Noticed this as soon as the weather turned cold. Thought it was ice but not any visible. It sometimes 4-5 try's to get the door open. Very frustrating when it's 0* and windy. At the next oil change, I mentioned it. The service adviser said "we have a fix for that". I guess they will only "fix" it if there is a complaint. They replaced a "saucer" thing on the gas door and no issues since.
Fuel door wouldn't open with 20 miles left in the tank. Fortunately we were close to home. Found this site and tried the screwdriver solution (with a cloth around it to protect the paint) and was able to open it. We just bought the car, it's the 3rd time we filled it up so I don't know if this is going to be a recurring problem but if it happens again we will be bringing it to the dealer and insist on a fix. Using a screwdriver to open the fuel door on a $23K car is obviously not a reasonable permanent solution. Thanks to Mike G. for the suggestion though, it got us out of a bind.
As many have already mentioned, the door to access the gas tank cap tends to stick. A few months after purchasing the car, which was in July '16, the door started to stick, and was happened quite frequently.
After sticking a slotted screwdriver in the little gap at the 9 o' clock position between the door and the body panel, I rotated the screwdriver slightly to open the gap between the door and panel, and the problem rarely (not enough to even remember the last time) occurs anymore.
3 times to dealer before they finally replaced the whole mechanism. Subaru should put a recall out for this......it's scary when you can't put gas in your car and made me totally anxious each time I went to the gas station.
Went to fuel vehicle, and the fuel door does not open. Called the dealer who informed me come in on Monday and will adjust the fuel door so it will open.
When I had my winter tires installed at the dealer, told them of the problem.They said the cable was adjusted and all was good. Next time I went to refuel, the issue was worse. Still haven't had it resolved. Now I don't let the gas level go below half full. Worried that that I could get stranded if I let the fuel level go too low. Now the dealer has become uncooperative. Other wise the car has been great.
Update from Feb 23, 2016: Problem has been resolved by the dealer following TSB. Hatch is now working as it should be.
Have taken car back to dealer twice to resolve problem. TSB fix does not work. The problem is the door is not centered in the body opening. Thus the door is hanging up on the plastic latch on the door, even though the cable pin is fully retracted. If you push on the door towards the hing the door will open with out a problem. But, wait about 5 minutes and the problem returns.
The door needs to be centered which will require them to remove some interior panels to get at the hinge to see if it can be adjusted to align the door correctly.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
Noticed this as soon as the weather turned cold. Thought it was ice but not any visible. It sometimes 4-5 try's to get the door open. Very frustrating when it's 0* and windy. At the next oil change, I mentioned it. The service adviser said "we have a fix for that". I guess they will only "fix" it if there is a complaint. They replaced a "saucer" thing on the gas door and no issues since.
- Kerry N., Sheboygan, WI, US