2020 Legacy multiple electical failures at once

[joepilot]

We've had our new 2020 Legacy for a few months, and currently have about 7000 miles on it. Twice now - once at 3500 miles and again last night - we've had the car suddenly report multiple faults and the electronic parking brake locks. This happens as we come to a stop. The car will shudder slightly, and then the warnings start coming one after another and the parking brake locks! The first time, the car reported 27 faults! This time it's "only" about 8 faults. The car is at the dealership right now. Hopefully we will hear something from them soon.

Does this type of issue sound familiar to anyone else here? Thanks for any input!

Joe

 

[jeffreyfox]

This is another concern with the electronic parking brake, and unnecessary or ill-advised reliance on electronics. Can you imagine if your car decides to set the parking brake when you're on the freeway in heavy traffic? That's tremendously dangerous.

 

[joepilot]

This is another concern with the electronic parking brake, and unnecessary or ill-advised reliance on electronics. Can you imagine if your car decides to set the parking brake when you're on the freeway in heavy traffic? That's tremendously dangerous.

I have the same thoughts about the electronic throttle control. (Yes, the gas pedal isn't connected mechanically to the engine these days.) Just about everything the car does depends on electronics. Throttle, parking brake, transmission shifting, etc., etc. If the electrons decide not to flow, we're screwed!

Both times our car suffered the failure it had was when we came to a stop. It didn't do it while the car was in motion. Not sure what the failure mode was, as the dealer just said it was an "internal electronic failure in the transmission" that triggered all the issues we experienced. Not very comforting!

We have the car back now and have driven it a few days, but it will take a while before we develop full trust in the vehicle. The two failures we had were at 3500 miles and 7000 miles. So 3500 miles between failures. So I'm waiting to see if we make it past 10,500 miles without problems!

 

[jeffreyfox]

Oh yes, don't even get me started on everything else that's electronic now. I mean, some of these have been that way for a long time. My 1995 Impreza has a computer that controls the mixture depending on what it thinks it should be when I press the pedal, but that's really only in first gear. I've gotten used to it in over 25 years driving it, though. When I drive my wife's 2019 Forester, though, I have to take the time to turn off all the systems that will drive the car for me, from the thing that stomps on the brakes when it thinks I ought to, to the system that turns the wheels when it thinks I ought to, etc. I mean, one time I forgot to turn it off, and it just freaked out once when I was driving and hit the brake when it shouldn't have. Scared the hell out of me, and patently increased the chance of an accident. I've been driving for 32 years, with very few accidents and even fewer that were my fault, and I don't need a computer to make decisions for me. I really do feel like these systems make driving less safe. It's worse than someone who is sitting next to you grabbing the wheel, because at least you would see it coming if someone did that to you. When the computer decides to hit your brake, it's completely unexpected.

 

[joepilot]

One of our criteria when we were shopping for a new car this time around was that there had to be the ability turn off all the "driving aids". I've been driving since 1971, and have been to several high-performance driving schools and have done some racing. I know how to drive the danged car better than most of the other drivers out there. I don't need it thinking for me, let alone doing something I don't want it to be doing.

Unfortunately, the insurance industry will drive the continued implementation of these "safety features". Soon you will see all this stuff mandatory on all new cars. First it was seat belts, then air bags, then tire pressure monitoring. All this other stuff will follow the same pattern.