The contact owns a 2019 Subaru Ascent. The contact received a recall notice for NHTSA campaign numbers: 19V856000 (engine and engine cooling) and 19V855000 (power train). The contact stated that the gps unit was inoperable. Furthermore, while at a stop sign/light, the vehicle would accelerate when the brake pedal was depressed and there was an abnormal clunking, squeaking noise detected from the steering/suspension. Also, while driving various speeds, the vehicle shuddered and shook forward and backwards, and the driver and passenger doors made an abnormal buzzing noise. There were no warning indicators illuminated. The vehicle was taken to puente hills Subaru (17801 E gale ave, city of industry, ca 91748, (626) 626-4800) multiple times and the contact was informed that the vehicle was working as designed. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was contacted and provided case number: Sr#:1-50458273772. The failure mileage was 1,000.

- Rilato, CA, USA

Issue #1: transmission. Starting around 8000 miles, a loud squealing sound would occur periodically during automatic shifting. At first it was only while obtaining highway speeds and later it would happen at city street speeds. The squealing sound would be accompanied by a shuttering feeling as well. We live 3 hours from the dealer and were told by the dealer that the car was just 'getting to know us'. as this problem persisted and worsened, we were finally brought it to the dealer at 12,000 miles and the technician diagnosed a transmission problem and said we need a new transmission. That was on 9/27/19. We are awaiting the availability of a new transmission while driving a loaner. Issue #2: electrical issue. Twice all of the engine warning/dashboard lights came on while driving about 20 mph on a dirt road. The first time was around 9800 miles. I was able to drive the car and brought the car to a local repair shop (Subaru dealer is 150 miles away) and his computer diagnosed a possible transmission problem and he rebooted the electrical system. All seemed ok with the electrical system for a while. This happened again around 11,000 miles while being driven at city street speeds and the next morning the electrical system was back to normal. In talking to the Subaru dealer by phone, they said there was probably just a bug in the system and it can fix itself. At the 12,000 mile appt, no issues were discovered with the electrical system.

- Ketchum, ID, USA

We are noticing periodic issues with the cvt in this new car. Occasionally we get a high-pitched whine, a sound like a belt slipping, a loss of power, and a sudden bump when the cvt seems to adjust to the situation and return power and normal driving. Internet is full of people reporting the issue. Took it to the dealer and got the usual deer-in-headlights response. They have a serious issue here. Most recent event I recorded was on 8/28 11;00 amish on I-5 North out of Tacoma to seatac, driving at highway speeds.

- Everett, WA, USA

At 16462 miles on odometer, while driving on hi way at 65 mph vehicle lost power and started smoking severely from the tail pipes. Pulled over and shut off. Restarted several minutes later continued to smoke and would not move. Towed to dealer, they stated the PCV valve broke apart, Subaru wants them to tear down the engine to see how much damage was done. Still waiting for them to do anything, car is sitting outside in the service area not being worked on.

- Pell City, AL, USA

When driving our Ascent on both city streets and the highway we have experienced rpms jumping and squeaking/slipping noises coming from the engine unexpectedly. Its very disheartening to have issues with a brand new car that you've spend over $40K on. I have been able to capture some video of the control panel as this happens.

- Danville, CA, USA

We took our 2019 Ascent in because we were hearing some weird noises coming from the front end roughly 5000 miles. Upon further inspection the Subaru dealership informed us that there was an issue with the steering rack. They asked us to allow them to order a new steering rack and they would call us and setup an appointment to change out the rack. On Saturday the Aug 17th we went on a drive with a technician to show him what we were feeling in the transmission. He drove it for probably 15 to 20 minutes, several different speeds. He too noticed some weird shift points. Also could hear the front end. We left it there and called them today (19th) to find out that it isn't the steering rack. It's the coil springs hitting something causing them to chip. The technician stated, we will get with them on a new updated part and you can probably come in and swap out cars until we get the parts in. Meaning, give back service vehicle for ours. I told him at that point that I have no issues with them keeping it to reassure it's safe for our family to be in. He said ok I appreciate it I'll be calling you tomorrow. They also said that they did a torque converter dial in and that the transmission should be back to normal. Hopefully all is well and it does in fact fix the weird shifting and hesitation at all speeds. Accelerating and decelerating.

- Neosho, MO, USA

When driving car at different speeds, the car loses power, RPM increase and decrease significantly accompanied by a screeching sound. The vehicle has about 15K miles and has happened four times within a three week period.

- Chubbuck, ID, USA

When holding speed constant between approximately 20-35 mph, or under very light acceleration in this range, vehicle seems to jerk, surge, pulse, or similar. It feels similar to being in the car with someone learning to drive a manual transmission.

- Jacksonville, FL, USA

Cvt appears to be faulty. While driving, rpms will jump up by 1-2K, stay at that level for a second or two, then drop down. When it drops, car will shudder or accelerate. Occassionally a screeching or grinding noise is heard. This has happened multiple times, but is not predictable. It has happened on the highway at speeds if 65 and above; and it has happened on city roads at speeds of 30. It sometimes happens multiple times in one trip; or it may go a week between events. Dealership has been unable to replicate it, says if they can't replicate it then the "best case scenario" for a diagnosis is for the transmission to fail and for us to be stranded. A internet search for "Subaru Ascent transmission problems" reveals that this is a rare problem, but seems to disproportionately affect Ascents built in August of 2018. Subaru allegedly is replacing these transmissions once problem is diagnosed, but if it's a known problem then they should replace them all proactively.

- Thomaston, CT, USA

The contact owns a 2019 Subaru Ascent. While driving 70-80 mph, the vehicle jerked forward and the transmission started to slip. The vehicle was taken to dch Subaru of riverside (located at 8069 Indiana ave, riverside, ca 92504, (951) 428-2314) to be diagnosed, but the mechanic was unable to retrieve a fault code or duplicate the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified. The approximate failure mileage was 5,200. The VIN was not available.

- Redlands, CA, USA

Within 5000 miles transmission jump, rear gear not work and the rab light, dealer told me he must replace! I find a lot of story on website, people have same issue and same amount of mileage

- Maspeth, NY, USA

The Subaru Ascent was purchased August 2018 (about 7 months ago) and the car currently has about 14,000 miles. The cvt transmission began slipping around March 16th, 2019, causing intermittent vibration and loss of power when accelerating. This would occur at both low and high speeds, and would occur more frequently after the car had been driven for about 15 minutes. At highway speeds, the car would struggle intermittently to maintain speed. Initially the problem was sporadic, but with every day grew more frequent. After being taken to dealership to be evaluated, the dealer reported that while the technician was test driving the vehicle, complete failure of the transmission occurred and the car was no longer drivable. The dealer has ordered a new transmission to replace this failed one. Total time from onset of problem to transmission failure is about 2 weeks with regular daily driving.

- Maple Valley, WA, USA

Our Ascent started having a squeal and RPM jump around 6000 miles. The car would only makes this noise on acceleration and would cause the car to lock up until the chain/belt would reseat and the RPM return to normal. It throws no warning codes but happens randomly but several times when it does happen. Was told it was a transmission issue, but Subaru has replaced some and they are doing same thing. They told me to drive it like it is and service department was to file a claim with Subaru to try to get them to initiate a fix from the Subaru engineers. Totally not safe to drive at 65-70 and then it stalls out before it fixes itself.

- Austinville, VA, USA