The throwout bearing makes a loud screeching noise on cold start. Started at 16,000 miles and the car now has 23,000 miles and the noise is getting progressively louder. The noise used to settle down after about 1-2 minutes of driving, but now it takes approximately 15 minutes for the noise to dissipate.

Subaru claims that this is normal operation and no repair is needed. The screeching is loud enough for my neighbors to hear. How is this normal? Additionally, there are other owners complaining of the same issue on the Subaru forums. However, there were a bunch of people who stated that they're dealer had replaced the throwout bearing under warranty.