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Consumers say that Subaru vehicles equipped with EyeSight driver assist technology pose serious and deadly problems due to defects in their components in a nationwide class action lawsuit filed in New Jersey federal court.
The lead plaintiffs, all current and former Subaru owners, say that EyeSight technology suffers from a number of dangerous vehicle safety defects. These defects allegedly cause the lane assist function in Subarus to engage without reason, as well as the automatic braking system. Their class action lawsuit contends that the carmaker knew of these defects, but still sold the cars, touting their safety and reliability.
Lead plaintiffs Laura and James Sampson say that they purchased a new 2017 Subaru Outback limited in their home state of Illinois. They say that they depended on Subaru’s claims that the car was reliable and safe when making their purchase, but began to experience problems with the EyeSight driver technology within the first year. They allege their vehicle would stop abruptly, even though there were no obstacles, while they were backing out of their driveway and that their complaints were “brushed off” by the dealership.
Lead plaintiffs Anthony Ventura and Joanne Fulgieri Ventura of New York say that they decided to lease a 2020 Subaru Forester based on claims made about the car’s safety; however, they too allegedly ran into problems with both the lane assist technology and braking, including the car slowing significantly despite no obstacles.
Pennsylvania plaintiff Elizabeth Wheatley says that she purchased a new 2019 Subaru Crosstrek in 2018. The class action lawsuit says that Wheatley experienced the vehicle’s brakes suddenly engaging without reason on several occasions. Wheatley says her concerns were also dismissed by the Subaru dealership.
Lead plaintiff Shirley Reinhard, who is also representing her deceased husband Kenneth Reinhard, claims that the EyeSight defect caused their certified pre-owned 2015 Subaru Outback to get into a severe accident that caused the car to roll four times. Reinhard alleges that the couple had brought the Subaru in prior to the accident after experiencing problems with the braking system, but the dealership refused to do a repair.
The class action lawsuit alleges that the EyeSight system suffers from defects that affect the vehicles’ lane assist technology and braking. The technology includes cameras and sensors mounted on the front and back of the vehicles.
The components that make up the EyeSight technology are not calibrated correctly, allege the plaintiffs, and also have other issues that cause them to malfunction. In addition, Subaru allegedly failed to properly test the technology to ensure it was safe for motorists.
The plaintiffs seek to represent a nationwide Class of consumers who purchased or leased any 2013 to 2021 Subaru with the allegedly defective EyeSight technology.
Do you own a Subaru with EyeSight technology? Have you had trouble with the automatic brakes or lane assist functions? Tell us about it in the comment section below!
The lead plaintiffs are represented by Russell D. Paul, Amey J. Park, Abigail J. Gertner, and Natalie Lesser of Berger Montague PC, and Steven Weinmann, Tarek H. Zohdy, and Cody R. Padgett of Capstone Law APC.
The Subaru EyeSight Defect Class Action Lawsuit is Sampson, et al. v. Subaru of America, Inc, et al., Case No. 1:21-cv-10284-RMB-KMW in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey.
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68 thoughts onNationwide Class Action Lawsuit Filed Over Subaru Eyesight Problems
We own a 2016 subaru forrester and found like looking up eye sight issues. Our forrester has been having lots of issues lately with eye sight. It constantly turns on and off. The automatic brakes have slowed us down and jerked us to a stop twice. We cannot shut it off either. The two buttons near the sun roof are lit but will not work when pressed.
Original owner of 2017 Subaru Outback 3.6i, with ONLY 27k miles. In past 3 weeks, EVERY time we drive car in sunny San Diego, the eye site warning lights and lane change lights come on. The car can be driving, idling, backup and still comes on. Can be freeway or street driving too … in other words , completely random times. Also, on one occasion so far, when backing into garage, brakes slammed on for no reason. Our windshield is clean, the battery has been replace (that too failed quickly ), and all eye site checks in manual are “fine”. I’m now scared to drive this far and may sell it.
More…. Eyesite fails every time I drive car. On 12/28/21, brakes locked suddenly, twice, while pulling forward into parking spot. Scary. Took car to dealer on 1/4/22. Said had multiple battery code errors so authorized to change battery again, even though did a few months earlier. Next day,today, 1/5/22, eyesite error lights came on again, even after “fix” from dealer. Immediately drove back to dealer and showed the eyesite lights. Dealer found error code,I shop again, will diagnose tomorrow…. Stay tuned. Hate this car ….not safe.
Literally am having this issue right now with my 2021 Subaru I bought earlier this year ! It keeps malfunctioning and slamming on the breaks !
I purchased a new 2019 Subaru Ascent which now only has 25,000 miles on the car. Eyesight emergency stopping can not be trusted to work properly.. Driving down a road a car pulled out of a gas station in front of me. My Subaru did not even slow down. I had to slam on the brakes to avoid hitting the car. So I tested the emergency stopping in a large vacant parking lot. I set up several large empty boxes about the size of a large SUV. Then I drove at them at over 35 miles per hour. The Subaru did not even slow down. It ran over the boxes. I called my dealer and for every complaint they keep saying, “we never heard of any problems with Eyesight”. Sometimes the car will slam on the brakes when nothing is in front of me. Lane change monitor is another non working problem. Other auto companies have included radar to control the auto stopping. You can not just rely on cameras. What about when it is raining or when in fog.
My eyesight and traction control lights and lane assist just started turning off recently.
If i shut the car off and turn it back on the system resets. This cannot be safe.
I was following behind a silver semi last week. I had cruise set at 65 with cruise assist set at two car lengths back. The semi was cruising along at 50. We rounded a corner and the sun was in the middle of the road. The eyesight didn’t recognize the semi truck in front of me anymore and all of sudden the cruise control tried to gun it up to 65. I had to quickly brake to keep us from ramming into the back of the truck. Caught it on my dashcam.
New ’22 Crosstrek and its Eyesight just started to randomly go blind and with it turning off lane departure and precolision braking systems. The weather and windsheild were clear and no bright lights on the road to confuse the system. Happens at random day and night with no obvious common cause. No errors are getting logged which is deeply troubling. That seems to indicate poor software testing.
I am at the dealership now after my 2022 outback’s eyesight just dropped for no reason. I am not able to see anything on the display which is where all of the car’s functionalities exist. This is actually the second issue that I have experienced with safety functionalities within 3 months. I’ve only had the car for 5 months approximately. Starlink could not remotely assist and this is disappointing.
The first thing I do when I get in my wife’s 2019 Forester sport is turn off the collision avoidance system. The lane assist has been turned off since shortly after we purchased in 2019. The car has on many occasions slammed on the brakes for no reason on empty freeways with no cars in sight. My wife is afraid to drive it now so we are considering selling it and will not purchase another vehicle with similar safety systems.
My Subaru Forester 2019 does the same thing! As well as engaging the braking system when back up on lawn without anything around !
2018 Subaru Outback loses eyesight and lane avoidance during rain storms. This happened this past week driving from Ohio to South Carolina. Especially dangerous driving through mountain terrain in W. VA & VA on I-77 with heavy fog and driving rain.