2011 SUBARU OUTBACK Complaints

NOVEMBER 2019, AT 115,000 MILES THE TRANSMISSION STARTED SLIPPING REQUIRING A REPLACEMENT. I WAS TOLD BY SUBARU OF AMERICA CORPORATE THAT "SUBARU DOESN'T HAVE TRANSMISSION PROBLEMS." THERE IS A LOT OF EVIDENCE OUT THERE TO THE CONTRARY. MAY OF 2020 THE VEHICLE STARTED OVERHEATING. IT WAS DIAGNOSED BY A MECHANIC THAT THE HEAD GASKET WAS FAILING AND NEEDED TO BE REPLACED. THIS IS ANOTHER KNOWN ISSUE WITH SUBARUS. A $28,000 2011 AUTO IS ONLY SUPPOSED TO LAST 120,000 MILES?

ON MULTIPLE OCCASIONS, WHILE DRIVING ON CITY STREETS AND FREEWAYS, WITHOUT ANY WARNING, I HAVE NO BRAKES. NO BRAKE LIGHT OR CHECK ENGINE LIGHT (CEL) ON THE DASH. THE BRAKE PEDAL WENT ALL THE WAY TO THE FIREWALL. THE CAR EVENTUALLY STOPPED WITHOUT INCIDENT; A VERY STRESSFUL AND ABSOLUTELY TERRIFYING MOMENT. SHORTLY THEREAFTER, BRAKES ARE NORMAL. THEN, IT HAPPENS AGAIN A COUPLE OF WEEKS LATER. IN TOTAL, IT HAS HAPPENED SEVEN TIMES. I CONTACTED MY LOCAL SUBARU DEALER AND EXPLAINED MY CONCERNS. THE SERVICE WRITER INITIALLY RESPONDED THAT HE HAD NEVER HEARD OF SUCH A PROBLEM AND DIDN'T KNOW WHAT TO DO (THE CONDITION CANNOT BE RECREATED; IT JUST HAPPENS UNEXPECTEDLY AND WITHOUT WARNING). I ASKED IF HE WOULD INQUIRE WITH OTHER SERVICE WRITERS TO SEE IF THEY WERE AWARE OF SUCH AN ISSUE. IRONICALLY, ANOTHER CUSTOMER'S CAR WAS THERE AT THAT VERY TIME, WITH THE SAME COMPLAINT/PROBLEM BEING DIAGNOSED. AFTER DIAGNOSTICS; IT WAS RECOMMENDED THE MASTER CYLINDER BE REPLACED. I HAD THEM REPLACE IT WITH OEM PART 26401AJ001 AS WELL AS DOING A BRAKE SYSTEM FLUSH AND FILLING WITH NEW BRAKE FLUID. THIS WAS IN NOVEMBER 2019. SINCE THEN, THE PROBLEM HAS OCCURRED THREE MORE TIMES (MOST RECENTLY, TWO DAYS AGO). I RECENTLY DISCOVERED THERE WAS A RECALL ON 2012 OUTBACK MASTER CYLINDERS DUE TO THE SAME PROBLEM AS DESCRIBED ABOVE. WHY ISN'T THIS RECALL BROADER AND RELATED TO ALL CARS WITH THESE IDENTICAL (SAME PART NUMBER) MASTER CYLINDERS? DO PEOPLE HAVE TO DIE BEFORE BAD BRAKE SYSTEMS ARE REPAIRED? I'VE RESEARCHED AND COLLECTIVELY FOUND NUMEROUS OTHERS THAT ARE HAVING THE SAME ISSUE. I QUESTION THE CREDIBILITY OF DEALERSHIP SERVICE WRITERS WHEN THEY SAY THEY HAVE NEVER HEARD OF THIS PROBLEM. I HAVE LOVED MY SUBARU; HOWEVER, MY VEHICLE NEEDS TO STOP WHEN MY BRAKES ARE APPLIED-EVERY TIME; NOT WITH THE FEAR OF; IS TODAY GOING TO BE THE DAY OF FAILURE YET AGAIN?

TORQUE CONVERTER ASSEMBLY REPAIR. WHEN SLOWING DOWN TO A STOP, THE CAR SHAKES, SHIMMIES AND SHUTS OFF. I HAVE TO RESTART. THIS IS VERY DANGEROUS. I'VE SPOKEN TO SUBARU AND THEY SAY THEY WON'T FIX THE PROBLEM ON MY CAR BECAUSE IT HAS 149K MILES ON IT. THEY SAY THEY WILL GIVE ME 1,000 DOLLARS TOWARD PURCHASE OF A NEW CAR. I WOULD LIKE MY CAR REPAIRED.

INNER WHEELS AT REAR THREADS WEARING WITH OUT THREADS STILL NEW. NOTICE A ROARING SOUND WHILE BACKING UP IN REVERSE. A/C RPM DROPS AND GOES UP WHEN TURNED ON. THERE WAS A REAR SUSPENSION RECALL ON VEHICLE AND TRYING TO SEE IF ALIGNMENT WAS DONE. DUE TO THREAD DECREASING INWARDS.

6 SPEED MANUAL TRANSMISSION - WHEN COMING TO STOP QUICKLY FROM HIGH SPEED, CLUTCH IS FULLY DEPRESSED (AND EVEN SOMETIMES IN NEUTRAL), THE ENGINE RPMS DROP VERY LOW CAUSING THE ENGINE TO SHUDDER. THIS HAS BEEN OCCURRING CONSISTENTLY FOR OVER 1 YEAR BUT DEALERSHIP HAS CLAIMED THEY ARE UNABLE TO REPLICATE THE PROBLEM. THIS IS VERY CONCERNING DUE TO THE FACT THE ENGINE COULD STALL CAUSING LOSS OF CONTROL. THIS SEEMS VERY SIMILAR TO THE SYMPTOMS OF A BAD TORQUE CONVERTER AS RECALLED ON THE AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION, HOWEVER, OBVIOUSLY THIS CAN'T BE THE CASE FOR A MT. *TR

SUBARU OF AMERICA'S CORPORATE CALL CENTER AND TWO SEPARATE DEALERSHIPS (PRIME SUBARU MANCHESTER NH, CLAY SUBARU NORWOOD MA) PROVIDED WRONG INFORMATION ON NUMEROUS OCCASIONS THAT CONFLICTED WITH THEIR TSB 11-104-11. THEY AFFIRMATIVELY SAID THAT THERE WAS NEVER AN UPDATE FOR THE TRANSMISSION CONTROL MODULE AVAILABLE FOR THE VEHICLE AFTER IT LEFT THE FACTORY. THIS IS COMPLETELY INCORRECT AND THUS I SPENT 2 YEARS TROUBLESHOOTING A KNOWN ISSUE, HUNDREDS OF DOLLARS ON DIAGNOSTIC FEES, AND I EVEN REPLACED THE TORQUE CONVERTER AS IT WAS AFFLICTED WITH THE SQUEAL DESCRIBED IN TSB 16-101-16R AND WE COULDN'T RULE OUT THAT ISSUE. THE SYMPTOM IS AN ERRATIC SHIFTING PATTERN, ESPECIALLY WHEN SLOWING DOWN FOR A RED LIGHT THEN SPEEDING UP WHEN IT TURNS GREEN. I DID MY OWN RESEARCH TO DISCOVER THIS TSB VIA ONLINE POSTS AND DOWNLOAD IT FROM THE NHTSA WEBSITE. KRISTEN WEAVER WAS THE ASSOCIATE I SPOKE TO AT SUBARU OF AMERICA ON 5/29/2020. SHE DENIED THAT THE TSB APPLIES TO MY CAR EVEN THOUGH IT CLEARLY SAYS ON THE TSB THAT ALL MY11 OUTBACK 3.6R ARE EFFECTED. PRIME SUBARU IN MANCHESTER NH PERFORMED THE TORQUE CONVERTER REPLACEMENT AND SHOULD HAVE UPDATED THE TCM AT THE TIME, BUT THEY SAID THERE WAS NO UPDATE AVAILABLE. CLAY SUBARU IN NORWOOD MA ALSO SAID AFFIRMATIVELY THAT THERE WAS NEVER A TCM UPDATE AVAILABLE. MILFORD SUBARU IN MILFORD NH FINALLY APPLIED THE UPDATE AT MY SPECIFIC REQUEST AND CONFIRMED THAT PRIME SUBARU SHOULD HAVE DONE SO WHEN THEY DID THE TORQUE CONVERTER UPDATE, AND THAT THEY DID NOT.

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2011 SUBARU OUTBACK. THE CONTACT STATED THAT WHILE DRIVING 55 MPH, THE SIDE CURTAIN AIR BAGS DEPLOYED WITHOUT IMPACT WHICH DISABLED THE FRONT DRIVER'S AND THE FRONT PASSENGER'S SEAT BELTS. THE CONTACT CALLED THE GANLEY SUBARU OF BEDFORD LOCATED AT 123 BROADWAY AVE, BEDFORD, OH 44146, AND THE TECHNICIAN DECLINED TO LOOK AT THE VEHICLE. THE MANUFACTURER WAS MADE AWARE OF THE FAILURE AND PROVIDED THE CONTACT A CASE NUMBER. THE CONTACT WAS NOT GIVEN A CALLBACK. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT REPAIRED. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS APPROXIMATELY 113,000.

P0700/P2764 CODE AFTER EVERY LIGHT ON THE DASH LIT UP AFTER DRIVING IN HARD RAIN. VEHICLE SHIFTS HARD AND IS RANDOMLY STALLING WHILE DRIVING. AFTER EXTENSIVE RESEARCH TRANSMISSIONS ARE FAILING AND SUBARU REFUSES TO RECALL THE CVT TRANSMISSIONS IN EFFECTED VEHICLES. *TR

I HAVE BEEN REPORTING PROBLEMS WITH MY TRANSMISSION SINCE 2012 TO MY REGULAR DEALERSHIP, STAR SUBARU WHEN THE CAR HAD JUST 23,472 MILES ON IT. AT THIS POINT, I BELIEVE THAT I HAVE BEEN WRONGFULLY DENIED WARRANTY COVERAGE. *BF.. THE CONSUMER STATED THE VEHICLE WOULD SPONTANEOUSLY JUMP OR SLAM WHILE DRIVING. COIL REPAIRS WERE ATTEMPTED, BUT THE PROBLEM PERSISTED. THE DEALER DISCOVERED THE FAILURE CODE WAS P1710 TORQUE CONVERTER. TURBINE SPEED SIGNAL CIRCUIT MALFUNCTION, AFTER THE WARRANTY WAS EXPIRED. THE MANUFACTURER OFFERED TO ASSIST WITH REPAIRS. THE CONSUMER STATED THE REPAIRS COST $6,000 THE DEALER OFFERED $2,500 TOWARDS THE REPAIR OR A NEW VEHICLE. THE CONSUMER DID NOT AGREE TO THE TERMS.*JS

DRIVING ON THE FREEWAY, I TOGGLED THE UP/DOWN FEATURE OF THE SUNROOF TO ENSURE THE LOUD WIND VIBRATIONS WEREN'T COMING FROM THE TOP OF MY CAR AND RETURNED IT TO ITS ORIGINAL POSITION. MOMENTS LATER, A HUGE NOISE ERUPTED FROM ABOVE ME AND I SHUT THE UPHOLSTERY SHADE CLOSED TO SEAL OFF THE HIGH SPEED WIND FROM ENTERING MY CAR AND PROCEEDED TO PULL OVER. WHEN I WAS ABLE TO STOP, I LOOKED UP TO SEE THAT THE ENTIRE WINDOW PANE WAS GONE. THE FRAME AND THE MECHANICAL FIXTURE WAS COMPLETELY IN TACT BUT THE WHOLE GLASS PIECE WAS MISSING. THIS MEANS IT HAD TO HAVE FLOWN INTO THE AIR AND LANDED BEHIND ME SOMEWHERE ON THE FREEWAY. *TR