Verified government source

NHTSA complaint #11290159

This page summarizes an official U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration owner complaint. Use the verification links below to confirm the record directly with NHTSA.

Vehicle

2020 SUBARU OUTBACK

Manufacturer

Subaru of America, Inc.

Components

STEERING,VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL

Dates

Incident: 12/19/2019
Filed: 12/19/2019

Owner complaint summary

DEC 7TH. LANE CENTERING AND CRUISE CONTROL FUNCTIONS ON. WHILE TRAVELING SOUTH ON I-75 IN THE CENTER LANE MY WIFE MOVED TO THE LEFT LANE TO PASS ANOTHER CAR. AFTER PASSING THE CAR SHE HAD TO FIGHT THE STEERING WHEEL TO STAY IN THE LEFT HAND LANE. AFTER SEVERAL MINUTES SHE TOOK HER HANDS OFF THE WHEEL AND THE CAR VEERED SHARPLY TO THE RIGHT AND ACROSS THE DASHED WHITE LINE INTO THE CENTER LANE. AS SHE RIGHTED HERSELF BACK INTO THE LEFT HAND LANE I REACHED OVER AND TURNED THE LANE CENTERING FUNCTION OFF. ABOUT 15 MINUTES LATER SHE WAS FOLLOWING A BROWN VAN. THE CRUISE CONTROL WAS STILL ON, WAS MAINTAINING A SPEED OF 68 MPH AND SAFE DISTANCE. CRUISE WAS SET AT 70MPH AND DISTANCE AT 4 BARS. THE VAN EXITED THE INTERSTATE AT WHICH TIME THE OUTBACK STARTED A HARD ACCELERATION AND HAD REACHED A SPEED OF 87 MPH BEFORE I REALIZED WHAT WAS HAPPENING AND TURNED OFF CRUISE CONTROL. ACCELERATION FACTOR WAS SET TO NORMAL, I THEN SET IT TO ECO DEC 19TH. CRUISE CONTROL ON, LANE CENTERING ON CRUISE SET AT 70 MPH, DISTANCE AT 2 BARS. PASSED A SEMI THAT WAS DOING LESS THAN 70 MPH. I NOW HAD A PACK BEHIND ME AND ANOTHER PACK A GOOD WAYS IN FRONT OF ME. MOVED BACK INTO THE CENTER LANE WHERE I PASSED THE TRUCK. CRUISE STARTED ACCELERATING, AT 77MPH TURNED THE CRUISE OFF. MY FOOT WAS NOT ON THE ACCELERATOR. CRUISE ACCELERATION WAS STILL ON ECO MODE. SPEED THEN DECREASED AS EXPECTED. I NOW HAVE 2 INSTANTANEOUS OF WHERE THE CRUISE CONTROL ACCELERATED THE VEHICLE PASSED THE SET SPEED. I NOW HAVE 1 INSTANTANEOUS OF WHERE THE VEHICLE WOULD NOT STAY IN ITS LANE. NOTE. I LIKE MY SUBARU OUTBACK VERY MUCH. IT IS QUIET, COMFORTABLE AND EASY TO DRIVE. HOWEVER, I BELIEVE THE INCORRECT FUNCTIONING OF THE VEHICLE ON THE ABOVE TWO DATES WARRANT DOCUMENTATION FOR FURTHER SAFETY INVESTIGATION. NEITHER THE DEALER OR SUBARU HAS YET BEEN INFORMED

This is an owner complaint filed with NHTSA (ODI #11290159). It is not automatically an official recall, investigation outcome, or manufacturer admission unless the complaint text itself describes one.

Official record ID (ODI): 11290159. This page is the human-readable source link used across afterwarranty. The raw JSON link proxies NHTSA's public API for machine verification; prefer this page when reading the complaint.