There are 5 owner-reported fuel system complaints for the 2013 Subaru Outbackin NHTSA's database. These are unverified consumer reports and may not reflect confirmed defects.
ISSUE: OCCASIONAL NON-RESPONSE WHEN DEPRESSING THE ACCELERATOR. 1ST OCCURRENCE ABOUT THREE WEEKS AGO HAPPEN WHEN I STOPPED FOR A LIGHT AND THEN ATTEMPTED TO ACCELERATE. DEPRESSING THE PEDAL HAS NO RESPONSE, ATTEMPTED THIS THREE TIMES. THE RPM GAUGE REFLECTED IT WAS RUNNING. I TURNED ON THE CAR AND STARTED IT AGAIN AND IT WORKED. 2ND OCCURRENCE HAPPENED AGAIN AFTER A STOP. SAME AS ABOVE. 3RD OCCURRENCE MAY 6 2017 RETURNING FROM BWI IN BALTIMORE ON THE INTERSTATE, I WAS IN HEAVY TRAFFIC. I HAD TO SLOW QUICKLY FOR A TRUCK AND THEN SAW AN OPENING IN THE LEFT LANE AND PULLED OUT INTO THE LEFT LANE AND ATTEMPTED TO ACCELERATE WITH NO RESPONSE. A CAR MOVING FAST IN THE LEFT LANE ALMOST HIT ME SINCE I COULD NOT ACCELERATE. I PUMPED THE ACCELERATOR TWICE AND IT THEN ACCELERATED. 4TH OCCURRENCE MAY 6TH 2017 DEPARTING A PARKING LOT I WAS MOVING SLOWLY THEN ATTEMPTED TO ACCELERATE AND EXPERIENCED A DELAYED RESPONSE. PUMPED THE PEDAL TWICE TO GET THE RESPONSE. WENT TO A SUBARU DEALER AFTER THE FIRST TWO OCCURRENCES AND THEY SAID THEY COULD NOT IDENTIFY THE PROBLEM. THE DEALER CALLED AGAIN AND REQUESTED WE BRING THE CAR IN AGAIN APRIL11TH. A WEB SEARCH REVEALED ABOUT 24 OTHER LIKE OCCURRENCES WITH OUTBACK ABOUT THE SAME YEAR AND MAKE.
ON A CLEAR DRY MORNING I PULLED INTO A PARKING SPACE ON A SLIGHT INCLINE IN FRONT OF A BRICK OFFICE BUILDING. WHEN I RELEASED THE SERVICE BRAKE (HAVING REACHED THE END OF THE PARKING SPACE) THE CAR BOLTED FORWARD, JUMPED THE CURB, CROSSED A SIDEWALK, WENT THRU SHRUBS, AND HIT THE BRICK WALL, CAUSING SEVERE DAMAGE TO THE CAR AND BUILDING. THE DISTANCE TRAVELED WAS ABOUT 10 FEET.
SUDDEN UNINTENDED ACCELERATION WNED PULLING INTO PARKING SPACE. THE VEHICILE SUDDENLY ACCELERATED AND RAN INTO STORE FRONT.
AFTER STOPPING AT A STOP SIGN, I ATTEMPTED TO DRIVE OFF, BUT THE CAR DID NOT ACCELERATE ON APPLICATION OF THE THROTTLE PEDAL. THE ENGINE REMAINED AT IDLE, AND THE CAR ROLLED SLOWLY INTO THE INTERSECTION. NOTHING I DID CORRECTED THE PROBLEM UNTIL I PLACED THE TRANSMISSION IN PARK, TURNED OFF THE ENGINE, THEN RE-STARTED THE CAR. THE CAR THEN PERFORMED NORMALLY UNTIL I REACHED THE NEXT STOP SIGN, WHERE THE PROBLEM REPEATED. IN ALL, THE PROBLEM OCCURRED SEVEN (7) TIMES ON THIS DAY, APPARENTLY AT RANDOM. THAT IS, AT SOME STOPS THE CAR PERFORMED NORMALLY, AND AT OTHER STOPS, THE CAR FAILED TO ACCELERATE WHEN THE THROTTLE PEDAL WAS DEPRESSED. THE SERVICE DEPARTMENT AT MY SUBARU DEALER WAS UNABLE TO REPLICATE THE PROBLEM AND THEREFORE PERFORMED NO REPAIRS. TWO WEEKS LATER, THE PROBLEM OCCURRED AGAIN, THREE (3) TIMES IN TWO DAYS. THIS IS AN EXTREMELY DANGEROUS PROBLEM, BECAUSE IT CAN LEAVE THE CAR IN A BUSY INTERSECTION WITHOUT THE ABILITY TO MOVE UNTIL THE DRIVER TURNS OFF THE CAR AND THEN RE-STARTS IT. THIS PROBLEM HAS BEEN NOTED BY OTHER SUBARU OUTBACK OWNERS IN ONLINE FORUMS, AND AT LEAST ONE OTHER VEHICLE SAFETY COMPLAINT HAS BEEN FILED REGARDING THIS PROBLEM. *TR
I STOPPED AT A STOPLIGHT. WHEN THE LIGHT CHANGED, I PRESSED THE ACCELERATOR AND MOVED FORWARD. I RELEASED THE ACCELERATOR TO SLOW UP BECAUSE OF TRAFFIC CONDITIONS. WHEN I PRESSED THE ACCELERATOR AGAIN TO MOVE FORWARD, THE ENGINE DID NOT REV UP. IT WAS AS IF THE CAR STALLED. AFTER SEVERAL PUSHES ON THE ACCELERATOR ( 8 SECONDS WORTH) THE ENGINE REVVED UP AND THE CAR ONCE AGAIN MOVED FORWARD JUST AS IF NOTHING WAS WRONG. ALL THIS TIME I WAS BLOCKING THE INTERSECTION. THIS HAS HAPPENED MULTIPLE TIMES NOW. DEALER INDICATES NO PROBLEM FOUND. *TR
Complaints are unverified consumer reports submitted to NHTSA. A high complaint count may reflect vehicle popularity, not defect severity. Data sourced from NHTSA public records.
Data synced from NHTSA on Apr 25, 2026