Tuesday, September 22, 2026
RecallGazette

Vehicle problems, recalls & safety intelligence

2006 Subaru Outback electrical system problems

42 owner complaints filed with NHTSA name the electrical system on the 2006 Subaru Outback15% of all complaints for this model year.

42
Electrical System complaints
15%
share of all complaints
100,000 mi
median reported incident mileage
0 / 1
crash / fire reports

What owners report

  • The accelerator pedal position sensor is faulty. It is prone to wear in these vehicles based on my research. This caused my car to go into limp-mode on the highway, rapidly cutting my speed in half. The accelerator provides no response until vehicle was restarted. The ECU put out the code P2138 for…

    filed Jan 1, 2022

  • OBD Code P2138 (Throttle/ Pedal Position Sensor/ Switch D / E voltage correlation). This code pops up intermittently resulting in the car going into "limp mode". Truly dangerous, if this occurs when traveling at speed in traffic or when pulling away from a stop light. It is hard to pin down; but…

    filed Oct 14, 2021

Verbatim excerpts from complaints filed with NHTSA. Reports are not independently verified.

Related service bulletins

  • This Service Information Bulletin outlines a systematic procedure for diagnosing parasitic draw (dark/standby current) in vehicles experiencing battery drain when the ignition is off, leading to no-start conditions or…

    15-308-23R · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions · issued Aug 20, 2026
  • This Bulletin has been developed to outline the steps for gathering basic but essential information during diagnosis of Infotainment concerns. (This is an revised version of the original bulletin.)

    15-304-22R · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions · issued Aug 13, 2026
  • Techtips newsletter locator index.

    Article Locator · Other · issued Aug 5, 2026
  • This bulletin contains illustrations of exchange components and their manufacturer as well as a description of the proper exchange procedure. This is an revised version of the original bulletin

    15-333-25R · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions · issued Aug 1, 2026
All 2006 Subaru Outback TSBs →

Electrical System problems in other Outback years

YearReportsShare
2025 Outback1215%
2024 Outback1616%
2023 Outback1719%
2022 Outback5111%
2021 Outback7525%
2020 Outback25829%
2019 Outback36335%
2018 Outback26533%
2017 Outback39143%
2016 Outback30948%
2015 Outback12725%
2014 Outback3215%
Outback electrical system problems by year →

Counts are unique NHTSA complaints naming this component group. Complaints are unverified owner reports; mileage is computed only from complaints that included a usable odometer reading.