2011 Subaru Outback: fire, smoke or burning smell

Filed Aug 28, 2020 · Electrical · 95,000 miles · MD · fire

My car went in for repairs for stalling at a light or stop sign, the day after I got the car back it stalled again and this time cut out the electricity to the vehicle , I could not engage the emergency break nor could I put the car in park. I held my foot on the break because of a small downhill and I was afraid the car might run into other cars at the intersection. The person at subaru was walking me through the process of how to manually put the gear in park,while I was attempting to do this a woman yelled at me to get out of the car because it was on fire,according to subaru's investigation, the fire started at the left rear of the engine.

Filed Jan 3, 2017 · Electrical, Steering · 80,000 miles · NY · fire

Tl* the contact owned a 2011 subaru outback. While driving approximately 30 MPH, the steering lost power without warning. The vehicle was pulled to the side of the road and smoke appeared underneath the hood. The contact quickly exited the vehicle. Within a couple of minutes, the vehicle became engulfed in flames and was destroyed. A police report was filed. The fire department arrived and extinguished the fire. There were no injuries sustained. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 80,000.

Filed Feb 22, 2016 · Electrical, Lights · 70,000 miles · OH · fire

Ascended steep hill and stopped at stop sign. Processed to drive through intersection uphill. All lights on dash began to flicker on and off and car stalled out going down the road. After this occurred, I lost all electrical functions of car. I was not able to restart car, place car into park, apply emergency brake, turn on hazard lights, and the power brakes and steering were not present. I spent 5-7 minutes trying to restart the car and trying to figure out a way to stabilize the car since I was currently going down a steep hill without anyway of stabilizing it. After this time, smoke began coming out from under the hood. I had to coast car down hill into busy intersection and turn it onto next road in order to find a flat area to stabilize car so I could get out of it. When I got out, I began seeing flames drop down from front driver side of engine area. The car quickly caught on fire and most of the engine burnt out before flames were extinguished. The fire appeared to start in computer area. This car was bought new and have had no previous problems with the car, except we have had to change the low beam headlight bulbs several times while owning it. After I witnessed my car catch on fire and afterwards discovered subaru has a service bulletin for the torque converter, I believe the headlight issue and the torque converter issues are all connected. I believe what happened to my car is the torque converter failed that day causing an over voltage/over draw of power that was so bad it took out my computer unit, I then believe the battery continued to feed the computer unit, in its unresponsive state, until it caught on fire. The fire inspector told me sometimes bulbs will burnt out due to an over voltage situation. Something is definitely overdrawing power and it needs to be looked into because it endangers every driver, passenger, and anyone around these cars.

Filed Jun 19, 2013 · Body, Electrical · 4,000 miles · MA · fire

On june 30, 2011 at 11pm I looked out of my window and our entire garage was engulfed in flames. This building was not completed and had no electrical or heating system. I believed at that time that it was the car(subaru) that started the fire. ,as the intensity of the fire was on the side of the garage where it was parked.I had just had it detailed the day before the fire, as the dealership had done some extra electrical work and the car was returned to us filthy. I had always suspected that it was the subaru that started that fire and a couple of weeks ago I received a letter form subaru stating that the "puddle lights" wiring could over hear and start a fire. Guess where I had elec. Work done?I had the lighted floor board lights installed (right above the puddle lights) this fire has left my husband(still) very depressed as we lost all his tools and everything in that garage which included items to finish the construction and many valuable personal items. I realize this if after the fact, but after receiving that letter form subaru, I feel that my suspicion is justified and think that subaru should make this right.this building was erected for over five years and there wasn't anything in there that would of started that fire, other than that car. Please feel free to contact us.

Filed Jan 18, 2012 · Visibility · 1 miles · WA · fire

My wife left the house and smelled smoke. She pulled over and shortly thereafter flames started shooting out of the hood. She got our daughter out of the car and called 911. As the police arrived, one of my neighbors put the fire out with an extinguisher. The fire department arrived and looked at the damage and said the wiper motor overheated and caused the fire. My wife was quite upset at the thought our little girl could of burned in the car.