I believe my anti-lock brakes malfunctioned on my 2011 subaru outback and if this is the case then someone in auto safety data collection needs to know about it. I was driving down an off ramp during snowy conditions. I applied my brakes at around 35 MPH and they abruptly locked up. There was no shutter/shimmer effect that I might expect with anti-lock brakes as they go on and off while trying to grip the road. I applied them again with the same jolt followed by sliding. I tried this several times as I approached the intersection. Though the long off ramp did slow me down, at about 15 MPH (I think) I plowed the left front of my car into the ford ranger in front of me. This impressively crushed the left front side of my car and my air bags did not deploy. The point of impact was the left side of the front bumper, but it hit at the upper 2-3 inches of the bumper. I'm not sure if the airbags should have deployed with this type of impact, but if they were supposed to deploy then someone needs to know about it too.
2011 Subaru Outback brakes complaints
Page 4 of 4: complaints 71 to 78 of 78, newest first, as owners wrote them.
2011 subaru outback. Consumer states unintended acceleration *tgw the consumer stated the sudden acceleration problems started shortly after he purchased the vehicle. On two occasions, he came close to having an accident. The consumer believed there was an issue with the pedal arrangement. He stated he realized he was crossing his right leg over his left leg to apply pressure to the brake pedal. The brake power assist amplified the applied force very well, but at times the brake pedal seemed to get too close to the floor board. He found the brake pedal was high when the engine was off and sank to a lower level when the engine was started. The level could get close to the operating plane of the accelerator pedal. On one occasion, he flipped off the cover on the brake pedal and was braking on a bare steel plate. He discovered he was using more natural ergonomic motion and got too close to the right edge of the brake pedal. The distance between the edges of the brake pedal and the accelerator pedal was about three inches. The width of the sol of his size 12 shoe was about 4 1/2 inches. The consumer believed the problem was an engineering design problem that involved the vacuum braking system, the accelerator linkage design and ergonomic.
As brakes were stepped on car was slow to respond to braking pressure. The car continued to roll but finally came to a stop but the brake pedal went to the floor. On subsequently stepping on the brake pedal I had brake response, but if I kept pressure on the brake pedal it would go to the floor. This is unusual as up until this incident there was a very solid brake feel and the brake pedal would stop and hold about halfway to the floor. Also of note and reported is that at 1500 mile this car had steering vibration and steering control issues, which were finally addressed at 11,500 miles.
I pulled into my driveway (relatively level) and parked my car. As I exited the vehicle I notice that my car was rolling forward (I have a manual transmission) and attempted to set the electric parking brake by pushing repeatedly on the button to the left of the steering wheel. The parking brake did not set and my car gained speed and continued downhill into the woods behind my home. I am not sure if I was dragged or partially in the car, but was able to clear the vehicle before it hit a fence, a tree and eventually come to a stop. This has happened in my garage once and at a gas station, but I was able to gain control of the vehicle by hitting the parking brake button. I do not know if I am not setting the brake before exiting or am not depressing it fully before exiting or why it did not stop when I hit it repeatedly. I typically set the car in gear, but obviously did not do this on these occasions.
Alot of brake pedal travel low brake took alot of distance to slow down wasn't able to stop the car at 35 MPH hit other car. Had car look at many times still thomas subaru didn't think anything was wrong with car from day one I told them my brakes weren't right it takes alot of distance ( pedal ) which increase amount of time needed to slow and stop the car.. I feel the brake master cylinder is not working right still thomas subaru will not fix the car until an recall. I also think recall no. 11v562000 which is only for 2012 cars might also needs added for 2011 cars. I now have 31,000 and still have bad brakes. I need help subaru will not help.
Tl* the contact owns a 2011 subaru outback. The contact stated that the brakes failed at a very low speed in a parking space. When the brakes failed, the vehicle continued forward about 20 feet, pushing down a metal fence before stopping. The contact felt that the master cylinder was the cause of the failure. The vehicle was inspected by an authorized dealer and the dealer stated that there was nothing wrong. The contact felt that the failure was related to the recall associated with the federal safety agency campaign id number 11v562000( service brakes, hydraulic: pedals and linkages). The failure and current mileages were 6,815. Updated 02/28/12 *bf updated 05/03/12
I have told the subaru dealer(s) that the front passenger airbag sensor light says "off" unless the passenger weighs over 150 lbs or so. The dealer(s) deny knowing anything about it. However, it is on a subaru blog and there are many complaints about it. The dealer is unable to tell me if the airbag is working or not. My brake pedal makes a clicking noise when I release the brake pedal. The subaru dealer told me he knew this happened to all of the 2010 models but didn't realize it was happening to the 2011 models and he said there is nothing he can do about it until subaru comes out with a recall. So far I haven't heard back from subaru, it's been 5 months.
I turned right into a driveway with a steep upward incline and had to stop my car briefly to speak to a person helping with parking for an event. My car has a manual transmission, so I engaged the electronic parking brake to hold the car so I could get moving again without rolling backwards. However, the parking brake on my car automatically disengages as soon as the gas pedal is depressed (or even, actually, touched at all). Because of the very steep incline, by the time I had enough revs to engage the clutch, my car had rolled back into the street behind me. Fortunately no vehicle was passing at the time, though a serious accident could have occurred. I have noticed that the electronic parking brake needs to be manually disengaged if the driver seatbelt is unfastened, presumably as a reminder to fasten the seatbelt. In the future in a similar driving situation I would be tempted to unfasten my seatbelt before attempting the steep hill start, which would be the less dangerous of two dangerous options. I emailed subaru to point out the problem and ask whether it would be possible to modify these vehicles such that the parking brake is always controllable by the driver. My concern was dismissed, seemingly without much consideration. I live in an area where steep hills are the norm, and have always driven a manual transmission car without incident, but the electronic parking brake on my new car presents a serious hazard. I would like to have this addressed before someone is injured or killed.
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