The EPB parking brake issue is real. It must be an intermittent electrical problem, not something like a capacitor burning up. It happened to me once in 2014, then not again that I know of, but then, I always leave my 2011 Outback in gear when parked now.
My garage slopes slightly, so that if the parking brake is not engaged, my Outback will immediately begin creeping backward once I have stopped. In 2014, I parked the Outback in my garage, engaged the EPB, then got out to check my mail. Walked out to the street, got the mail, then on the way back to the house, the Outback starts rolling out. I couldn't stop it, opened the door but got thrown to the ground before it rolled across the street and hit my neighbor's car.
This always puzzled me, Did I hit the EPB button twice by mistake, disengaging it? Did I not engage it at all? I tried those theories. The EPB does not disengage if you just hit it twice. And my Outback will begin rolling out of the garage immediately if the EPB is not engaged - I can't even get out of the car. It is impossible that it can just sit there for a minute, then start rolling. Insurance covered the $8000 damage to my neighbor's car, but not the $2000 for my car. (An Outback can beat up a Honda any day!)
So, last November I got the EPB recall notice. Mystery solved. Contacted my dealer, made an appointment, they looked up the EPB notice said they had parts, I showed up. I had to explain the EPB problem to the guy and show him the recall notice. Then he tells me they do NOT have parts - and what am I doing there? Like this is my fault. I told him about the accident, and he recommended I call Subaru of America. They might reimburse me for my repairs, they are not like other companies, he said. I do that, SOA sends me an EPB letter with instructions for a claim (posted early in this thread) and so I send them original receipts and an explanation how this happened. Two months later a simple denial from SOA. Like I thought, a waste of my time. And still no parts? They must have known about this for a long time. I like the Outback, but no more Subarus for me. No, I do not want a discount on a new one.
OK, I've vented. Again, the EPB problem is real. Thanks for listening.