On two occasions while driving on the interstate at 65-75 mph with no warning the gas pedal stopped responding to inputs. while maneuvering the vehicle to the shoulder of the road through traffic the engine shutoff. on one occasion i was able to restart the vehicle and on the second occasion it would not restart. after towing the vehicle to a repair shop the vehicle started up and ran with no issues. no check engine lights were ever displayed. the battery was working fine and fully charged. the car is in perfect mechanical shape with all regular service performed. the gas remaining at time of incident was approximately 1/4 tank full. the cause is unknown to me.
After stopping at a stop sign on a city street, i tried to accelerate but there was a long hesitation followed by a surge of power. this happened on 2 occasions. i had the sales man drive the vehicle and also the service manager drove it for 1 week - neither times did this issue repeat itself. the dealership did not have any knowledge of this type of problem. i refused to drive this vehicle and returned it to the subaru dealer in berlin, ct.
3rd occurrence: while driving on a state highway, vehicle jerked, all warning lights came on and vehicle lost movement with resistance. towed to dealer. *tr
Less than 1 week later, 2nd occurrence: while driving on interstate, all warning lights came on and vehicle suddenly lost forward movement. vehicle was running but not engaging enough to propel vehicle. towed to dealer, dealer repaired pilot pin in transmission. *tr
1st occurrence: while driving on a county road, all warning lights came on. brought vehicle back to dealer, dealer replaced the transmission. *tr
I descend a steep, crooked country road to reach my house and lock my transmission in second gear to avoid having to apply brakes. in low idle, the vehicle speed is well controlled but when the fuel control shifts to high idle the engine speed increases from 2000 to about 3500 rpm with a corresponding increase in vehicle speed which requires rapid, sharp brake application. during the summer months this is only mildly irritating but when the roads are covered with ice and snow this winter sudden brake application will become very dangerous because of the sharp curves and steep drop-offs. the difference between low and high idle settings is excessive and subaru should be forced to correct this design deficiency. i have lived in this location for over twenty years and driven this road with about six other vehicles without difficulty but i dread the approach of this winter. the dealer admits that this is a frequent complaint but beyond their control because it is governed by a computer in the fuel control system.