CarComplaints.com Notes: This new kid on the block has already earned the IIHS Top Safety Pick award for good ratings in 4 crash tests - moderate overlap frontal, side, rear and rollover.
This vehicle is covered up until 100,000 miles for the CVT transmission. I was at 113,000 miles and really had to complain to get the transmission replaced. I have another vehicle with a CVT transmission and it is a Ford. The transmission in my Ford does not seem to shift the same way the one does in the Subaru even after it was replaced. My Ford has 140,000 miles on it and it runs a lot better than the Subaru ever will. I don’t think I’ll ever buy a Subaru again.
Only a two weeks after getting back from a cross country road trip in our Subaru, my wife reported to me that her car was shifting funny (lurching into second and third gear, along with a “clanging†noise) the car also had the traction control light, Check engine light, and the AT OIL TEMP light all illuminated on the dash. I took the car to my local transmission shop immediately for a diagnosis.
After their inspection they concluded that the transmission was definitely bad, that there were loose/broken parts inside the transmission, and that it would need to be replaced. Okay, so how much for a new transmission from Subaru? 7-8 thousand dollars for them to replace it!!! The barely worth 8k when in good running condition. So we called the dealership to see if they could help us. They agreed with the transmission shop when we gave them details of the problem and said that the transmission needed to be replaced. They quoted us $9,000 for a new one with install! We called Subaru corporate HQ who then said they MAY OR MAY NOT HELP OUT with the cost of a new one and if they did they couldn't guarantee anything, they wouldn't tell us how much they would help out with or anything, they also said it would have to be diagnosed by their mechanics and it would cost an additional $160 for that.
The next day, my local transmission shop called me and said he could get a used Subaru xv Crosstrek transmission with 60k miles on it, and install it for $3000. Needless to say, that is the route we are going with. After the install we are planning on immediately selling it. I will never be buying a Subaru again, horrible experience of ownership with this vehicle.
These CVTs are not great. Ours completely failed at 123k miles. Out of warranty and repair costs were going to cost around $8k for a new CVT. No thanks, I'm not going to spend that much just to have it possibly fail again.
These are the same transmissions that have failures in Nissans over the last several years.
2013 Crosstrek XV lost it's CVT for no reason. Driving along normally at about 30mph, I suddenly heard a metallic screeching noise that I initially thought was the train next to the road. When it continued getting louder, I pulled into a parking lot and called my husband to come hear it for corroboration. After he arrived, I put it in reverse to back out of the parking spot and heard (and felt) a huge thunking noise from the engine compartment. At that point, I put it back in park and had it towed to Tacoma Subaru (where all my regular maintenance is done). They informed me that yes, the transmission was completely fried and they would replace it under warranty. However, I never got a reason why this would happen. I guess it is pretty uncommon, since I had to wait a month for the repair while a new transmission was built and shipped.
- Monica C.,
Tacoma, US
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A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
This vehicle is covered up until 100,000 miles for the CVT transmission. I was at 113,000 miles and really had to complain to get the transmission replaced. I have another vehicle with a CVT transmission and it is a Ford. The transmission in my Ford does not seem to shift the same way the one does in the Subaru even after it was replaced. My Ford has 140,000 miles on it and it runs a lot better than the Subaru ever will. I don’t think I’ll ever buy a Subaru again.
- Tanya G., Milwaukee, US