On July 13,2022, while easing into a parking slot with foot on the brake pedal, with a final stop and reaching to shift gear into parking mode, my 2019 Crosstrek engine suddenly accelerated and made the car surge forward. My brake pedal was on the floor with no response and the car continued to shoot pass the curb and sidewalk onto a vegetation embankment, heading towards a building and its glass door. I was terrified as the car did not respond to braking and tried to shift into neutral but the shift gear was struggling, until the car got stopped by the vegetation bank and continued to rev loudly, but then allowed me to shift into neutral and to stop the car from ramping forward. When the tow truck arrived, tow personnel turned on the engine and tried the brakes pedal which went straight to the floor, with no pressure.

What was terrifying was the car engine suddenly accelerated forward and would not stop until the car was stopped by the dirt and vegetation. Without the vegetation, my car would have plowed into the building and the tall glass windows. The front of my car was damaged. I was blessed and not hurt physically, but fairly shaken and stressed for the rest of the day, night, and still. My car has only 25k miles and just had a 24k service in March 2022. People and insurance would say that maybe the gas pedal was used or the mat was caught. I disagreed because to ease into the slot, I had moved to brake pedal and had a final stop, reaching to switch the gear to park, when the sudden acceleration took place. And my mat was still hooked in place, and my gas pedal was not locked to the floor, any which way that people tried to blame drivers.

In researching this phenomenon later, I found out that other Subaru models have had the same issue, and there is a current class action suit against Subaru re: sudden acceleration when cars are at low speed and people are ready to park. Because this phenomenon is random, it is hard to reproduce when the cars are taken in. Thus, the car companies and insurance will turn the blame onto the drivers. There is an article called "A Clear Explanation of Belt's Theory of SUA" is available on the internet if anyone is curious as to how this phenomenon can take place and harm drivers and others nearby.

I am now terrified of my beloved Crosstrek. And this phenomenon has manifested itself in all car makes and models, in a random manner. So, which car/SUV to buy?

Update from Jul 22, 2022: PS: Eyesight did not warn of collision when car accelerated toward and collided with vegetation embankment in front of building.

Vehicle driven by spouse, accelerated on its own, and crashed into a tree on June 5,2020. Repair cost was over $5,500.00 in body damage to the front of vehicle. Reason why the vehicle suddenly accelerated is unknown. No injuries to either driver or passenger occurred due to collision. Vehicle underwent repair & replacement of the entire front of the vehicle.

Body work on the vehicle was repaired, and returned to the owner, on June 30, 2020. Owner of the vehicle experienced a similar problem while at the stop sign, but I was fortunately was able to control the vehicle and brake it to a stop.

On 7/25/2020 examination of the vehicle by Subaru dealership for problem revealed no problem. Mechanic stated: "When the vehicle is turned on, it operates at about 2000 rpm and if the a/c is on the condenser raises the rpms to about 2500 rpms due to the high voltage it requires to work". This written statement leads me to believe that the cause of the malfunction may be electronic. Needless to say, both my wife and I feel unsafe driving the vehicle, despite the Subaru dealer saying: "All is ok".