In early December 2010, suddenly the Outback we had, while my wife was driving made a huge rattling noise. She pulled over and called me - in the mean time, she called a towing agency too. We found that the noise is not from usual causes. The Subaru service staff called me next day and told me that the valve on the engine got damaged as the valve stem has fallen into the cylinder. This is due to differential heating of the head and stem. Therefore, the piston needs replacement. The cost was close to $3600. This is a safety issue and these cars should have been recalled. I am getting penalized for the design flaw.

Subaru customer service was willing to give me $500 towards buying a new Subaru!! The service tech Mr. Bob Ash was super. He is the best. Then the dealership made me a tempting offer, willing to trade in my car, write off my $3600 if I buy a new Subaru. I was willing .. they were quoting me MSRP and it actually does not write my service charges off! They possibly thought I am an idiot!!

So I got disgusted and paid the repair costs and running the car. My car has a perfect maintenance record and has only about 65,000 miles. The problem is related to design and Subaru has the responsibility, as this is a safety hazard. Imagine this happening on a busy interstate highway. I am going to take this up with automobile safety commission.

Subaru as a company was pathetic to help me out- the customer service is nonexistent. Subaru is not worth buying. I heard about this problem at several other sites also. If you have a outback and reaching 60,000 miles…please have your heart on your sleeve.