2014 Subaru Outback Brakes Problems

My 2014 Subaru Outback, with only 42,000 miles on it, is unfortunately among the 3% (per Consumer Reports) with undiagnosable, therefore, unrepairable, brake failure issues. The brake failures began in April 2023 as I pulled out of my driveway in the Tucson Mountains, headed into town. On the downhill, I pressed my brakes to slow down. My foot went to the floor - no brakes. Terror! I pumped the brakes and gradually they came back. Luckily, no one was ahead of me. The brake fluid was down a very slight bit, so I brought it back up. No problem for two weeks, until the exact same thing happened again. Tucson Subaru has an excellent Service Center. I've kept the service on my Subaru up, so I booked in for a regular tuneup, plus advised them of the brake issue. The shop mechanic flushed the brake cylinder along with the usual tuneup: brake pads, etc. There was no problem for about two more weeks when brakes failed again.  Took back to Subaru on a Friday. They kept over the weekend, but by Monday afternoon, brakes were still working "fine". They Ubered me to test, but I didn't need to even pull out of parking lot, everything seemed okay.  Took my Outback home and all okay until brakes failed again. Took on AAA's and my friends' recommendations to Tucson's Primarily Japanese auto shop. The brakes failed once more in the interim, but worked fine at the shop. The owner thought possible a failing ABS unit. However, both Tucson Subaru/Primarily Japanese were reluctant to try replacing either the brake cylinder or the ABS unit as both are expensive fixes and they were unable to duplicate the failure. In the meantime, I went online and found that other owners of Outbacks across a range of years/mileage had the same problem - and the same results, none of fixes reliably worked. That included flushing/replacing the brake cylinder, the ABS unit, cleaning/replacing brake pads, etcs. Some owners were not as "lucky" as I was. The car is parked.

NHTSA ID

11552720

Incident

Apr 23, 2023

I was driving home on a road I drive on regularly at 40 mph. The car unexpectedly accelerated to a high rate of speed causing me to go off the road. I was unable to stop. The brake pedal went to the floor. The car went airborne, just missing a huge tree. It slammed into the ground & continued on to crash into 3 cars & someone’s garage! The car continued to rev & was bouncing back & forth between the 2 vehicles in the garage. The engine continued to rev after I got out. The homeowner shut it off. He said my brake lights were flashing on and off on the dash. The air bags never deployed. I have a witness. I wasn’t able to do anything!! I’ve since learned there’s a class action lawsuit against Subaru for this problem. Please do something about this. I could be dead, that homeowner that was in his garage could be dead right now. All I want is for people to be aware of this & for Subaru to get held accountable. It’s not right that they are aware of this and doing nothing about it!!

NHTSA ID

11481494

Incident

Aug 21, 2022

Parking break did not disengage. It also blocked the key hole and car could not be moved. I called AAA and they could not even tow it because the gears would not switch from parking to neutral. While manipulating the car, the AAA technician does not know how, but was able to move the key and the gear, and then the car could start. After some online research, there has been recalls for this problem in Australia in Subaru Outbacks of around this year. Since AAA technician did not have to move in the end the car, there is no receipt of this event. It has happened twice by now.

NHTSA ID

11449124

Incident

Jan 27, 2022

ORIGINAL FRONT BRAKE PADS HARDLY WARN AFTER 100000 MILES. REAR BRAKE PADS WARE OUT AT ABOUT 30000 MILES. CHECKED TEMPERATURE OF FRONT ROTORS AFTER DRIVING BARELY WARM, REAR BRAKE ROTORS EXTREMELY HOT.

NHTSA ID

11388917

Incident

Dec 12, 2020

I HAVE CHANGE MY EMERGENCY BREAKS. HOWEVER.KEEP THE LIGHT ON.IDID TAKE TO SUBARU DEALER AND THEY TOLL ME NOT USES THE EMERGENCY BREAK..SAMETHING IS WRONG..

NHTSA ID

11338130

Incident

Feb 23, 2020

Mileage

80,000 mi

EBRAKE COMES ON INTERMITTENTLY WHILE DRIVING IN TOWN.

NHTSA ID

11265900

Incident

Oct 3, 2019

Mileage

120,000 mi

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2014 SUBARU OUTBACK. THE CONTACT STATED THAT THE BRAKE INDICATOR ILLUMINATED. THE CONTACT TOOK THE VEHICLE TO SUBARU NAPLETONS SCHAUMBURG SUBARU (911 WEST HIGGINS ROAD, SCHAUMBURG, IL 60195, (847) 884-6000) WHERE IT WAS DIAGNOSED THAT THE BRAKE MODULATOR FAILED. THE MODULATOR WAS NOT REPLACED. THE MANUFACTURER WAS CONTACTED AND PROVIDED CASE NUMBER: N1-45447123655. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT REPAIRED. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 57,000.

NHTSA ID

11234255

Incident

Oct 1, 2017

Mileage

57,000 mi

ELECTRONIC PARKING BRAKE ACTUATOR FAILED. WHEN THIS OCCURS YOU CAN'T USE THE PARKING BRAKE AND THE EYESIGHT SAFETY EQUIPMENT DOES NOT WORK. THIS OCCURS AT STARTUP, WHEN THE VEHICLE GOES THROUGH IT'S DIAGNOSTIC CHECKS. CAR HAS STRANDED US TWICE WITH THE BRAKE NOT ALLOWING US TO DISENGAGE. EVENTUALLY, AFTER STARTING CAR MULTIPLE TIMES OR REMOVING BATTERY, IT WILL WORK BRIEFLY TO ALLOW TO DISENGAGE. NOW WE DON'T SET THE PARKING BRAKE, OR USE THE EYESIGHT. SUBARU HAS RECALLED THEIR MANUAL TRANSMISSION MODELS WITH THIS ISSUE, BUT NOT THE AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION MODELS.

NHTSA ID

11145346

Incident

Oct 1, 2018

Mileage

47,000 mi

MY E-BRAKE HAS NOT BEEN WORKING FOR THE PAST YEAR. THE RED BRAKE LIGHT COMES ON AT RANDOM TIMES WHEN PARKED AND IN MOTION AND I CANNOT ENGAGE THE E-BRAKE. SUBARU IS SAYING THAT I NEED TO REPLACE THE ENTIRE ELECTRONIC BRAKE MECHANISM FOR A COST OF $1,000.00 - THIS FOR A 2014 CAR.

NHTSA ID

11115213

Incident

Jan 2, 2017

Mileage

40,000 mi

THERE IS NO EMERGENCY BRAKE ON A 2014 OUTBACK,THE PARKING BRAKE DOES NOT WORK WHEN THE CAR IS MOVING.UNSAFE, IF ANYTHING HAPPENS WITH BRAKES THERE IS NOTHING TO STOP CAR FOR SAFETY THE HAND EMERGENCY BRAKE SHOULD BE IN THE CENTER CONSOLE, SO PASSENGER COULD ALSO PULL IT ON. .FRONT SPRINGS BOTTOM OUT FOR THE SLIGHTEST DIP IN THE ROAD.. I COMPLAINED TO SUBARU ABOUT THE BRAKE AND THEY TOLD ME BUY ANOTHER CAR

NHTSA ID

11019553

Incident

Apr 10, 2014

BRAKES COMPLETELY FAILED WHILE DRIVING ON A CITY STREET, SLOWING TO LET A PEDESTRIAN CROSS IN A CROSSWALK. THE VEHICLE HAD A 100% BRAKE FAILURE. THE BRAKE PEDAL WENT TO THE FLOOR. THERE SEEMED TO BE A MALFUNCTION IN THE DUAL BRAKING SYSTEM. FRONT BRAKES AND REAR BRAKES WERE SERVICED AT A SUBARU DEALERSHIP AT DIFFERENT TIMES. THE BOLTS HOLDING THE PASSENGER SIDE REAR CALIPER SEPARATED FROM THE CAR. THE BOLTS HAD BACKED OUT. THE LOWER ONE WAS MISSING. THE OTHER CALIPER BOLT HAD BACKED OUT OF THE THREADS BUT WAS LOOSELY HELD IN PLACE BY THE BRAKE HOSE. THE DRIVER SIDE REAR CALIPER DID NOT APPEAR TO BE LEAKING.

NHTSA ID

10986087

Incident

May 1, 2017

Mileage

37,000 mi

FAILURE OF EMERGENCY BRAKE. FAILURE OCCURRED AT 13800 MILE AND AGAIN AT 13900 MILES WHILE BEING DRIVEN HOME FROM DEALERSHIP. VEHICLE DIAGNOSED WITH FAILED EPB MODULE. EMERGENCY BRAKE WILL NOT ENGAGE WHEN MODULE IS IN FAILED CONDITION.

NHTSA ID

10896517

Incident

Aug 17, 2016

Mileage

13,900 mi

I WAS ATTEMPTING TO PULL MY SUBARU OUTBACK INTO MY GARAGE AND WAS HEADING TOWARD THE GARAGE DOOR OPENING WHEN I THOUGHT I HAD PUT MY RIGHT FOOT ON THE FOOT BRAKE TO STOP THE CAR, HOWEVER, IT CONTINUED TO PROCEED FORWARD BECAUSE MY FOOT WAS UNDER THE BRAKE PEDAL. CONSEQUENTLY, I HIT THE CORNER OF THE GARAGE WITH MINOR DAMAGE TO MY FRONT BUMPER. UPON FURTHER CHECKING THE BRAKE AND GAS PEDALS , I CONFIRMED THE BRAKE PEDAL WAS SIGNIFICANTLY HIGHER THAN THE GAS PEDAL AND MY FOOT COULD FIT UNDER THE BRAKE PEDAL AFTER MOVING IT SIDEWAYS FROM THE GAS PEDAL. IN ADDITION, ON TWO OTHER OCCASIONS, I HAD MOVED MY RIGHT FOOT FROM THE GAS PEDAL TO THE BRAKE PEDAL AND WHEN PRESSING DOWN ON THE BRAKE PEDAL MY RIGHT FOOT WAS ALSO PRESSING ON THE GAS PEDAL AND THE CAR CONTINUED FORWARD (AT LOW SPEED) UNTIL I PLACED THE GEAR SHIFT IN PARK. I'VE OWNED THIS CAR FOR ONE YEAR AND I THOUGHT I WAS COMPETENT IN IT'S DRIVING TECHNIQUES REQUIREMENTS, BUT NOW I'M BEGINNING TO WONDER. I HAVE A WIDE FOOT, IS THERE A MINIMUM REQUIRED SIDEWAYS SPACING OR SIMILAR PEDAL HEIGHTS BETWEEN GAS AND BRAKE PEDALS WHICH PREVENTS THESE OCCURRENCES? I NEVER EXPERIENCED THESE INCIDENTS IN MY PREVIOUS CAR ( 2004 BUICK LESABRE) OR OTHER CARS I HAVE OWNED.

NHTSA ID

10759466

Incident

Aug 23, 2015

Mileage

14,000 mi

RIGHT REAR BRAKE BEGAN TO CLATTER, THEN SCRAPE. THE ROTOR WAS BADLY SCORED. THE DEALER CLAIMED THAT THIS WAS DUE TO ROAD SALT AND NOT COVERED BY THE EXTENDED WARRANTY. THAT IS, CALLED IN "NORMAL" WEAR. THERE'S NOTHING NORMAL ABOUT ONE REAR BRAKE FAILING THAT EARLY ... AND WITH LITTLE WEAR SHOWING ON THE OTHER BREAKS. THE CALIPER WAS STICKING AND THAT'S A DESIGN/CONSTRUCTION FLAW.

NHTSA ID

10733544

Incident

May 28, 2015

Mileage

36,000 mi

ON 3/22/15 WHILE APPROACHING A STOP SIGN THE ELECTRIC PARKING BRAKE LOCKED ON AT 10 MPH. AFTER PULLING OFF TO THE SIDE OF THE ROAD AND RELEASING AND APPLYING THE PARKING BRAKE SEVERAL TIMES IT FINALLY RELEASED WHILE THE CHECK ENGINE AND FLASHING BRAKE LIGHT REMAINED ON. AFTER SHUTTING THE VEHICLE OFF FOR 10 MINUTES THE SYSTEM RESET TO NORMAL. THE SYSTEM REMAINED NORMAL UNTIL ARRIVING AT A SUBARU DEALER ON 3/24/15 WHEN THE SAME PROBLEM OCCURRED. THE DEALER TOOK CONTROL, IDENTIFIED AND REPLACED A RELAY AND SEVERAL SENSORS. THE CAR PERFORMED NORMAL UNTIL 4/1/15 WHEN THE SAME PROBLEM OCCURRED WHILE TRAVELING 25 MPH. AFTER STOPPING AND RELEASING AND APPLYING THE PARKING BRAKE SEVERAL TIMES THE SYSTEM RESET BUT THE CHECK ENGINE, BRAKE AND CRUISE CONTROL LIGHTS REMAINED STEADY OR FLASHING. AFTER LETTING THE VEHICLE SET FOR A PERIOD OF TIME THE SYSTEM RESET ITSELF. ANOTHER APPOINTMENT HAS BEEN MADE AT THE DEALER FOR 4/6/15. THE CONCERN IS THAT IF THE PARKING BRAKE LOCKS AT HIGH SPEED OR IN HEAVY TRAFFIC IT COULD CAUSE A SERIOUS ACCIDENT. *TR

NHTSA ID

10703711

Incident

Mar 22, 2015

Mileage

10,050 mi

HAVING WARMED UP THE CAR IN THE DRIVEWAY FOR FIVE MINUTES AND HAVING DRIVEN FOR APPROXIMATELY 10 MINUTES, BRAKING SEVERAL TIMES, DRIVER APPROACHED THE STOP SIGN AT THE TOP OF THE HILL WHERE THE ROAD INTERSECTS WITH A BUSY HIGHWAY. SHE TRIED TO DEPRESS THE BRAKES AND NOTHING HAPPENED. TO STOP THE CAR, SHE THREW THE CAR INTO PARK. "CHECK ENGINE @ OIL TEMP" LIGHT OR SOMETHING SIMILAR CAME ON. SHE TURNED OFF THE CAR, WAITED A SHORT WHILE AND RESTARTED CAR, SHIFTED INTO DRIVE AND CAR WOULDN'T DO ANYTHING. TURNED OFF CAR. A SHORT WHILE LATER SHE STARED AGAIN; AFTER PUSHING GAS HARD, CAR STARTED TO SLOWLY MOVE FORWARD. PUT CAR IN P AND WAITED FOR ASSISTANCE, LEAVING HEAT ON. WHEN ASSISTANCE CAME 10-15 MIN LATER, CAR WAS ABLE TO BE DRIVEN TO A SAFE ROADSIDE SPOT AROUND THE CORNER. CONDITION: LOW TEMPS. NO ICE ON ROADS. *TR

NHTSA ID

10689615

Incident

Feb 19, 2015

Mileage

37,906 mi

CAR STOPS WITHOUT WARNING. A CLICKING SOUND IS HEARD AND THEN THE FRONT DISPLAY PANELS BECOME BLANK. THERE IS NO STEERING OR BRAKES. THIS HAS HAPPENED 10 TIMES. THERE IS NO WAY TO PREDICT WHEN THIS MIGHT HAPPEN AND THERE IS NO PRECIPITATING FACTORS. HAVE HAD THE CAR TO THE DEALERSHIP TWICE, BUT THE PROBLEM CANNOT BE FOUND AND AM STILL DRIVING THIS UNSAFE CAR. *TR

NHTSA ID

10669957

Incident

Nov 16, 2014

Mileage

8,800 mi

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2014 SUBURU OUTBACK. THE CONTACT STATED WHILE DRIVING VARIOUS SPEEDS, WHEN THE BRAKE PEDAL WAS DEPRESSED, THE PEDAL GOES ALL THE WAY DOWN TO THE FLOOR. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO THE DEALER FOR A DIAGNOSTIC TEST AND THE MECHANIC STATED THAT THE BRAKE PEDAL WAS NORMAL AND WERE UNABLE TO LOCATE A PROBLEM. THE MANUFACTURER WAS NOTIFIED OF THE FAILURE AND THE APPROXIMATE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 1,600.

NHTSA ID

10619362

Incident

Apr 10, 2014

Mileage

1,600 mi

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2014 SUBARU OUTBACK. THE CONTACT STATED THAT WHILE TRAVELING 40 MPH, THE BRAKE PEDAL TRAVELED TO THE FLOORBOARD. THE BRAKE PEDAL REQUIRED SEVERAL PUMPS IN ORDER TO STOP THE VEHICLE ON A HILL. THE FAILURE OCCURRED ON MANY OCCASIONS. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT DIAGNOSED OR REPAIRED. THE MANUFACTURER WAS MADE AWARE OF THE FAILURE. THE FAILURE AND CURRENT MILEAGE WAS 1,666. UPDATED 08/11/14*LJ UPDATED 8/30/2017*CN

NHTSA ID

10596742

Incident

Jun 5, 2014

Mileage

1,666 mi

THIS IS AN UPDATE: DEALER CALLED US TO HAVE [XXX] DRIVE THE CAR WITH A SERVICE TECHNICIAN PRESENT ( TECH NAMED [XXX]) CAR WAS DRIVEN APROX 5-6 MILES WITHOUT INCIDENT ...SYSTEM DID NOT FAULT. DEALER TOLD US THEY HAVE BEEN ON THE PHONE WITH SUBARU TECH CENTER & COMPLETED ALL THE TEST PROCEDURES BUT HAVE NOT BEEN ABLE TO DUPLICATE ANY OF THE BRAKE-CHECK/ ENGINE FAULTS EXPERIENCED 3 ON 5/22 OR 1 ON 5/23/2014. [XXX] SERVICE COORDINATOR IS NOT CERTAIN WHAT ELSE CAN BE DONE AT THE DEALERSHIP. WE ASKED IF THE VEHICLE WAS SAFE ONCE THE SYSTEM FAULTED & THE ELECTRONIC STABILIZATION & TRACTION CONTROL SYSTEM ARE SHUT DOWN ( AS A RESULT OF THE FAULT). I ASKED THEM NOT TO GUESS WHEN THEY ANSWERED THIS QUESTION. DEALERSHIP HAS DECIDED TO KEEP THE CAR AN ADDITIONAL DAY FOR ADDITIONAL TESTING. THEY ARE TRYING TO GET THE SYSTEM TO FAULT WHILE UNDER TEST PROCEDURE. THE DEALERSHIP APPEARS TO HAVE EXHAUSTED ALL THE STANDARD PROCEDURES TO DETERMINE ROOT CAUSE. IT SEEMS SUBARU FACTORY MUST GET INVOLVED WITH THIS VEHICLE BEYOND THE DEALERSHIP TELEPHONE CALLS. OUR CONCERN IS A VEHICLE WILL BE RETURNED TO US IN AN CONDITION WHICH MAY PROVE TO BE UNSAFE...SINCE THEY HAVE DONE ALL THEY CAN ON THE TELEPHONE. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6). *TR

NHTSA ID

10594922

Incident

May 29, 2014

Mileage

925 mi

THIS IS THE SECOND INCIDENT WHERE THE ELECTRIC PARKING BRAKE LIGHT INDICATES THE BRAKE HAS BEEN SET & NOT RELEASED. THE CAR WAS TOWED INTO DEALERSHIP YESTERDAY (5/22/2014) FOR SAME REASON. DEALER STATED THEY SPOKE WITH SUBARU & WERE UNABLE TO FIND ANY REASON FOR THE FAULT. THEY STATED COMPUTER INDICATED THE BRAKES WERE NOT ENGAGED BUT THAT THIS SAME SYSTEM DOES DISABLE THE ELECTRONIC STABILITY CONTROL WHEN THIS FAULT OCCURS. WE ARE VERY CONCERNED THE VEHICLE IS SAFE TO DRIVE DESPITE THE ASSURANCES OF THE SERVICE MANAGER ( [XXX]) THAT THE VEHICLE IS SAFE (NO WORRIES). THE INSTRUMENT LIGHT ON THE PANEL ALSO FLASHES "CHECK ENGINE LIGHT AT THE SAME TIME LIGHT FLASHES INDICATING PARKING BRAKE HAS BEEN SET & NOT RELEASED. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6). *TR

NHTSA ID

10593711

Incident

May 23, 2014

Mileage

815 mi

THE ELECTRONIC PARKING BRAKE ENGAGES WHILE THE VEHICLE IS UNDERWAY. WHEN THE FAULT IS CLEARED AND DRIVING RESUMES THE ELECTRONIC PARKING BRAKE AGAIN ENGAGES. THE MFG ( SUBARU) PROVIDES A SMALL TOOL & INSTRUCTIONS HOW TO CRAWL UNDER THE CAR, USE THE TOOL TO MECHANICALLY RELEASE THE ELECTRIC PARKING BRAKE. IF A TOOL IS PROVIDED ALONG WITH INSTRUCTIONS IN THE OWNER MANUAL HOW TO RELEASE A FAULTY ELECTRONIC PARKING BRAKE ( WHICH MAY ENGAGE WHILE THE VEHICLE IS UNDER WAY ) THIS IS A CLEAR WARNING OF A POSSIBLE UNSAFE OPERATING CONDITION. THE CAR HAD TO BE TOWED TO THE DEALERSHIP FOR REPAIR. THE DEALERSHIP TELLS US ( THIS PARKING BRAKE PROBLEM HAS NEVER HAPPENED) THE TOW TRUCK OPERATOR TELLS US TOWING VEHICLES TO DEALERSHIPS BECAUSE OF FAULTY ELECTRONIC PARKING BRAKES IS A MAJOR PART OF HIS BUSINESS. *TR

NHTSA ID

10593593

Incident

May 23, 2014

Mileage

800 mi