Consumer Complaint Detail

SUBARU / OUTBACK / 1997

Recalls
0 Injured
Investigations
0 Death
Complaints
No Fire
Components - Details
NHTSA Complaint Number: 997064599 Incident Date: Oct, 14 1997
Consumer's City: WHITE CITY Consumer's State: OR
Vehicle Transmission Type: MAN Manufacturers Name: Subaru of America, Inc.
Model Name: OUTBACK Model Year: 1997
Vehicle Involved in a Crash: No Component's Description: Power train:manual transmission
Vehicle Involved in a Fire: No Persons Injured: 0
Vehicle's VIN#: 4S3BG6855V6 Date added to File: May, 25 2021
Date Complaint Received: Feb, 01 2001 Complaint Type: IVOQ
Incident Reported To Police: No Purchase Date: Aug, 31 1997
Was Original Owner: Yes Anti-lock Brakes: Yes
Number of Cylinders: 0 Date of Manufacturer: -
Was Vehicle Towed: - Description of the Complaints: Our 1997 subaru shares the common problem documented at http://forums.vmag.com/suvsubaru0200/messages/5096.html : namely, as with other subaru outbacks and foresters, it will spontaneously shift out of first gear into neutral -- completely by itself. it has been to the southern oregon subaru dealer in medford, oregon twice and the dealer has refused to correct the problem both times (even though it is both a major safety issue as well as an in-warranty covered defect). it was reported to the southern oregon subaru dealer within approximately the first year of ownership when we had positively identified that it was not merely a problem with incorrect placement of the shift lever during shifting. following the dealer's initial refusal to correct the problem, subsequent contact with subaru of america resulted in the assignment of case number 201743. according to soa, the dealer allegedly was contacted. nevertheless, on the second attempt to have the problem corrected, the dealer again refused. this appears to be a well-documented problem characteristic of subaru outback and forester vehicles (see the web site cited and related comments.) it appears that subaru is unwilling to correct this problem unless required to by nhsta. please protect myself and other subaru owners by making this a mandatory safety recall. thank you. no safety defect listed in summary. *ak