I bought my Subaru Outback as new in April 2009. I was a proud owner of a car that I would never allow any other vehicle to outdo until recently.
On January 3, 2015 I took my family on a holiday trip to the coast on the Atlantic Ocean. Whilst I was in Walvis Bay, twice the car made that horrible noise which happens when clutch and accelerator are mixed when the clutch fails to release. At one point I made a quick U-turn and I could feel a drag. When I parked I could smell burning rubber and I thought it was coming from the tires. I drove to the beach just to drive and look around without getting out of the car. A few metres in the sand the car lost power. It could not go forward nor backwards. The wheels were not even turning. The clutch was smelling and though the sand was very shallow, I was bogged! Subaru Outback 2.5? Some sympathetic holiday makers came to my rescue and gave the car a slight push out. I tried to drive off and to my surprise the clutch could not engage. I had to wait for 30mins then I tried it again. Fortunately it engaged and we crawled back into town.
The car had to be eventually towed to get to the garage. The mechanic told me that the clutch was completely gone. It had to be replaced. I was so annoyed and embarrassed at the same time because almost everybody thought I had burnt the clutch. I have been driving manual vehicles since 1984. I was trained by an expert instructor and I even know "double clutching" and I never "ride" the clutch. I take really good care of my cars, especially the Subaru. I have a 1993 Toyota Venture which is now at more than 300 000km but never had problems with the clutching system. This was the most painful and embarrassing experience with a car.
I was only consoled when I learned from this site that there are other owners who had experienced similar problems and that the 2005 model was worse! Now I can stop blaming myself. I wanted to trade my car for a newer model but now I am having my doubts about Subaru. Besides incurring costs to fix the car I had to meet costs for overnight accommodation, meals and transport back to Windhoek our home town 389km away. We had planned just for a day trip. As I am writing I have already paid for the whole clutch kit which has to be ordered from South Africa and Japan and I am hoping to get back my car sometime week starting January 11, 2015. How could Subaru do this to us?
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
I bought my Subaru Outback as new in April 2009. I was a proud owner of a car that I would never allow any other vehicle to outdo until recently.
On January 3, 2015 I took my family on a holiday trip to the coast on the Atlantic Ocean. Whilst I was in Walvis Bay, twice the car made that horrible noise which happens when clutch and accelerator are mixed when the clutch fails to release. At one point I made a quick U-turn and I could feel a drag. When I parked I could smell burning rubber and I thought it was coming from the tires. I drove to the beach just to drive and look around without getting out of the car. A few metres in the sand the car lost power. It could not go forward nor backwards. The wheels were not even turning. The clutch was smelling and though the sand was very shallow, I was bogged! Subaru Outback 2.5? Some sympathetic holiday makers came to my rescue and gave the car a slight push out. I tried to drive off and to my surprise the clutch could not engage. I had to wait for 30mins then I tried it again. Fortunately it engaged and we crawled back into town.
The car had to be eventually towed to get to the garage. The mechanic told me that the clutch was completely gone. It had to be replaced. I was so annoyed and embarrassed at the same time because almost everybody thought I had burnt the clutch. I have been driving manual vehicles since 1984. I was trained by an expert instructor and I even know "double clutching" and I never "ride" the clutch. I take really good care of my cars, especially the Subaru. I have a 1993 Toyota Venture which is now at more than 300 000km but never had problems with the clutching system. This was the most painful and embarrassing experience with a car.
I was only consoled when I learned from this site that there are other owners who had experienced similar problems and that the 2005 model was worse! Now I can stop blaming myself. I wanted to trade my car for a newer model but now I am having my doubts about Subaru. Besides incurring costs to fix the car I had to meet costs for overnight accommodation, meals and transport back to Windhoek our home town 389km away. We had planned just for a day trip. As I am writing I have already paid for the whole clutch kit which has to be ordered from South Africa and Japan and I am hoping to get back my car sometime week starting January 11, 2015. How could Subaru do this to us?
- Dorothy W D., Windhoek, Khomas, Namibia