WE’VE ALREADY HAD MORE than one seniordriveraus reader contact us regarding pre-collision braking unexpectedly activating in Subaru’s large SUV, the Outback.
One reader complained that he was test driving a 2021 Subaru Outback in the Adelaide Hills when the system suddenly and aggressively applied the brakes. “Fortunately I was only travelling at 60km/h,” he told us, “but I had no idea what to do.” (For the record, quickly re-apply the accelerator to over-ride the emergency braking.)
Equally fortunately, the Land Rover Defender driver travelling behind him was paying attention and managed to avoid rear-ending the Subaru, although he was understandably agitated and angry at what he saw as the Subaru driver applying the brakes for no reason.
The seniordriveraus reader told us there were no other vehicles or pedestrians in the vicinity, although there was an earth bank on the side of the road.
We’ve raised this issue before with adaptive cruise control and autonomous emergency braking. We ourselves have experienced sudden braking on more than one occasion when a vehicle is detected in the left-hand lane, even though we were travelling in the right-hand lane (more prevalent when the road curves to the right). We have also experienced extreme and sudden braking when entering a roundabout soon after a car already in the roundabout has passed by and even when a car ahead pulls out of our lane and into a left- or right-hand turning lane.
And we have questioned whether any research has been done to determine how many cars are rear-ended by inattentive motorists when AEB activates unexpectedly or unnecessarily.
Now, Subaru Australia has issued a second recall for its 2021 Outback (of which it has sold 1982 units), citing a fault with the vehicle’s pre-collision braking system that may see it activate unexpectedly.
It marks the second recall announcement in one day for Subaru’s new-generation large SUV, following a previous recall notice pertaining to the model’s electronic brake booster which was posted on the ACCC website only hours prior.
According to Subaru Australia, this latest fault means the car’s “stereo camera may mis-recognise roadside objects and/or miscalculate the travelling direction of an oncoming vehicle, unexpectedly activating pre-collision braking”.
“The likelihood of these symptoms occurring is low,” Subaru Australia said in a statement.
The recall was lodged with the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) a short time ago, but is yet to appear on the government agency’s site.
The issue also caused Subaru in Japan to issue an urgent “stop delivery” notice on all model year 2021 Outback cars a week earlier.
The rectification procedure for this recall requires the vehicles’ pre-collision braking system software to be updated, a process which takes around two hours.
Potentially affected customers will be contacted by Subaru Australia to advise them of the recall and all rectification work will be conducted free of charge by an authorised Subaru dealer.
Customers are also able to contact the Subaru Customer Service Centre on 1300 550 994 with any queries.
This recall, and the related stop-delivery notice, are separate from another brake booster issue that resulted in another recall.
However, a Subaru Australia spokesperson advised that a large proportion of the vehicles affected by the brake booster issue had already been rectified.