Verified government source

NHTSA complaint #11666216

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

SERVICE BRAKES

Dates

Incident: 05/25/2025
Filed: 06/11/2025

Owner complaint summary

While in a Dairy Queen drive-up lane, I stepped on the brake pedal and it went right to the floor. The car did not stop, causing me to hit the car in front of me. When backing away from the car in front, the brakes again failed and I hit the car in back. I moved forward again , swiping the car in front again. The cars were merely feet apart and my car was thankfully moving very slowly. Had I been traveling at a higher rate of speed there could have been serious injuries. Car was taken to an Auto repair shop where the mechanic experienced the same problem with the brake pedal. He says the pedal went to the floor and the car wouldn’t stop. Car is currently at a collision shop where they report that inspection of the brakes is normal. They also report that the brakes worked when they pulled the car into the shop. The car has not yet been moved to the Subaru dealer service department for inspection of the brake pedal. There were no symptoms, warning lights or messages before the incident and there were none found by the shop after. My car was built in the same time frame as those involved with Recall #19V664000 which involves the brake pedal mechanism although my VIN was not included. The car is available for inspection. I initially received a ticket but it was dismissed after the repair shop owner reported the same failure.

Crash reported
This is an owner complaint filed with NHTSA (ODI #11666216). It is not automatically an official recall, investigation outcome, or manufacturer admission unless the complaint text itself describes one.

Official record ID (ODI): 11666216. 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.