Subaru Reviews

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.

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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.