2021 Subaru Ascent: jerking or lurching

Filed Jul 8, 2025 · Transmission · PA

On Friday, June 13, 2025, while (thankfully) in my driveway, the transmission broke on my 2021 Subaru Ascent in my driveway. I simply started my car, put it in reverse, and my car jerked and stopped. NO prior warning. I was on a slight slope. I thank my lucky stars I did not have my kids out on the road when it happened. I had to have it towed to the closest Subaru dealership (a $395 charge). Upon inspection, my transmission (the CVT model) was no longer working. My car was bought in December 2021 and it has around 80,000 miles on it. In researching, I saw that the 2019 and 2020 models with the CVT had been recalled (or had their warranties extended to 100,000 miles coverage) for the EXACT thing that happened to my car. If I am correct, my car was manufactured in November of 2020 from what I was told. I find it so hard to imagine that a transmission should fail due to "no reason" at this point, my car is not even 5 years old! The fact that this has happened on cars right in the timeframe of when mine was made, it's hard to imagine I should have to pay almost $10,000 for a new transmission when the history of these transmissions failing have been quite newsworthy! It was not fixable, the only choice I was given was to buy a new transmission. In today's economy, I just find this unacceptable.

Filed Oct 13, 2023 · Transmission · CO

Car has always refused to accelerate if gas pedal is pushed down too quickly. Just before 60K miles, on way home we had pulled over at a roadside stop on a hill. Tried to pull across highway to continue up road, car refused to accelerate and luckily were able to brake in time to keep from getting t-boned by big truck heading down the hill. No trouble lights came on, so weren't sure if this was operator failure from pushing gas down on hill or mechanical problem. Also were too close to 60K miles to get home and back to dealership without going over warranty and serious service issues with dealership previously, and leaving for vacation following day. Decided to see if there were further problems. Live at 8K elevation, vacation at half that. No further problems until after returning from vacation. Car definitely hesitating when cold to accelerate at 8K elevation. Checked owners manual, at this time believed appropriate 36K service at dealership had inspected CVT fluid as requested, and was a bit early for next inspection listed in book at 66K miles, but thought perhaps CVT fluid needed changed (did not expect transmission to be failing with such a new car, only a bit over warranty miles now). Because of previous with dealership, instead found ASE certified shop for CVT fluid inspection. Fluid at shop inspection was dark and needed replaced. Shop exchanged with OEM fluid, not Subaru brand. CVT functioned much better for a time, then got worse and not just hesitating with cold but also jerking. Called service shop to insure they had used correct fluid and amount, they had. Brought in to confirm and fluid level was correct. They suspected CVT was failing. Called Subaru of America and made appointment at suggested dealership different from purchase dealership, confirmed transmission failure. Dealership rented car for safety because of suspected CVT failure. Subaru refused to replace CVT under warranty and wanted $7K+ to fix after $3K "discount: Still no trouble lights.

Filed Aug 22, 2023 · Transmission · WA

First transmission was replaced after months of trying to get the issue diagnosed. Symptoms included severe hesitation when trying to accelerate, shuttering, and feeling of jerking between gears even though it's a CVT. This escalated to shuttering while driving on the highway. Because the problem was intermittent, my car spent a great deal of time in the shop trying to get a diagnosis. After much back-and-forth with Subaru of America, the transmission was replaced at 48,000 miles. I asked for an extended warranty beyond the 60k warranty due to the fact that it took so long to get the first issue properly fixed. They said no. Less than 3,000 miles later and I'm having the same jerking/hesitation issues. The dealership technician says he cannot duplicate the problem, and SOA still refuses to honor an extended warranty. My 60k warranty is almost up and I fear that I will end up paying for a new transmission or worse, end up in an accident due to the poor performance issues. Subaru will do nothing about this known issue.

Filed Jul 3, 2022 · Transmission · TX

Vehicle will jerk and shudder when accelerating and de-accelerating. Mostly between 15mph and 30mph. I’ve taken the vehicle back to the dealership and they didn’t find the issue. This prompted me to do some research online and found in one of many. There is a class action lawsuit for 2018-2019 Ascents. The 2020-2021 and 2022 models will follow suit as they have identical issues. I’m concerned the transmission will fail and I’ll have a lemon on my hands. The sudden loss of power to sometimes sudden acceleration by suddenly downshifting is a concern. The vehicle will often hesitate while it tries to figure out which gear it needs. This has been happening since day 1 of ownership.

Filed Mar 18, 2021 · Driver assistance, Steering · 2,500 miles · NC

The 2021 ascent has lane centering assist with very strict margins. It is a constant tug of war with the vehicle when lane centering is active. When you let the car take over, it violently jerks you into the next lane. This problem has been cross checked with other users on a subaru forum and all have the same issue. The car overcorrects and is prone to cause an accident at some point. I am lucky no one was in the lane next to me when the car swerved me into the next lane. My 2021 is a replacement of a 2020 model because the 2020 was deemed a lemon. The 2020 model did not have lane centering but lane keep assist instead. The 2020 did not violently jerk into the next lane. This issue has been reported to leslie karpiak at soa who helped me through my lemon issue on the 2020 model. I requested a full buy back and she suggested I have my car inspected at a dealership, but that is a lengthy process and I have already spend 3 months in and out of dealerships with my 2020 model. This appears to be a common issue on all 2021 models and should be investigated fully. I am holding subaru 100% liable when an accident occurs because of this lane centering issue. This issue happens on a continuous driving basis. Your help and assistance is greatly appreciated for the sake of saving lives.

Filed Mar 17, 2021 · Driver assistance · 5,000 miles · WA

The lane assist feature (only an option when using adaptive cruise control; not the same as lane centering when not using the adaptive cruise control [the basics lane centering works just fine]) seems overly aggressive. Each time I have used lane assist with cruise control, it jerks the car very abruptly at times, almost to the extent of sending it into another lane if I do not intervene. I no longer feel safe using lane assist, so I turn it off when using cruise control. I am very concerned it's going to cause and accident. This has happened at least 5 times now while driving on the freeway (every time I have attempted to use lane assist).