Ok, so what I want to know is why they are so susceptible to their switch contacts getting coated with these things and no one else is. I doubt Subaru is using anything vastly different than the rest of the industry.
We don't know that they are the only ones - they are just the only ones admitting it. Honda isn't, but that does not mean it's not happening. Especially when considering many of the reported issues with Gen 5's currently.
The perfumes they are talking about may be the ones used in air fresheners, which you should all have the good sense not to be using anyway, as they are well known to exude carcinogens into the air you are breathing in a car, or at home.
Another thing I wonder is, if this is a problem, why isn't the same problem coming from the tar coating in a smoker's car? Or is it?
If all this is true, methinks I doth protest too little about the quality of the electronics themselves if they are that weakly made.