2014 Subaru Xv Crosstrek

On June 11, 2021, my wife and I were driving our 2014 Subaru Crosstrek (120,000 miles) from Milwaukee to Manitowish Waters, WI. About 20 miles north of Milwaukee on I-41 Northbound, my wife was driving at 70 mph when suddenly we both noticed a strong lurching from the CVT transmission. This was followed a few seconds later by a complete lockup of all four wheels on our car. Fortunately this did not happen in the left lane or we would've been in a terrible accident. My wife managed to steer the skidding car onto the highway shoulder until it came to a rest. The engine was still running. The transmission was completely dead. We called a towing company to tow the car to Sommers Subaru in Mequon WI. They diagnosed the problem as sudden catastrophic transmission failure and told us that the 2014 Crosstrek had tons of problems with the CVT. We told the service department that we could have been seriously injured or killed had my wife not been driving in the right lane of the interstate. We paid $7,800 for a remanufactured CVT as the power train was out of warranty. I have seen one other report of catastrophic CVT failure on your website involving a 2014 Crosstrek (Danbury CT). I'm sure there are others out in the world who have also suffered this, and God knows how many may have resulted in accidents with injuries or death. Perhaps they did not know to contact NHTSA with their experiences. I pray that you will initiate an investigation into this issue and force Subaru USA to issue a recall on their 2014 Crosstreks to replace the transmissions that are the source of these frightening incidents. Thank you.

DRIVING ON THE FREEWAY AT 135,961 MILES, JUST 5 MONTHS AFTER PULLING THE CAR OFF A USED LOT. ALL DASH LIGHTS ARE ILLUMINATED, VEHICLE ENCOUNTERS LOSS OF ACCELERATION AND I PULLED TO THE SHOULDER. I ATTEMPT TO RESTART VEHICLE, AND LIGHTS RETURN TO NORMAL, AND I ATTEMPT TO MAKE MY WAY HOME. LIGHTS ARE ILLUMINATED ONCE AGAIN, BUT I DO NOT HAVE LOSS OF ACCELERATION THIS TIME. TAKE IT TO BE SERVICED, LH FRONT AXLE FAILED, NEEDS REPLACED, ENGINE BLOCK HAS CONSIDERABLE OIL LEAK, VALVE BODY REPLACEMENT REQUIRED (COVERED UNDER WARRANTY THANK GOODNESS). 4 MONTHS LATER AFTER CAR SEEMS TO BE IN REPAIRED AND WORKING ORDER, THE SAME ISSUE AGAIN, THIS TIME THE RH FRONT AXLE IS REPLACED, ALTHOUGH NO ENGINE LEAK, THE SERVICE TECH IS NO LETTING ME KNOW THAT ON THEIR TEST DRIVE AFTER THEY REPLACED THE AXLE THE TRANSMISSION FAILED AND WILL NOW NEED TO BE REPLACED. I CAN NOT AFFORD THE CVT REPLACEMENT AT $8000 FIX. THE CAR HAS NOW BEEN SITTING IN MY DRIVEWAY AS I ATTEMPT TO FIND MONEY FOR THE REPAIRS.

I AM HAVING AN ISSUE WITH MY KEY NOT BEING RELEASED FROM THE IGNITION ONCE THE VEHICLE IS PUT INTO PARK AND TURNED OFF. I HAVE RESEARCHED THIS AND IT IS A KNOWN ISSUE CAUSED BY THE SHIFTER PLATE GUIDE NOT BEING INSTALLED CORRECTLY AT THE FACTORY ON MY VEHICLE MODEL AND CAN COST ANYWHERE FROM $350-$450 TO REPAIR AT A DEALER. AS THIS IS A KNOWN FACTORY ISSUE I BELIEVE THIS SHOULD BE COVERED UNDER A RECALL BY SUBARU. IT IS NOT ANYTHING THAT I AS AN OWNER COULD PREVENT THROUGH REGULAR MAINTENANCE. THIS COULD LEAD TO SAFETY ISSUES AS THE SHIFTER PLATE CONTINUES TO WEAR DUE TO INCORRECT INSTALLATION. THE ISSUE BEGAN IN JUNE 2020.

I BACKED OUT OF MY DRIVEWAY, INTO THE ROAD. WHEN I DROVE AWAY, NO FASTER THAT 25 MPH, I NOTICED THAT ALL THE WARNING LIGHTS ON MY DASH WERE ILLUMINATED. ALARMED, I PROMPTLY RETURNED MY CAR TO THE DRIVEWAY AND SHUT IT OFF. I HAD TRAVELED NO FURTHER THAN 100 YARDS. WONDERING IF MAYBE IT WAS A FLUKE, I TRIED TO TURN THE CAR ON AGAIN, BUT THE CAR WAS COMPLETELY UNRESPONSIVE. I CALLED AAA TO HAVE IT TOWED TO THE DEALERSHIP. AAA'S DIAGNOSTIC CODES WERE: P0851, P0705, P0700. ONLINE RESEARCH SHOWED THAT THESE RELATE TO THE TRANSMISSION. FURTHER SEARCHES BROUGHT UP A FORBES ARTICLE ABOUT SUBARU'S CHOICE TO EXTEND WARRANTEES ON KNOWN TRANSMISSION PROBLEMS INSTEAD ISSUING A RECALL--SO AS TO SAVE MONEY. WHEN I ASKED SUBARU SERVICE ABOUT THE CODES, THEY CALLED THEM "PHANTOM CODES"--HOWEVER I NOTED THAT THE REPAIR WORK WAS COVERED UNDER WARRANTEE--INDICATING IT RELATED TO THE TRANSMISSION--HARDLY A "PHANTOM". I AM FORTUNATE TO HAVE BEEN SO CLOSE TO HOME WHEN MY TRANSMISSION FAILED--TO HAVE NOT BEEN ON A REMOTE ROAD TRIP WITH MY KIDS WHERE THERE'S NO CELL SERVICE, OR DRIVING THROUGH A SKETCHY NEIGHBORHOOD ON MY WAY HOME FROM WORK, OR TRYING TO GET MY HUSBAND TO THE ER WITH ANAPHYLAXIS FROM A BEE STING (ALL REAL SCENARIOS I'VE BEEN IN, THANKFULLY WITH A FUNCTIONING CAR). WHEN SUBARU CHOOSES TO LET CARS FAIL FOR A KNOWN PROBLEM AND RELY ON EXTENDED WARRANTEES INSTEAD OF RECALLING THEM BEFORE THEY FAIL, THERE ARE A MYRIAD LIFE-THREATENING POTENTIALITIES. ANYTHING LESS THAN A RECALL IS NEGLIGENCE ON THE PART OF SUBARU.

DRIVING ON THE FREEWAY AT 60MPH, WARM DAY (75) A/C WAS ON, STARTING TO ACCELERATE UP A SLIGHT INCLINE, THE ENGINE LOST POWER AND CAR STARTED SLOWING DOWN. THE GAS PEDAL/ACCELERATION WAS NOT WORKING. THE CAR WENT LIMP AND ACTED AS IF IT WAS IN NEUTRAL. WHILE TRYING TO PULL OVER TO THE SIDE OF THE FREEWAY, THE ACCELERATION KICKED BACK IN AS IF NOTHING HAPPENED. THIS HAPPENED TWICE. THE SECOND TIME I WAS DRIVING ON CITY STREETS AT 40MPH, SAME CONDITIONS OUTSIDE, AND GOING UP A SLIGHT HILL IN SAN FRANCISCO, THE POWER DIES/GOES LIMP, A FEW SECONDS LATER, POWER ON ACCELERATION COMES BACK. THERE WAS NO CHECK ENGINE LIGHT ON.

SUBARU XV CROSSTREK AXLE FAILURE I BOUGHT MY 2014 SUBARU XV CROSSTREK IN JAN 2014. AT 50K HEARD A CLICKING SOUND IN THE FRONTEND. TOOK IT TO THE DEALER AND THEY DIAGNOSED A BROKEN DRIVER SIDE AXLE. IN JULY 2019 (AT APPROXIMATELY 80K ON THE ODOMETER) I HEARD A SIMILAR CLICKING SOUND COMING FROM THE FRONT OF THE CAR WHEN TURNING. I TOOK IT TO THE DEALER FOR A BRAKE LIGHT SWITCH RECALL. THEY INSPECTED THE VEHICLE AND THIS TIME IT WAS MY RIGHT AXLE THAT HAD TO BE REPLACED. I HAVE RESEARCHED THE ISSUE ON THE INTERNET AND HAVE LEARNED THAT MANY OTHER CROSSTREK OWNERS HAVE EXPERIENCED SIMILAR AXLE FAILURES AND REPLACEMENTS. SOUNDS LIKE THE AXLES ARE DEFECTIVE AND POSSIBLY A SAFETY ISSUE.