2000 Subaru Forester

IF I PLACE MY 2000 SUBARU FORRESTER INTO DRIVE IT WILL NOT MOVE, IT WILL SIT THERE FOR SEVERAL MINUTES UNTIL SUDDENLY IT JERKS FORWARD INTO GEAR. PLACE INTO REVERSE IT WORKS WELL, MOVES IN REVERSE. PLACE INTO DRIVE, LIGHTLY PRESS THE ACCELERATOR PEDAL, IT WILL JUMP FORWARD INTO GEAR! PLACE INTO DRIVE WAIT FOR IT TO MOVE: IF I AM ON AN INCLINE IT WILL ROLL BACKWARDS OR FORWARDS DEPENDING ON THE SLOPE, OTHERWISE I CAN SIT THERE FOR A FEW MINUTES BEFORE IT WILL JERK FORWARD. SUBARU STATES THAT THEY ARE NOT AWARE OF THIS ISSUE; LATER THEY STATE THEY ARE AWARE OF THE ISSUE AND STATE TO REPLACE THE TRANSMISSIONS. HOWEVER, VISIT SEVERAL REPUTABLE CAR REPAIR FORUMS ONLINE YOU WILL LITERALLY SEE HUNDREDS OF CUSTOMERS WITH THESE SAME PROBLEMS POSTING FROM 2004-PRESENT. ALL CUSTOMERS HAVE SUBARU FORRESTER'S OR OUTBACK'S. ALL CLAIM THIS HAZARD! SOME CUSTOMERS STATE A TEMPORARY FIX: REPLACE TRANSMISSION FLUID AND FOR A FEW WEEKS/MONTHS THESE PROBLEMS WILL DISAPPEAR. ALL MEMBERS OF THE FORUMS STATE THAT THEY WITHIN WEEKS/MONTHS HAD TO REPLACE THE TRANSMISSION, MANY JUST GAVE UP ON THEIR CARS BY TRADING THEM IN. I FIND THIS HIGHLY UNACCEPTABLE! WHO ELSE WILL THEN PURCHASE THESE SAFETY HAZARDS? GOOGLE ON: SUBARU, TRANSMISSION OR SUBARU JERKING FORWARD INTO GEAR MY AUTOMOBILE HAS BEEN VERY WELL TAKEN CARE OF! THE 5 YEAR WARRANTY JUST EXPIRED AND MY AUTO HAS LESS THAN 65,000 MILES ON IT. I HAVE BEEN VERY DILIGENT IN DOING ALL THE MAINTENANCE AND SERVICES ACCORDING TO THE MANUFACTURERS MANUAL AS WELL. I SEE THAT 5 OTHER INDIVIDUALS HAVE COMPLAINED OF THE SAME PROBLEMS ON YOUR SITE. PLEASE, PLEASE INVESTIGATE INTO THESE ISSUES. IT'S A HAZARD TO HAVE A CAR BE PLACED INTO DRIVE AND THEN NOT MOVE FORWARD UNTIL YOU PRESS THE ACCELERATOR OR IT MOVES FORWARD AFTER 2 - 30 MINUTES OF WAIT TIME! PLEASE REVIEW THE POSTS ON SEVERAL FORUMS TO SEE THAT MANY OTHER INDIVIDUALS ARE EXPERIENCING THIS PROBLEM WITH THE SUBARU CARS. IT'S VERY UNFORTUNATE. OTHERWISE THESE CARS ARE WONDERFUL! *JB

LETTER RECEIVED FROM SUBARU MARCH 2004 STATING THAT A COOLING SYSTEM CONDITIONER NEEDS TO BE ADDED TO THE COOLING SYSTEM TO PREVENT AN EXTERNAL COOLANT LEAK AT THE VEHICLE'S ENGINE CYLINDER HEAD GASKETS. WENT TO SUBARU AS REQUIRED BY LETTER MARCH 9, 2004, THEY ADD COOLING SYSTEM CONDITIONER AND I AM TOLD THIS WILL PREVENT LEAKS AT THE ENGINE CYLINDER HEAD GASKETS AND THIS IS STATED IN THE LETTER TOO. NOTE THAT THE FIRST TIME, I RECEIVE THIS NOTICE IS 4 YEARS AFTER PURCHASE. THE MOST RECENT SERVICE, I HAD DONE BY ANNAPOLIS SUBARU WAS THE COOLANT SYSTEM SERVICE IN NOVEMBER 2005. IT IS FEBRUARY 2006 AND MY CAR NEEDS A CYLINDER HEAD GASKET. ACCORDING TO SERVICE DEPARTMENT AT HERB GORDON SUBARU, THE CONSEQUENCES OF NOT REPLACING THE CYLINDER HEAD GASKET IS ENGINE FAILURE. ENGINE FAILURE IS A SAFETY RISK. AT NO POINT ARE YOU WARNED THAT YOUR ENGINE MAY STOP OPERATING WHILE DRIVING. THIS IS A COSTLY REPAIR. I AM TOLD THAT SUBARU WILL PAY FOR THIS REPAIR IF YOUR CAR HAS LESS THAN 100,000 MILES. MY CAR IS WELL MAINTAINED AND HAS 132,297 MILES ON IT. THE SERVICE PERSON THEN TELLS ME THAT THE HEAD GASKET WAS REDESIGNED BY SUBARU TO PREVENT THIS ISSUE FROM HAPPENING AGAIN. SUBARU IS RESPONSIBLE FOR DESIGNING A FAULTY HEAD GASKET ON BRAND NEW AUTOMOBILES, WHERE IS THE MANDATORY RECALL? *NM

THE 2000 SUBARU FORESTER, WHEN SHIFTED TO "D", "3", "2, OR "1" WILL NOT GO FORWARD. IT WILL ALWAYS GO WHEN IN REVERSE! WE HAVE BEEN TOLD BY SEVERAL DEALERS THAT THE TRANSMISSION MUST BE REPLACED (AT THE TIME THE CAR HAD 70K MILES AND WAS 5+ YEARS OLD - JUST OUT OF WARRANTY). THIS PROBLEM APPEARS TO BE WELL KNOWN TO SUBARU DEALERS. TO MITIGATE THIS PROBLEM, I MUST TAP THE ACCELERATOR, AND WAIT AND WAIT 1 SECOND TO 30 SECONDS BEFORE THE TRANSMISSION WILL ENGAGE. A YEAR AGO, THE TRANSMISSION WAS DRAINED, FLUSHED AND THE FILTER REPLACED, THAT HELPED A LITTLE. THE SERVICE WRITER SAID THE TRANSMISSION WAS OUT OF WARRANTY A SHOULD BE REPLACED, HE ALSO SAID THE WARRANTY SPECIFIED THAT BEFORE 40K MILES THE TRANSMISSION SHOULD BE DRAINED, FLUSHED, AND THE FILTER REPLACED. AFTER READING THE 2000 WARRANTY AND MAINTENANCE BOOKLET (MSA5M0001W, ISSUED JUNE 1999), PAGE 42 (2000 MY FEDERAL SPECIFICATION VEHICLES) AND PAGE 43 (NOTES) I FOUND OUT THAT HE WAS IN ERROR. ITEM 10 AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION FLUID IS AN "INSPECTION (I)" ITEM ONLY AT 30K, 60K, 90K, AND 120K MILES. PAGE 43 "NOTES 4 AND 9" ARE SPECIFIC, REPEAT SPECIFIC, TO THE AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION FLUID (ITEM 10). NOTE 4 DESCRIBES "SEVERE DRIVING CONDITIONS", BUT ONLY TWO OF THEM "APPEAR (NOT SPECIFIC TO ITEM 10)" TO PERTAIN TO AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION FLUID, "C. DRIVING IN DUSTY CONDITIONS" AND "G. TOWING A TRAILER" - I AND MOST OTHER OWNERS DO NEITHER. AND AS FOR NOTE 9, THE NOTES STOP AT 8, - 9 IS MISSING -, THE CALIFORNIA SCHEDULE OF INSPECTION AND MAINTENANCE SERVICES AND NOTES (PAGES 44 AND 45) ALSO HAVE NOTE 9 MISSING! INTERNET CITATIONS ATTRIBUTE THIS HESITATION PROBLEM TO A SOFTWARE PROBLEM (THIS YEAR WAS AMONG THE FIRST YEARS TO HAVE ELECTRONIC TRANSMISSION CONTROL - THEY MENTION) A PERVASIVE AND CONTINUING PROBLEM THAT SUBARU IS ATTEMPTING TO AVOID. THE APRIL 2005 CONSUMER REPORTS (PAGE 92 RELIABILITY SCORES) ALSO DOCUMENTS THE HIGHER INCIDENCE OF TRANSMISSION PROBLEMS WITH THE 1999 AND 2000 FORESTER.

THE PROBLEM ORIGINALLY STARTED AS A DELAY WHEN SHIFTING THE CAR INTO DRIVE. THIS WAS ABOUT A 1 SECOND DELAY, AFTER WHICH THE CAR WOULD ENGAGE INTO DRIVE, AND THEN RUN AND SHIFT FINE. BUT THEN, THE DELAY GOT WORSE. ALL OF THE SUDDEN IT WAS 2 SECONDS, THEN THE CAR WOULD NO LONGER GO INTO DRIVE AT ALL. AFTER EVALUATION, I WAS TOLD THAT I NEEDED TO HAVE 5 OF THE 7 SOLENOIDS REPLACED IN THE SUBARU. THIS WAS ON A TRANSMISSION THAT WAS 5 YEARS OLD, WITH ONLY 80000 MILES ON IT. I CONTACTED SUBARU ABOUT THE INCIDENT, AND THEY SAID THAT MY TRANSMISSION WAS OUT OF WARRANTY, AND THAT ME THINKING THAT 80K ON A TRANSMISSION BEFORE REPLACEMENT WAS ODD, IT WAS JUST MY OPINION. I INFORMED THE LADY ON THE PHONE THAT I WAS NOT THE ONLY ONE WITH THESE COMPLAINTS, THEY WERE ALL OVER THE PLACE ONLINE. SAME THING, OVER AND OVER, ONE PERSON HAD TO REPLACE THE TRANSMISSION AROUND 70K! I GOT NO RESPONSE FROM SUBARU ABOUT THE ISSUE, I WAS TREATED RUDELY, AND THEY BASICALLY HUNG UP ON ME. I DID INFORM THE ATTENDANT THAT FOR MY RECORDS I WAS RECORDING THE PHONE CALL, AND SHE THREATENED ME, SAYING THAT TO DO SO WAS ILLEGAL. I LOOKED UP THE LAW IN NEW JERSEY ABOUT RECORDING PHONE CALLS, AND AS LONG AS ONE PARTY CONSENTS TO THE CALL (ME BEING THE PARTY), THE PHONE CALL COULD BE RECORDED. HERE'S THE STATUTE: "IN ADDITION, AN INTERCEPTION IS LEGAL IF THE INTERCEPTOR IS A PARTY TO THE COMMUNICATION, OR ONE OF THE PARTIES HAS GIVEN PRIOR CONSENT, SO LONG AS NO CRIMINAL OR TORTIOUS INTENT IS PRESENT." I STILL HAVE THE ORIGINAL SOLENOIDS FOR THE TRANSMISSION. I ALSO HAVE A WRITTEN REPORT ON THE FINDINGS BY THE MECHANIC ON WHAT THEY FOUND. THE REPAIR COST AROUND $2200. HOPEFULLY, SOMEONE OTHER THAN SUBARU WILL LOOK INTO THIS PROBLEM.

REPEAT PREMATURE FAILURE OF REAR AXLE BEARING. REAR AXLE BEARING ON BOTH SIDES BECAME NOISY WHEN CAR WAS 35K MI (12-09-02) DEALER REPLACED BOTH UNDER WARRANTY WITH SAME OEM SUBARU 28016FC001. REAR AXLE ON LEFT BECAME VERY NOISY AGAIN AROUND 57K MI, ESPECIALLY ON FREEWAY AND HIGH SPEED. TOOK IT TO DEALER AGAIN (06-22-04). THIS TIME, DEALER (SCHUMAN CARRIAGE MOTORS INC., DBA SUBARU OF HAWAII, ALSO DBA AS WAIALAE SUBARU) DISMISSED NOISE AS FROM TIRES, REFUSED TO HONOR WARRANTY, AND CHARGED US AN UNDISCLOSED $96 "DIAGNOSTIC FEE". UNPLEASANT EXPERIENCE AT DEALERSHIP CAUSED GREAT EMOTIONAL TRAUMA TO MY WIFE. SHE SUBSEQUENTLY WAS DIAGNOSED BY MEDICAL DOCTOR OF SHINGLE LIKELY INDUCED BY STRESS AND LEAVING HER UNABLE TO WEAR EYE CONTACT LENSES EVEN TO THIS DAY. OTHER CAR GARAGES LATER CONFIRMED THE LEFT REAR AXLE BEARING IS THE CAUSE OF THE NOISE. FOUND A MECHANIC WHO REPLACED IT WITH A SUBARU 28015AA0050 ROLLER BEARING (03-26-05) MECHANIC TOOK IT THE DEFECTIVE BEARING APART. SIGNS OF IRREGULAR WEAR ON THE BEARING CASING IS VISIBLE.