This data is from the NHTSA — the US gov't agency tasked with vehicle safety. Complaints are spread across multiple & redundant categories, & are not organized by problem.
So how do you find out what problems are occurring? For this NHTSA complaint data, the only way is to read through the comments below. Any duplicates or errors? It's not us.
Vehicle occasionally stalls while stopped at a street light. Dealer says it is probably torque converter lockup. Has happened 3 times while waiting to make a left hand turn. Vehicle has 135K miles on it. Seems like a legitimate safety issue to me.
Vehicle stalls intermittently when coming to a stop or attempting to accelerate from a stop. This is an extremely urgent safety concern. This also seems to have caused inconsistent starting issues. I have replaced the starter and still have issues. Seems to be a torque converter problem. This issue has been reported by many owners and has not been adequately addressed by Subaru with an available fix in a recall.
In August 2018 the car began stalling randomly when coming to a stop. When we brought it to the dealer it was diagnosed with the cvt problem that prompted the extended warranty. However, the extended warranty for our 200,000 mile car had expired 7/31. The fix is almost $5,000 and Subaru will not apply the extended warranty. Even through they admit it is a safety concern and that the extended warranty would have applied two weeks earlier (had the problem started then), they have refused to help.
As many other owners have reported, I have been told that the torque converter on my 2012 Subaru Outback has to be replaced (at a cost of nearly $1800). This is because of the shuddering and/or stalling of the car when coming to a stop. This issue is, and has been, very inconsistent which is why I never brought it to the attention of the service department before the end of the revised warranty option provided by Subaru (100,000 miles or 7/31/2018 cutoff date). My car currently has 110,000 miles on it. The problem with the way this whole matter has been dealt with by Subaru is that, despite the fact I brought the vehicle in for regular service prior to the mileage/date deadlines, I was never asked if I was experiencing any of the problems related to the torque converter. Had the issue been explained to me, I would have said that I was indeed having issues and would have had the part replaced under the warranty. This sort of behavior clearly demonstrates that Subaru is not "dedicated to customer satisfaction." Subaru should be more proactive than reactive to dealing with the torque converter problem. In fact, Subaru should replace the torque converter whenever it becomes a problem. It is absolutely shameful that Subaru and the NHTSA has not done more to address the matter. I guess it is going to take someone getting injured or killed before the problem gets escalated to a point that there will be a recall or Subaru voluntarily replaces the torque converter regardless of time or mileage.
While slowing down the vehicle has pulled (feeling like it is not shifting down, for years, thought it was the nature of the beast) so had to brake harder. Since the summer of 2018 the car pulls and sometimes stalls or almost stalls when decelerating fast. This happens on highway and also city (between streetlights). I looked online and see that Subaru has had a bulletin since 2014 knowing about a thrust washer wear problem inside the torque converter. 1-27-2019 I took the Outback in for service and the diagnosis was torque converter replacement. Estimated cost for repairs $1715. My wife and I not only had the standard Subaru warranty but paid extra for the extended warranty, . all service was done at the Subaru dealership ( stanley Subaru ) and the last service before warranty expired in 2017 I specifically asked for the car to be gone though with a fine tooth comb (at that time we was concerned with noisy wheel bearings. No mention of the bulletin on the torque converter was mentioned.
My 2012 Subaru Outback cvt transmission shutters and stalls the engine when coming to a stop in traffic. This is a known problem and I have contacted Subaru od America and they are of no help.
The vehicle has experienced a shuddering feeling intermittently when coming to a stop. The issue has been ongoing and my vehicle currently has 87,000 miles, although the issue has occurred since around 50,000 miles. I have taken the vehicle in to a Subaru dealer in 2017 and the issue was recreated however was not fixed since the problem is still occurring. It is my understanding that Subaru issued a technical service bulletin covering more than 1.5 million vehicles for what appears to be known issue with the torque converter in the cvt transmission. However, the problem is sporadic and intermittent and every time the vehicle goes in to re-check the problem, the technicians cannot replicate it. This is very much a safety issue that should be elevated from a tsb to a recall if the issue is known. The feeling of a shuddering almost to a vehicle stall is not safe. Why Subaru has not issued a full on a recall is a little concerning, especially with the several Subaru forums indicating from many other owners of the same problem. I have talked to Subaru of America and they were not very accommodating of the issue and said if they cant recreate the problem, then they wont fix it. Apparently the word of thousands of Subaru owners is not sufficient enough.
Vehicle shudders and stalls when braking/decelerating. Engine shuts off completely and abruptly with little time to react. I have 128,000 miles on the vehicle. Mechanics do not know what exaclt is causing the problem.
Vehicle stalls when coming to a stop. Almost felt like if I was coming to a stop without engaging the clutch on a standard transmission. This has happened 4 times in the last three days and I do not feel safe letting my family drive it!
About month ago I bought a car. It's a Subaru Outback 2012 with 156 000 miles. At the beginning everything was fine. Nothing seemed to be happening. December 10 we drove around Santa Fe, nm. At first I had stopped in some stores, spent time about 2 hours and after that decided to go to another place. And when I was driving my car again in 5 minutes it suddenly started having a strange sound and couldn't move normally, was just sharply braking on a city road. We were very close to the accident, because everyone was driving with the speed 45-50 miles. While I was driving the car kept to have the strange sound and slowed down more and more. I was lucky to find a parking space next to me on somebody's tires weels shop. I took a little break about 40 minutes to find out what happened. After that when I turned the car on it stopped having the strange sound but it couldn't move anymore! I pushed on a gas pedal many times but the car just stayed in on place and didn't move to the front or back. My vehicle was towed to the Subaru service center. The next day I was calling to the Subaru service center several times, and when somebody answered I was replied that "the car had an inspection but we don't know what exactly happened yet" and it should take one more day. I did one more call the next day I received an answer from Subaru service center that the vehicle have a broken transmission and to fix it costs $7600. In those days I found out that the cars 2010-2015 Subaru Outback have recalls or extended warranty. My friend from Florida have a Subaru Outback 2012 with 168 000 miles and he also had the same problem with a car like me on October 2018. The Subaru dealership in Florida fixed that power train for free. But when I told with a Subaru headquarter about my affected vehicle they gave me an answer that I have on my car more than 100 000 miles and they can't help me at all.
I was taking it for an oil change and lube. After driving on the freeway at 60-70 mph, I came off the freeway, went 2 blocks to a stoplight. As soon as I stopped, many warning lights started flashing, and became alarmed, went 3 blocks to the lube service center and some steam started coming from under the hood. The service men immediately took it in to check it out. They replaced some coolant, completed the service and told me to have it checked by a mechanic. I drove it about a mile to the nearest auto shop, a place I've taken my last 2 cars, and left it. The next day they said it was fixed, and that they had to replace the radiator and it was ready to pick up. From there I picked up the car and drove it to a friend's in a city about 100 miles away. I drove it the entire way on the freeway, came off the freeway, drove it about 4 blocks to my friend's house. I wen up her driveway, and as I pulled into a parking place, the warning lights again started flashing. I pulled into a parking slot and stopped it. My friend's son later went out to look under the hood with me. There was evidence of some spray under the hood, but not much. I called the dealer where I'd bought the car a month before, and he told me to have the car towed to their shop, where I'd left it with them for about 2-3 weeks. When I called about the progress, they said they didn't want to release it back to me until to was repaired. In the meantime, my friend where I was staying when I had it towed, told me she had an identical problem with her 2011 Subaru Outback and after replacing hoses, thermostat, water pump, tjey finally replaced her head gasket. My daughter then reminded me the same happened to her 1999 Subaru Outback, so I started researching the internet for similar issues. Many sites, some well known said this is common with the 2.5L engine. This is a defect Subaru should recall.
: the transmission stared acting up randomly in early February of 2017. The transmission would slam into gear while shifting from 2nd to 3rd gear, accompanied with a huge bang while the whole car would rattle for a second or so. A very scary and unsafe scenario because it felt like you were being hit from behind by another car. Afterward, the car would run normally for few days before it repeats. So I took my car to rallysport engineering in costa mesa, ca on April 10 who confirmed my complaint and replaced the valve cover of the transmission. The problem appears to be solved until a month later. Around June, a new transmission shifting problem was appearing and gradually getting worse. When tried to accelerate slowly while coasting between 3rd to 5th gear, the car would shudder noticeably and hesitate for a second or two before got going. This is a very scary and unsafe situation if you need to accelerate to avoid obstacles on highway or surface street. In July, I took the car back to rallysport engineering for repair. It confirmed the shuddering problem but it could not identify the cause so it referred me to Subaru orange coast (oc) because it has access to technical support from a dedicated Subaru factory 'super-tech'. Subaru oc kept my car for four days before returning to me. It could not identify my car problem, and instead, the mechanic staff told me I have differential and wheel bearing problems. I need to fix these two problems ($1012) before he can zero in on the transmission shuddering problem. I told the mechanic my car symptom is very repeatable and he should be able to duplicate and identify the problem without requiring me spending big money upfront. He was unable to help because there was no stored diagnostic code to guide him! I complained and shared information with Subaru of America but no avail.
When driving on freeway, at about 60mph, there is a noise in the engine, the speed slips for a second, the RPM screen bumps little bit and comes back.about 3 years ago, the vehicle stopped dead at the stop signal. Took it to the dealer, they did not find any code and said, bring it back if it happens again. It did not happen again, but this slipping happened end of October 2018, just 2-1/2 months after their extended warranty ended on July 31,2018 for Subaru's cvt issue recall. Subaru says, they will replace cvt, but I need to pay large amount, they will write off only 2500$. this is a known issue in Subaru Outback 2012 and Subaru is not fixing my vehicle.
The vehicle began stalling following a hard stop and now has accelerated to the point of stalling out even with a soft braking. Very dangerous as the vehicle shuts off when traveling in traffic. Have been notified by my repair shop that the torque converter needs replaced. There are 124K on vehicle now. Subaru apparently covered this repair up to 100K miles or by June 2018 with unlimited miles. Why won't Subaru cover this now? I am responsible now for a large repair that is a known safety concern by Subaru that they will not take care of as there is 24K over their warranty replacement mileage. I am disappointed.
Vehicle stalls unexpectedly when stopping. Local mechanic states it is a transmission issue and has been reported by many owners of this model. I am just outside the extended warranty and over 110,000 miles. It started earlier when my warranty would have covered it but Subaru did not make us aware of the potential problem and we didn't know what was causing this. It has caused some close calls when we suddenly have to stop in traffic. Have almost been hit from behind several times. Should be a safety recall on this problem. Has been an ongoing issue since about the middle of June and has happened almost every time we use the car lately. We are elderly and can not afford the expensive repair job.
'went for a drive to run errands and then the transmission started shifting violently in the lower gears. After the third red-light, the transmission shifted so hard that the car shut off on me. After sitting on the side of the road for a while, I started the car again and drove it straight to the dealership. The dealership informed me that it was a cvt transmission issue, and Subaru was aware of the issue. I was quoted to replace the transmission at $8000. In an effort to avoid a recall at all costs, Subaru issued a warranty increase to 100,000 miles instead of 60,000 in direct response to the increasing complaints about the cvt transmission. The car has 103,000 miles so it is not covered under the warranty, I tried contacting Subaru and they said 103,000 is over 100,000 sorry. What is interesting is that under the maintenance for transmission, it says no maintenance is required, to not even change the transmission fluid. If you tell your consumers that the cvt transmission does not require maintenance, and tell them not to change their fluid aren't you liable if the transmission fails?
The transmission (cvt) is bad (per 2 mechanics who have reviewed) makes whining noises and can cause car to stall. There are many reports of this already online. Subaru extended their warranty because they know this is a problem, but indicated that they will not cover my car (2.5 months after the extended warranty.) this will cost about $5,000 to fix. This is a known problem by Subaru and so the 2012 Subaru Outback needs to be recalled before someone get hurt, please.
Driver started car to cool it off before running errands. It was parked on the flat portion of the driveway. It was in park & I did not touch the gear shifter. I left the door open to assist in cooling the interior off more quickly and went to retrieve an item needed for the errands. When I heard a strang noice I turned around to find my car missing. It had reversed itself 180+ down the driveway, across our lawn & only stopped when it hit a 24'+ tree. When I reached the vehicle the gear shifter was still in park. Inline towing had to winch it out, and noted that even though the had shifted it to neutral the back up lights were engaged. It has been towed to the auto body shop for repairs. Insurance has been notified.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Aurora, CO, USA