The Subaru Defect That Caused The Cars To Start On Their Own

Over the years, Subaru has amassed a legion of loyal customers. Today, the company holds four "best of" categories according to Consumer Reports, including "best overall car brand." It also has two of the top 25 best-selling cars in the U.S., with the Crosstrek — Subaru's best-selling model — at No. 20 with 115,344 units sold, and the Outback at No. 24 with 105,404 units sold.

The Japanese car brand won the J.D. Power award for brand loyalty among mass-market brands and the highest overall in the automotive industry from 2019 – 2021, and came in second to Toyota in 2022. Several of its models routinely make it onto the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) top safety picks list as well.

But despite all of Subaru's accolades, they have not come without some serious problems over the years. Let's be frighteningly frank... things break. It's an almost impossible task to flawlessly build tens of thousands of cars, each made out of thousands of parts and pieces. Back in 2013, a nightmare problem arose when its vehicle engines randomly began to start up on their own, almost as if there was a ghost in the machine.

Subaru issued a recall in March 2013 for 47,419 vehicles in the U.S., and an additional 2,819 in Canada. This recall specifically applied to models that were equipped with either an automatic transmission or Continuously Variable Transmission (CVT), but also had Subaru's Audiovox remote engine starter (RES) accessory installed. The recall directly impacted Subaru Outback and Legacy models made between 2010 – 2013, Impreza models made in 2012 and 2013, and 2013 XV Crosstrek models.

According to a press release from Subaru of America, "If the RES [remote engine starter] fob is dropped, the fob may malfunction and randomly transmit an engine start request without pressing the button." It went on to state that the intermittent glitch may "inadvertently start and run for up to fifteen minutes" and could continue until either the battery in the key fob (which operated the remote engine start) went dead, or the car ran out of gas. Neither of these was acceptable, especially if the vehicle was parked in the garage where a dangerous — and potentially deadly — build-up of carbon monoxide fumes could occur.

The original equipment keyless entry fobs were not affected, and Subaru dealers replaced the Audiovox remote engine starter (RES) key fob for free. So nothing unnatural, but still a spooky happenstance where technology was able to take control, albeit briefly. No one wants or needs a Subaru version of Christine in real life.