Recalls
| Campaign | Manufacturer | Manufacturing date | Type | # of units affected | Date Owner notified Mfg | Recall Initiated by | Manufacturers of recalled vehicles/products | Report Recieved Date | Record Creation Date | Regulation Part Number | FMVSS Number | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SUSPENSION - FRONT - CONTROL ARM - LOWER ARM | ||||||||||||||||
| 11V464000 | SUBARU OF AMERICA, INC. | from 09/05/2000 to 11/26/2007 | V (Vehicle) | 295123 | 12/31/2011 | ODI | SUBARU OF AMERICA, INC. | 09/06/2011 | 09/08/2011 | |||||||
| Defect Summary | Subaru is recalling certain model year 2002-2007 impreza, model year 2003-2008 forester, and model year 2005-2006 saab 9-2x vehicles manufactured from september 5, 2000 through november 26, 2007 originally sold, or currently registered in, massachusetts, maryland, michigan, new hampshire, new york, pennsylvania, vermont, wisconsin, connecticut, delaware, iowa, illinois, indiana, maine, minnesota, missouri, new jersey, ohio, rhode island, west virginia and the district of columbia. the front lower control arms may break at the hanger brackets due to corrosion if the hanger bracket is exposed to salty and humid environments such as roads containing snow melting agent. | |||||||||||||||
| Consequence Summary | A broken control arm can result in the loss of control of the vehicle, increasing the risk of a crash. | |||||||||||||||
| Corrective Summary | Subaru will handle their vehicles and saab will handle theirs. dealers will inspect the degree of corrosion of the front lower control arms, and will either rustproof or replace them. this service will be performed free of charge. the safety recall is expected to begin during december 2011. owners may contact subaru at 1-800-782-2783. | |||||||||||||||
| Notes | This is subaru's safety recall number wvx-34.owners may also contact the national highway traffic safety administration's vehicle safety hotline at 1-888-327-4236 (tty 1-800-424-9153), or go to http://www.safercar.gov . | |||||||||||||||
Bulletins
| Bulletin | Bulletin date | Replacement Bulletin | Item no. | Summary | Added |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SUSPENSION - REAR | |||||
| 09012003 | 09/01/2003 | 10016483 | On the car rear wheel bearing replacement procedure. *sc | 09/13/2005 | |
Investigations
| NHTSA ID | Manufacturer | Date open | Date close | Subject | Recall campaign | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SUSPENSION | ||||||
| PE11011 | SUBARU OF AMERICA, INC. | 04/07/2011 | 09/23/2011 | Front suspension control arm failure | 11V464000 | |
| On september 6, 2011, fuji heavy industries usa, inc, on behalf of subaru of america, inc notified the office of defects investigation (odi) it would be conducting a safety recall of certain model year (my) 2002 through 2007 subaru impreza, my 2003 through 2008 subaru forester, and my 2005 through 2006 saab 9-2x vehicles originally sold or currently registered in one the salt belt states including the district of columbia (dc). for the purpose of this investigation, salt belt states include connecticut, delaware, illinois, indiana, iowa, maine, maryland, massachusetts, michigan, minnesota, missouri, new hampshire, new jersey, new york, ohio, pennsylvania, rhode island, vermont, west virginia, wisconsin and dc.odi's analysis of consumer complaint data identified 11 reports alleging failure of either the right or left lower control arm due to excessive corrosion. all of these complaints were associated with vehicles currently registered or originally sold in a salt belt state. through a similar analysis of complaint and warranty data submitted to odi by subaru, odi identified 18 consumer complaints and 6 warranty claims associated with failure of the left or right front lower control arm due to excessive corrosion. all of these consumer complaints associated with vehicles either currently registered of originally sold in a salt belt state.accordingly, this investigation is closed. | ||||||
| SUSPENSION - FRONT | ||||||
| PE11011 | SUBARU OF AMERICA, INC. | 04/07/2011 | 09/23/2011 | Front suspension control arm failure | 11V464000 | |
| On september 6, 2011, fuji heavy industries usa, inc, on behalf of subaru of america, inc notified the office of defects investigation (odi) it would be conducting a safety recall of certain model year (my) 2002 through 2007 subaru impreza, my 2003 through 2008 subaru forester, and my 2005 through 2006 saab 9-2x vehicles originally sold or currently registered in one the salt belt states including the district of columbia (dc). for the purpose of this investigation, salt belt states include connecticut, delaware, illinois, indiana, iowa, maine, maryland, massachusetts, michigan, minnesota, missouri, new hampshire, new jersey, new york, ohio, pennsylvania, rhode island, vermont, west virginia, wisconsin and dc.odi's analysis of consumer complaint data identified 11 reports alleging failure of either the right or left lower control arm due to excessive corrosion. all of these complaints were associated with vehicles currently registered or originally sold in a salt belt state. through a similar analysis of complaint and warranty data submitted to odi by subaru, odi identified 18 consumer complaints and 6 warranty claims associated with failure of the left or right front lower control arm due to excessive corrosion. all of these consumer complaints associated with vehicles either currently registered of originally sold in a salt belt state.accordingly, this investigation is closed. | ||||||
| SUSPENSION - FRONT - CONTROL ARM | ||||||
| PE11011 | SUBARU OF AMERICA, INC. | 04/07/2011 | 09/23/2011 | Front suspension control arm failure | 11V464000 | |
| On september 6, 2011, fuji heavy industries usa, inc, on behalf of subaru of america, inc notified the office of defects investigation (odi) it would be conducting a safety recall of certain model year (my) 2002 through 2007 subaru impreza, my 2003 through 2008 subaru forester, and my 2005 through 2006 saab 9-2x vehicles originally sold or currently registered in one the salt belt states including the district of columbia (dc). for the purpose of this investigation, salt belt states include connecticut, delaware, illinois, indiana, iowa, maine, maryland, massachusetts, michigan, minnesota, missouri, new hampshire, new jersey, new york, ohio, pennsylvania, rhode island, vermont, west virginia, wisconsin and dc.odi's analysis of consumer complaint data identified 11 reports alleging failure of either the right or left lower control arm due to excessive corrosion. all of these complaints were associated with vehicles currently registered or originally sold in a salt belt state. through a similar analysis of complaint and warranty data submitted to odi by subaru, odi identified 18 consumer complaints and 6 warranty claims associated with failure of the left or right front lower control arm due to excessive corrosion. all of these consumer complaints associated with vehicles either currently registered of originally sold in a salt belt state.accordingly, this investigation is closed. | ||||||
| SUSPENSION - FRONT - CONTROL ARM - LOWER ARM | ||||||
| PE11011 | SUBARU OF AMERICA, INC. | 04/07/2011 | 09/23/2011 | Front suspension control arm failure | 11V464000 | |
| On september 6, 2011, fuji heavy industries usa, inc, on behalf of subaru of america, inc notified the office of defects investigation (odi) it would be conducting a safety recall of certain model year (my) 2002 through 2007 subaru impreza, my 2003 through 2008 subaru forester, and my 2005 through 2006 saab 9-2x vehicles originally sold or currently registered in one the salt belt states including the district of columbia (dc). for the purpose of this investigation, salt belt states include connecticut, delaware, illinois, indiana, iowa, maine, maryland, massachusetts, michigan, minnesota, missouri, new hampshire, new jersey, new york, ohio, pennsylvania, rhode island, vermont, west virginia, wisconsin and dc.odi's analysis of consumer complaint data identified 11 reports alleging failure of either the right or left lower control arm due to excessive corrosion. all of these complaints were associated with vehicles currently registered or originally sold in a salt belt state. through a similar analysis of complaint and warranty data submitted to odi by subaru, odi identified 18 consumer complaints and 6 warranty claims associated with failure of the left or right front lower control arm due to excessive corrosion. all of these consumer complaints associated with vehicles either currently registered of originally sold in a salt belt state.accordingly, this investigation is closed. | ||||||
Consumer Complaints
| Fail date | miles | occurences | Purchase date |
|---|---|---|---|
| SUSPENSION - REAR | |||
| 05/10/2006 | 12000 | ||
| 1.at about 12000 miles,the right rear of vehicle began to make a knocking noise while going over bumps,braking or accelerating.this is more evident at low speeds but is still present at higher velocities. 2.the failure is currently still existant,the right rear of vehicle has about 1/4 in loose play before the rear strut binds.this affects handling of vehicle during turns or emergency maneuvers as the suspension is not well controlled by strut binding.when coming to a stop,one can feel the right rear corner of vehicle settle and hear a knocking sound.this issue twice sent the vehicle out of control while turning to the left on bumpy roads and fortunately no one was injured and no damage was done.this defect has been talked about at great lenght in various subaru impreza sti forums and is referred to as therear strut clunk and it can affects both sides of vehicle.model year 2004 and 2005 subaru impreza sti are involved in this.it is possible that my 2006 and 2007 are as well but i haven't checked. 3.the dealer has replaced the upper strut mount a few times to no avail.the defective parts are still on the vehicle. | |||
| 12/15/2006 | 35000 | 1 | |
| Rear struts (and possibly front) are making a clunking noise when car is driven at slow speeds. the noise is quite apparent and would not be items inside the trunk and/ or car. *jb | |||
| 11/14/2004 | 13000 | 3 | 11/23/2003 |
| Rear struts stick and will not rebound after a compression stroke. causes rear to sag and handling feels very loose. very noisy. subaru of america know about the problem, which is either a design or manufacture flaw, and does nothing to issue a recall. there are hundred if not thousand of documented cased on the internet of this problem. i have had three rear struts replaced, so far...and once car is out of warranty, repair costs are $500 per strut labor included to replace. | |||
| SUSPENSION - REAR - SHOCK ABSORBER | |||
| 01/24/2005 | 15000 | 12 | 02/16/2004 |
| 2004 impreza sti - rear clunking noise from right rear suspension. occasional strut lockup in compressed position. dealer attempted to fix this problem three times before realizing it was a faulty rear strut. many other owners of the same car have reported the same problem. i was fortunate as my dealer properly diagnosed and repaired the problem. after the repair, the strut issue went away. subaru of america should be required to recall this model to check for this strut problem. not only does the strut make noise when compressing, but it sometimes locks in the compressed postion, changing the handling and performance dynamics of the car in an extremely unsafe and potentially lifethreatening way. by replacing the strut, the problem should be corrected. due to the large number of instances of the same strut failure on these cars, as demonstrated by the number of same complaints to nhtsa here at this website, one can only assume subaru of american is well aware of the problem. | |||
| 04/10/2004 | 9000 | 6 | 02/28/2004 |
| Subaru wrx sti has a severe problem with the struts failing in the 2004 model year. i have had my rear struts replaced a total of 3 times and they are broken again and my car is not even two years old. there are several forums on the internet with thousands of people with the same issue. i don't know if there's is a safety issue but it doesn't seem like it can be safe driving around with broken struts. *jb | |||
| 03/30/2005 | 10000 | 1 | 10/08/2004 |
| The rear strut of my 2004 wrx sti clunks all the time. any range of speed all the way up to 50-60. this is a known problem with the sti's over as little as 5,000 miles. subaru has done nothing about this!!!*ak | |||
| 05/16/2004 | 25000 | 2 | 01/31/2004 |
| For some time both rear struts in my car have been making a loud clunking noise. it has gotten worse to the point where they will now get stuck in a certain position. this can be very dangerous when driving at highway speeds as it makes the car wander all over the road. i have complained to the dealership and to subaru of america with no resolution. this is a very common problem with many of these particular cars. they have been like this since the car had about 25,000 miles on it. | |||