Subaru Reviews

The first time it happened, I almost rolled back into traffic but I kept turning the ignition and I got the power back on long enough to push in the e-brake. The most recent time this happened, I blocked up the right turning lane onto a moderately heavy traveled road. I tried to restart the car 6 times and it would turn on and quickly stall. The first time though, I was able to move the car to the right lane instead of in the middle lane while it shook the whole time.

They have been absolutely no help to me other than telling me 2 of the 3 times it has been the cam sensor and they will replace it, which obviously isn't fixing a ** thing. The one time it "wasn't", the came sensor was when they stated that they found no problem at all. They claimed to have driven it 140 miles and no problem. The very next morning I drive to work and on my way back from work, it stalls for the 3rd time. From Subaru to my house and to work is 8 miles, going back home is about 3.

My problem is, the one time they were not able to find a problem, they drove a car for 140 miles without any problems but 11 miles later it happens after the dealer had possession for it for 8 days. I know I don't qualify for the lemon law, but I'm trying to think "What the ** can I do, the law is not really on my side because Subaru will not buy the car back from me no matter how many repeated problems it has." If anyone has or knows anyone that has a problem like this, please re-post on this forum. I'm wondering if this is just me or if there are other people dealing with the same thing. If so, I am looking to combine forces. Because I have no faith in this car and that it can't keep me safe at anytime or anyplace on the road.

Come on now, how many times do we have to change a catalytic converter for a car in its lifetime considering that it’s only an 8 1/2 year old car? We drove Toyotas, Nissans and other car brands before and never had to experience these problems. There must be something wrong in this picture and we need an answer from Subaru. Or maybe there are other people out there who are having the same issues with their Subarus as well. We would appreciate if these issues are addressed since we already spent so much time, effort and money for such dilemma.

That is nearly my exact position with Doug Smith Subaru in Utah. I am not unfamiliar to fighting when companies do bad things. I had a cement contractor try to make off with $2500 of my deposit and not do any work. I was highlighted on a local television news episode of "Get Gephardt" and I got the Utah Division of Occupational and Professional Licensing involved. I prevailed in that incident. I have a 2010 Subaru Forester, with approximately 44k miles on it. I had picked up my 10-year old son from school, was getting on the freeway on ramp and accelerating to 65mph with the engine revolutions between 4000-5000 (it is an automatic). All of a sudden, a clicking sound started - not too loud, but noticeable. I got off the next ramp and examined the engine. Nothing unusual could be seen, nothing leaking, nothing loose, no engine lights, no warning lights, nothing. I proceeded home, but the noise got much worse by arrival. I didn't want to drive it further, so it was my idea to have AAA tow it to Doug Smith Subaru, where I had purchased the vehicle.

At the time of purchase, I was strongly encouraged to also get the extended warranty for 6 years/100,000 miles, which I did at rather substantial cost. I was told 2 days ago by the service department at Doug Smith that "bad things" had happened inside the engine. It was broken rod, I would need a "new block" and Subaru is not going to pay unless I could produce every single oil change record since I purchased the vehicle. They said they had no oil change records, so I would need to produce those. I said, "wait a minute, I had the oil changed a lot by other people, but I know for a fact you guys changed it once as I had a coupon for it". They said, "hold for a minute". Then they came back to the phone, "oh yeah, we found that one and we also saw that you had a sticker on your windshield from last year, but we need more than that". They are refusing to pay anything. I have had it changed in Seattle, changed in Sacramento and here in Utah and I am scrambling to find records.

This is outrageous, absurd and smacks of what can be seen in some legal defense firms - deny everything and assert reasons no matter how farfetched, ridiculous, unlikely or impossible. I have started networking to the people I know. Everybody I have talked to is stunned and shocked. I work with someone who was an auto mechanic for 20 years (they are in computers now) who said that is just ridiculous. Since I have purchased the vehicle, never has even one engine warning light comes on. It only has 44k miles on it. No check engine, no oil, no temperature, nothing. I checked all fluid levels usually once a month and also before going on any trip. This vehicle is not some turbo-charged teenage car that is abused. I am nearly 55 years old, this is a station wagon and I had my 10-year old son in the car. I have owned and maintained dozens of cars in my lifetime and this is absolutely crazy.

I scrambled to produce the records back to the beginning of purchase because not in my wildest dreams would I have imagined that Subaru of America and Doug Smith would look for any reason not to pay. I have owned between 20 and 30 vehicles in my lifetime and had warranty work done from Dodge, Ford, BMW, Porsche, Nissan, GMC. Never, never was I asked to produce every single service record before any warranty work would be done. Doug Smith and Subaru cannot prove that there was an engine failure due to negligent service. They are only citing a phrase in a book to get out of paying. I have a huge list of people following this event and what the outcome is. I have a complaint on file with the BBB, but the dealership and SOA is refusing to budge. To people who want to purchase a Subaru, buyer beware!

I spoke with a Subaru Rep named Bob **. He was very kind in setting up my appointment (took 3 days), but everything afterwards has been below average. I took my vehicle into the dealer he scheduled and after the technicians looking at my car, they said there was no problem. Allegedly, the brakes were fine as far as they looked (but they never got the brakes wet). The technician Kurt said he’s never heard that noise before from the engine.

I spoke with Bob ** and he said that the dealer’s service manager had talked to me and told me that everything was okay. Well, either Bob ** is a liar or Jeff the service manager from Suburban Subaru is a liar because I never spoke with Jeff ever, other than to ask what him and Bob spoke about and he said that he was just told to fax the info over. Bob said that Jeff had told him they found nothing wrong with my car and since they have found nothing wrong with it, they won’t send out anyone to look at it. I have a safety concern that others are having and they won’t even look at it? Seriously?!

I have researched the web and found tons of others complaining about the brakes not working when it’s wet. So this is a problem that Subaru is aware of but won’t acknowledge. I don’t feel safe driving my car when it’s wet because in an emergency situation, I won’t be able to stop and I could kill myself and someone else. All I want is a Subaru rep to come out and take a look but they won’t. I was repeatedly lied to by Bob **. I will never buy another Subaru again.

Another thing to add, I took the technician for a drive to show him how my diff clunks when I’m shifting under hard acceleration. So I took it up to 6000 rpm and shifted the car. The gears and the clunk were heard. The technician then said "You’re putting this under a lot of stress." How am I putting the car under stress? People rev there STI's up to 5000 rpm and dump it, bounce off the rev limiter, down shift from 6th to 3rd. All I was doing was shifting going in a straight line down the road. The car can’t handle 6k rpm shifts? Why does the motor rev to 6k rpm then? Why it isn’t electronically governed? Subaru is the worst auto company in the world. Never buy a Subaru because from day one, they will screw you. I bought the most expensive car they have and they treat me like crap!

When I decided that I did not want the new contract, they became angry and rude. The general manager assured me that he would take care of it, but he did not and I had their company calling me about a vehicle that I had returned (2009 Subaru) to the Subaru dealer a month earlier. The vehicle was on their lot and in their possession. I have returned the new 2012 vehicle because of how I was treated and because the general manager, during his shouting match with me indicated that if that was the way I felt, he did not want to do business with me anyway. I am glad you have enough Subaru business that you can afford to throw away customers who purchased 3 Subarus within four years. I will make it one of my goals in life to make sure that people know you do not want business from me or people like me.

Of interest, is that a similar situation happened with this same dealership three years ago. At that time, a few weeks after the 2009 car was purchased, the finance manager called and indicated that he had made a mistake on the contract and that the payment should be higher. Once again, I refused and told him that I had a contract, and he could not go back and change the terms of that contract. What is going on at Subaru AutoBarn of Countryside, Illinois? Are they incompetent, or crooked or both? They definitely could use some training in customer service as you have just lost two customers. Since I have returned the 2012 Subaru last week, I am in the market for an SUV. Guess what, it won't be a Subaru.

Someone should investigate further the practices of Subaru Autobarn of Countryside, Illinois. I know I will be continuing my investigation and legal options. Not only am I angry, as noted above, I am inconvenienced and suspicious. I did not check the first box below because I am pursuing all options including legal options. Yes, an attorney can contact me about my complaint.

I took it to Puyallup Subaru, and they told me it's because of low oil and that brand-new Subaru's use a quart of oil every thousand miles. I check the oil before my wife left on her trip, and the oil level was fine. They cleared the computer, change the oil, and sent me down the road. I contacted a different dealer, and they are no way, very unhappy!

I returned to dealer shop 3 times. There is nothing wrong with it, according to them. Foresters do not get better than 25mpg, and all are noisy. I contacted the Subaru customer service online. They talked to the dealer, but have not helped fix the problem at all. It's basically a waste of time. It currently has 9,000 miles. I purchased this new at the Richmond Subaru/Moore Cadillac.

If this was the only time this happened I would not be so upset, but I keep getting similar notices along with malfunctions such as the steering column which stopped working, computer malfunction and rusted wheels that happen every few months, and which are very expensive to have repaired.

He saw a tiny dent in the emblem on the steering wheel about a week after we got the car. But he didn't say anything to me and said he didn't want to bother the Sabaru people about it. It didn't interfere with the car at all and it wasn't worth complaining about (he knows better now). Now the car's inspection is due and it cannot pass without a horn. I have talked to the service manager and customer service. I have had several phone calls (long ones, as it takes about 30 minutes to get through to anyone) and learned that the Sabaru company has an excellent system for keeping a customer from speaking to anyone. I think they invented the "run around". The people working in customer service are nice at first. But as they keep putting you off and you keep calling, they get more and more rude and abrupt.

I spoke to Jeff, Bill, and finally Shirley. Shirley offered me 50% off the "warranty rate" which she said was $800. When I asked what a warranty rate was, she said that if the warranty is in effect, there is a certain rate that the customer pays. No warranty means the "non-warranty rate" which in my case she said was $1400. She said, "That's our final offer; take it or leave it.” She said she thought it was a very generous offer considering I did the damage myself. I told her that was exactly the point: we did not do the damage. I was skeptical about her actually being a customer service rep. So, I asked what her job title was and she said she was the customer relations manager for the "entire region", whatever that means.

I have written a letter to the corporate headquarters in Cherry Hill, NJ and a letter directly to the president of Subaru of America. I went back to Mid-Hudson Sabaru to try and reason with them. They again said that I or my son caused the damage. When I said that was not true, the manager said, "Well, that's our determination and what you say really doesn't matter.” Also, I asked Donna if the $966.80 was the "warranty rate" or the "non-warranty rate" and she said it was the non-warranty rate. Then, I told her about Shirley's conversation with me and suddenly the $966.80 became the "warranty rate". Donna said she actually did not know where Shirley got the $1400.00 price from. I told her that Shirley said she got the figure from her. Donna said that was not true (and they say I'm lying!).

Manufactured figures, lies, back peddling, avoidance behavior, and general disrespect have been nonstop since this problem began 9 months ago. I told them I would not pay the $400 as I did not cause the problem and it should be covered under the factory warranty and that my integrity was not for sale. They said, "Whatever." Sabaru couldn't care less about my problem. That’s a nice company policy. I told the service manager, Rob, that I might as well give them the car back as we can't drive it uninspected. I said, "I bet you'll fix the horn then." He said, "Of course. Then it will be ours." Don't buy a Sabaru. I never will again.

I spoke to my dad's mechanic who has been working on cars in the same location in Palo Alto for more than 30 years (since before I was born.) He said that he won't work on Subaru engines because there is a major problem with them. They blow head gaskets and then Subaru tries to pin the failure on the mechanic or on the owner and it causes problems. Apparently, there are many mechanics here that won't touch them because Subaru legal is taking care of this engine problem.

When I look online, there are dozens of sites about this Subaru engine problem, websites were hundreds of people have logged in and documented their head gasket failures at 30,000, 50,000, 70,000 miles. Way too soon for any engine to be failing. Subaru still denies there's a problem, but they redesigned the engine a few years ago and now it's not failing in the new cars. Several folks have tried to put together class action lawsuits, but I don't think any of them have gone forward. Meanwhile, if you look on sites that give recommendations on buying used Subarus, they all say if you're going to buy one from roughly 1998-2006 with this particular engine, you need to make sure it's failed once and had the major repair done. Otherwise, it's not worth buying because it will fail soon. That's crazy!

From what I can tell - most people just go ahead and pay for the repair, some people get better deals, and a few actually get the repairs covered. It seems to depend entirely on how much of a fight you put up. A friend of my mother's has already had 2 new engines put in because of this problem in the first 80,000 miles, too, and he paid for them!

My car is currently sitting at Carlsen Subaru in Redwood City, waiting to be worked on. It originally failed on Christmas Day. So, it's been more than 2 weeks and nothing has been resolved. At this point, my goal is to get Subaru to buy the car back from me. I'd be happy with Blue Book Value. I just don't want to deal with it anymore. And it breaks my heart because I love my car. But it's given me 3 years of stress now, so I'm done. Is there anything you can do to help me and other Subaru drivers? Thanks so much for your time.

Recommendations: Watch very carefully your personnel that work in your quality department like a hawk, better fire them and replace them with a new crew. Your biggest dealer in Peru, Indumotora Subaru, is doing a very lousy job with its customers. I recommend you to kick their ** and make them work, if not look for another dealer that can attend the customers in an appropriate way. All your brochures talk about the outstanding security of all Subaru cars, do something to maintain this remark.

We are making two requests: 1. Reimbursement of the cost of the new tires 2. Investigation of this potentially dangerous condition to be sure that it doesn't happen to others.

At just over 9000 miles (or 7000 on the new engine), #4 piston ringland broke. I drove it to the dealership running poorly but was staying on top of the oil situation as the first motor had chugged its oil. Months later, I had to have the car finally flat-bedded home and it looked like it'd been driven within an inch of its life before having the engine dismantled, then all the parts careless thrown into the car, destroying things like my radiator and intercooler and even the seats. Many fasteners were missing because they'd been simply left under the hood. The oil pan and oil filter was smashed as if engine had been dropped from a decent height.

I fought with them over it for nearly a year as the car sat engineless in my garage, then finally filed suit when I was able to get the dealership to give me copies of the work orders, which were nothing short of blatant lies.

I have filed suit and rather than step up and explain to a judge and jury how they're not at fault for the second ruined engine (and I'm far from the only person who's had this failure), they're just delaying things by challenging venue, then getting a continuance on their venue challenge.

The 08 STi (and reportedly other years, but the failure numbers are staggeringly high for the 08) is very simply a product Subaru is selling knowing full well it doesn't meet merchantability requirements and they're just getting by as cheaply as they can until the warranties expire on them. I was a loyal customer, buying a new one every year until the 08 destroyed itself after only 2 months of ownership then again before it'd reached 2 years.

To say Subaru and especially Subaru of America is unscrupulous is a whopper of an understatement. And, sadly, it's also not an understatement to say that the 08 completely changed my life, for the worse. It brought an abrupt end to a hobby (driving school instructor) that was the catharsis that enabled me to be the successful president of a rapidly-growing dotcom.

When you are so egregiously victimized and disrespected by a company, the effects are far-reaching. Please, do not buy any 08-11 STi as their failure rate as a percentage of units sold is astronomical. But aside from a few of us squeaky wheels (and I may get crushed further in seeking justice, but I have to try), they'll be able to simply sweep this horrific ripping off of their customers under the rug because of it being such a comparatively low-production car, it likely won't have the absolute failure *quantities* to get the attention of any agency who can force them to do right by their customers.

It got to where there was a pool of oil left behind all the time. I took it back to Subaru and they looked at it again and determined that there was a seal leak that would cost $1800.00 to fix. It had a slow leak that turned into a gusher between Subaru and my home the day I picked it up. I was very upset that at their direction, I had just poured $1200.00 into a car that had an obvious leak that they did not even mention. Now, they tell me the car is not even worth the $1800.00 it would cost to fix.

My question is: Why didn't they tell me that $1200.00 ago? I discussed it with the service manager David ** and they had no interest in doing anything to address the problem. It was my problem and their was nothing they would do. I walked in the door as a loyal customer and walked out as a very unhappy camper. I later phoned and asked to talk to the manager, who was in a meeting, so I told the man who took the message for the manager what had happened. He said he would relay the message and have him call me!

It has been 2 weeks and I have not heard a word from anyone! I hope you can explain this because I am shocked that they would treat a customer like that! They turned a person, who was in the dealership in need of a new car, into a person who would never buy a car there and will be more than happy to tell all of my friends, who are lifelong animal rescuers, about my ordeal with a Subaru dealership! I even have a dear, personal friend who is a Pilots N Paws volunteer. He would be as shocked as I am if I told him this. I would like to know what you think of this. I am in the market for a new car! Your response will determine what course I could take from here! I'll await your reply! Thank you for your time! Kathy **

The dealer informed me that the oil feed tube filter was clogged and caused the failure. This is not listed anywhere as to maintenance or inspection. Bottom line is, the dealer stated that my warranty is expired by three months and they won't be covering the costs.

I've owned several Subaru cars and was thinking of buying/trading up, but if your systems are not capable of even lasting to 100 thousand miles without a catastrophic failure, surely I won't be making any further purchases from your company. I change my oil personally every 3k, and the car has only 94k miles. What kind of product do you call this?

So, what you're saying in your email is, "Yes, we're aware of the problem but we're not responsible since we didn't issue a recall or even a TSB concerning this filter screen and we absolved ourselves of all responsibility regardless of impeccable maintenance per factory recommendations." Therefore, **.

Really? Just how long do you plan to remain in business if this is how you operate? Sort of an "already got your money, dude" attitude? This car didn't even make it to its first timing belt change and that's somehow OK with you? I cannot believe a corporation as big as Subaru absolutely will not stand behind its product!

As an ASE-certified master technician with over 25 years in this business, I've been repeatedly asked about who makes a good car and without question, the answer won't be you, quite the opposite.

I'm absolutely appalled! Ninety-four thousand miles and a hidden, non-serviceable filter takes out a turbo and possibly the engine with it, and you say tough **!

However, after recently after having repairs done for a broken turbo at one of their Certified Subaru Service Centers, my engine died due to the fact that their technicians did not remove the oil pan after replacing the shredded turbo (a standard and required part of their repair!). Since the repair, Subaru terminated the dealer's service department (Vista Subaru In Glennwood, CO) and will not honor their workmanship! Subaru has outright told me that they will not help me with the cost of the new engine, even though their certified workers are at fault (for not completing a repair per SOA's explicit directions in a bulletin I will attach) and the cost of replacing their fouled repairs combine to put the money I have in this car at $27,789 (the base price of a 2011 model!) when purchased 11 months ago for $16,500! I put 9,000 miles on this car!

I hope someone reads this and does the right thing by me! As a loyal Subaru customer, you are ensuring that I will bever have anything to do with your products ever again! I love my car, but as it lies with its engine out at the dealership, I realize that if this is how you treat your loyal customers, I must put my beautiful car to rest and move my loyalty to a company that knows how to treat its customers well!

Love, it's what makes those Subarus in your commercials different from mine!

Subaru of America is now stating that the vibration is normal for the 2010, 2011 Subaru outbacks. They are not willing to fix the problem and are suggesting I continue to drive it as is. Please advise.

Never did the car get more than 6000 miles between changes! When we sent receipts to verify our part of the maintenance schedule, they accused us of "creating" or making up the receipts (even though they came straight from the store). They called us liars. Nice company, eh? We sent off a sample of the oil to an independent lab who confirmed the oil to be in excellent condition, but not recommended for continued use due to failed bearing debris in it. An independent mechanic also confirmed that the #4 piston rod bearing failed due to improper clearance at assembly. It is blatantly clear the failure had nothing to do with lubrication as every other portion of the engine is pristine. Hone marks are still visible on the cylinder walls, after 35,700 miles. The dealer has had my worthless vehicle since February 2010. It is still under the original warranty. I've spent thousands on rental car fees.

Subaru of America (SoA) won't agree to fix it on grounds that the "oil was black" and the filter "showed" age. Age?! Do you know what the underside of vehicles look like after 5000 miles of winter in MN? I have a lawyer who is willing to take it all the way to trial. His investigation has revealed that SoA is at fault, absolutely and completely. The Minnesota Attorney General reviewed our case and told SoA that they were negligent. SoA is still refusing to fix it and wants to charge us $6000 to replace our damaged engine. My primary complaint is the fact that SoA can't just accept that occasionally things go wrong during assembly and fix the problem. Common sense tells you this can, and will happen and it will be forgiven when it's remedied in a reasonable amount of time.

I only wish I could be compensated for all of the upsetting moments I have endured paying for a car I can't drive! By the way, when my credit cards got maxed on rental car fees, I started sharing my son's 1984 Dodge Aries, which happens to be in perfect running condition. It is amazing that it has run this long with our supposed inability to perform proper maintenance. To that point; my husband is a federally licensed aircraft mechanic. He knows maintenance procedures, practices, and follows rigid guidelines. Our Honda has 220,000 miles and hasn't given us any trouble.

Our '73 Mazda RX-3 had 240K when it was stolen or we'd still be driving it. Our '83 Olds had 280K on it before we sent it south (old diesels and MN winters don't mix). Moral of the story: don't buy a Subaru. I know we never will again. Love the car - hate the company! Another point; in every piece of correspondence from Subaru, they have not once addressed the bearing failure. They talk about the scoring on the top end (oil filter in by-pass allowed debris to mark valve train journals) or the color of receipts, but never about what really failed or the oil analysis results which show we used good quality oil! Are they avoiding the issue and hoping it goes away? If we all stop buying Subaru, maybe they'll go away.

7/9/2010 - dropped off my car at Subaru, got loaner; sent in for 2 recalls and engine failure.

7/9/2010 3:20 pm - something definitely wrong. Subaru tech support wants a valve and compression test done on the engine, (intake and out take) will have results Monday afternoon. Subaru rep may need to come out and see it. Manch. Subaru did state that it is not a problem with the a/c system. (keep loaner for now). Was told to "enjoy my weekend, you will probably not hear from me until Monday," per April.

7/12/2010 - No call from Subaru. Called at 5pm. Compression test done, no negative results, but aware that something is going on. May need a software update. Spoke to April, waiting for answer from Subaru of America. Said and I quote "I haven't had time to call you. Everyone is ughh because of the heat."

7/13/2010 - Received a message from Manch. Subaru Customer Service Rep that stated still waiting to hear from Subaru of America. Stated it did the valve test (which they stated was done on Monday). No answer to the problem.

7/14/2010 Spoke with April at approx 5:20pm. (Customer service rep at Subaru of Manch) Still has not received any response from Subaru Tech Support, regarding the problem with my car. She said that she feels there will not be a quick fix to this problem. There is something wrong with my car. It cannot be corrected until Subaru identifies what is wrong, rewrite the software to correct it and then fix my car. I asked if I should contact Subaru of America. She said that I need to wait as to what I need to do and calling them may be what I have to do. She asked to give her a few more days to see if Subaru Tech Support returns their calls. (additional notes on phone)

7/16/2010 at approx 9:00 am I received a call from April of Manchester Subaru. I was told that "we received an e-mail from Subaru of America stating that they are aware of a problem and working on a fix, however, it may take up to two more weeks. I can keep the loaner, April still unaware of what the problem could be. Simply saying it is probably just a software update. I asked for a copy of the e-mail that they received. A copy of the email was faxed to Brian *** at work. The SR number on the email did not match my case rather it was another customers case number!

Friday, 7/16 approx. 11:37 - Spoke to Grant at SOA customer service. Initiated a complaint on my vehicle. Was told by the rep, "Wow, I have never heard this before." He suggested I bring my car to the dealership. My car had been at the dealership for 7 days already! He stated that he would investigate the situation with the dealer. I asked for a senior rep. and he said I would receive a call within 24-48 hrs (not including the weekend).

Monday, 7/19 at approx 2:55 pm - I called SOA again (had received no response) spoke to a rep named Meghan who stated that my case had been turned over to Karen ***. She said she would connect me. Moments later, Meghan returned on the line and said that she had just spoken to Karen and to let me know that a "fix" had been found over the weekend and the dealerships should have the information.

Monday, 7/19 at approx 3:05 pm - I called Manchester Subaru. I spoke with April who said that they had received an email from SOA stating that a software update had been made available but my car had not been checked yet to see if the update would work. I told her that I had reached my limit and asked to speak to the Owner . She suggested I speak with Jeff, service manager. She stated he was in a meeting but I could leave a message. Left vm for Jeff expressing my concerns and frustrations that my car was "unsafe" and that my level of trust with Subaru was broken. I expressed my deep concern for the safety and reliability of the manual transmission.

Jeff returned my call and we spoke about the situation. He was very understanding and shared my concerns. He stated that he had already emailed SOA about my concerns and he was awaiting a response. He mentioned that SOA would probably offer me a 6 year, 100,000 mile gold warranty for free on my car. I told him that although I appreciated this gesture I "do not feel safe in may car." He stated that another customer had been offered an automatic transmission upgrade (however, the customer did not want an automatic) and SOA would not give another manual transmission. I told him that I would appreciate him emailing SOA to see about putting me in an automatic. He stated he would perform the "update" and take my car home for the night to get in a road test to see if the problem had been corrected. He said he would contact me when he heard back from SOA on Tuesday.

Tuesday, 7/20 12:37pm - Jeff called and left a message on my cell to call him. At approx 12:49pm I returned the call to Jeff. He was abrupt and quick. He stated that my car was ready to be picked up and that SOA was not going to offer me the automatic transmission since a software update had been given. He stated that he test drove it for approx 8-9 miles and it seemed to run great. I expressed to him my discontent and stated that I could not trust that the safety issue had been remedied to my satisfaction and that I needed some answers. I stated I was going to call SOA directly.

Tuesday, 7/20 1:15 pm - Placed a call to SOA, spoke to Crystal and asked to speak with Karen ***. who was handling my case. She said that she was currently unavailable but was in the office. She sent me to VM. The VM stated that she was out of the office for the day. I left a message with my contact information. I called SOA again, this time getting another rep., Desiree, I told her that I was trying to reach Karen and asked if there was anyone covering for her in her absence. She stated that Bil" was handling her customers but that he was out to lunch until 2pm.

At this time I did not have my case number available but I did have the in-house service number on the email from Manch. Subaru. She stated that the numbers were linked (one in the same). When she pulled up the number, she began to confirm my contact information, phone # ***. I said that I have never had a 978 number. She was surprised the info was wrong and then realized it did not pertain to my case. She looked me up by name and found my info. (red flag) She said she would have Bill contact me.

Tuesday, 7/20 at approx 2:36 pm (call length approx. 17min and 16 seconds) - I received a call from a woman named Judy. Right from the start, she was curt, short, angry and abrupt! She began to tell me that she was "filling in" for Karen and that she was aware of my case. She talked continuously, interrupting me at every junction, for approx the first 5 minutes of our conversation. I tried to voice my sincere concerns about the safety of their product. I wanted reassurance from SOA that the safety issue had been 100% fixed. She said she could not say that. She said my car was ready to be picked up, "You are not getting another car!" She then began to say that she had been working for SOA for over 20 years, that she had owned many Subaru's in her lifetime and that she knew more about Subaru's than I ever would. The disrespect was alarming and unprofessional.

I tried to share with her that I was not going to put my life or the life of another human being at risk. Again, she berated me and belittled me. She tried to compare a "door jam" recall in 1992 to my "sudden engine shut off while driving." She stated SOA would give me a 6 year, 100,000 mile warranty. I asked if she was willing to give me that, it gave the impression that my car was not fixed or that they were aware there could be greater problems down the road. She said "It is a good will gesture. Take it or leave. I can send you a check if you don't want the extra warranty."

I shared with her my information that SOA had set a precedent by offering some customers an upgrade to an automatic transmission free of charge. She said we have done no such thing. I then stated that I had contact information to prove otherwise. She then stated that things are decided on a "case by case basis" and that my case was not the same. I attempted to share with her my information that in fact the cases were extremely similar. She refuted again and then I stated that I had been made aware by the Service Manager at Manch Subaru that a "few" customers had been given the option of an automatic upgrade.

One customer chose not to accept because they wanted to stay with a manual car. She was rude and abrasive by this point, raising her voice. I expressed that although I appreciated her point of view and time, I wanted to speak to someone above her. She went on a rant! She said that I was "wasting my time" and that everyone else would tell me the same thing. "We are not giving you another car!" I said that I appreciated her concern for my time but that I wanted to speak to her superior. She proceeded to express my waste of time and that no one else was familiar with my case and that now she would have to go over everything with someone else and that the end result would be the same. I again requested her superior. At this point, she stated a name Shirley *** and said that she didn't know when she would be able to call me. I began to say, "Thank you for your..." and she hung up on me.

Tuesday, 7/20 at approx. 2:59 pm - I received a phone call from Jeff the SM at Manch Subaru. He was very upset and stated that he had just received a call form some woman at SOA and that I had stated that he had told me "Subaru had upgraded several people to automatic transmissions free of charge in Manchester. " I relayed to him my conversation with Judy and had made it very clear about the separation of what SOA was doing and what his customer had been offered." We continued to have a good conversation, he apologized for what I had to go through and that no one should ever be treated like that. He said it was not acceptable what she did and suggested I write a letter directly to SOA to file a complaint. He then went though the car issue with me stating that Subaru had known about this issue for probably several months and that stringent testing had to have occurred prior to them releasing an update.

He said that normally some of the initial cars are bought back and that road testing (1000's of miles of road testing) is done to ensure the safety of the vehicle. He stated in fact the government had to approved it because this update "effected the emissions of the car" and stated that there were strict federal and state guidelines that had to be followed. I thanked him and expressed that all I really ever wanted was to be walked through the process and assured that I was going to be safe behind the wheel of my car after this fix. I expressed that because the trust was broken it was hard to just put blind trust back into their product that had failed me. He offered to take a test drive with me when I picked up the car Wednesday morning. The call lasted approx 20 minutes and 23 seconds.

Wednesday, 7/21 at approx 10:40 am - I returned the loaner car to Subaru to pick up my car. I spoke with Apryl and told her Jeff had offered to take a test drive with me. I started the car and did what I normally do upon start-up. I turned on the ac. I proceeded to back out of the space when the car sputtered, almost stalled, dropped in RPM's then suddenly rose. I looked at Jeff and said "this car is obviously not fixed! " It was obvious he didn't know what to say. I decided to take a "test drive" to see what occurred. On two other occasions during the 5 mile test drive the car did the same thing...almost stalling out, dropping in RPMS's stuttering and then raising the RPM's....(the clutch was FULLY engaged) it was NOT driver error!

At this point, I broke down, I didn't know what else to say or do. I was in shock. Jeff spoke very little during the test drive. When we returned to the lot I just said "I am not safe in this car, something is still fundamentally wrong and I will not take it back. " He said that although he noticed the RPM's drop and felt the stuttering, he thought that might just be "normal" for the new legacy. He began explaining that the new car had a bad design and that what I was probably hearing was the engine mounts rattle. I wasn't hearing things, I was feeling them!

The car was stalling out! I said I did not want to argue with him. I was at a loss and got very emotional. He mentioned other manual cars that he had owned that did similar things, I stated that I had never had a car that did anything remotely close to this. I asked him if there was a technical service bulletin sent out on this issue and he stuttered and then said "Yeah, I think so." Then I asked him if there would be a recall to this dangerous safety issue and he said "I don't think so."

I then asked him if he thought it was all manual transmissions that were effected. He said "no, I think it is only a very few and yours is one of them. " (an admittance of a problem? ) We went into the service area, I told him I was going to call SOA right there. I called and while holding he came back and said, "I just spoke to my rep, Karen is out but I expressed to this rep that you had 'lost all confidence in our product' and that you do not feel safe in this car." He continued and said that the rep said he would speak with Karen about getting me into another car. He also stated that Todd, the owner was at a Subaru convention (I piped in and said "lucky him.") Jeff laughed and said, "I am sure they are talking about this problem." He said that hopefully by Monday they could work this all out and that Todd would sit down with me regarding the money side of the transfer to an automatic.

He then said the rep said go ahead and take your car until then while they worked it all out. I refused. I stated again that my car was not safe to drive! He said okay. I asked if I could keep the loaner and he said that SOA would not allow me too. I said "Okay, I will get a ride home." At this point I was very distraught. He offered their shuttle service. I said okay and sat down. A few moments later he came out and said, "I am probably going to get in a lot of trouble for this but that's okay, I am going to go over Subaru of America's head and I am going to let you keep the loaner."

I thanked him and offered to write a letter on his behalf. He said don't worry about it but restated the above. I thanked him. When the loaner was ready (needed an oil change), I went to the desk to ask April for my keys so I could get some things out of my car. Jeff piped in from the back and said "I torched it!" I laughed and said, "Well at least now I can collect the insurance money." I was told I would hear from them when they knew more. He wanted to be sure that I didn't lose confidence in Subaru of Manchester. They said, "Don't worry, we will get this all figured out."

Gee, why wasn't that part of Subaru's advertising campaign. Where was the recall for the defective head gasket? We bought our Subaru because we believed the hype about quality. Nothing about this car has been quality. The clock doesn't even work.If Subaru's are notorious for defective head gaskets, doesn't Subaru have a fiduciary responsibility to recall and fix the problem.

I want to reimburse the $1,461.82 this service repair cost me. I want a guarantee that this repair will last for 250,000 miles. I want my clock fixed. I want the quality that Subaru advertises not the hype.

They made a poor quality vehicle, and they should be held responsible, not the consumer who spends hard earned money in this weak economy. I've also read forums online where others are experiencing much rust and their vehicle is not even 8 months old. Looks like Subaru is mass producing inferior metal or untreated metal which makes it unsafe.

After doing much research, I discovered thousands of complaints directly to Subaru of America regarding this model year WRX. Subaru changed their design in 2003 to address this issue but never recalled the 2002 WRX. Subaru knowingly ignored their service centers and thousands of consumers who have/are experiencing this particular problem. This, in my opinion, is a fraudulent trade practice.

This information was based on research, he did with another Subaru dealership. When I contacted Manchester Subaru, (Jeff B. ) he told me the warrant had run out and it was my problem. The repair was done on December 28th 2009 and it is now January 29th 2010. How can this be when it was a recall? I am very disappointed in the response and lack of commitment from this dealership. I'm concerned for the safety of myself and my family. The cost associated with the repair as well as the impact this will have because I don't want to drive the car in this condition.

So my first thought was "How can a Subaru dealership selling an expensive product like extended an warranty have no responsibility to the customer. The service manager suggested I contact Subaru myself and see if they would do something for me as the car is only 170 miles past the 60k mile factory warranty. I waited until 1-5-10 (almost 4 weeks) to find out they will pay for 50%, which would have been something had I not been paying for a rental car for the three weeks while I was waiting for someone to make a decision.

Since then, I have been waiting for Brown Subaru to actually make the repair. It was five weeks ago today that my car was delivered to them. I was supposed to get the car back today but was informed that they were waiting on some very small parts and it will be likely to be next week now. So assuming it is ready next week it will be over six weeks I have been paying for a rental car and I have spent literally tens of hours on the phone to Subaru of America and Brown Subaru and it is quite obvious there is no intention of even trying to provide any type of customer service.

I got a verbal quote for the time this job should take from Mark H. himself. It should take 1-1.5 days. I am looking at at least six weeks for them to perform 1.5 days work. I have made records of all the calls I made but this letter was long enough already. Rental car bill in the region of $1500 purchase of extended warranty $1600 that isn't worth the paper it's written on.

My 2003 Outback began to suffer from poor idle. The check engine light went on. I live about 150 km. from the nearest Subaru dealer and repair options where I live are not familiar with Subaru. Still, they tried to help me and since OBDII diagnostics are supposed to be somewhat universal, they read the codes and determined my engine was misfiring. After changing plugs and wires, we still were not back to proper operation. I should note the vehicle is approaching 180k km. This brings me past emissions warranty and up to the point where the service interval for the timing belt is recommended.

Since the local service shop was unable to isolate the problem, I chose to take the vehicle to the closest dealer for repairs. They quickly noted that the catalytic converter was becoming red hot when the vehicle was idling for an extended time. Their diagnosis was to replace the catalytic converter because it was "plugged" and replace the timing belt as the service interval was due, estimated cost, $5000! The cost for the catalytic converter alone was $2000. This borders on robbery. I elected to not repair the car at this point. The charge for diagnosis was quite reasonable at $150, but I would expect some expertise for that sort of rate. I did not receive the expected results.

I have at least a working understanding of vehicles and emission systems and this vehicle performed quite well at highway speeds. A plugged catalytic converter would demonstrate a significant power loss and the fact it turned red is an indication that it is actually working to burn up the unused fuel at idle. Notwithstanding, the fact it has been overheated is good cause for replacement, but proper diagnosis of the idle problem would be mandatory before such an expensive component is replaced. Incidentally, aftermarket converters can be had for less than $500; however, the dealer claims they will not accept the O2 sensors and engine codes will result.

I purchased one and this proves to be hogwash! As to the timing belt, well, the cam and crank position sensors would generate codes should this be the problem and no such codes were generated. Repair efforts are continuing at my local shop, but answers are hard to come by. The current theory is that the fuel injectors may be leaking, causing an over rich idle condition.

As of this writing, I have not had the use of my Subaru for 2 months. The Subaru is a car that retains its value quite well and I paid a premium price for it. Unfortunately, with this problem, my car is virtually worthless and I continue to make payments and insure a vehicle I cannot drive. I'll make headway eventually, no thanks to Subaru and I do have another vehicle which gets me by. Notwithstanding my previous satisfaction with the brand, I will not purchase another due to the service issues.

They told me that the car needed new sway bar link bushings. I brought the car in to have those replaced and then told them that they really need to look at the rattling the car is making. They got back to me to tell me that I needed to have the entire exhaust manifold replaced because of a faulty weld during assembly. So, I in just a few months have had my car in for what I think are two major items and today, picked my car up from the manifold replacement just to drive away with a noise that was much worse than the first one.

I called immediately to tell them about it, but was directed to voicemail after no one would pick up in service. So, here I am completely at a loss. I purchased a new car so that I would not have any car troubles because I just started a new career and I am too busy to bring a car in for repairs. The car needs to be fixed or they need to replace the vehicle with another brand new one or give me the money back and I will go out and purchase something else.

One person said it was because I was dumping the clutch in second. Anyways, I went down there. I got my personal stuff and my other stuff off and the damn service manager was threatening to call the cops saying we need to leave and we can't touch our car. Long story short, my dad and I are letting the car go back due to the $4,500 bill they wanted. I hope Subaru fix this problem soon. No one should have this happen. I say do not buy a Subaru.

Dunning Subaru, the Ann Arbor dealership, took a quick look at the car the next day and determined that there was a serious issue, but needed more time to determine the exact problem. We left the car with them over Christmas and New Year. They diagnosed the problem as a broken rod bearing, which requires an entirely new engine (short block). Fortunately, this is covered by our warranty and the engine is currently in the process of being replaced. The Subaru manufacturer was helpful during this process and has helped supplement our warranty to fund a rental car during this ordeal, which allowed us to return home for the holidays. Grand Subaru, specifically Ryan **, has been absolutely unhelpful, unconcerned, difficult (I had to argue with him to get the check for our trade-in) and generally rude.

This was a pattern for the next several weeks. Check engine light would come on, nothing was found, several suggestions were made on changing the oil used and even the type of gas, once again check engine light reset, car released with ok status.

On Sept 02, 2008 car was once again taken to dealer, this time, engine was dismantled and some severe damage was found regarding the car's pistons. Damages were blamed on my husband due to an investigation conducted by Subaru of America and Subaru of Orlando. Warranty refused to pay for any repairs.

We are looking at $4000 worth of repairs and we still have the car on a loan of $32000, also with a monthly premium of $691.

Economical daage was me two weeks without a vehicle and $1,600.00 and a tow truck. I have had to borrow a company vehicle when this problem should have been corrected under warranty 2 years ago. I had to sell personal property to pay for this repair it was a financial hardship.

It has cost us $114 plus if we replace the radio another $650. They do not have an answer as to why the car will not start and we will have to pay for more testing if it happens again.

While I understand that wheel bearings do need to be replaced, I've gone through 4 bearings, but the left rear seems to be the most problematic. I've never had to replace the rear rt. or the front left bearings throughout the course of my ownership of the vehicle.

Rear Left Bearing @ 216,426 mi.

The auto shop was more than happy to try to sell me a new car, thanks guys, but I will never own a Subaru again.

My cost was $20/day for overage in rental car coverage. 2. Power steering failure at appx. 20k miles. I paid for the belt only and the car rental. 3.Manual transmission repair to the clutch, pressure plate,flywheel,etc. at 61,000 miles. I believe the failure may have been due to the earlier major repair to the engine/drivetrain work. The clutch was not worn due to usage, however the pressure plate was fractured resulting in a more significant casing repiar of the transmission. I paid for 50% of the repair totaling $3,400 and appx $650 in rental charges. 4. Battery dead next morning after pick-up from Ramsey Subaru which performed the transmission work.

My cost $75 for a battery and $35 for a rental car. 5. Check engine light appx. 2 days later. 6. Same day, a few hours later, check engine light again. Brought the car back again and found the fuel sensor was sticking which caused the fault. No charge to me. 7. Transmission failure again. Car will not move, needs to be towed. Of course this event took place around 6pm when no rental cars are available. Had a friend drive 1.5 hrs. to pick me up and drive me home 1.5hrs. away.

Taking a ride with my brother one day, he mentioned to me that i should have it checked by a subaru service station anyway. I proceeded to do so. Got by the service station made an appointment to return at a later date. While i was there i even had one of the service reps do a short road test with me driving the car and him listening to the noise coming from the transmission.

On my way back home taking off from one of the few last lights in my route the trans totally broke. Called roadside assistance they came and towed it to Gregors motors. This was the close to where i live. However my car my car was there for about four days before they finally did the tear down on my car. I was told that the service manager had to take a look at the car before i was able to get a loaner car.

So the manager had a look at the transmission and decided that a subaru factory Rep had to come down to give the final say(10/05/07). I was then told that the Factory rep would be there on Monday of the following week. The Factory rep got there on thursday the 11th. At that point in time i was then told that from his observation it was ruled as abuse from the customer. So then in turn the repair was denied by subaru as apart of the warranty.

Currently my car has no modifications giving it more power. All i have done to the car is install two electronic guages. One for oil presure and the other for boost presure. I really like my car and i dont ever think i would abuse it. I only have it now for about 6 months now and im faced with this situation.

T

They refuse to do anything to the car until the bankruptcy claim is settled. They also have refused to honor the warranty because of lack of records, which I have compliant with the contract. Additionally they claim that the warranty may not cover the parts that I need repaired when the sales person specifically stated that it did. This is not an isolated incident. I personally know at least four other people who have had poor experiences with this dealership including bait and switch tactics, refusal to honor warranty claims, refusal to acknowledge the lemon law and making unnecessary repairs.

I

My guess is that is so many people are having a problem with this 5 speed transmission, they should do something about it. I heard that 6 speed transmisiions are the way to go, I believe that when you spend so much money for a High Performance car you should be able to get just that , A HIGH PERFORMANCE CAR, not with a little crappy transmission that can even hold the stock HP that this car has. Well thank you for letting me post this linesand I hope that Subaru one day stand up and fix this problem for all of us that have a 5 peed transmissions.

If it is a problem that has been found and addressed in the later models, one would think that Subaru would stand behind the design defect and honor the warranty claims of indiviuals such as myself who have made a couple of minor engine mods that have NOTHING to do with the way the car shifts into first gear. My 40hp increase didn't make the car want to shift into first when it shouldn't, that was purely human error on my part. A fact that was verbally confirmed by Buzz Kelly, the service manager at Huffine's.

He agreed with me that my minor h.p. change had nothing to do with the synchro going out. It was, and still is, instinct on my part to be able to get into first gear when rolling to a stop and the light changes to green for example. All it does is grind until a slower speed is reached; complete stop now. Being a turbocharged car, it virtually stands still when trying to take off from second at anything less than 20 m.p.h. or so. That is a conceivable traffic hazard. For that reason alone, they should have put more thought into the design. But they didn't and here I am with a denied warranty claim.

I took the car in to Huffine's Subaru on Thursday March 6, 2003 and was denied a warranty claim the same day. I went through channels at the advice of Buzz Kelly (Subaru of America) and decided to leave the car for another day so the district manager for S.O.A. could have a look at it. After repeated phone calls on my part Friday the 7th and leaving several messages, I was informed that the denial stood and that the district manager had been involved from the beginning. To their credit, Huffine's didn't charge me a second day of rental car fee knowing that it was their fault for not informing me that going through channels would be a waste of time, due to the fact that the d.m. had already been involved in the decision (that's the reason for going through channels, by the way, to get the d.m. involved.)

I have been online and read many articles and it is pretty well established that the first generation tranny is poorly designed and definitely ill-suited for a turbocharged car. Sure, it can handle the power, in fact, the gears have been claimed to be able to withstand up to 350 h.p. But power is not the issue here. The issue is that S.O.A. is doing whatever they can to get out of standing behind a poorly designed transmission and consumers such as myself get the raw end of the deal.

Many other people are having transmission problems and Subaru has even reworked the transmission for 2003, but they are not taking care of this problem with their customers. This is really taking advantage of customers who buy a performance car that doesn't perform and if you tear something up the answer is it's abuse and they won't fix their poor design and quality problems.

I had to buy a transmission for $2000 and have it installed, of coarse I did not use the dealership who charged me $500 to just remove the original transmission. My car was sitting for 2 months while I took care of this. Again many people have this same problem and Subaru is refusing to admit there is a problem and the people have to fix it themselves. Th total cost to me was Nearly $3000 but this was much cheaper than the $4500 dealer quoted price.

Apart from a great deal of wasted time and mileage traveling to the dealer, the consequence is that I cannot driver my car without blasting the stereo. Otherwise I will become furious over all the noise, rattling, and cheaply constructed parts.