2008 Subaru Outback

Four Subaru dealership licensed service centers in Maine and New Hampshire have had for some 8 weeks my Outback to evaluate, diagnose, and -upon my approval- service. Every one of the four Subaru locations was been unable to resolve a single one of these chronic problems of the Outback's erratic 1) start/no-start, 2) triggered security light and activated alarm, 3) dashboard battery and brake icons lighting/pulsing, 4) error code 55 (or SS) and 5) car headlights pulsing. The above problems compound with the issues Subaru's service teams have failed to resolve since early days of new car ownership (despite repeated repair) for 1) brakes regularly making noise, 2) radio randomly changing volume or shutting off, and 3) back tail light not working. Note: During the first two years of ownership, Subaru's service stated it "could not replicate" the problem with the brakes I'd reported within weeks of purchasing the new car. But a few weeks out of warranty, the same Subaru service location stated "I need whole new brakes" and quoted some $1,800 in repairs. A few months later, Subaru issued its first admission to the defective brake system. These four Subaru dealership licensed service centers in part or full 1) held my car at least 2x - 4x longer than quoted, while upselling me on the loaner model, then missing several by which they'd a written diagnostic report , 2) refused diagnostic report and when sought provided scant or impractical information, 3) demanded under threat of rental fees if loaner was not retuned within a couple of hours .... during a business day (including at distant locations too far to reach by deadline), and 5) sought many hundreds of dollars in payment for undisclosed and unapproved work without ever diagnosing issue, which they demanded in conjunction with the rental fees ginned up by dragging out and then failing to do the diagnostic work. Subaru USA added years of delay and refuses to honor manufacturer's or licensee-issued warranties.

THE TIMING BELT FAILED PREMATURELY. IT HAD BEEN REPLACED AT 70K MILES AND FAILED AT 140K MILES ON THE SECOND BELT WHICH ONLY HAD 70K MILES ON IT VERSUS THE MANUFACTURE RECOMMENDED 100K MILES REPLACEMENT INTERVAL. THIS HAPPENED DURING HIGHWAY TRAVEL AND THE VEHICLE IMMEDIATELY LOST ALL POWER AND ONLY HAD 5 SECONDS TO FIND A SAFE PLACE TO PULL OFF THE HIGHWAY. ADDITIONALLY, THE VEHICLE HAS AN AIRBAG RECALL FOR THE SECOND TIME, CITING DEATH DUE TO METAL PROJECTILE AND I AM HAVING A VERY HARD TIME HAVING THAT REPLACED AS THE CAR IS NOW BEING DRIVEN IN CANADA AND SUBARU DEALERS IN CANADA WON'T HONOR THE REQUIRED RECALL.

CAR CHECK ENGINE LIGHT ON, ALONG WITH TRACTION LIGHT ON, CRUISE LIGHT ON. CAN'T SHUT ANY OFF. CAR ACTUALLY GETS VERY HOT TO THE TOUCH DRIVERS SIDE NEAR FENDER HEADLIGHT. COULD START ON FIRE! DANGEROUS! THINK THERE IS A RECALL ON FRONT OXYGEN SENSOR, ONLY IF TURBO? REDICULOUS! SHOULD BE ALL NOT JUST TURBO MODEL! ALSO HAD TO REPLACE HEAD COVER GASKET AND EVERYTHING THAT GOES WITH THAT 5/17/2017 108,900 MILES. THAT SHOULD BE A RECALL ALSO.

TAKATA RECALL-- SUBARU "REPAIR" OF DEFECTIVE AIRBAGS DANGEROUS. WARNING LIGHT ILLUMINATES REGULARLY. SUBARU REFUSES TO FIX. ----NOTE SUBARU ALSO REFUSED TO REPAIR LONG REPORTED ISSUES WITH BRAKES, AIR BAG, WINDSHIELD. THEY SOUGHT $$THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS IN REPAIR BILLINGS. ALL THREE OF THESE LATER SUBJECT OF RECALLS. SUBARU REPORTED OIL CONSUMPTION DUE TO GASKET LEAKAGE, CONCERN FOR CAT CONVERTER AS POTENTIAL REPAIR BILLING. THIS APPEARS TO BE A FOURTH POTENTIAL SUBJECT OF RECALL NOW. ----- WHAT MORE HAS TO BE DEFECTIVE ON ONE CAR BEFORE ENTIRE CAR RECALLED?!

I WAS DRIVING AND WITHOUT NOTICE THE CRUISE CONTROL SHUT OFF, BECAUSE OF A MINOR PROBLEM WITH THE CATALYTIC CONVERTER EFFICIENCY. HAD THE VEHICLE BEHIND ME BEEN ANY CLOSER I COULD HAVE BEEN REAR ENDED. IT TURNS OUT THAT SUBARU HAS PROGRAMED THEIR VEHICLES TO DO THIS. WHY WOULD ANYONE PROGRAM A CAR TO HAVE A SUDDEN LOSS OF POWER OVER SUCH A MINOR ISSUE.RECALLS FOR "KEYS TURNING OFF" HAVE HAPPENED, AND THE MANUFACTURERS KNEW ABOUT IT. SUBARU KNOWS THIS HAPPENS AND I HOPE THERE WILL BE A RECALL TO FIX THIS VERY DANGEROUS SITUATION. I HOPE THIS IS BOUGHT TO THE HIGHEST OFFICIALS AT NHTSA AND IS ADDRESS PROPERLY. I HOPE NO ONE GETS KILLED BEFORE THIS IS ADDRESSED.

MY CAR HAS HAD CYLINDER MISFIRES FOR OVER A YEAR. SUBARU HAS TOLD ME IT IS "NOT THEIR PROBLEM" AND THEY HAVE CHARGED ME OVER $2,000 FOR THE VARIOUS TIMES I HAVE BROUGHT IT IN TO FIX THE PROBLEM. THEY JUST "FIXED" IT LAST WEEK AND WITHIN 1 DAY, ALL MY CHECK ENGINE LIGHTS CAME BACK ON, AND WITHIN 3 DAYS IT IS MISFIRING AGAIN. THEY DO NOT RETURN MY CALLS OR PROPERLY SERVICE MY CAR. I BELIEVE THIS IS AN ENGINE RECALL PROBLEM THEY ARE AVOIDING FOR THE COSTS ASSOCIATED WITH THE RECALL. I DO NOT WANT THIS DANGEROUS CAR.

ALL OF BELOW: SINCE EARLY ORIGINAL OWNERSHIP, FOR YEARS SUBARU DISMISSED REPEATED REPORTING OF (MOVING, STATIONARY, ALL ROADS): TAKATA RECALL AIRBAG WARNING LIGHT ILLUMINATION. ONLY AFTER NATIONAL AIRBAG RECALL DID SUBARU RECOGNIZE CONCERN AND ADDRESS. SUBARU RECENTLY HAS SERVICED AIRBAG TWICE. BOTH TIMES, SHORTLY AFTER SERVICE DASH WARNING LIGHTS ILLUMINATED: AIRBAG, CRUISE, CHECK ENGINE. ALSO, ERRATIC CRUISE FUNCTION AND ENGINE CLICKING NOISE (MOVING, ALL ROADS) RESULTED. FOR NUMEROUS WEEKS, SUBARU HAS BEEN REFUSING TO FIX LETHAL AIRBAG/S AND REMEDY DAMAGE/CONCERNS RESULTING FROM AIRBAG SERVICE. SUBARU SEEKS PAYMENT FOR DIAGNOSIS (AND PRESUMABLY, SUBSEQUENT SERVICE) OF AIRBAG AND RELATED DAMAGE/CONCERNS AND A WRITTEN WAIVER FOR THIS SERVICE AND ANY FUTURE SERVICE NEEDS AS CONDITION OF SERVICE. BRAKES RUSTING, SQUEALING, SPONGINESS. WEEKS BEFORE WARRANTY EXPIRED SUBARU DISMISSED ISSUES. WEEKS AFTER WARRANTY, (AT SOME 25K MILES) SUBARU SOUGHT TO SELL SOME $1900 IN NEW BRAKES OR NEW CAR. SUBARU RELENTED MONTHS LATER, ADDRESSING CONCERN. THEREAFTER, FOLLOWING THE NATIONAL BRAKES RECALL, SUBARU REPORTED NO SERVICE NEEDED ON SECOND FULL SET OF BRAKES. THIS MONTH REPLACED 4 ROTORS (AND PADS)'THIS IS THE THIRD TIME 4 ROTORS INSTALLED ON ORIGINAL-OWNERSHIP CAR WITH SOME 65K MILES. ENGINE'S LOUD RATTLING, GURGLING. SUBARU EVENTUALLY ADMITTED AND SERVICED HEATSHIELD DEFECT. SUBARU HAS STATED REPEATEDLY HEATSHIELD ISSUE CAN'T BE RESOLVED. AFTER THREE SERVICES, SUBARU REPORTED RELATED ENGINE DAMAGE: OIL LEAK AND CATALYTIC. CHRONIC HEATSHIELD AND RELATED DAMAGE/CONCERNS ONGOING. WINDSHIELD INTERIOR POOLING WATER AND ICING (NEEDING SCRAPING OFF DESPITE WINTER-PACKAGE WINDSHIELD HEATING), AS WELL AS EXTERIOR WINDSHIELD SEAL SLIDING FREELY. ONLY AFTER SHIELD SPONTANEOUSLY CRACKED DID SUBARU RECOGNIZE ISSUES AND ADDRESS.