Which parts fail
Components named in complaints (accelerator pedal, throttle, sudden acceleration, cruise control).
Mileage when the problem started
Owner reports
Selected complaints filed with NHTSA by 2005 Subaru Outback owners, lightly cleaned up (personal details are redacted by NHTSA).
The contact owns a 2005 Subaru Outback. The contact stated that the vehicle was experiencing cruise control failures. Additionally, the contact stated while driving at 50 MPH up a steep hill of a bridge, the brake pedal was depressed and the vehicle decelerated significantly to 20-25 MPH. The accelerator pedal was depressed but failed to respond. The contact stated that the vehicle lost motive power and remained at the bottom of the hill facing an incline, while there was oncoming traffic. The check engine warning light and other unknown warning lights illuminated. The contact engaged the Sport mode first gear and the vehicle moved slowly. The contact continued to depress the accelerator pedal but the vehicle failed to respond. The contact switched to the slow lane and drove to the top of the incline and made a left turn off the end of the bridge downhill. …
The contact owns a 2005 Subaru Outback. The contact stated while driving downhill at 40 MPH, the check engine warning light was illuminated. The accelerator pedal was depressed however, the vehicle failed to respond. The contact parked on the side of the road and restarted the vehicle after 3-4 minutes and continued driving to his destination. The contact stated that the check engine warning light was turned off after restarting the vehicle. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. A dealer was not contacted. The manufacturer had not been informed of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 215,500.
P2138 code. Gas pedal stops responding to inputs. Car goes into limp mode and managed to get car off the road. Shut off and waited 5 minutes, restarted and it works again. Associated P0500 code also present. First time this has happened on this car.
Unintended acceleration of 2005 Subaru Outback, manual transmission while driving on 2 occasions within 10 minutes and 5 miles of each other. First occurred in 3rd or 4th gear, with no reason to change speeds or stop, when the car suddenly sped forward, and left the road on the right side. I was able to keep it under control, and just as quickly, it returned to normal. With in the next four miles, it was perfectly normal, with no engine lights, strange sounds or behavior. I came to almost a complete stop before turning left onto our gravel road, when again it surged forward, and this time went through a chain link fence, into a flower garden, and came to a stop, wedged against the fence. The car was towed (on a flat bed) to a repair shop, where it was examined and repaired for $5876.11. …
Accelerator pedal randomly stopped functioning while driving straight on flat road approximately 30mph, resulting in no speed control, able to drive only on idle speed. First seems like not 'shifting gears' correctly, then no speed control. (many comments in online forum of elusive problem to diagnose by Subaru dealers and much money spent with only random success.) when restarted car drove normally with 'check engine light' on about 3 miles then same thing, accelerator went limp, no speed control but got me home. Car taken in to dealer the next day.(drove down hill approx 30 miles with no problem). Service department claimed "not current code" (clearly the problem is intermittent) and said never heard of such a problem (nonsense, it's all over the web); they cleaned the throttle mechanism, hoping that would fix. …
1) recurring phantom revving (in neutral and/or clutch depressed, both while completely stopped and while slowing down from any and all speeds) upwards of 4-5K RPM with difficulty getting the rpms back to normal. Happens sometimes daily, sometimes constantly, sometimes it goes a few days without happening. 2) complete loss of pedal control/response (a "limp" pedal) while going 60mph on a freeway, managed to coast to safety and let the car sit for 10+ minutes, when it restarted and the throttle worked again. Stored code p2138, CEL on and cruise control disabled. Have only driven the car a few times since, out of fear of losing pedal control again. …
Intermittently and without warning, the accelerator pedal will become unresponsive. On multiple occasions, the vehicle was in motion when this happened. The speedometer fell to 0, and when pressed, the accelerator pedal did nothing. The vehicle had to be limped to the side of the road and restarted in order for it to work again. The check engine light would then come on. On other occasions, the accelerator would not respond immediately upon starting the vehicle, and the check engine light came on immediately upon starting. This has the potential to be extremely dangerous or fatal if the car were to go limp when driving on a highway at high speeds, or taking a turn. Research has shown that this is a widespread problem with the Outback, and action needs to be taken by Subaru. This should be treated as a recall.
Tl contact owns a 2005 Subaru Outback. While driving with the cruise control set to 75 MPH, the contact applied repeated pressure to the brakes yet the cruise control would not disengage. The contact used the cruise control off button but to no avail. The contact was unable to stop the acceleration of the vehicle and proceeded to crash into an unknown object. The vehicle was destroyed. The driver and passenger sustained unknown injuries. A police report was available. The vehicle was towed to the contact's insurance company lot and was not examined for the cause of failure. The failure and current mileages were 77,000.
Every once in a while the gas pedal stops functioning. It happens at highway speeds as well as local roads. When it does happen you have to find a safe spot to pull over and shut off the engine for at least a minute or more. Restart the car and the pedal comes back. This is very hazardous. I could end up getting rear ended. My grand children ride in the car. The scanner code came up p2138 Subaru recommends that the gas pedal assembly needs to be replaced. It's a 185.00 part plus labor.I don't understand why there isn't a recall because of the safety issue
Tl contact owns a 2005 Subaru Outback. When the contact attempted to move forward, the vehicle accelerated on its own and crashed into another vehicle. There were no injuries. The failure occurred a total of three times. The most recent failure was on January 10, 2009 while parking the vehicle. She took the vehicle to the dealer, but they could not duplicate the failure. A report was filed with the manufacturer and they stated that there was no recall for the vehicle. The failure mileage was 30,000 and current mileage was 44,000.
Acceleration complaints in other Outback years
Frequently asked questions
How common are acceleration problems on the 2005 Subaru Outback?
NHTSA has 40 complaints about the speed control & acceleration of the 2005 Subaru Outback, 15% of the model year's 273 complaints. The component named most often is cruise control (5 mentions).
Is there a recall for 2005 Subaru Outback acceleration problems?
No. NHTSA lists no speed control & acceleration recall for the 2005 Subaru Outback, though it has 9 recalls for other components. If the problem is widespread, a repair may still be covered by an extended warranty or a manufacturer service bulletin — ask a dealer.
At what mileage do 2005 Subaru Outback acceleration problems start?
Half of the complaints with a recorded mileage happened before about 90,000 miles, and 19% before 25,000 miles.
Is it dangerous?
Owners linked 6 crashes, 1 fire and 6 injuries to speed control & acceleration problems on this model year. If you notice symptoms, have the car checked before driving further.
Source: U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) — owner complaints through October 20, 2026, recalls and defect investigations; fuel economy from the EPA. Complaints are unverified reports and are not proof of a defect. How we rate model years.