2012 Subaru Outback: jerking or lurching

Filed Oct 25, 2023 · Engine · VA

No issues with the car since I bought it new and was dedicated to regular Maintenance. Less than a week after a regular scheduled oil change and driving on the main interstate highway cruising at 65mph, the car just suddenly jerked. I thought I had blown a tire but the Brake light came on and then soon after the engine light came on. I was able to get off the highway but the acceleration decreased to a slow crawl. I had it towed to the nearest Subaru dealership that morning in which they said the issue is that both 1 and 4 are not correctly firing. They checked the spark plugs and checked the injector, but both did not fix the issue. They have now told me that they need to get the engine pistons/valves "machined". They are reaching out to Subaru to see if they can help since there is nothing I could have done to prevented this issue and they are hearing more of this issue occurring in Subaru cars. I'm praying that Subaru will help me with my vehicle but am waiting to hear from the Subaru dealership.

Filed Sep 22, 2020 · Transmission · 102,000 miles · VA

Vehicle shutters and stalls when braking on a city street, especially in colder weather (I first noticed this in the winter of 2018). On sept. 13, 2020, the vehicle violently lurched forward as I pulled out on a city street at lower speeds. After this occurred, the check engine light, oil temp, traction control light, and brake light came on on the dash. Diagnostic showed a p0700 and p2764 error codes indicating a need for a valve body replacement. Service bulletin 16-107-17r indicated that when replacing the valve body a newly designed part should be used because the old part does not work as well. When I called subraru, they discouraged me from replacing the valve body with the originally designed part even if it was brand new. I do not feel safe driving this vehicle without this repair and I feel that because subraru has a newly designed valve body part to address this issue, that this issue is not the result of normal wear and tear but should be a considered a recall instead.

Filed Mar 8, 2020 · Transmission · 120,000 miles · NY

Transmission jerks. Then the instrument panel lights are flashing. Trac control,brake loight and cruise light flashing. Check engine light on and will not pass inspection!checked internet and many years and models have same problem. Repair cost of parts alone over $900 happens while accelerating.

Filed Sep 26, 2019 · Transmission · 164,000 miles · NY

Accelerating from a stopped position, or from a low speed as when making a turn or merging, the vehicle jerks and bucks, comes to a near stall at least once each time, more often 2 or 3 times in quick succession, until the vehicle gains more speed, approximately 10 MPH, and the symptoms subside. Vehicle was driven out of necessity a maximum 20 miles on a few days since symptoms began, consistently bucking and near stalling in those conditions, causing traffic disturbances and endangering my family, myself, and other drives on the road. 4 days later the dash lights came on while driving-check engine, flashing emergency brake, traction control, flashing at temp oil-I immediately pulled off the road, bucking and near stalling all the way. Car was towed. Odb-ii codes were-transmission control malfunction, and torque converter clutch pressure control solenoid central circuit. Mechanic says can't drive the car. Background checking shows that instead of a recall, a warranty was put in place then due to the extent of the complaints on this, warranty was extended, and subaru refuses to take appropriate action to resolve this unsafe, expensive, and known issue. There is additionally a sulev emissions warranty which covers this, but it only goes to 150,000 miles and is not a safety issue.

Filed Oct 1, 2018 · Transmission · 115,500 miles · IL

2012 subaru outback CVT issue car will shudder while braking from highway speeds (40 MPH+) down to 10-20 MPH. Car lurches, similar to a manual car dumping the clutch. In the case of a hard stop this has caused the engine to stall twice, and come close to stalling many more times. Car starts up and runs fine once placed in neutral or park. I have to be extremely conscious of how quickly I brake, as you can feel when the tcc disengages. If it does not disengage before you stop, the car stalls. This leads to possible unsafe conditions, not knowing if your car is going to stall or not at a critical moment (turning left in a busy intersection). This would have been covered by subaru's extended warranty that they offered to cover this known problem (seemingly instead of a full recall), but by the time my car exhibited these symptoms it was well past the arbitrary 100k mile mark and past the july 31st deadline (my car is at 116k miles, and this started occuring in the past two months). I drive a large amount of highway miles, and recently I do not feel safe coming to a hard stop if necessary. I do not see how a known issue that can cause the car to stall in traffic is not considered a safety issue that necessitates a recall.

Filed Aug 25, 2017 · NV

This happens randomly, not just once but several times I lost count already. Driving on a city street, I always get nervous when I would slow down due to a stop sign or red light because the car would stall by the time I come to a full stop. The engine would first feel like it's gonna die, then would jerk a little and then finally die. Starting the car back on has no issues -- the car turns on normally. Already brought it to the dealership for servicing and was told may just be idling issue. They said they fixed it but still experiencing it randomly. Hesitant to bring it back for I was told that the next time, it might cost me a thousand or more to fix it.

Filed Aug 25, 2017 · NC

This happens randomly, not just once but several times I lost count already. Driving on a city street, I always get nervous when I would slow down due to a stop sign or red light because the car would stall by the time I come to a full stop. The engine would first feel like it's gonna die, then would jerk a little and then finally die. Starting the car back on has no issues -- the car turns on normally. I taken to the dealer and they connat replicate the issue.

Filed Dec 11, 2013 · Transmission · 45 miles · OH

The car was running for about 20 to 30 minutes, the outside temperature was about 35 degrees and windy. Went and parked the car, return to the car, at night while it was still cold, started up and started driving the car for about a half hour and that is when it happened again. When exiting the freeway and the car goes from 60 MPH to 45 MPH and it is cold the transmission jerks and freezes and locks, and it feels like someone hit you in the back with a baseball bat. This has now happened several times. This can cause serious injury especially when the transmission locks up, and it can lead to a false sense of breaking and can deploy air bags.