1998 Subaru Outback Vehicle speed control Problems

“Failure and its consequences: I own a 1993 Subaru impreza l, and I own a 1998 impreza Outback sport. Both these cars have a potentially serious safety issue. There are two TSB's on hesitation issues for all Subaru's concerning this. This is a hazard because of the sudden need for acceleraion in the case of an emergency. My personal experiences are: 1. Ambulance coming to intersection behind me with no room for me to pull over due to parked cars, and I attempted to moveout of his way pushing down on the throttle, and the car completely sputtering and barely moving. …”

“On october 6, 2004, I was coasting into a parking space in my 1998 Subaru legacy Outback. My headlights were facing a curb, sidewalk, and cement brick building, and I touched the brakes to prevent bumping the curb. As soon as my foot hit the brake, the car vroomed as if the throttle had been fully opened, and the car continued moving forward. I pressed the brake harder, but the car seemed to take off on it's own and was totally out of my control. The all-wheel drive vehicle easily bumped up the curb, and the car flew into the air and crashed into the side of the building. …”

“When driving at low speeds, the vehicle surged forward. This caused the consumer to lose control of the vehicle and hit a light pole head on. Upon impact, both frontal air bags did not deploy. The consumer had the vehicle towed to the insurance company's designated repair facility. This was quickly followed by 2-3 more accelerations in which the vehicle gained speed each time. The vehicle felt as if it were being shifted into the next gear.”

“Intermittently when accelerating at a low speed engine revved to 4 rmps and jerked into second gear. Dealership was unable to duplicate the problem, so no remedy was found.”

“Driving along between 40 and 50 MPH the car suddenly accelerated. I applied the brakes which slowed the car down but the engine continued to race mild panic set in. I attempted to put the car into neutral and instead accidently put the car into reverse. This did stop the car, but as you would expect. I have incurred an unknown amount of damage to the transmission. Although I don't expect any sympathy because of my awkward handeling of the shifter. I would like to know what if anything Subaru intends to about this very dangerous unexpected acceleration problem. …”