Subaru Complaint - 2000 Subaru needs new transmission w/ only 34K miles - 2000 Forester

Posted by Anonymous on 2002-03-14:

I have a 98 forester, had transmission problmes, it had a cooling line leak and they fixed it but it still seems to have problems, the power train on a Subaru is suppose to be 60k miles, mine had 34 k when this happened, Call subaru,and complain

Posted by Anonymous on 2002-03-14:

Although I have never experienced having the transmission fluid drained, when I purchased my Subaru the salesman warned me
of this issue and advised me to only have my oil changed at the Subaru dealership. I didn't believe him. However, on two separate
occasions while dropping my vehicle off for service, there were customers at the dealership with this exact problem. The dealer also
told me that they had to send technicans out several times a week to oil change places because no one could get an oil filter off a
Subaru unless they had special tools or know how. To me, this is a case of when being different is bad. All cars should have standardized
or similar oil systems so you can take the vehicle anywhere for oil changes because frankly there aren't enough Subaru dealers
in any given area.

Also, my 2000 Suburu Legacy Outback's rear tranmission failed at 50,000 miles. Thank the good Lord we purchased an extended
warranty or we would have had to pay around $2,000 for the repairs. I couldn't believe that a two year old car had a major
transmission failure (it was a standard 5-speed). Subaru's are supposedly so well known for their durability but I now believe
that may be true of the older models not the newer ones.

Since then, the vehicle was involved in an major accident and I'm hopeful that the insurance will total the vehicle. Both my seat
and my seat belt failed during the accident so I'm never buying another one. I'd definitely pursue the issue you are having as
an inferior design issue by the manufacturer who is aware of the potential problem but doesn't effectively warn consumers of
the risk with the oil system of the vehicle.

Good luck!

Posted by Anonymous on 2002-09-07:

We too had trouble with a Subaru transmission. We had to buy a rebuilt offical Subaru transmission at a cost of $5,000 installed. We had nightmares with this new rebuilt transmission too. We brought it back to the dealer six times because the wheels where binding and finally they replaced it and then called us saying the new replacement was defective so they had to order another. The last one has been okay but I lost over two weeks of work and placed and additional 1200 miles on my car for service. The Subaru rep. (Lukas) only offered a $150 coupon for more service at Subaru. Don't buy or trust Subaru!

Posted by Anonymous on 2003-03-30:

Well, well it seems Subaru has a problem it is not telling it's consumers. It appears that when a auto repair place drains your oil you should warn them not to drain your differiental too. Well how was I too know this would cost me $3500 to replace my the front differential in my 2002 Outback with less than 8k miles. It appears by these reports that Subaru has a design flaw that goes back to the 2000 Outback Legacy. It is that Subaru has not put out the proper notice on this or are the many service repair shops that unskilled to handled the new cars coming on the market. Is it our fault as a consumer that this is occuring. Not only is the repair facility denying liability for the damage but the original warranty and the extended warranty we purchased will not cover the damage because it was intentionally done. We now have a brand new vehicle that needs major repairs because a repair shop did not know what it was doing and Subaru may have a design flaw in the placement of the drain plugs for the engine oil and front differential, at least on the Outbacks if not on all Subaru's. The only thing I can say at this point is never another Subaru!

Posted by Anonymous on 2003-12-29:

if i had a subaru i would drive it like a race car and mess up the transmission that way.

Posted by Flying Dutchman42 on 2004-10-29:

I cant understand why you people have so much trouble with a subaru, the cars your buying i bet are not built in japan i bet they are american or canadian built subarus, well you cant blame subaru for the way the lazy americans put the cars togather, case and point i have a 1995 subaru impreza with 387000 miles and never any problems still runs great, but this subaru was built in japan and imported to the usa, my mother bought this car new she traded in a ford taurus that was nothing but trouble, i have owned several japanese built cars and have never had problems with them when they are built in japan and not america.

Posted by Blurt8 on 2007-09-17:

I have a 2000 Subaru Forrester and it IS easy to confuse the transmission filter and oil with the engine oil...on the drivers side of the engine is a spin on filter and drain plug.....look exactly like engine filter and oil...it is NOT...I made this mistake trying to change my own oil.

Posted by equiptech on 2008-03-27:

Subaru is one of the SMART designers to make a spin on filter for the Trans ( and a drain Plug) It is up to the Service shop to TRAIN their personnel to know how to CHANGE OIL!!! Seems your DISCOUNT oil change was not a sound decision?

Get confirmation from Subaru that this was the cause & a lawyer to collect from the oil change facility.
I speak as a retired ASE Tech & a former Auto shop owner!!

These places hire by price & change personnel by the DAY!