2012 Subaru Outback: complete transmission failure

Filed Jan 25, 2021 · Transmission · 130,000 miles · WA

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.

Filed Mar 20, 2020 · Transmission · 105,000 miles · MN

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.

Filed Aug 9, 2019 · Transmission · 130,000 miles · TN

The CVT transmission failed while traveling at a high speed down the interstate with no warning. After doing further research subaru is very aware of this CVT issues and has taken a very poor and limited approach to stand behind and fix this issue. They told me at the dealership that I was on my own to pay for the repair and it was a 10k fix.

Filed Jul 17, 2019 · Transmission · 117,000 miles · MI

My daughter was driving this vehicle on highway and the car started shaking and stalled. Thank god the cars around her avoided hitting her. She could have easily been killed. We took it to dealership and they said the transmission failed. This car only has 117 thousand miles on it. I have looked and it seems like there have been a lot of transmission failures with this vehicle. Because of this they offered an extended warranty up to 100000 miles but nothing over this.and no recall.they should be forced to do a recall. This type of transmission failure is very dangerous especially when driving on the high way. It is also very expensive to fix we are being told it will cost 10000 dollars which we can not do. We are not covered under the extended warranty because it is over 100000 miles.

Filed Dec 8, 2018 · Transmission · 75,000 miles · CA

: the transmission stared acting up randomly in early february of 2017. The transmission would slam into gear while shifting from 2nd to 3rd gear, accompanied with a huge bang while the whole car would rattle for a second or so. A very scary and unsafe scenario because it felt like you were being hit from behind by another car. Afterward, the car would run normally for few days before it repeats. So I took my car to rallysport engineering in costa mesa, ca on april 10 who confirmed my complaint and replaced the valve cover of the transmission. The problem appears to be solved until a month later. Around june, a new transmission shifting problem was appearing and gradually getting worse. When tried to accelerate slowly while coasting between 3rd to 5th gear, the car would shudder noticeably and hesitate for a second or two before got going. This is a very scary and unsafe situation if you need to accelerate to avoid obstacles on highway or surface street. In july, I took the car back to rallysport engineering for repair. It confirmed the shuddering problem but it could not identify the cause so it referred me to subaru orange coast (oc) because it has access to technical support from a dedicated subaru factory 'super-tech'. Subaru oc kept my car for four days before returning to me. It could not identify my car problem, and instead, the mechanic staff told me I have differential and wheel bearing problems. I need to fix these two problems ($1012) before he can zero in on the transmission shuddering problem. I told the mechanic my car symptom is very repeatable and he should be able to duplicate and identify the problem without requiring me spending big money upfront. He was unable to help because there was no stored diagnostic code to guide him! I complained and shared information with subaru of america but no avail.

Filed Oct 23, 2018 · Transmission · 103,000 miles · FL

'went for a drive to run errands and then the transmission started shifting violently in the lower gears. After the third red-light, the transmission shifted so hard that the car shut off on me. After sitting on the side of the road for a while, I started the car again and drove it straight to the dealership. The dealership informed me that it was a CVT transmission issue, and subaru was aware of the issue. I was quoted to replace the transmission at $8000. In an effort to avoid a recall at all costs, subaru issued a warranty increase to 100,000 miles instead of 60,000 in direct response to the increasing complaints about the CVT transmission. The car has 103,000 miles so it is not covered under the warranty, I tried contacting subaru and they said 103,000 is over 100,000 sorry. What is interesting is that under the maintenance for transmission, it says no maintenance is required, to not even change the transmission fluid. If you tell your consumers that the CVT transmission does not require maintenance, and tell them not to change their fluid aren't you liable if the transmission fails?

Filed Feb 28, 2018 · Transmission · 59,000 miles · MN

In april of 2017, the transmission completely and suddenly failed while traveling on I 35 southbound in iowa. (we were traveling around 60 miles an hour when the transmission failed) we had it towed to closest subaru dealer, who then denied the warranty. We were at approximately 59,000 miles and 2 months shy of the original transmission warranty. Even after they sent out letters less than 2 months later extending the warranty on the transmission to 100,000 miles they have continued to deny the warranty and have continued to blame the 3rd party who performed an oil change on the car. The party that performed the oil change is a well established ase certified company. They only performed an oil change and tire service they did nothing with the transmission. Their refusal has dragged on for almost a year straining our finances. We are still in the process of litigation through our attorney. As a consumer we feel outmatched. It is incredibly frustrating especially since they have admitted that they have a transmission problem. Yet they still refuse to fix or solve the problem in anyway and have hired a partner at an expensive law firm to continue to deny the warranty. How is the average consumer supposed to handle this type of situation? I have read in forbes magazine that consumer groups and your organization are aware of this problem but I wanted to make you further aware that even though they have admitted the problem they still continue to make it a problem for the consumer. Thank you

Filed Sep 27, 2017 · Transmission · 132,000 miles · CA

My transmission failed at 120k miles. Subaru reimbursed me for a replacement which failed 9k miles later. I replaced that one out of my own pocket with a used transmission with only 35k miles on it. The third transmission failed while my wife and I were in the fast lane on a major freeway. We had to navigate across traffic with absolutely zero acceleration. Subaru claims that their transmissions do not put their customers in danger, but I am on my fourth transmission and the last one almost caused us to get into an accident with a tractor-trailer.

Filed Apr 18, 2017 · Transmission · 82,511 miles · OH

Failure of the torque converter caused transmission failure and required a complete overhaul at 82511. I was not informed by the dealership there was a service bulletin by the dealership.

Filed Jan 9, 2017 · Transmission · 79,500 miles · CA

Purchased a used 2012 subaru outback and about one year into owning it, it started to stutter when coming to a stop - as if it were a manual transmission and you did not push the clutch in. It will stutter and then completely die and you have to put the car back in park or neutral to start again. If braking quick or hard, it will always die. Gradual stops are better, but in the event you needed to stop fast and get out of the way - you cannot. Seems to be an extreme safety hazard to me and my family or anyone that would hit me because my car stalled, however, when contacting subaru, they do not feel it is an issue and want me to pay over $8000 to replace the entire transmission. The car has approximately 80,000 miles on it. I researched online and many, many people have the same issue with the 2010-2012 models and subaru issued a service bulletin #16-90-13 design change to lock-up type torque convertor - so they know there is an issue but did not make it a recall - though they also state they changed the assembly after 2012 because of the issues with the CVT transmissions. Also when researching, many other affected owners state only the torque converter was replaced and were charged anywhere from $1300 to $1800 to only replace that - and some stated subaru paid for it entirely, other say they refused to pay - the customer service person I spoke with at subaru stated they would only do a 'good will gesture of $2500 towards the entire transmission replacement. I owe $15,000 on the car, it's not worth that on bluebook and I do not have $5500 to pay for something I feel they should fix as a recall.