2009 SUBARU LEGACY Complaints

I HAD THE DEALERSHIP INSTALL A SUBARU REMOTE STARTER FOR MY 2009 SUBARU LEGACY. ABOUT A YEAR LATER I STARTED HAVING ISSUES WITH HAVING THE AIR BAG LIGHT COME ON WHEN I STARTED THE CAR AND STAY ON (WITH REMOTE STARTER, OR THE NORMAL WAY). SOMETIMES IT WOULD RE-SET IF I TURNED THE CAR OFF AND ON AGAIN. BUT RECENTLY IT JUST STAYS ON AND THE INDICATOR LIGHTS ON THE OVER HEAD DISPLAY (FOR THE PASSENGER AIR BAG) DOES NOT LIGHT UP AT ALL . NOT SURE IF THE REMOTE STARTER WAS THE INSTIGATOR (PROBABLY NOT), BUT SUBARU HAD SAID THAT THE ISSUE IS A FAULTY SENSOR AND THAT I WOULD HAVE TO PAY TO FIX IT. I BELIEVE THIS SHOULD LAST THE LIFE OF THE CAR SINCE IT IS A SAFETY MATTER FOR THE AIR BAG SYSTEM, THIS SHOULD BE A RECALL. *TR

AFTER THE VEHICLE IS STARTED THE AIR BAG LIGHT STAYS ON WHILE DRIVING AND WILL SOMETIMES TURN ITSELF OFF WHEN THE CAR IS TURNED OFF WITH THE IGNITION KEY. THEN I RESTART THE CAR AND THE AIR BAG LIGHT GOES AWAY. THIS IS HAPPENING ONCE OR TWICE A WEEK. *TR

THE AIRBAG RED LIGHT ON THE DASHBOARD OF OUR SUBARU LEGACY 2009 COMES ON INTERMITTENTLY. FROM READING PERSONAL ACCOUNTS OF OTHER OWNERS ONLINE, THIS APPEARS TO BE A COMMON PROBLEM WITH THIS MODEL YEARS 2005-2009 AND HAS BEEN COMMONLY REPORTED TO BE EITHER A MALFUNCTIONING AIRBAG CONTROL MODULE OR A FAULTY LINE OR SENSOR IN THE DIVER'S SEAT. BOTH OF THESE RESULT IN A COSTLY REPAIR OF APPROXIMATELY $2,000. ALSO HAPPENED TO US, AND ANOTHER COMMON COMPLAINT BY OTHER OWNERS ONLINE WITH THESE MODELS, IS THE PASSENGER AIRBAG LIGHT AUTOMATICALLY TURNS ON OR OFF REGARDLESS OF WHETHER THE PASSENGER SEAT IS OCCUPIED. DESPITE THE ABUNDANCE OF PERSONAL ACCOUNTS ONLINE BY OWNERS, SUBARU HAS NOT ACKNOWLEDGED THIS PROBLEM AND DEALERSHIPS ARE ASKING OWNERS TO PAY FOR THIS FIX. PLEASE NOTE THAT OUR CAR FOR EXAMPLE HAS ONLY 41K MIES ON IT, AND OTHER REPORTS ALSO INDICATE THIS OCCURRING WITH RELATIVELY LOW MILES AND VEHICLE AGE. I HOPE THAT NHTSA WITH INVESTIGATE AND I LOOK FORWARD TO HEARING BACK ON THIS ISSUE. *JS

CAR HAS BEEN OWNED FOR 2.5 YEARS AND HAS BEEN DRIVING WELL. THERE HAVE NOT BEEN ANY CEL OR OTHER WARNING LIGHT PROBLEM INDICATIONS. CAR HAS HAD ROUTINE MAINTENANCE, RECALLS AND LAST SYNTHETIC OIL CHANGE WAS DONE AT VAN BORTEL SUBARU, VICTOR, NY ON 11/28/14 (67,433 MILES). ON 12/23/14 IN THE EVENING, FOLLOWING A 7 HOUR HIGHWAY TRIP, CAR ABRUPTLY DEVELOPED A LOUD ENGINE KNOCK WITH VIBRATIONS AND WAS CHOKING FOR GAS. ON 12/24/14, CAR WAS BROUGHT INTO MY LOCAL MECHANIC WHO DETERMINED THERE WAS A MAJOR INTERNAL ENGINE FAILURE AND THE CAR WAS INOPERABLE. VANBORTEL SUBARU SERVICE DEPT. WAS CONTACTED AND GAVE ME A QUOTE FOR A REBUILT SUBARU SHORT ENGINE BLOCK FOR $6,600. WITH ONLY A TWO YEAR WARRANTY. THEY ALSO SAID THE REPAIR WAS NOT COVERED UNDER WARRANTY SINCE IT HAD 68,000 MILES ON IT. NO " GOODWILL ASSISTANCE" FROM THE DEALERSHIP OR SOA WAS OFFERED EVEN THOUGH THEY HAVE SERVICED 7 OF MY FAMILY'S SUBARUS OVER THE PAST 10 YEARS. AND, THE '09 LEGACY HAS A HISTORY OF ENGINE PROBLEMS AS DOCUMENTED IN VARIOUS ONLINE OWNER FORUMS (EG. NASIOC) AND BY CONSUMER REPORTS WHO RATED THE '09 LEGACY AS BEING "WORSE THAN AVERAGE FOR MAJOR AND MINOR ENGINE PROBLEMS" I HAD THE SHORT BLOCK ENGINE SWAP PERFORMED BY MY INDEPENDENT MECHANIC AND ASKED HIM TO TEAR DOWN THE OLD ENGINE. HE REPORTED THAT: "THE # 1 CONNECTING ROD BEARING COMPLETELY FAILED AND WAS GRINDING INTO THE CRANKSHAFT. RESULTING IN ENGINE FAILURE." HE FURTHER NOTED THAT THE ENGINE OIL WAS FULL. I HAVE EXPRESSED MY CONCERNS TO VANBORTEL SUBARU AND SOA FOR THE DECLINE IN THEIR QUALITY, INTEGRITY, CUSTOMER SERVICES AND INCREASED POTENTIAL FOR A SERIOUS ACCIDENT, INJURY OR BEING STRANDED ON A HIGHWAY WITHOUT ANY PRIOR SYMPTOMS OR WARNINGS. *TR

MY AIRBAG WARNING LIGHT HAS PERIODICALLY GONE OFF & ON OVER THE LAST 2 YEARS. I CURRENTLY HAVE LESS THAN 45,000 MILES ON IT. OF COURSE THE DAY I HAD AN APPOINTMENT WITH SUBARU, THE LIGHT WOULD NOT APPEAR. HOPING AIRBAG WILL WORK IF EVER IN AN ACCIDENT. *TR

TWO WEEKS BEFORE THIS INCIDENT, THE VEHICLE'S OIL WAS CHANGED. THEN, ON SATURDAY, JULY 5, 2014, I WAS TRAVELING ON THE I-465N ONRAMP FROM I-70E IN INDIANAPOLIS AND UPON ACCELERATING EXPERIENCED ENGINE POWER LOSS AND A LOUD KNOCKING SOUND WHEN THE ENGINE RPMS EXCEED 2,500. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO DREYER & REINBOLD IN GREENWOOD WHERE I LEARNED THE VEHICLE ONLY HAD 0.7 QUARTS OF OIL IN IT AND NOW NEEDS THE SHORT BLOCK, GASKET SET, AND OIL PUMP REPLACED. UPON SPEAKING WITH THE TECHNICIAN, I LEARNED THAT IN MY VEHICLE, INCLUDING OTHER SUBARU VEHICLES, THE OIL LIGHT DOES NOT ILLUMINATE UNTIL IT'S TOO LATE AND VIRTUALLY OUT OF OIL, THUS CAUSING CATASTROPHIC ENGINE COMPONENT FAILURE. THE TECHNICIAN STATED THAT SOMETIMES ENGINE OIL NUTS OR FILTERS ARE NOT PLACED ON VEHICLES AND THE DASHBOARD'S "ENGINE OIL" LIGHT FAILS TO ILLUMINATE EVEN AFTER ALL THE OIL HAS BEEN DISPLACED. UPDATED 02/25/2015 *JS

AIR BAG LIGHT CAME ON. NO ACCIDENT. ON SMOOTH ROAD. IT HAS GONE OFF AND THAN COMES BACK ON. WILL GO OFF FOR A COUPLE OF DAYS AND THAN STAY LIT FOR A COUPLE OF DAYS. INDEPENDENT AUTO SHOP THAT SERVICES SUBARU'S STATES THIS IS COMMON AND CAN SEND IT OUT TO SUBARU FOR SERVICE. CONTACTED SUBARU DEALER AND THEY STATED IT IS COMMON. THEY WILL TEST AND DIAGNOSIS, BUT MAY NEED TO REMOVE AND REPLACE. I HAVE EXTENDED WARRANTY THAT WILL NOT COVER DIAGNOSIS, ONLY FAILURE. SUBARU SHOULD REPLACE AT NO CHARGE. 2ND. ITEM. TOOK CAR IN DUE TO EXHAUST SYSTEMS VIBRATION. WAS TOLD IS COMMON PROBLEM. DEALER OFFERED ME TEMPORARY FIX FOR 100.00 TO PUT SCREWS AND ADHESIVE TO CORRECT PROBLEM. OR PAY 700.00 TO REMOVE AND REPLACE WITH NEW. I ELECTED FOR THE 100.00 FIX. AS THIS WAS DIAGNOSED OVER THE PHONE AND IS COMMON, THIS SHOULD BE A MANUFACTURE FIX. *TR

2009 SUBARU LEGACY 2.5 I SE. THE AIR BAG WARNING LIGHT ILLUMINATED. NOTIFIED DEALERSHIP. I WAS TOLD TO BRIG THE VEHICLE TO BE CHECKED IF EVENTUAL IS COVERED BY WARRANTY. I ALREADY NEW IT'S NOT- THEY JUST TRIED TO GET ME IN AND MAKE SOME MONEY OUT OF THEIR SAFETY PROBLEM. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT REPAIRED. THE APPROXIMATE FAILURE AND CURRENT MILEAGE WAS 23,000. RESEARCHED ON INTERNET AND SEEMS LIKE MANY PEOPLE HAVE THE SAME PROBLEM AND THE REPAIR IS $1900- 2000, WHICH IS RIPOFF FOR SAFETY PROBLEM AND SHOULD BE FIXED BY SUBARU OF AMERICA FOR FREE. *TR

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2009 SUBARU LEGACY. THE CONTACT STATED THAT WHILE DRIVING APPROXIMATELY 55 MPH, THE VEHICLE BEGAN TO SHAKING BEFORE DECELERATING. THE CONTACT THEN NOTICED FLAMES AND SMOKE COMING FROM UNDER THE HOOD. THE CONTACT STOPPED THE VEHICLE, SHUT THE ENGINE OFF AND EXTINGUISHED THE FIRE. THE VEHICLE WAS DIAGNOSED BY THE DEALER AND A INDEPENDENT MECHANIC WHO BOTH INDICATED THAT THE DEFECT WAS CAUSED BY AN ENGINE PISTON THAT MALFUNCTIONED AND CREATED A HOLE IN THE ENGINE BLOCK. THE MANUFACTURER WAS NOTIFIED AND NO SOLUTION WAS OFFERED. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 85,000.

MY 2009 SUBARU LEGACY AIRBAG MODULE BECAME DEFECTIVE AT APPROXIMATELY 74,970 MILES. WHILE DRIVING THE VEHICLE, I NOTICED THAT THE RED AIRBAG LIGHT SUDDENLY CAME ON THE INSTRUMENT PANEL INDICATING A PROBLEM. AS THIS VEHICLE WAS NEVER IN AN ACCIDENT, AND IS SELDOM DRIVEN AS I PURCHASED ANOTHER VEHICLE, THE VEHICLE WAS BROUGHT TO THE SUBARU DEALER. I DID TAKE NOTE THAT THE AIRBAG LIGHT WOULD COME ON AND GO OFF. THE DEALER FOUND THE ERROR CODE WHILE RUNNING DIAGNOSTICS ON THE VEHICLE, AND CONTACTED SUBARU TO DETERMINE WHAT NEEDED TO BE REPLACED. I WAS INFORMED THAT THE AIRBAG MODULE NEEDED TO BE REPLACED. FORTUNATELY, THE AIRBAG MODULE WAS COVERED BY AN EXTENDED WARRANTY COVERING THE VEHICLE UNTIL 75,000 MILES. THE DIAGNOSTICS, LABOR AND DEDUCTIBLE WERE NOT COVERED BY THE EXTENDED WARRANTY. IS THIS A KNOWN FAILURE FOR SUBARU VEHICLES, OR AN ISOLATED INCIDENT/MODULE FAILURE DUE TO THE MILES ON THE CAR? *TR