Consumer Complaint Detail

SUBARU / OUTBACK / 2000

Recalls
0 Injured
Investigations
0 Death
Complaints
No Fire
Components - Details
NHTSA Complaint Number: 003236205 Incident Date: May, 09 2003
Consumer's City: GAITHERSBURG Consumer's State: MD
Vehicle Transmission Type: AUTO Manufacturers Name: Subaru of America, Inc.
Model Name: OUTBACK Model Year: 2000
Vehicle Involved in a Crash: No Component's Description: Power train:automatic transmission:cooling unit and lines
Vehicle Involved in a Fire: No Persons Injured: 0
Vehicle's VIN#: 4S3BE686XY7 Date added to File: May, 25 2021
Date Complaint Received: Sep, 20 2003 Complaint Type: IVOQ
Incident Reported To Police: No Purchase Date: Apr, 24 2000
Was Original Owner: Yes Anti-lock Brakes: Yes
Number of Cylinders: 4 Date of Manufacturer: -
Was Vehicle Towed: - Description of the Complaints: We experienced problems with our 2000 subaru legacy outback as similarly reported in complaint # 766462 (transmission leaking fluid, smoking, failure). subaru dealer refused to provide warranty service for the transmission work (2 incidents between aug 2002 and may 2003), and only a letter by us in june 2003 (noting previous reports in nhtsa website & elsewhere) finally convinced subaru usa headquarters to investigate the problem further. the fix subaru performed was replacement of a seal between the transmission and differential housing, which seems to largely resolve the problem (although a slight smoke odor still occurs when driving at high speeds). subaru usa also refunded all our previous charges by the dealer for prior unsuccessful repairs (which should have been free under the warranty). there appears to be an inherent defect in this transmission (4eat model) under high heat conditions, which has a long historical track record in this regard. in one incidence, we almost incurred a severe fire on the road and this could be a potentially fatal hazard. nhtsa should examine this problem closely with subaru.*jb