I have maintained my 2011 Outback well, and in August of 2023, while driving the vehicle, I lost the brakes. I had to fully depress the brake pedal to the floor in order to stop, fortunately not hitting the car in front of me . I brought the car to my local mechanic who advised me that the brake line rusted and failed as a result. As he was making the brake line repair, he advised me that there is SEVERE rusting to my underbody of my car and it's not normal. I then contacted Subaru Corporate Customer Service who asked me to bring the car into a Subaru Repair facility to have the car inspected. I brought the car into Ramsey Subaru, and with a charge of $150 to inspect the car, they advised me that the rust is significant and is unsafe to drive. They proceeded to quote me an estimated repair bill of over $6,000 to correct the rust issues. I then contacted Subaru Corporate HQ (Case #231011-1901134) and they advised me that the car is old, and there's nothing that they can do to assist me. However, what I'd like to bring to your attention, is the Outback model up to 2010, had a brake line rusting issue and they had a recall on it. In addition, when you search for 'Rust on Subaru" you can see that previous models years have been identified with Body Frame rusting issues, that prompted a recall on previous models. My ask is? Have you be contacted by other 2011 Subaru Outback owners about severe rust issues, and as a result lost their brakes and were told there car in no longer safe to drive?
2011 Subaru Outback brakes complaints
Page 2 of 4: complaints 11 to 40 of 78, newest first, as owners wrote them.
Rear brake line rusted through at 4 way connector and again on side of tank. It is visible to inspect when a plastic cover is removed. The brakes failed and the car would not stop. The brake light did not appear until after I applied the brake pedal to stop. This could have caused a serious accident.
The rear brakes lines have rusted out to the point of leaking. Could of loss brakes on the road!
The contact owns a 2011 Subaru Outback. The contact stated that the brake pedal went to the floorboard while depressed. The contact stated that the brake warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic and the contact was informed that subframe was severely corroded. Neither the dealer nor the manufacturer was notified of the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was approximately 165,000.
My mechanic tells me my Outback's K frame/engine cradle is rotting out where the control arms are attached. This is obviously a common problem with this run of vehicles, and leads to catastrophic failure. Further, the rear brake lines have rotted, and the geniuses ran them above the fuel tank, which would have to be dropped in order to repair. I believe this is a common enough problem to warrant investigation.
July 2023 badly leaking hard brake lines, apparently at Right Rear underbody 4-way connector. This caused radically diminished braking capability, rendering car not drivable.
When the check engine light is illuminated for any reason, it could be as simple as the gas cap isn't tight. It is designed to disable the cruise control, disable the traction control and what I feel is a safety factor, it disables the electronic hill holder. Being this is a manual transmission vehicle it has an electric parking brake. When the hill holder is activated, if you stop on a steep grade for traffic or traffic light, the electronic parking brake engages until you start to release the clutch. This would not be an issue on an automatic transmission, but on a manual transmission gravity will make the car start to roll backwards. I don't know how the design engineers figured this was a good idea to disable this when the check engine light illuminates. Also the fact that the parking brake is strictly a parking brake, it is not an emergency brake as it cannot be activated while the vehicle is moving. If you lose the service brakes for any reason, it's impossible to bring the car to a stop using the emergency brake as it will only beep because the car is in motion. I do believe that the braking system should in no way be interrupted due to a check engine light, supposedly this is done to get the driver's attention, but it seems a compromises the safety of the driver and passengers as well as any vehicle that could pull up close behind not knowing that it's a manual transmission and could roll backwards on startup. I just feel this is a flaw In the design of the electric parking brake and hill holder assist used on these vehicles with manual transmissions. This is not an isolated issue, this will happen anytime that the service engine light or check engine light if you will becomes illuminated. No specific date, just anytime that the check engine light becomes illuminated while driving.
rear break line failure at the junction box... complete rotten off... all other lines coating and integrity visually ok... defect in coating ..
Brake light came on while driving and brake pedal went to the floor..suddenly...NO brakes at all. Towed into repair facility and was informed the rear brake lines had rusted out and that the repair was major because of the routing of the rear lines under the rear seat and floor panel...a very bad rust area. Location is Maine. It was pointed out to me that there was a tech Bulletin and recall for Subaru Outbacks up to 2009....but the problem remained in the later models. MAJOR expense to access and replace the rear lines and route them properly with rust proofing! HELP!
Upon application of the brakes approaching a stoplight, the vehicle pulled sharply to the right, entering the right lane from the left and was rendered unsafe to operate due to this condition. Had a vehicle been present at this time in the right lane, a collision would have likely occurred. Upon inspection by the mechanic, the front engine frame had broken on the right side. The broken area has two (2) large rust holes on the top and bottom sides of the box frame. Directly above the two (2) rust holes the drain for the air conditioning condenser is located. Illinois, like 22 other states in the U.S., uses road salt to combat icy road conditions. The combination of road salt with the location of the air conditioner drain tube directly above the frame failure point leads ut to reasonably conclude that this model has a design defect that led to the failure. A remedy for this issue would be to simply extend the drain tube approx. 5" so the water dripping from the air conditioning condenser does not drop onto the top, flat portion of the engine frame where road salt may accumulate over time. In addition, 1. I have possession of the original frame for inspection by the federal safety agency. 2. At the time of the repair, the mechanic ordered the replacement dram from the local Subaru dealership. Our mechanic was informed that he was ordering the last remaining subframe assembly that Subaru of North America had in stock at that time.
The contact owns a 2011 Subaru Outback. The contact stated that while driving at various speeds, extra brake travel time was needed upon the depression of the brake pedal while attempting to stop the vehicle. The contact stated that the brake pedal would depress to the floorboard during the failure without warning. An independent mechanic inspected the vehicle and related the failure to the federal safety agency Campaign Number: 11V562000 (Service Brakes, Hydraulic) however, only the 2012 model was included in the recall. The dealer was then notified of the failure and the contact was informed that her vehicle was not included in the recall. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The vehicle had yet to be repaired. The failure mileage was approximately 173,000.
Brakes become soft and sometimes depression of brake pedal to floor to activate brakes. Master cylinder appears to be in need of replacement
I was driving and suddenly loss almost all brake pressure. The brakes just went to the floor. Fortunately I was driving on a 30mph roadway near my home and was able to safely get the vehicle home. The mechanic said is it the brake lines corroded. Sudden loss of brake fluid. I see Subaru has recalls on earlier years for this. You need to get them to recall 2010 and 2011 Subaru Outbacks for this brake line issue. I see all over the internet other folks have the same problem with the 2010 and 2011. This is going to cause a major accident and people could. be killed. Had I been on the highway and this happened, I know this could have caused a terrible accident. Subaru is clearly aware of this brake line problem and you have not informed the customer that this is happening with the 2010 and 2011 Outbacks! Please take action immediately to inform owner of this problem. We have a right to know.
Partial brake failure while driving on Interstate. When applying brakes, the dash light came on and the pedal went to the floor. Car stopped, but braking distance was very long. The problem was caused by the failure of a brake junction on the right rear side, due to rust.
I have being experiencing shuddering and a few stalls on the highway and at red lights. While I have been able no maneuver through this, I find it do be extremely dangerous for myself and others, and in one instance it came really close to be a coalition.
The Brake line on 2011 Subaru Outback are leaking in the rear. This vehicle is not listed under the " WQK-47 – Brake Line Corrosion – 2005-2014 Subaru", recall. But is exhibits the same problems. When Subaru USA was contacted, Customer Service said they was nothing they could do because the vehicle is not listed in the recall, regardless of it showing the same issues. The brake caution light was on. Brake fluid in reservoir was a minimum, I filled it to max level with Dot 3 brake fluid. Two days later the light came on with fluid level at minimum again. This is the family car and I do not want my wife or kids to have brake failure while driving. The above mentioned recall seems to be exactly what I am experiencing. When looking form below the vehicle fluid is leaking form the 2-2way connection area. Onset 5/15/2021. Vehicle is not currently being driven due to safety concerns.
This is a recurring problem with my vehicle. I was driving on the highway, when suddenly my dashboard lights up. I'm going 70 MPH, and my emergency brake light is flashing for no reason. It's was not on when I started the car, just suddenly started flashing 5 minutes into my trip. The check engine light also came on. I pulled over as soon as I could and tried reset my e brake. It would not turn off no matter what I did. Once in park on the side of the road, my car would not move. That's when I had to call for roadside assistance to tow my car home. My mechanic used a scanner tool to diagnose the problem, and they described that it was an electrical issue. This has happened previously, about a year beforehand. I was almost home from work when my brake light came on at 50 MPH. Turns out the e brake had engaged without it being touched, and the light didn't come on until so much damage had been done. My breaks had completely blown out and had to be replaced. Not only was this a very unexpected and expensive fix, but also put me and others in an extremely dangerous situation. If my beaks suddenly lock on me or go out in the middle of traffic again, somebody could get seriously injured or even killed. Please, I really don't want to go through this again. I need my car to work.
Brakes mushy, excessive pedal travel, have to pump them up to stop. This has been going on for a long time. Have had new rotors, new pads, dealer flush and refill including ABS with computer. No change. Brake master cylinder suspected, especially as there was apparently a recall regarding certain 2012 model outbacks, I believe that issue may apply here too. Dangerous
A brake master cylinder malfunction. It causes an increase in the amount of brake pedal travel distance required to slow or stop the vehicle. 2012 subarus were recalled. Is my 2011 recalled? It's very dangerous.
On more than one occasion while braking over potholes, immediately after the ABS was activated (and once just driving down a hill toward a stop sign), the brake pedal becomes very soft and is almost to the floor before brakes were engaged, resulting in an increase of travel distance before the vehicle was able to come to a complete stop. The first several times the issue seemed to resolve itself and I figured it was just a result of the road conditions. When it continued to occur I decided to take it to the dealer. The issue again resolved itself before the technician was able to look at it and therefore nothing was done and the vehicle was returned to me. Several months later it occurred again, and again the issue resolved itself before the technician was able to look at it. However, they performed a brake system flush as a precaution. Three months later it happened again while entering the on-ramp to a major highway and persisted for several days. I once again brought it to the dealer where the technician was finally able to verify the concern. They re-flushed the system and also replaced the master cylinder (which was a recall issue in other models) as a form of good will. We all assumed the issue was resolved and I once again took possession of the vehicle. Exactly two weeks later it happened again. I immediately drove it back to the dealership and it once again resolved itself before a technician could look at it, therefore nothing more was to be done. I am not driving this vehicle roughly. There are some roads in our area that are just poorly maintained and there was one occasion where simply pulling off the road and into the grass triggered the issue. I no longer feel safe driving this vehicle and I'm told there isn't much else that can be done at this time.
I was driving this vehilce while coming to a stop the brake pedal went to the floor and the vehicle wouldnt stop completly, I had to shift the transmission into park,, perhaps causing damage to my transmission, upon investigation I found the rear brake line failured due to rust and corrosion under fuel tank shield. Brake lines have a protective coating to help prevent this, however where the lines exit the body of the car under the rear seat they connect into a junction block then proceed to each rear wheel, at this junction the protective coating was removed allowing salt spray from our winter road conditions to lead to corrosion and failure of the brake system.. Previous models had a recall wqk-47 that experience the same failure, but this vehicle wasn't included,
On multiple occasions, while driving on city streets and freeways, without any warning, I have no brakes. No brake light or check engine light (cel) on the dash. The brake pedal went all the way to the firewall. The car eventually stopped without incident; a very stressful and absolutely terrifying moment. Shortly thereafter, brakes are normal. Then, it happens again a couple of weeks later. In total, it has happened seven times. I contacted my local subaru dealer and explained my concerns. The service writer initially responded that he had never heard of such a problem and didn't know what to do (the condition cannot be recreated; it just happens unexpectedly and without warning). I asked if he would inquire with other service writers to see if they were aware of such an issue. Ironically, another customer's car was there at that very time, with the same complaint/problem being diagnosed. After diagnostics; it was recommended the master cylinder be replaced. I had them replace it with oem part 26401aj001 as well as doing a brake system flush and filling with new brake fluid. This was in november 2019. Since then, the problem has occurred three more times (most recently, two days ago). I recently discovered there was a recall on 2012 outback master cylinders due to the same problem as described above. Why isn't this recall broader and related to all cars with these identical (same part number) master cylinders? Do people have to die before bad brake systems are repaired? I've researched and collectively found numerous others that are having the same issue. I question the credibility of dealership service writers when they say they have never heard of this problem. I have loved my subaru; however, my vehicle needs to stop when my brakes are applied-every time; not with the fear of; is today going to be the day of failure yet again?
On 2/11/20 around 12:30pm et, I was approaching the highway via an onramp, and my speed was barely 25 MPH. Suddenly, as I was on the approach-road, I suddenly felt that the steering was locked and turning on the right side only (either steering or anti-lock malfunction). It hit the fence and then turned (flipped) on its driver side as can be seen in the picture. I believe this is a safety issue, so please make a proper investigation. My car was totaled. My damaged car is in 'county towing' in 49 fullerton ave, yonkers, ny 10704, phone: (914) 423-1101
Car stalls out when I come to a complete stop, especially if I have to stop short due to being cut off. Car is an automatic, so this is not supposed to happen and is very dangerous when cars are coming behind me. I took it back to the dealer 3 times over the years and each time they said they could not replicate the problem and thus no diagnosis. After reading online, it seems to be a known problem to subaru with a faulty torque converter.
2011 subaru outback. Consumer writes in regards to defective brake pedal. *ld the consumer stated the while attempting to park the vehicle behind another vehicle, the brakes failed causing a crash. The brake control module failed causing the anti-lock system to malfunction.
The rear brake lines are extremely corroded at the rear block, necessitating a very costly repair. It appears that other models of this same year have been recalled for this problem, but not the outback. Surely they have the same brake systems.
Between 2011 and 2019 we have had to replace the rear brakes and rotors for a second time. The original set of brakes and rotors lasted about 31k miles and were replaced in 2015. Now in 2019 the brakes and rotors have failed again and need to be replaced. The mileage driven from 2015 to 2019 is 19k miles. The vehicle is driven 5 days a week and since may of 2019, six days a week. This is beyond ridiculous. Brake pedal when trying to stop, went to the floor faster than they normally would have. That was when I set the appointment to find out why.
Noticed that dome/map lights not working and front time clock out. Then when going to put it in park the engine revved and the brakes would not engage and ran into a fence causing damage to front end of vehicle. Parking break has not worked for some time either.
Driver was attempting to make a turn around in a driveway and needed to stop and switch reverse. The car would not stop and driver was not able to switch gears and hit garage wall.
Tl* the contact owns a 2011 subaru outback. While the vehicle was parked, the contact was unable to release the emergency brake. In addition, the brake warning indicator was illuminated. The contact removed the battery to reset the vehicle and was able to release the emergency brake. The contact stated that he continued to experience the failure and associated it with the federal safety agency campaign number: 18v626000 (parking brake). The vehicle was taken to carlsen subaru (located at 480 veterans blvd, redwood city, ca 94063, (888) 520-5916) where it was diagnosed that the epb module needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified. The failure mileage was 110,000.
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