When braking hard, the engine shudders and quits. When car is put in park or neutral it can be started. At time the entire dash lights all go on before the engine shudders and quits when braking at stop lights. My mechanis said it is the torque converter. This is a know issue with subaru 2012 models. This could cause my car to be rearended by another car with the sudden engine stop. Subaru will not recall these vehicles but does offer an extended warranty. The problem is that, in most cases, the issues happens with more than 100,00 miles on the dodmeter. This seems like it could be a safety issue.
2012 Subaru Outback transmission complaints
Page 2 of 5: complaints 11 to 40 of 108, newest first, as owners wrote them.
I own a 2012 Subaru Outback 2.5i Premium. The vehicle has approximately 161k miles. Recently, I have noticed the car beginning to stutter when approaching an abrupt stop. There have since been several instances where the car will stall when coming to a quick stop. This happened to me in the middle of traffic one day and I had my family in the car with me. In my opinion, this issue jeopardized the safety of my family. Stalling in the middle of the road and having to restart the car each time is a huge concern for me. My wife and I are now terrified to drive the car due to the looming safety concern. Upon further research, the problem stems from a faulty torque converter on the car, confirmed by TSB 16-90-13R. Subaru has not made this a recall unfortunately, but I don't feel I should be the one to pay the cost for a repair that is in my opinion very serious. Please take action to make this needed repair a more serious concern.
Vehicle has always stuttered coming to stops but has began to start stalling. The problem was never diagnosed previously. Now that it is have found to be the torque converter I actually know what is happening. I don’t think being unable to rely on you vehicle to continue running in an emergency stop or break pump is a safety issue Subaru should take lightly. I have been faced with two Subaru known problem repairs recently that I didn’t know of at the time of purchase. The head gasket which left me stranded on a trip and a torque converter. The first was close to a 4k$ repair and the second is coming close to 2k$ repair. I am growing frustrated with Subaru ignoring how dangerous this and also how they are ignoring customer concerns. Both these issues are well documented by owners experiencing the same things I am. I would like to express this has happened since the vehicle was new but has gotten worse and is now stalling. Thank you, Joni
I own a 2012 Outback 2.5 Limited, which I purchased new from a Subaru dealer in Evanston IL in June 2012. It currently has about 76000 miles on it. In the last 6 months my car started to shudder when coming to a stop at a traffic signal, or sometimes while being stopped at the signal. The shudder is significant but typically momentary and happens randomly. From the last 2-3 weeks, the car has started to stall and the engine shuts down abruptly when coming to a stop. This is very stressful, but fortunately, so far I have been able to put the car in P and start it again every time. However, this is very dangerous and puts me and my family at grave risk of a serious accident from cars coming from behind as my car stalls abruptly. Again, this happens randomly which makes it even more dangerous and impossible to mitigate as a driver. This has now happened multiple times and I called a local Subaru dealership. They gave an estimate of over $8000 to repair this issue. They also said they will repair the car only if they are able to recreate the problem. I am afraid that they will not be able to recreate the problem as it happens randomly as mentioned earlier. As far as I know no warning lights on my dash are on and the car otherwise runs normally.
I experienced issues with the engine of my 2012 Subaru Outback shutting down at times when coming to a stop, and also stalling/idling when accelerating (such as when entering freeway). My engine light and brake light also turned on at the same time. Very concerned, I took it in to the local Subaru service center at around 112,000 miles. They inspected the car and replaced 2 spark plugs, and must have restart the computer to turn the warning lights off. Recently at 117,000 after entering the freeway at night , my car roughly idled and the stalled and would not properly accelerate, almost causing me to crash as it happened suddenly while driving on freeway. The engine light was flashing and brake light came on as well. I immediately pulled over. After the Subaru inspection the next day, I was told that this was being caused by the torque converter and is a known issue on this model. This is a very dangerous issue, I believe that if this incident would have happened the next morning while on my commute instead of at the less busy hour at night, a crash would have occurred. I believe a recall is warranted on this dangerous issue as it is known by Subaru that this issue affects certain models and they will not provide much help to customers if they are past the extended warranty. The issue can occur past the 100,000 mile mark on an otherwise good condition and well cared for vehicle. This puts the customer and other drivers at great risk. I am very concerned and upset about the danger this put myself and others in. I was personally left on the side of the freeway at night at 7 months pregnant, but the situation could have been much worse. Since Subaru is not required to let customers know of this issue, customers may experience this issue without proper remediation until a serious issue happens.
Torque Converter issue consistent with Subaru Service Bulletin 16-90-13. Although Subaru issued a service bulletin with extended warranty rather than a recall, I want to document this as an ongoing problem with the model year and still a dangerous one. 08/09/2021 the vehicle shuddered while coming to a stop at a light, like the RPMs were dropping too low. At the next light, the vehicle shuddered and stalled while coming to a stop at the light. I was able to restart the vehicle after I realized the engine was dead and I needed to put the vehicle back into park before it would turnover. I couldn't immediately identify what I needed to do to restart, since the car won't turnover in drive, so I was stalled for a cycle of the stoplight. A few days later, the vehicle again shuddered and stalled while coming to a stop at a light. I had been driving for maybe 3 minutes from a cold start. I was again able to restart the vehicle. The second stall definitely felt like a transmission issue, and matched the description of a bad torque converter (technical service bulletin 16-90-13) for this model year. I had the issue diagnosed at my local Subaru dealership, and they identified it as being consistent with a bad torque converter, possibly requiring replacement of the valve body assembly if torque converter replacement was ineffective. I had the torque converter replaced by a Subaru dealership on 09/15/2021. My vehicle is outside the extended warranty period. I've made several stops without issue since the repair. With this issue, I was concerned what would happen if I was on the freeway and needed to suddenly decelerate, or what would have happened if my first time experiencing the issue, where I was stalled for almost a minute and was unable to restart the vehicle immediately, would have occurred during a freeway slowdown. I would have been a sitting duck. Even being stalled at a busy light could have been dangerous for me.
The vehicle stalled a few times in 2017 and 2018 while shifting from reverse to drive; and while coming from a stop, on steep hill, and releasing brake to get moving in traffic. It also shuddered randomly while transitioning gears from park to reverse/drive or reverse to dive and vice versa. I took it to the dealer who we purchased it from and they identified it as a transmission issue that can be resolved via an extended warranty. At the time the vehicle had about 70k miles. They replaced the torque converter, valve body and strainer in 2018. The car randomly shudders slightly between shifts from reverse to drive and vice versa, but the dealer who replaced the parts could not identify it. I took vehicle to another dealer who could also not replicate the issue. There was one time where it shook noticeable after exiting the freeway and coming to a stop but the car did not stall. In 2021, with the car approaching 97.5k in miles, stalled when I shifted from reverse to drive getting out of a parking spot on a busy street. It restarted after I put into park and was able to change gears and get out safely. I noticed it shudders when the engine is warm. Sometimes it feels unsafe when I am trying to get out of a parking spot on a busy street or on a hill. I took it back to dealer who made the warranty repair. They could not replicate the issue. They cleaned the throttle body and found no codes on the ecu. They said they felt a slight shudder but that this is normal. They said I could take it for a second opinion but I did that already at another dealer previously. I spent hundreds of dollar to try to get a diagnosis but to no avail. I have properly maintained the car as recommended. It feels very strange that this continues to happen but the dealer cannot replicate and identify. Sometimes we feel unsafe or worried that it will stall at the wrong time.
Subaru outback (2012), when stopped for 1-2 minutes, with the engine and ignition off, and the gear shift in park, on a slight incline (to check a potential safety hazard) suddenly rolled backwards as I was leaning in to retrieve my bag. I was dragged across the normally busy road, barely able to hang on (by both hands grabbing anything I could inside the car). My legs scraped on the ground violently burning though my sneaker then ankle flesh and grazed the bone badly. My legs on the road turned the 1.5 ton vehicle a few degrees as it careened under rapid acceleration reaching an estimated 8-10 MPH bumping over 2 kerbs pulled me even further out of the car, but still hanging on. Luckily the open driver's door engaged with a hedge which ripped the door almost off the car and turned the car another 35 degrees or so, avoiding a violent crash into the neighbor's house. Instead the car grazed a wooden post (further slowing it) then hit a second post which brought the car to a hard stop. This pushed me out of the car onto a patch of grass, back to the car. An engineering assessment later revealed the shift-interlock had failed (involving a couple of parts) so that the gear may be shifted (or shift itself) when the engine and ignition are off with the keys still in. My injuries include ankle (on a leg with a hip replacement), ptsd (diagnosed as caused 100% by the crash) and exacerbation of multiple-sclerosis causing debilitating bouts of trigeminal neuralgia and with additional brain damage (proven by increased lesion load on mri scan). Therefore the vehicle failure on this model is also potentially dangerous to other owners of the same model car. We also researched and found one almost identical case with the same model, the same roll-in-park but far more serious injury as the driver was knocked down by the door, apparently as the car rolled over.
Tl* the contact owns a 2012 subaru outback. The contact stated that while attempting to reverse out of a parking space, the vehicle made a grinding sound but failed to engage in reverse. The contact shifted the gear shifter to neutral and had assistance from a bystander to push the vehicle out of the parking space. The vehicle was shifted into drive and operated as designed. The contact notified burlington subaru (351 shelburne rd, burlington, vt 05401) of the failure, and was informed that there was no recall related to the failure. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The contact's husband diagnosed the failure as a fractured reverse fork shift in the reverse cord and that the transmission needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not yet repaired. The failure mileage was 117,450.
Tl* the contact owns a 2012 subaru outback. The contact stated that while driving at various speeds, the vehicle hesitated while depressing the accelerator pedal, without warning. The contact initially took the vehicle to two separate independent mechanics who informed him that the transmission was defective and needed to be replaced. The contact then called subaru of spokane (423 w 3rd ave, spokane, wa 99201) and rairdon's subaru of auburn (3025 auburn way n, auburn, wa 98002) and was provided estimates for a new transmission. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was approximately 130,000.
Vehicle shakes and shutters when braking at higher speeds before coming to a stop. Stalls out often when approaching stop signs and red lights.
Vehicle has been stalling/shuddering while pressing on the brakes coming to a stop, engine has shut off twice during this. No pattern has been recognized, appears to be "random". Will slow down at a stop light and right before the complete stop, the engine shudders then completely dies with no warning. All the lights pop up on the dashboard, brake/gas pedal quits working unless I put the car in park and restart the vehicle. Very dangerous as it is random and without warning... Dealership states torque converter needs to be replaced. This should be recalled and paid for by subaru
Tl* the contact owns a 2012 subaru outback. The vehicle when slowing down and when stopped would suddenly stall without warning. The vehicle would immediately restart and the contact would be able to operate the vehicle as normal. The contact contacted the dealer (hanania subaru of orange park 6400 blanding blvd, jacksonville, fl 32244; (855) 851-7200) who stated that the transmission needed replaced. The vehicle had not been repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the issue and opened a case regarding the matter. The approximate failure mileage was 166,000. Invalid VIN. *ln
Vehicle shutters and stalls when braking on a city street, especially in colder weather (I first noticed this in the winter of 2018). On sept. 13, 2020, the vehicle violently lurched forward as I pulled out on a city street at lower speeds. After this occurred, the check engine light, oil temp, traction control light, and brake light came on on the dash. Diagnostic showed a p0700 and p2764 error codes indicating a need for a valve body replacement. Service bulletin 16-107-17r indicated that when replacing the valve body a newly designed part should be used because the old part does not work as well. When I called subraru, they discouraged me from replacing the valve body with the originally designed part even if it was brand new. I do not feel safe driving this vehicle without this repair and I feel that because subraru has a newly designed valve body part to address this issue, that this issue is not the result of normal wear and tear but should be a considered a recall instead.
Tl* the contact owns a 2012 subaru outback. The contact stated while driving 10 MPH, the vehicle loss motive power without warning while the accelerator pedal was depressed. Additionally, there was also a clunking sound coming from the vehicle. The vehicle was taken to subaru of san bernardino (645 auto center dr s, san bernardino, ca 92408, (909) 571-5480) and the contact was informed that the vehicle worked as designed. The vehicle was also taken to subaru of ontario (1195 auto center dr, ontario, ca 91761, (909) 487-8325) to be diagnosed. The contact was informed that the transmission and torque converter needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was contacted and offered to assist with the repair cost. The failure mileage was 87,000.
Intermittent dash lights flashing on my subaru 2012 outback, prompted me to take the car in for diagnosis. Subaru is notorious for dash lights flashing when there might be an issue. Brought car in but they could not find issue in about 3 instances.I did the flashing lights reset, but came back on. When lights flash, many other car functions cease, such as cruise control, manual gear function goes inop, etc. Plus flashing lights disguise other issues that may be going on as well (such as brakes), plus very scary in itself. Historically, I am tracking that subaru has had many issues with this and no time or reason of what could cause these problems or even a solution from them. Subaru finally said I have CVT issue with the torque piece it cause this to slow down in the car and concerned that the whole transmission will go out decide to give them a call trying to get the issue resolve but was told I was out of the warranty!. There was a letter send to me that extended from 60k miles to 100k just recently, but subaru said my car just missed the warrant work/recall by 4k miles which I think is quite concerning since it has been identified as an issue (recall). Does the issue stop at 100k?
Intermittent dash lights flashing on my subaru 2012 outback, prompted me to take the car in for diagnosis. Subaru is notorious for dash lights flashing when there might be an issue. Brought car in but they could not find issue. Flashing lights reset, but came back on. When lights flash, many other car functions cease, such as cruise control, manual gear function goes inop, etc. Plus flashing lights disguise other issues that may be going on as well (such as brakes), plus very distracting in itself. Historically, I am tracking subaru has had many issues with this and no rhyme or reason of what could cause these. Anyhow, subaru finally said I have a power train issue, bad solenoid that is causing irregular shifting or no shifting to a higher gear. It causes a vibration in the car and concerned that the whole transmission will go out. There was a recall that extended from 60k miles to 100k just recently, but subaru said my car just missed the warrant work/recall by 14k miles which I think is quite concerning since it has been identified as an issue (recall). Does the issue stop at 100k? I attached the response from subaru.
Tl* the contact owns 2012 subaru outback. The contact stated that while attempting to park the vehicle, the front driveshaft detached from the vehicle. The vehicle was not taken to be diagnosed nor repaired. The dealer was not contacted. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was 90,000.
Vehicle shudders and stalls when braking hard. It will not stall on a gradual stop but will stall in any situation when stopping quickly. Does not have to be a panic stop to stall, just hard braking. Resulting stall means loss of power brakes and steering. Have to shift into park and restart vehicle. Has no issues when running or driving. Engine runs vey smooth and has been well maintained as I am the original owner. It is an ongoing issue and repeatable in every circumstance. No computer codes set for this issue. Yet it happens every time there is hard braking which is every time it is driven. This is very dangerous and I am afraid to have my wife and son drive it much less myself.
Tl* the contact's wife owns a 2012 subaru outback. The contact stated that while driving and coming to a stop, the vehicle stalled without warning. The vehicle was restarted and operated as designed. The vehicle was taken to miller hill subaru located at (4710 miller trunk hwy, duluth, mn 55811, (218) 722-5337) to be diagnosed. The contact was informed that the torque converter in the transmission failed and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 105,000.
Transmission jerks. Then the instrument panel lights are flashing. Trac control,brake loight and cruise light flashing. Check engine light on and will not pass inspection!checked internet and many years and models have same problem. Repair cost of parts alone over $900 happens while accelerating.
Vehicle stalled out several times while driving. Once when braking hard after a car cut in front of me and the second when stopping quickly at a stop light. The car also shutters a little when idling. The dealer says it is the torque converter. I had a $3k transmission repair last year. They said the torque converter would be $1700. The car has 178,000 miles and has regular maintenance. The dealer said it was time to make a decision about a new car. What?! I know in the past these cars would easily make it to 300k miles. This should be a recall.
The vehicle stalls when coming to a stop. If the accelerator is pushed you can avoid the stall but this is not always feasible. The sudden stall out is very unsafe as it takes putting the vehicle in park, restarting, putting in drive to mobilize the vehicle again.
Tl* the contact owns a 2012 subaru outback. While driving approximately 45 MPH and reducing the speed to 20 MPH, the vehicle stalled and shut off. The vehicle was taken to subaru of glendale (1308 s. Brand blvd, glendale, ca) where it was diagnosed that the torque converter was faulty and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and did not assist. The failure mileage was 162,000.
I've been experiencing intermittent issues with the transmission where the vehicle would shudder like it was about to shut off when braking. I've also experienced issues where after starting the vehicle and placing the vehicle into gear, the vehicle would lock up. I took my vehicle to a certified mechanic back in september 2018 who pointed me to a technical service bulletin addressing the same issues I was having: tsb 16-90-13r, and recommended I go to a subaru dealership for diagnostics, and repair potentially under extended warranty. I did take my vehicle and get a transmission flush which seemed to alleviate the issue. However, after taking my vehicle to my local subaru dealership, I was told they could not reproduce the issue, or see any related codes; there doesn't appear to be any record of this issue recorded except for a related warranty request for seat repair. Now that I am experiencing this issue again, I took my vehicle back to the dealer. They gave me the same response and I escalated to soa asking for help getting this transmission repaired. Their response was the same as the dealership's response - that they could not reproduce the issue, and they will not perform the repair. I feel this is a serious issue that could lead to injury or death while operating the vehicle. However, I am still experiencing the issue from time to time, and I do not feel that this vehicle is safe. My wife primarily drives this vehicle to take my children to and from school and other activities. The last time this issue occurred, the vehicle would not start at the gym, and I had to drop everything to go pick up my child from school. My wife was able to restart the vehicle after turning off the vehicle, waiting for a minute, and starting again. This issue seems to occur at low rpms regardless if it is parked, or on city streets or highways.
When driving on the freeway my transmission suddenly lost power it would intermittently go then stop again. I had a semi right behind me that almost ran over the top of me. As I made it to my exit it began making noise. I drove it straight into my mechanic who thoroughly inspected it and said the transmission had failed.
After 7 years of diligent care of my 2012 outback, my transmission is failing. This is a known issue in my make and model. This will cost me $7k out of pocket to replace. Subaru claims to have 'quality as our highest priority', but did not address this known issue and have put the burden on their customers. This is my third subaru, and it would be nice if the company stood behind their work and supported their customers
My vehicle has been stalling when coming to a stop, it starts to shudder when slowing then stalls at stop. Safety is becoming an issue when in traffic, or on highway in stop and go. There has not been a recall for torque converter issues or CVT transmissions just extended warranty. Unfortunately there were not issues when this was extended. This is on a 2012 subaru outback, with 130,000 miles
Accelerating from a stopped position, or from a low speed as when making a turn or merging, the vehicle jerks and bucks, comes to a near stall at least once each time, more often 2 or 3 times in quick succession, until the vehicle gains more speed, approximately 10 MPH, and the symptoms subside. Vehicle was driven out of necessity a maximum 20 miles on a few days since symptoms began, consistently bucking and near stalling in those conditions, causing traffic disturbances and endangering my family, myself, and other drives on the road. 4 days later the dash lights came on while driving-check engine, flashing emergency brake, traction control, flashing at temp oil-I immediately pulled off the road, bucking and near stalling all the way. Car was towed. Odb-ii codes were-transmission control malfunction, and torque converter clutch pressure control solenoid central circuit. Mechanic says can't drive the car. Background checking shows that instead of a recall, a warranty was put in place then due to the extent of the complaints on this, warranty was extended, and subaru refuses to take appropriate action to resolve this unsafe, expensive, and known issue. There is additionally a sulev emissions warranty which covers this, but it only goes to 150,000 miles and is not a safety issue.
2012 subaru outback with approx. 122,000 miles. The CVT transmission began rasping while under acceleration. Randomly, and over a period of several days, the vehicle stalled, particularly when rapidly decelerating under braking conditions. This required the vehicle to be shifted into park or neutral and restarted. Online, I discovered that there is a rather lengthy history of problems with this subaru transmission, and that subaru, apparently to avoid a recall, extended its warranty on the 2012 outback to july 31, 2018 or 100,000 miles, whichever came first. I was never notified of the warranty extension, a fact that subaru USA on july 29, 2019 tacitly acknowledge (they said they had no record that I had been notified), but subaru USA said, despite this, that the warranty date and mileage had now expired and they could do nothing for me. Subaru USA also acknowledged that the estimated repair cost of $9500 was "quite high" and told me that as a "good will" gesture they were prepared to offer me $1500 credit toward the purchase of a new subaru.
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