2005 SUBARU LEGACY Complaints

HEAVY RAW GAS ODOR INSIDE VEHICLE WHEN OUTDOOR TEMPERATURES AT UNDER ~40 DEGREES. *TR

TURBO FAILURE WITH NO WARNING. DRASTIC LOSS OF POWER IMMEDIATELY UPON FAILURE. TEMPERATURE GAUGE READ NORMAL. NO INDICATING/WARNING LIGHTS SHOWED UP. *TR

AT 74,000 MILES THE TURBO BLEW IN MY 2005 SUBARU LEGACY TURBO WAGON. UPON REQUEST OF THE COMPANY I HANDED IN AS MANY MAINTENANCE RECORDS AS I COULD FIND. THE COMPANY REPAIRED THE TURBO, SPLITTING THE COST WITH ME, 50/50 ($900 EACH). THEY FAILED TO CHANGE THE OIL, AS I ASKED THEM TO DO, AND TO FIX WHATEVER THEY HAD TO FIX TO MAKE THE CAR RIGHT AGAIN. ONCE REPAIRED, AFTER DRIVING MY CAR ABOUT 15 MILES, THE TURBO BLEW AGAIN. AFTER ADMITTING THEY DIDN'T CHANGE THE OIL, THE DEALER REPAIRED THE TURBO AGAIN, UNDER WARRANTY THIS TIME, WITH THE EXCEPTION OF THE 2 OIL CHANGES THEY CHARGED ME. WHEN I FINALLY WENT TO PICK UP THE CAR AND I WAS UNABLE TO DRIVE THE CAR, AS THERE WAS OBVIOUSLY SOMETHING WRONG WITH THE MOTOR. THE ENGINE WAS MAKING A LOUD NOISE AND THE CAR WAS SHAKING. THEY FAILED TO TELL ME THE CAR WAS STILL BROKEN, OR THAT THERE WAS A NEW PROBLEM WITH THE ENGINE. NOW THEY TELL ME THE MOTOR NEEDS TO BE REPLACED, TO THE COST OF $4,800.00. THEY ARE WILLING TO PAY FOR THE PARTS, $3,000.00, AND WANT TO CHARGE ME FOR THE LABOR, $1,800.00. I FEEL LIKE I'VE BEEN LIED TO, CHEATED AND THE INTEGRITY OF MY CAR HAS BEEN COMPROMISED. I DON'T FEEL SATISFIED WITH THE QUALITY OF SERVICE AND SECURITY OF THIS VEHICLE SINCE IT'S BEEN IN THE HANDS OF THE RAMSEY SUBARU, SINCE DECEMBER 23, 2008. *TR

I EXPERIENCED WHAT THE SUBARU DISCUSSION BOARD (HTTP://WWW.SUBARUOUTBACK.ORG/FORUMS/SHOWTHREAD.PHP?S=A9A8871BA327828F596FE591382D9906&THREADID=11267&PERPAGE=20&HIGHLIGHT=INSTABILITY&PAGENUMBER=1) IS CALLING 'GHOST WALKING'. I WAS DRIVING HOME FROM UPSTATE NY TO WELLESLEY, MA DURING A SNOW STORM LAST WINTER. THE ROAD WAS SNOW AND ICE (OR SNOW PACKED) COVERED. I HAVE BEEN DRIVING SUBARUS FOR 30YRS, MANY TIMES TO UPSTATE VT SO I KNOW HOW TO DRIVE IN SNOW. BUT THAT NIGHT I NEVER FELT IN CONTROL OF THE REAR OF THE CAR IT ALWAYS SEEMED TO BE SLIPPING ONE WAY OR THE OTHER. OTHER CARS WERE PASSING ME - IT DIDN'T MATTER WHICH LANE I DROVE IN, OR WHAT SPEED I WAS GOING - SLOWING DOWN JUST MADE THINGS WORSE AS CARS WOULD WIND UP BEHIND ME, IT WAS JUST COMPLETELY NERVE-RACKING. IT DIDN'T MATTER HOW I MANAGED MY SPEED, MY SUBARU IS A 2005 LEGACY AUTOMATIC - SO I HAD LESS CONTROL OVER THE GEAR SHIFTING THAN A MANUAL - ALTHOUGH I TRIED USING THE SEMI-MANUAL MODE - BUT THAT DIDN'T HELP. IT JUST SEEMED THAT THE REAR END HAD THIS TENDENCY TO SLIDE - IT SEEMED TO ALWAYS BE ON THE EDGE OF SPINNING OUT - I NURSED THE CAR ALONG (WITH MY WIFE AND 2 KIDS) UNTIL WE GOT FURTHER INTO MA AND THE WEATHER IMPROVED. THIS ONLY HAPPENED ONCE, I HAD THE ORIG TIRES (CAR HAD ~35K MILES) WHICH ARE NOT CONSIDERED GREAT SNOW TIRES - SO I HAVE REPLACED THE TIRES. BUT THE FORUM HAD MANY POSTS WHICH IMPLY THAT THE PROBLEM IS NOT TIRES - MAYBE SOMETHING TO DO WITH SWAY BARS AND THAT SUBARU HAD CHANGED THEIR HARDWARE ON THE 2005 MODELS. I FELT THAT I SHOULD ADD MY CONCERNS SO THAT MAYBE THIS PROBLEM WOULD BE LOOKED INTO MORE SCIENTIFICALLY. AND IF THERE ARE POTENTIAL ISSUES THAT SUBARU WOULD HAVE TO PROVIDE SOME TYPE OF REMEDY TO ITS CUSTOMERS. *TR UPDATED *JS 07/10/2012

RAW FUEL SMELL COMING INTO CABIN IN UNDER FREEZING TEMPERATURES. MAKES ME SICK TO MY STOMACH AND MY EYES WATER. I HAVE TO OPEN ALL THE WINDOWS IN A SNOWSTORM!! *TR

THE HEATED SEAT ELEMENT ON THE BUTT PORTION OF THE SEAT IN MY 2005 SUBARU LEGACY GT HAS FAILED DUE TO ARCING OF THE WIRES. *TR

I HAVE 2005 SUBARU LEGACY 2.5I, BASE MODEL. FIRST THE RATTLING NOISE BY THE DRIVER SIDE DASH BOARD AND THE CRUISE CONTROL FAILED, WHICH IT IS ALREADY ON RECALL STATUS (CRUISE CONTROL ONLY). NOW, THE CLUTCH IS FAILING BY ENGINE CUTTING OFF IN THE MIDDLE OF DRIVING WHEN THE CLUTCH IS ENGAGED-- I MEAN WHILE DRIVING OVER 60 MILES. I CONSIDER IT IS LIFE THREATENING SITUATION WHERE THE CAR MANUFACTURE SHOULD LOOK INTO IT. *TR

THE LETTER I SENT TO SUBARU OF AMERICA (EDITED): I AM THE OWNER OF A 2005 LEGACY GT. ON AUGUST 5TH, 2008 MY FAMILY AND I WERE HEADED TO BOISE, IDAHO FROM BEND, OREGON. ABOUT AN HOUR AND A HALF FROM HOME I NOTICED THAT THE ENGINE WAS REVVING ABNORMALLY HIGH TO MAINTAIN SPEED. I CALLED THE SHOP BACK IN BEND (THOMAS SALES AND SERVICE) AND THEY RECOMMENDED THAT I HAVE THE CAR TOWED BACK TO THEM. WHEN WE ARRIVED BACK IN BEND THE TECH AT THE DEALER INSPECTED THE CAR AND DETERMINED THAT IT WAS A TURBO ISSUE, AS I HAD SUSPECTED. THE SERVICE MANAGER AT THE DEALER WHO INFORMED ME THE ISSUE WOULD BE COVERED UNDER WARRANTY. PARTS WERE ORDERED AND SERVICE WAS SCHEDULED. SEVERAL DAYS LATER I WAS CONTACTED AGAIN BY THE SERVICE MANAGER WHO INFORMED ME THAT SINCE MY CAR WAS AT 74K MILES (BUT STILL INSIDE THE 5 YEAR WARRANTY PERIOD) IT WOULD NOT BE COVERED AND THAT THE REPAIR COSTS WOULD BE RIGHT AROUND $2000. NATURALLY I WAS UPSET WITH THIS NEWS. I AM A MEMBER OF THE WEBSITE LEGACYGT.COM AND STARTED LOOKING AROUND FOR INFORMATION REGARDING MY PROBLEM AND FOUND A SERVICE BULLETIN REGARDING THE BANJO BOLT SCREEN IN THE TURBO GETTING CLOGGED. AT NO TIME WAS I EVER CONTACTED BY SUBARU OR MY DEALER REGARDING THIS POTENTIAL PROBLEM OR I WOULD HAVE HAD IT CHECKED OUT. I AM ALSO A MEMBER OF MYSUBARU.COM AND WAS NOT INFORMED THERE EITHER. I HAVE HAD REGULAR OIL CHANGES PERFORMED AND HAVE PERFORMED SEVERAL MYSELF (I HAVE NO RECORD OF THIS IN THE FORM OF RECEIPTS, SEE ATTACHED COPIES) AND THE NIGHT BEFORE WE LEFT FOR BOISE I CHECKED ALL THE FLUIDS AND THE AIR PRESSURE IN THE TIRES AND FOUND EVERYTHING WAS GOOD. I WAS PLANNING ON HAVING THE OIL CHANGED AGAIN IN BOISE. I HAVE ALWAYS USED HIGH QUALITY SYNTHETIC OIL SINCE AFTER THE FIRST COUPLE OF CHANGES. WHAT IS REALLY TROUBLING IS THAT AT NO TIME DID I EVER GET A WARNING FROM A CHECK ENGINE LIGHT OR ERROR CODE, YET I SEEMED TO HAVE HAD A CATASTROPHIC FAILURE. *TR

TRANSMISSION POPPED OUT OF GEAR NUMBER FIVE ON HIGHWAY AND STRIPPED THE TEETH OFF THE GEAR. HAD TO GET THE TRANSMISSION REBUILT NOW 4TH GEAR IS GRINDING. *TR

AT 48,000 MILES THE TURBO BLEW. THE CAR HAS HAD REGULAR OIL CHANGES AND NOW WE ARE BEING REQUIRED BY SUBARU OF AMERICA TO PROVIDE RECEIPTS FOR THE OIL FILTER/OIL AS WE DID OUR OWN OIL CHANGES AND MAYBE IT WILL BE COVERED UNDER THE POWERTRAIN WARRANTY. WE WERE NEVER INFORMED OF THE BANJO BOLT AND THE NEED TO CLEAN THE SCREEN TO PREVENT OIL STARVATION (SEE SUBARU TECHNICAL BULLETIN 02-103-07) THIS PROCESS HAS TAKEN A MONTH ALREADY AND THE CAR STILL SITS, DEAD, IN THE SUBARU SERVICE DEPT. UPON INVESTIGATION THERE ARE OTHER LEGACY GT OWNERS WITH THE SAME PROBLEM. SUBARU DID NOT USE THESE SAME TURBOS (VF40) IN THE 2006 MODELS. MAYBE THEY REALIZE THERE IS A MAJOR PROBLEM WITH THE 2005'S? *TR