There are 5 owner-reported fuel system complaints for the 2006 Subaru Legacyin NHTSA's database. These are unverified consumer reports and may not reflect confirmed defects.
WHILE DRIVING AT ANY SPEEDS, LOSE ACCELERATION AND NEED TO COAST AND PULL OVER. JUST BEFORE SHUTTING OFF ENGINE, RPMS JUMP TO 3-4,000 WHEN IN PARK. NEED TO TURN OFF ENGINE FOR AT LEAST 30 SECONDS BEFORE BEING ABLE TO TURN CAR BACK ON WITH CHECK ENGINE LIGHT ON AND CRUISE LIGHT FLASHING, BUT HAVE ACCELERATION AGAIN. AFTER DRIVING FOR AROUND 100 MILES, CHECK ENGINE AND CRUISE LIGHT TURN OFF, BUT RANDOMLY INCIDENT CAN HAPPEN AGAIN. HAD A DIAGNOSTIC CHECK, CONFIRMING THROTTLE POSITION SENSOR WHEN CHECK ENGINE LIGHT WAS ON.
TWO OCCURRENCES SO FAR ON WEDNESDAY MARCH 23 AND TUESDAY APRIL 5. VEHICLE SUDDENLY DISPLAYS CHECK ENGINE LIGHT AND THE CRUISE CONTROL LIGHT FLASHES AND VEHICLE DROPS INTO "LIMP MODE." PROBLEM IS APPARENTLY DUE TO WEAR ON THE POTENTIOMETERS IN THE DRIVE-BY-WIRE SYSTEM. THIS WEAR CAUSES DIFFERENT READINGS WHICH MAKES THE MOTOR THINK SOMETHING IS WRONG WITH THE PEDAL AND CUTS THE VEHICLE SPEED TO ROUGHLY 5 MPH. FIRST OCCURRENCE DRIVING ALONG AT POSTED SPEED OF 45 MPH. SECOND INSTANCE TRYING TO LEAVE FROM A STOPLIGHT, GOT INTO THE INTERSECTION AND THE VEHICLE SPEED DROPPED, WAS BARELY ABLE TO GET VEHICLE OUT OF INTERSECTION. (CEL CODE P 2138 - THROTTLE POSITION SENSOR)
I WAS DRIVING WITH MY SON (9) DURING THE EVENING OF 12/16/14 ON SIDE ROADS LOOKING AT CHRISTMAS LIGHTS. I WAS GOING 15-20 MPH. NIGHT WAS DRY AND CLEAR. SUDDENLY, THE CHECK ENGINE LIGHT CAME ON STEADY, CRUISE CONTROL LIGHT BEGAN FLASHING AND I HAD ABSOLUTELY NO ACCELERATION! I PULLED OVER AND PUT THE CAR IN "PARK". ENGINE REVVED BETWEEN 2000-3000 EVEN THOUGH I WAS NOT PRESSING ANYTHING, JUST IDLING IN P. TURNED CAR OFF FOR A MIN, BACK ON, DASH LIGHTS STILL ON - CE & CC. STILL HAD NO CONTROL OVER THE GAS PEDAL BUT WHEN TAKEN OUT OF P, CAR GOT ITSELF UP TO 15 MPH SOMEHOW. WE WERE VERY CLOSE TO HOME SO COASTED HOME AND INTO THE DRIVEWAY. WHEN SHIFTED TO P AT HOME, ENGINE REVVED AGAIN. NEXT MORNING I DROVE IT TO SCHOOL, CE & CC LIGHT STILL ON BUT CAR DROVE OK. WHEN I DROVE IT AGAIN, DASH LIGHTS WERE OFF AND IT DROVE FINE. SAME EXACT ISSUE HAPPENED AGAIN ON 12/23/14, AGAIN AT A LOW SPEED ON A SIDE ROAD, THANKFULLY. ERROR CODE ON THE CAR IS P2138 - THROTTLE POSITION SENSOR. THERE IS NO WARNING BEFORE THIS HAPPENS, CAR IS FINE AND THEN SUDDENLY IT IS NOT. FROM WHAT I SEE ONLINE, THIS HAS BEEN A COMMON OCCURRENCE LATELY WITH THIS CAR. I AM TERRIFIED THAT IT WILL HAPPEN WHILE I AM IN TRAFFIC OR ON THE HIGHWAY AND CAUSE A SERIOUS ACCIDENT! PLEASE INVESTIGATE THIS WITH SUBARU, I SEE THAT A LOT OF PEOPLE HAVE TROUBLE GETTING IT RESOLVED AND I DON'T HAVE THE TIME OR MONEY TO PAY FOR SOMETHING THAT APPEARS TO BE A COMMON SUBARU DEFECT. THANK YOU FOR YOUR TIME AND ATTENTION TO THIS SERIOUS ISSUE! *TR
THE VEHICLE STOPPED RESPONDING TO THROTTLE PEDAL INPUT, RESULTING IN HAVING TO PULL OFF THE ROAD, ACROSS LANES OF TRAFFIC. ENGINE LIGHT COMES ON AND CRUISE CONTROL LIGHT FLASHES. AFTER RESTARTING 3 TIMES THE LIGHTS GO AWAY. DEALER COULDN'T REPLICATE SO WOULD NOT COVER UNDER WARRANTY. THIS HAS HAPPENED ON SEVERAL OCCASIONS SINCE, USUALLY ONLY IN SUMMER. CODE IS P2138 AND APPEARS TO BE A CONSISTENT PROBLEM WITH SUBARU VEHICLES. *TR
(1) FUEL SYSTEM CEASED TO OPERATE WHILE VEHICLE IN MOTION. THIS WAS THE SECOND OCCURRENCE OF THIS PROBLEM (SUPPOSEDLY, SERVICING CORRECTED THE PROBLEM AFTER THE FIRST TIME) (2) CAR WAS STUCK INSIDE A NATURE RESERVE THAT HAS LIMITED ACCESS. ALTHOUGH I HAVE THE FULL WARRANTY PACKAGE, I COULD NOT GET APPROPRIATE SERVICE TO TOW THE CAR OUT FOR 1.5 DAYS, AND SO MISSED 1 DAY OF WORK. (3) THE FIRST TIME THIS HAPPENED, THE FUEL PUMP AND RELATED PARTS WERE REPLACED. THIS TIME, I FOUND AND REPLACED A BURNT-OUT FUSE FOR THE FUEL PUMP, AND THE NEW FUSE IMMEDIATELY BURNT OUT WHEN I TRIED TO START THE CAR. IT HAS NOW BEEN TOWED TO MY DEALER (1.5 HOURS AWAY FROM WHERE THE PROBLEM OCCURRED). (4) I HAVE NO FAITH IN THE SAFETY OF THIS PARTICULAR (BRAND NEW) VEHICLE. IF THIS HAD HAPPENED ON THE FREEWAY, I WOULD LIKELY HAVE BEEN HIT BY VEHICLES FROM BEHIND. I DO NOT KNOW WHETHER THIS PROBLEM HAS OCCURRED WITH OTHER CARS OF THIS SAME MODEL.*JB
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 26, 2026