA · crash

Driver of forester was stopped at a red light about 10 feet away from car in front. Driver took foot away from brake pedal for a moment and car surged forward on its own. Driver slammed brake pedal to the floor, but forester continued to surge forward. Driver swerved to try to avoid accident but still clipped bumper of car in front and caused damage. Forester continued to surge and buck forward for another moment before finally stopping (driver's foot had remained firmly on brake the entire time). I took the vehicle to the dealer I had bought it from just two weeks ago, but they claimed they had never heard of this happening in a subaru and refused to even investigate if there was a mechanical error that would be under warranty because of legal fears. They implied the accident was my fault and I was looking to blame them. Despite minor damage, the car was still drivable, yet I had it towed to the dealer because I was scared of driving it ever again. I was lucky I only hit another car's bumper-- it could've been a bicyclist or pedestrian who was struck! My insurance company is investigating the claim at this point, but I refuse to drive that car unless someone finds the exact cause of the out of control surging and fixes it. I am appalled subaru is denying this problem even exists.

Filed Jun 1, 2005 · NY · crash

I was backing my 2002 subaru forester out of my driveway when it suddenly accelerated out of control, causing it to cross the road heading for my neighbors' house. Flooring the brake did not help but I managed to turn the car slightly, hitting a tree, where it came to a stop. This had happened to me twice before in this car, and once to another regular driver of this car. All incidents were when maneuvering slowly, but some were while in reverse and others while moving forward. In all the earlier incidents, we were somehow able to bring the car under control and to a stop before hitting anything. This has also happened to a friend who owns a 2002 forester. None of us have ever had it happen in any other car, and we have all been driving regularly for 35 years.

Filed Sep 3, 2002 · Fuel system · NY

From a stand still vehicle will hesitate or once getting started will lunge forward. Dealership looked over vehicle, and contacted subaru which told dealership that vehicle met all requirements, and returned vehicle to consumer with no modifications. Please describe details.

Filed Jul 29, 2002 · Acceleration · OH

Myself, as well as many others, have a problem with our subaru vehicle hesitating upon pressing the accelerator, for as much as 2-3 seconds, followed by sudden acceleration. This happens in drive as well as reverse. Subaru acknowledges the problem (really depends on who you talk to at any dealership) but says that it is normal and there is no fix. When and if a reply is sent, I will forward a copy of the letters sent to subaru. Thank you for your time.

Filed Jun 28, 2002 · Acceleration, Brakes · MI · crash · 1 injury

When parking and brakes applied vehicle surged forward. This has happened 3 times. On 27 june 2002 while parking vehicle surged forward, brakes were applied, and vehicle hit a post, consumer suffered minor injury. Vehicle at dealer at this time.

Filed Mar 11, 2002 · Acceleration · MA · crash

Vehicle was standing with motor running in drive and I had the foot on the brake when the car started slowly moving forward. When I pushed the brake further, the car incurred a sudden acceleration forward and hit another vehicle. I just could do nothing to stop it. Subaru of america did not admit there is a malfunction and asked to take the car to the dealer to confirm such failure. However I am reluctant to do so, since the dealer would not represent my interests as well. I do not drive the car anymore as it is unsafe to do so and I do not know how should I proceed. Any advice? Please tell me how were the other complains of these type resolved. I have seen similar complains against forester 2001 and 2000. Thank you.