The clutch stopped engaging smoothly & it got bad enough to make the car shake. It's most apparent starting in first gear over & over, like in rush hour traffic. Surprising because of the relatively low mileage.
The dealer (Burlington Subaru, Vermont) has replaced the clutch & flywheel three times & it hasn't fixed the problem. Last time they made we wait a month until a Subaru of America could look at it. He never drove it because he's allergic to dogs (we have a black lab) but somehow he knew enough to tell me to replace the front axles. After tearing the clutch apart 3 times, it's too bad the dealer never mentioned the front axels because after 5 months of replacing clutches, the front axels aren't covered under warranty anymore.
So Burlington Subaru's best solution was to recommend I spend $620 (each axle is $310) on a rep's best guess who never drove the car. Pretty sketchy. I got someone else to put in aftermarket front axles ($65/each instead of $310, these have a lifetime warranty), & letting the clutch out still made the car shake. I brought the car back to Burlington Subaru & they said they still wouldn't look at the clutch because I had used aftermarket parts instead of "Genuine Subaru parts" (which broke in the first place). Since then I've gotten lots of second opinions & everybody says it's either a bad clutch or related to some engine work they did previously - so I'm going to have another dealer fix the clutch & take them to small claims court.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
The clutch stopped engaging smoothly & it got bad enough to make the car shake. It's most apparent starting in first gear over & over, like in rush hour traffic. Surprising because of the relatively low mileage.
The dealer (Burlington Subaru, Vermont) has replaced the clutch & flywheel three times & it hasn't fixed the problem. Last time they made we wait a month until a Subaru of America could look at it. He never drove it because he's allergic to dogs (we have a black lab) but somehow he knew enough to tell me to replace the front axles. After tearing the clutch apart 3 times, it's too bad the dealer never mentioned the front axels because after 5 months of replacing clutches, the front axels aren't covered under warranty anymore.
So Burlington Subaru's best solution was to recommend I spend $620 (each axle is $310) on a rep's best guess who never drove the car. Pretty sketchy. I got someone else to put in aftermarket front axles ($65/each instead of $310, these have a lifetime warranty), & letting the clutch out still made the car shake. I brought the car back to Burlington Subaru & they said they still wouldn't look at the clutch because I had used aftermarket parts instead of "Genuine Subaru parts" (which broke in the first place). Since then I've gotten lots of second opinions & everybody says it's either a bad clutch or related to some engine work they did previously - so I'm going to have another dealer fix the clutch & take them to small claims court.
- Mike W., South Hero, VT, US