1998 Subaru Outback

THE CAR ACCELERATED WHEN BACKING FROM A PARKING SPACE, HIT A POLE, I THEN PUT IT ON DRIVE AND IT ACCELERATED AT A VERY HIGH SPEED, I WENT TO BRAKE, IT HAD ALREADY HIT A PARKED DODGE CARAVAN IN THE PARKING SPOT DIRECTLY IN FRONT OF ME. I WAS ON BRAKE, CAR STILL CONTINUED TO MOVE. I MANAGED TO PUT IT ON NEUTRAL AND IT STOPPED. I TURNED OFF THE ENGINE. MY CAR HAD PUSHED THE PARKED DODGE 1.5 CAR LENGTHS. VAN TIRE SKID MARKS MEASURED BY HIGHWAY PATROL. NO INJURIES EXCEPT TO MYSELF, HIT MY KNEE AND MY HEAD. INDICENT REPORTED TO CA HWY PATROL, GEICO INSURANCE COMPANY, AND 49R SUBARU DEALERSHIP. CURRENTLY CAR IS AT THE DEARLERSHIP BEING EVALUATED FOR A MECHANICAL MALFUNCTION. I HAD TAKEN IT TO THE DEALERSHIP AT 60K MILES FOR POSSIBLE TRANSMISISION PROBLEM, IT SEEMED TO DOWNSHIFT AT LOWSPEEDS INAPPROPIATELY. NO PROBLEM FOUND. I TOOK IT IN 90K BECAUSE OF BURNING OIL SMELL AND ENGINE LIGHT WENT ON. OIL WAS LEAKING FROM SEVERAL SEALS, ALL HAD TO BE REPLACED, INCLUDING THE TIMING BELT. I DISCOVERED THE TIMING BELT AND OIL SEALS WERE REPLACED BY PREVIOUS OWNER PRIOR TO 50K MILES. I'VE HAD THE TIRES BALANCED AND ALIGNED TWICE BECAUSE OF SEVERE TIRE WEAR AND SHAKING AT SPEEDS ABOVE 50 MPH. CAR CURRENTLY HAS 101K MILES.

I OWN A 1998 SUBARU OUTBACK.: VIN #[XXX]. ON THE DATE BELOW, THE TIMING BELT ON MY CAR, WHICH HAD 53 THOUSAND MILES ON IT AT THE TIME, BROKE AND RESULTED IN A CATASTROPHIC ENGINE FAILURE. THIS FORCED ME TO BUY A USED ENGINE. FORTUNATELY, I WAS ONLY DRIVING AT 20 MPH AND WAS ABLE TO SAFELY PULL OVER. HAD THIS HAPPENED AT INTERSTATE HIGHWAY SPEED THE RESULT MIGHT HAVE BEEN VERY DIFFERENT. SUBARU'S OWN MAINTENANCE SCHEDULE SAYS THAT THE TIMING BELT SHOULD BE INSPECTED AT 60 THOUSAND MILES. I'VE BEEN IN TOUCH WITH THE COMPANY BUT THEY DON'T SEEM TO BE VERY RESPONSIVE OR FORTHCOMING. THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION TO THIS MATTER.*AK INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6). *TR

MY SUBARU OUTBACK HAS DRIPPED A LITTLE OIL FROM THE FRONT EVER SINCE I BOUGHT THE CAR NEW AND HAD A BURNING SMELL. I TOOK IT BACK 2 TIMES IN THE FIRST YEAR BUT THEY DIDN'T DO ANYTHING EXCEPT TELL ME IT WAS TRANSIT PAINT BURNING OFF. I TOOK IT BACK WHEN I WAS 1000 MILES OUT OF MY WARRANTY BECAUSE IT WAS WORSE AND SMELLED BURNING MORE. THEY TOLD ME IT WAS THE OIL PUMP SEAL BUT WOULDN'T COVER IT UNDER WARRANTY. THEY SAID IF I HAD BEEN HAVING REGULAR WORK DONE THROUGH THE DEALER THEY MIGHT HAVE BEEN ABLE TO WORK SOMETHING OUT. SINCE THEN IT IS WORSE AND THE BURNING SMELL IS VERY BAD. I KNOW OF 2 OTHER SUBARU LEGACY'S WITH THE SAME PROBLEM AND A $500 TO $700 FIX. I WAS ALSO TOLD BY A MECHANIC THAT THERE HAVE BEEN SOME FIRES IN SUBARUS DUE TO THIS PROBLEM AND DRIPPING ON THE CATALYTIC CONVERTOR.*AK

ENGINE OVERHEATS. TWO SUBARU DEALER SERVICE CENTERS SAID THEY COULD NOT FIND THE PROBLEM, AND STARTED AN SEEMINGLY ENDLESS REPLACEMENT OF THERMOSTATS, AND EVEN THE RADIATOR. THE PROBLEM CONTINUES, AND NOW THAT I AM OVER 60K MILES, WITH MY WARRANTY EXPIRED, THEY SUDDENLY SAY IT IS A PROBLEM WITH THE HEAD GASKET, WHICH WILL PROBABLY COST OVER $2,000 TO REPLACE. I NOW FIND OUT THAT THERE ARE NUMEROUS PROBLEMS WITH THE HEAD GASKETS OF 1994-1998 SUBARUS, BUT THERE HAS NEVER BEEN A RECALL. WHY?*AK