The contact owns a 2000 Subaru Forester. While driving between 35-55 mph the manual transmission slipped out of gear. He was able to continue vehicle operation. The failure occurred intermittently. The vehicle has not been inspected at this time. The failure mileage was 95,000. The current mileage was 101,000. Updated 1/14/10 updated 01/15/10.

- Shelburne, MA, USA

In early 2008 my Subaru began popping out of fifth gear. This is very inconvenient and unsafe as it causes an immediate loss of speed. On a freeway grade for example I have almost been rammed from behind by vehicles following too closely even though I was traveling at the speed limit in the right lane. Upon investigation I learned that this is a common defect in this model of Subaru and is covered by technical bulletin 17 01/01/2002. My mechanic removed the rear of the transmission and tightened the loose mainshaft nut at a cost of $417. This solved the problem for a while but a year and a half later the problem has returned. The car routinely pops out of fifth gear to the point the vehicle cannot be driven in that gear on the highway. I emailed Subaru about this but they say it is not their problem because the car is out of warranty. I believe that this is a design and/or manufacturing flaw which is expensive to repair and is a definite safety hazard which should be made right by Subaru.

- Spotsylvania, VA, USA

Vehicle pops out of fifth gear, into neutral, on the highway. This has happened approximately 12 times over the past two months.

- East Calais, VT, USA