NHTSA complaint #11218229

Owner complaint summary

WHILE BACKING OUT OF MY GARAGE, THE RADIO UNIT FROZE MAKING THE BACKUP SCREEN INOPERABLE. THIS IS A BRAND NEW CAR WITH 200 MILES ON IT. ACCORDING TO THE DEALER, THEY WILL HAVE TO REPLACE THE HEAD UNIT. THEY WERE ABLE TO GET THE UNIT WORKING, HOPEFULLY UNTIL THE NEW HEAD UNIT ARRIVES, BY PHYSICALLY DISCONNECTING THE CAR BATTERY. UPON RESEARCH, IT TURNS OUT THIS HAS BEEN A HUGE PROBLEM FOR SUBARU. HAD I KNOWN, I WOULD NEVER HAVE BOUGHT THE CAR. I HAVE NO CONFIDENCE THAT THEY CAN FIX THE PROBLEM AND WORRY I WILL BE LEFT WITH A CRIPPLED CAR WITH NO WARRANTY OR REDRESS. SINCE A BACK UP CAMERA IS A REQUIRED SAFETY FEATURE UNDER FEDERAL LAW, SUBARU SHOULD NOT BE ABLE TO SELL THESE DEFECTIVE CARS UNTIL THE PROBLEM IS FIXED, THE INFOTAINMENT SYSTEM SHOULD HAVE A LIFETIME WARRANTY, AND A FULL RECALL SHOULD BE ORDERED. JUST GOOGLE 'SUBARU HEAD UNIT FAILURE.' HOW MUCH MORE INFORMATION DOES NHTSA NEED BEFORE IT ACTS? DOES A CHILD NEED TO BE KILLED IN A BACK UP ACCIDENT BECAUSE OF DEFECTIVE BACK UP CAMERA BEFORE APPROPRIATE ACTION IS TAKEN? IT IS CRIMINALLY NEGLIGENT TO ALLOW THESE CARS TO CONTINUE TO BE SOLD UNTIL SUBARU HAS PROVEN THAT THEY HAV FIXED THE PROBLEM!