2015 Subaru Outback: sudden unintended acceleration

Filed Sep 22, 2025 · Acceleration, Brakes · IN · crash

I was within the town limits so I was driving slowly. When I approached the first stop light in town I saw that it was red. There were of three or four vehicles stopped at that light. At that point I was probably only going 5mph. I took my foot off of the gas pedal and put my foot on the brake to make a slow stop. Instead, the car accelerated rather quickly. I continued to brake but the car seemed to speed up. I was able to avoid hitting the truck in front of me by going around it. No vehicles were coming towards me but there were some stopped at the other side of the light. I drove up on the sidewalk to avoid hitting anyone. At that point the front passenger side of the car hit & snapped a pole. The car did not stop immediately upon impact. It stopped acclerating and came to a stop about 10 feet past the pole. I am not sure how fast the car was moving when it hit the pole but I was only going about 5 mph when I put my foot on the break. I would estimate the distance my car traveled from the moment I put my foot on the break until the car stopped was approximately 100-120 feet. It felt like the car went into the cruise resume mode and was trying to accelerate to a predetermined speed. I had not been using the cruise control that day but that is exactly what it felt like. There was one other time this year that the car lunged forward without using the gas pedal. It stopped quickly for me and I just assumed that I had hit the cruise resume button, although I also hadn't been using the cruise that day. The insurance company took the car to an impound lot two hours away. I am sure there has been no inspection and my insurance has not informed me of the status of having my car totaled or repaired. Because of the age of the car, and damage, they think it will be totaled. Yes, my safety and the safety of anyone near me was at risk. The car malfunctioned and the fact no one was hurt was miraculous. There were no warning messages before this accident.

Filed Aug 21, 2024 · Acceleration · 70,000 miles · NY

The contact owns a 2015 Subaru Outback. The contact stated that while making a right turn into a parking space, the vehicle experienced unintended acceleration and lunged forward. The contact stated that the failure had occurred on several occasions. The cause of the failure was not yet determined. The manufacturer and local dealer were not yet contacted. The failure mileage was 70,000.

Filed Feb 10, 2024 · Transmission · VA

When shifted into drive or reverse, with brakes applied, and after initial start the vehicle will surge forward or reverse with force enough to overcome standard braking.

Filed Sep 10, 2022 · Airbags, Engine · ND · crash

Entering a residential garage to park; experienced sudden acceleration while braking. Vehicle went through drywall/wall about 2 feet. Placed vehicle in park to stop vehicle. No airbags went off. Driving vehicle to repair shop later; experienced same rapid unexpected acceleration with different driver. No issue with floor mats. OEM mats. Service center cannot provide any insight or reproduction of event.

Filed Mar 19, 2022 · Acceleration · CO

While parking car in garage, car suddenly surged forward although my foot was off gas and nearly hit end of garage. Engine Temp was relatively cold as it had just been started. This has happened several times before. Reported to dealer service the first time it happened and they did not fix.

Filed Oct 6, 2020 · 48,500 miles · NY

Rapid acceleration - this has happened twice to our subaru. The first incident was about a year ago. My wife was driving and I was the passenger. We drove into our driveway and sat their talking while the garage door opened for a few minutes. Her foot was on the brake the entire time. Suddenly the outback surged forward at a rapid speed. Thank god for subaru emergency accident braking system that stopped the vehicle within inches of our back garage wall.I remember my wife saying "what just happened? I didn't do anything we were just sitting their my foot on the brake and it just lunged ahead rapidly. I didn't do anything to stop the vehicle other than step on the brake. Rapid acceleration #2 - this happened two weeks ago and I was driving with no passengers. I was pulling into our garage and again the outback rapidly surged ahead. I stood on the brakes to stop and had no response. The eye sight emergency braking system kicked in and stopped the vehicle with a panic stop. I am positive in both cases we were braking the vehicle and our foot was not on the accelerator. I feel unsafe driving this vehicle. If someone is standing in front of this vehicle when it rapidly accelerates they will be injured or killed and I don't want to ever see this happen. I feel subrau should supply me with a free loaner car until this problem is fixed. I know their is no safety recall issued and the dealer will only replace the control module at customer expense.

Filed Sep 25, 2020 · Acceleration · 55,000 miles · CA

My 2015 subaru outback -- have experienced sudden and unintended acceleration. I've mentioned this to the stevens creek san jose dealership when taking my car for maintenance, but they said the behavior is as intended.

Filed Jan 24, 2018 · Fuel system · MI

Car suddenly accelerated on its own. Happens at any speed while driving straight and steady

Filed Nov 29, 2017 · Acceleration, Airbags · 30 miles · WA · crash · 1 injury

This concerns a 2015 subaru outback limited 6 cylinder. At approx 21,000 mi I was slowing to speed to park in a public parking space on a city street and the outback sudden acceleration. The outback hit a city metal post/sign, jumped the curb and collided with a building and damaging a store front with great force. The airbags did not deploy and the automatic collision prevention failed to work. Once before the car had an acceleration surge while driving a public city street at low speed but did not hit anything. Prior to the accident I've also experienced slight hesitation in acceleration when I first accelerate from a stationary position and probably unrelated, the gear shift often gets stuck in park and I have to use force the gear shift to reverse. Having trouble with turning neck from side to side and need to see doctor for evaluation so, not sure if this is considered injury?

Filed Feb 8, 2017 · Acceleration · 25,000 miles · PA · crash

While pulling my father-in-laws subaru outback into my garage I place the vehicle into drive while applying the brake. The car immediately accelerated while my foot was on the brake. The car proceeded into garage first hitting the side of the garage door frame and then into the back of my other car which was parked inside the garage. I instinctively applied greater pressure on the brake but this did not stop the car. When the car wedged against the right side column of the garage I released the brake and reapplied immediately. This action caused the car to decelerate to an idle mode. I've been driving a long time and have never experienced an issue like this before. I noticed others have also experienced similar sudden acceleration problems as reported on this site. There was no floor mat obstruction so I can only conclude there is a possible software issue.

Filed Dec 16, 2016 · Acceleration · 62,000 miles · AR

While braking to turn into a parking lot from a highway, the car suddenly accelerated and the brakes would not hold the car. Accident was avoided. Symptom only lasted 2-3 seconds.

Filed Oct 17, 2016 · Brakes, Fuel system · 320,000 miles · OR

October 1, 2016 11:50am, 32,00miles sudden unintended acceleration (sua) my wife had an acceleration and brake malfunction on this date and time.she had just turned into a parking lot and attempted to turn into a parking space. As she took her foot off the accelerator and applied pressure to the brake, the car accelerated and the brake would not function. The car ran over the yellow cement barrier and was heading for a tree, she continued to apply pressure to the brake and it did not respond as she turned the car right to miss the tree. Realizing she may be heading for the street she turned hard right, still applying pressure to a unresponsive brake pedal. She continued to steer hard right to miss a fire hydrant. She left tire marks in the bark chips near the hydrant. The brake finally engaged and the car came to a stop in front of another cement parking barrier that was perpendicular to the street. She sat for approximately a minute, gathering her thoughts and talking to her grandchild, in the back seat. She then drove slowly over the barrier and parked. She drove around the parking lot stopping and starting before proceeding home, approximately 2 miles. This was a sudden and random acceleration and the brakes would not function. We believe it has to do with the computer that controls throttle and that it malfunctioned. We do not fee safe in this car and are concerned that this sua might happen again. We are asking subaru to replace this control computer. It is at the dealership waiting on their evaluation. We want to drive and feel safe in our 2015 subaru outback! There should be no doubt or hesitation in keeping us safe and one incident of sua/brake malfunction is one too many. We have pictures of the area showing the tree, fire hydrant and bark chips with tire marks. You can follow the path of the vehicle through the picture.