There are 5 owner-reported speed control & cruise complaints for the 2010 Subaru Legacyin NHTSA's database. These are unverified consumer reports and may not reflect confirmed defects.
I had a episode of sudden unintended acceleration while I was driving in the highway. If I would let the brake pedal go, my car would probably escalate its speed to maximum until it crashes. The RPM was almost 5 even though I was applying the brake. I could not make it stop by applying the brakes at all . I only could make it finally stop when I changed the gears to neutral and them to park and finally turn the engine off. I was lucky I was in the highway and when I got in the first light it was green, other wise an accident would've happened.
WHILE TURNING INTO A PARKING LOT, THE CHECK ENGINE LIGHT, EMERGENCY BRAKE LIGHT, THE CRUISE CONTROL LIGHT AND THE STABILITY CONTROL LIGHT ALL CAME ON AND STARTED BLINKING. PARKED THE CAR AND SHUT OFF THE ENGINE. LET SET FOR AN HOUR. STARTED AGAIN. RAN IT HOME AND ALL LIGHTS PREVIOUSLY INDICATED STAYED ON DOING THE SAME THING. CAR RAN FINE THOUGH IN ALL INSTANCES.
I HAD A MAJOR SAFETY ISSUE WITH MY 2010 SUBARU LEGACY WHILE DRIVING ON THE FREEWAY. THE CAR WAS DOING APPROXIMATELY 50 MPH AND I ACCELERATED TO CHANGE LANES AND ALL OF A SUDDEN THE CAR LOST ALL POWER AND EVENTUALLY CAME TO A COMPLETE HALT RIGHT IN THE MIDDLE OF FAST MOVING TRAFFIC. I TURNED ON MY HAZARD LIGHT, PUT THE CAR TO PARK AND RESTARTED. THE CAR WOULD START BUT WOULD SHUT DOWN SLOWLY IN THE NEXT 2-3 SECONDS EVEN BEFORE I COULD PUT IT TO DRIVE AND ACCELERATE. I NOTICED THAT ALL THE LIGHTS IN THE DASH LIKE TRACTION CONTROL, CHECK ENGINE, ETC ALL LIT UP AND THE CAR JUST SLOWLY DIED. AFTER TRYING IT ONE MORE TIME (WITH SAME RESULTS) I SHUT OFF THE CAR COMPLETELY AND STARTED CALLING AAA FOR TOWING. AFTER ABOUT A MINUTE WHEN I TRIED TO RE-START THE CAR, IT SPRANG UP TO LIFE NORMALLY (I.E. WITHOUT A SLOW SHUT-DOWN LIKE THE PRIOR TWO TIMES) AND ACCELERATED WHEN I PUT IT TO DRIVE LIKE NOTHING HAD HAPPENED. I WAS THEN ABLE TO GET OFF THE FREEWAY FOR SAFETY AND POPPED THE HOOD TO SEE IF THERE WAS ANYTHING ON THE SURFACE THAT I COULD FIND WRONG. EVERYTHING LOOKED FINE, I WAS EVEN ABLE TO GET BACK HOME ALL ON THE FREEWAY NORMALLY. I TRIED TO STAY ON THE RIGHT LANE AND SIMULATE THE SAME (I.E. DOING DECENT SPEED AND THEN ACCELERATING), BUT EVERYTHING WAS NORMAL. SUNDAY BEING MANDATORY DEALERSHIP CLOSURES IN NJ I WAS NOT ABLE TO BRING IT TO THE DEALERSHIP. THE WHOLE INCIDENT WAS COMPLETELY RANDOM AND WAS NEEDLESS TO SAY EXTREMELY DANGEROUS AND STRESSFUL. I HAVE CONTACTED SUBARU OF AMERICA AND WAITING FOR THEIR RESPONSE. IN THE INTERIM I WANTED TO POST THIS TO NHTSA IN CASE OTHER SUCH INCIDENTS HAVE BEEN REPORTED. *TR
MY SUBARU IS EQUIPPED WITH CVT, WHEN FUEL IS APPEALED ENGINE REVS, PAUSE, THEN DROP IN REV AND ACCELERATION. THIS IS A SAFETY CONCERN WHEN PASSING, CORNERING, OR ANY OTHER POINT WHEN IN A ROLLING START. *TR
SUBARU 2010 LEGACY 3.6 HAS A DEALER- ACKNOWLEDGED SEVERE HESITATION IN ACCELERATION. THE CAR FAILS TO ACCELERATE WHEN THE GAS PEDAL IS INITIALLY ENGAGED, THERE IS A PROLONGED HESITATION AND THEN THE CAR LURCHES FORWARD UNPREDICTABLY. IT'S PARTICULARLY SEVERE IN A SLOW ROLLING SITUATION SUCH AS ACCELERATING UPON TURNING AT AN INTERSECTION. THE CAR SIMPLE "CAN'T GET OUT OF IT'S OWN WAY" IN A TIMELY, RELIABLE AND PREDICTABLE FASHION. DEALER WAS NOTIFIED WITHIN THE WEEK OF SALE, ACKNOWLEDGED THAT SUBARU OF AMERICA WAS AWARE OF THE PROBLEM AND PROMISED TO DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT. NO REMEDY APPEARS TO BE FORTHCOMING (OR EVEN KNOWN) BY SUBARU OF AMERICA. *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 26, 2026