Consumer Complaints
| Fail date | miles | occurences | Purchase date |
|---|---|---|---|
| ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING | |||
| 05/15/2010 | 81000 | 1 | |
| Engine overheating every half mile with engine reservoir overflowing. after $1300 of replacing thermostat, timing belt, belt tensioner, water pump, flushing the cooling system, and compression tests, i was told i had a blown head gasket. i was told the replacement would cost an additional $2,200 at least. *tr | |||
| 12/15/2008 | 179000 | 1 | |
| Overheating, water leaking, head gasket problem. *tr | |||
| 03/15/2008 | 110000 | 1 | |
| Multiple problems with engine 1. seal leak at approximately 48,000 miles, burning oil smell, corrected at replacement of timing belt at scheduled 105k--not detected by dealer while under warranty (60k warranty). 2. failure of head gasket at 110k 3. failure of 2 cam seals at 158k 4. failure of additional (remaining) 2 cam seals at 165k (mechanic initially indicated this was rare and unfortunately, dure to cost, did not recommend replacing all 4 cam seals--bad choice--$600 parts and labor each occurrence #3 and #4. *tr | |||
| 04/29/2008 | 89000 | 1 | |
| Complaint is for subaru of america. i own a 98 subaru legacy outback and the cooling system malfunctioned and the head gaskets blew. i looked online and there are hundreds of owners on a multitude of sites who are experiencing or have experienced this exact problem. clearly the problem is with the vehicle and not any owner's operation of the vehicle, and therefore the corporation who has caused its customers expense should bear the burden financially for fixing this problem. *tr | |||
| 09/01/2005 | 123600 | 1 | 03/14/1998 |
| Late on the night of 09/01/05 my wife, her son, daughter and two (2) grand children were traveling to omaha, ne for the long labor day weekend in a 1998 subaru legacy outback wagon with 123,000 miles. they got as far as the outskirts of kearney, ne when they noticed a loss of power and saw heavy smoke/steam coming from the tail pipe of the car. they immediately pulled over and were assisted by a ne state trooper. $600 later the car, which apparently suffered from head gasket failure, was finally towed to the duteau subaru dealership in lincoln, ne. they verified the head gasket failure and that the engine seized. subaru usa was notified and asked if they would cover any of the damage, which as it turns out includes a new/rebuilt engine. the response was it's not under warranty, you didn't purchase an extended warranty and we are sorry for any inconvenience that this has caused your family. i contacted the dealership from which the car was purchased, namely burt subaru. i was told that head gasket failure was a frequent problem with 1998, 1999 and 2000 subaru legacy outback wagons. if this was such a problem, why did subaru fail to issue a recall to fix the defective gasket? my wife an i are now faced with having to sell the car to duteau subaru for $500 to $1,000, rent a car to return to denver, then rush to try to find a used vehicle so she can get to and from work. i responded to subaru usa's condolences but your space limitation prohibits me from including such response here.*jb | |||
| 01/19/2005 | 3 | 08/01/2000 | |
| While driving vehicle overheated. this happened three times. when taken to get serviced the third time it was determined that it was due to the head gasket.*ak *tc | |||
| 09/22/2004 | 65000 | 4 | |
| Complaint received via e-mail. the temperature gauge was in the hot range while driving. the cooling system checked out okay, but was told that the car was low on coolant. the consumer refilled coolant, went out of country, and 2 weeks later encountered the same problem. a month later, while driving, coolant leaked out again, and the head gasket was bad. this was a common problem with these vehicles. *ak *sc *jb | |||
| 11/20/2003 | 72000 | 3 | 02/26/1998 |
| 1998 subaru outback showed signs of overheating as temperature gauge rose up past the usual midline and cold air inside car from air conditioner suddenly got warmer. i pulled over and coolant was over flowing from overflow reservoir through the cap. i drove with the heater on full power and made it to a repair facility and remove the thermostat which had seized. replaced the thermostat and radiator cap ($30) and everything was fine until four months later (march 2004) when car showed signs of over heating again (rise in inside air conditioned air temperature from cold to warm). took car to rallysport engineering in costa mesa, ca and mechanic could not find symptoms of head gasket failure although this is what he thought it was. he added stop leak, new thermostat, and new coolant ($150 parts/labor) and the problem was resolved although the temperature gauge reading was a little higher than it was when using original equipment (prior to november). now, july 2004, car has almost overheated again. i took the car to south coast subaru in costa mesa, ca and they stated that it was a head gasket failure and that they could smell the exhaust fumes through the overflow reservoir. the estimate to fix the repair will be $1500 parts and labor. *la | |||
| 10/15/2001 | 73269 | ||
| The headgasket burned through. replaced headgasket, had heads milled. now exactly 1 1/2 years later in april 2003 the car is overheating, everyone says the car should not be doing that, but it is. it is alot of money for a car that is only 5 yrs. old and having major engine problems. | |||
| 05/15/2003 | 4 | ||
| While driving at 70 mph, and with no warning vehicle stalled, causing the driver to lose control. owner had contacted dealership on four separate occasions, but problem still occurring. *ak | |||
| 01/17/2003 | 94700 | 1 | 01/17/1998 |
| Head gasket on my '98 outback failed. dealer said not uncommon. he has 3 more waiting for head gaskets. seems a number of head gasket failures on the subaru discussion group on edmunds.com townhall. fortunately, mine was discovered with no engine damage. the cost of repair was $2500.00. quite a financial drain for me. some talk on discussion group wondering if a design problem with the 2.5 liter engine. subaru emailed me that there is no problem with head gaskets and that all mechanical things fail with time, some sooner and some later. on the subaru discussion group, a number of the head gaskets were at low mileage. mine was at 94,000 miles | |||
| ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING - COOLING SYSTEM | |||
| 05/15/2010 | 81000 | 1 | |
| Engine overheating every half mile with engine reservoir overflowing. after $1300 of replacing thermostat, timing belt, belt tensioner, water pump, flushing the cooling system, and compression tests, i was told i had a blown head gasket. i was told the replacement would cost an additional $2,200 at least. *tr | |||
| 02/26/2010 | 107259 | 1 | |
| 1998 subaru outback 2.5l motor head gasket failure. *tr | |||
| 12/15/2008 | 179000 | 1 | |
| Overheating, water leaking, head gasket problem. *tr | |||
| 12/30/2008 | 161461 | 1 | |
| Engine began to overheat only when being driven, does not overheat when idling. i have replaced the thermostat, water pump, and timing belt but it still overheats. while doing research on the internet, i found the carsurvey.org site with many references to this being a known issue, a head gasket problem. based on the number of similar complaints, subaru has a design problem that should have been recalled or at least a warning of some type send out. what can be done about this issue? *tr | |||
| 05/17/2004 | 98600 | 2 | 10/20/2003 |
| My car overheated and died on the highway. it was determined that the head gasket had failed -- it was replaced, and the engine was tuned in associated ways. one month later, the car overheated again, with coolant leaking out of the engine. once again the head gasket was replaced, as well as the water pump, which the dealer said may have been the original problem. i have had the car back for one week now, and it's working fine. each time the car overheated, it was soon after i turned on the a/c (and the a/c didn't work well either time -- i.e., warm air came out of the vents). my a/c is working okay, now.*ak | |||
| 01/11/2004 | 121000 | 1 | |
| Appears i have a blown head gasket on my 1998 2.5l outback. coolant contains oil , coolant reservoir fills up rapidly with coolant when driven on the highway. coolant never returns to the radiator after cooling down. *la | |||
| 06/30/2003 | 1 | 05/15/1998 | |
| Engine overheats. two subaru dealer service centers said they could not find the problem, and started an seemingly endless replacement of thermostats, and even the radiator. the problem continues, and now that i am over 60k miles, with my warranty expired, they suddenly say it is a problem with the head gasket, which will probably cost over $2,000 to replace. i now find out that there are numerous problems with the head gaskets of 1994-1998 subarus, but there has never been a recall. why?*ak | |||
| ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING - ENGINE | |||
| 05/15/2010 | 81000 | 1 | |
| Engine overheating every half mile with engine reservoir overflowing. after $1300 of replacing thermostat, timing belt, belt tensioner, water pump, flushing the cooling system, and compression tests, i was told i had a blown head gasket. i was told the replacement would cost an additional $2,200 at least. *tr | |||
| 12/30/2008 | 161461 | 1 | |
| Engine began to overheat only when being driven, does not overheat when idling. i have replaced the thermostat, water pump, and timing belt but it still overheats. while doing research on the internet, i found the carsurvey.org site with many references to this being a known issue, a head gasket problem. based on the number of similar complaints, subaru has a design problem that should have been recalled or at least a warning of some type send out. what can be done about this issue? *tr | |||
| 04/08/2003 | 1 | ||
| Blown head gasket on 1998 subaru legacy outback at ~70k, just out of warranty,. this problem occurred in 2003, but given the continuation of complaints from current subaru owners experiencing this problem, it seems highly negligent of subaru to deny responsibility for addressing this problem. this is a major problem on subaru's dating from 1997 forward. repair cost in excess of $2,500. this problem continues to arise on subaru engines, yet the company has done nothing to reimburse owners for cost. *tr | |||
| 02/21/2007 | 110000 | 1 | 11/01/2004 |
| We bought a 1998 subaru outback in 2004. at approximately 110,000 miles, we experienced a catastrophic overheating of the engine due to a faulty head gasket. the overheating caused approximately $3,000 worth of damage to the car. the head gasket, radiator, thermostat, water pump, oxygen sensors and (2) catalytic converters all had to be replaced. we have since learned that this is a common problem for subarus of this vintage. there are hundreds of anecdotal reports of people having this exact problem on the internet, and our mechanic tells us he fixes at least one of these problems per week at his shop. clearly, this is a defective product. *jb | |||
| 06/06/2006 | 91056 | 1 | 11/27/1998 |
| Driving a 1998 subaru awd legacy outback. on june 6, 2006 while on a short trip in vehicle, returned home to see smoke (not steam) coming from engine block. the vehicle had overheated, and had been suffering occasional loss of power while driving prior to this time (approx 1 week). drove approx .5 mi to dealer next day to get checked out along with 90,000 mile service (mileage on vehicle was 91,058). dealer called to inform that he had found leaking head gaskets with leaks at the valve covers and hydrocarbons in the cooling system. informed that head gasket would need to be replaced and the head resurfaced (potential replacement of block but this was not needed nor was a valve job) and that we should also replace water pump, timing belt, and engine shield as long as the engine is out. my research on the web indicates that this problem is epidemic, local mechanics i've spoken with say that this is a very common issue and that subaru america will not step up to the plate. i called subaru, with my complaint and while admitting no responsibility offered $500 credit toward repairs which eventually came to more than $3000. replaced parts include head gasket, head resurfacing, seals, water pump, hoses, thermostat, timing belt and tensioner, separator plate. when i called again to ask them to step up on this issue they failed to offer additional help. as i understand it a blown head gasket can lead to a cracked engine block which could indeed lead to a very serious problem. a simple web search on this issue found dozens of similar complaints of this very serious and expensive problem. *nm | |||
| 04/15/2005 | 107352 | 2 | 01/15/1999 |
| Cylinder #4 exhaust vale failure in july of 2004. subaru dealer prestige imports pulled head and replaced valve. they insisted the cause was bad gasoline. april 2005 car is found to have high level of co2 in cooling system. subaru dealer prestige imports refuses to do a leak down test to determine which head gasket has failed. pulls both heads at a cost of close to $3,000. refused to acknowledge that they removed the head in july 2004 to replace the valve and refuse to acknowledge that this may have been the cause of the july 2005 failure. told me we've seen this before. refused to call subaru usa because they would just laugh at us. in a meeting with prestige imports gm jim borreli he indicated that this is a common problem and promised to contact subaru usa he never did and would not return my phone calls. subaru usa has been extremely unhelpful and claims that they have nothing to do with authorized dealer repairs or issues with head gaskets on 2.5 l type 1 engines. this is an very common problem apparently. almost every auto mechanic in america is familiar with it. on the nhtsa complain site i counted at least 18 head gasket related complaints. a search of the web brings up hundreds if not thousands more., why has the nhtsa ignored these problems and not acted in the best interest of costumers? *nm | |||
| 12/20/2004 | 1 | ||
| Head gasket failure in subaru legacy outback 1998. engine overheated which lead to lead to smoke coming out under the hood and subsequent warping of engine heads. i hard to replace gasket heads but i am told there is no guarantee this would not happen again since there is an apparent design flaw in the 2.5l engines.*jb | |||
| 12/14/2004 | 145000 | 1 | 01/21/2000 |
| Legacy outback with 2.5 l engine began to overheat with coolant boiling over into resevoir. the car was taken to repair shop. they replaced thermostat, tested for hydrocarbons in system, pressured tested cap and system and flushed radiator. car still overheated and was returned to repair shop and tested for hydrocarbons in the antifreeze with negative results. no problem was identified. engine continued to overheat and was taken into repair shop while the pointer was off the top of the temperature gauge. this time hydrocarbons were identified in the coolant and problem was identified as a blown gasket. manager reported that the week before another subaru owner had the same problem with same difficulty in identifying the cause. repairs cost $1,400. had a similiar report for another subaru owner but work was done with pressure on dealer after initial refusal.*ak | |||
| 10/30/2004 | 58640 | 1 | 07/31/1997 |
| Took my subaru to dealer for 60,000 mile check. he advised me that my head gasket was about to fail and needed replacement. he also informed me that failure of the head gasket in 1998 outbacks was common. this repair is very costly (about $1500), and failing to make it could cause catastrophic damage to the engine.*ak | |||
| 08/10/2003 | 56000 | 1 | 02/03/2003 |
| Catastrophic failure of a major engine component which is considerably outside the expected statistical failure rate(based on my research of complaints by other purchasers of this model subaru automobile), resulting in significant costs to repair. at approximately 56000 miles the head gaskets on my 1998 subaru outback with the 2.5l engine failed.the cost to repair was $ 1880.00. i contacted subaru in an effort to get them to absorb at least part of the cost since the car was well within the mileage warranty period, but was slightly outside the time warranty.their response was sorry tough luck. i indicated to subaru that a component of this nature with such a high failure rate, was obviously due to a significant design or manufacturing defect.their response was, again, they were not goint to do anything about it. someone needs to put pressure on subaru to make this a recall item.*ak | |||
| 10/27/2003 | 89500 | 2 | 08/15/1998 |
| Car overheated. towed to garage. they replaced thermostat and tested. ran ok for about 20 miles. overheated again. towed to garage. now the diagnosis is that i need a new head gasket. this car has less than 90,000 miles and has been maintained flawlessly. *la | |||
| 08/29/2003 | 105000 | 1 | 08/12/1997 |
| Blown head gasket at 105,000 miles. my research indicates that this is a very common failure for this engine/model year. it cost me $3400 for a new short block/labor to effect repairs.*ak | |||
| 07/09/2003 | 1 | ||
| Consumer states that while driving and with no warning vehicle will stall ,and it will be hard for the consumer to control the vehicle. dealer notified.*ak | |||
| 04/19/2002 | 129000 | 1 | 11/29/2002 |
| 1998 subaru outback - blown head gasket, resulted in over heating. my mechanic estimates $2500 (assuming there is no other damage to the engine). we are also checking prices for used engines to possibly replace the existing engine. mileage was approximately 129000 miles. *jb | |||
| 11/01/2002 | 75462 | 2 | |
| The engine over heated, and the dealer replaced the thermostat and water pump, however the problem continued, and the entire engine had to be replaced.*ak also the brake light and marker lights were replaced. *jb | |||
| 09/01/2002 | 1 | 04/01/2001 | |
| The head gasket blew, which resulted in coolant leaking into the cylinder walls. while parked and turned off. the engine, which is a 2.5 liter, must be replaced. the 2.5 liter engine has a history of enigine failure. has anyone made a claim? has there been research or a recall of any kind?*ak | |||
| 1 | 01/01/2002 | ||
| Blown head gasket. seems to be a manufacturing problem, considering the number of blown head gaskets on subaru 2.5l engines. contact subaru mechanics to obtain unusual high numbers. *ak | |||
| 06/20/2000 | 1 | ||
| Timing belt failed. *slc | |||
| ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING - ENGINE - GASOLINE | |||
| 03/23/2001 | 2 | 08/01/1997 | |
| On 1/15/01 beard subaru diagnosed and repaired my engine for an oil leak. i paid $654.50 for them to remove the transmission and reseal baffle plate as well as reseal oil pump, questionable cam seals (referring to paperwork from dealer). on 3/23/01 while driving on the highway, check engine light went on and simultaneously car completely died. beard subaru diagnosed engine seized due to drop in pressure w/in engine. upon several contacts w/ subaru of america, they have offered to pay 50% to rebuild engine, which has been verbally estimated at $2,500. beard subaru unable to explain cause of engine seize, but denies it is related to recent repair of engine leak. subaru of america requires me to accept or deny offer to of courtesy for my patronage 50% by wed. 4/4/01. i bought my vehicle brand new at beard subaru and have maintained it faithfully. i question a defect within my vehicle, or a direct correlation to the recent work conducted by beard subaru. i requested written documentation. they diagnosed my vehicle on 3/27/01. on 3/30/01 i received a message from beard subaru they would have to get back to me next week. they are aware i begin a new job on 4/2/01 requiring me to rent a vehicle until my situation is resolved. subaru of america has offered to pay 50% car rental fee for 5 days. is there a way to have a second opinion before i am required to respond to subaru of america's deadline by 4/4/01? i am weary to accept an agreement that no one has provided a second opinion, they have failed to provide a written estimate of what i will be required to pay after just paying $654.50 for an engine leak and i am being told i must respond to the offer by 4/4/01 or i will not be assisted.*ak | |||
| 12/05/1997 | 1 | 10/01/1997 | |
| Oil was leaking from the top of the engine on the right side near the rear oil galley plug, the oil leaked down onto the exhaust causing and odor to come through the vents. nlm | |||
| 06/20/2000 | 1 | ||
| Check engine light blinking and engine runs rough. *slc | |||
| ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING - ENGINE - GASOLINE - BELTS AND ASSOCIATED PULLEYS | |||
| 06/07/2003 | 53125 | 1 | 10/31/1998 |
| I own a 1998 subaru outback.: vin #4s3bg6858w7605827. on the date below, the timing belt on my car, which had 53 thousand miles on it at the time, broke and resulted in a catastrophic engine failure. this forced me to buy a used engine. fortunately, i was only driving at 20 mph and was able to safely pull over. had this happened at interstate highway speed the result might have been very different. subaru's own maintainence schedule says that the timing belt should be inspected at 60 thousand miles. i've been in touch with the company but they don't seem to be very responsive or forthcoming. thank you for your attention to this matter.*ak | |||
| ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING - EXHAUST SYSTEM | |||
| 07/06/1998 | 93000 | 2 | 02/23/1998 |
| Engine overheating started 10 months ago on long trips only. overheating was common when engine was under heavier than normal loads for long periods of time(climbing hilss, etc.). fluid in radiator was eventually deplented leading to sharp rise in engine temperature. lately this has been worse as only 30 miles of normal driving will cause the same symptoms. the fault turned out to be a head gasket failure on subaru r2.5l type 1 engines. the coolant was being forced out of the radiator by the slow leak of exhaust gases in the coolant around the radiator. this vechicle has been serviced since new by only the local subaru dealer. a search on the internet for subaru 2.5l engines 1996-1999 (legacy) turned up multiple hits for owners with this same problem. failure is as low as 40k miles to over 100k for the same problem. this multi-layer gasket for the type 1 engine has be redesigned 6 times, leading one to surmise that the head gaskets are defective. the type2 engine also has this failure but this has been intercepted by subaru of america by adding a lubricant to the coolant, ie: block sealer. this engine should have been recalled to replace the multiple defects which subaru will only do on type 2 engines and only if the owner knows to ask for the secret waranty. given that there is no other choice, i plan to pull the engine myself and fix the problem. the dealer wants over $2k to do the same work. *ak | |||
| 02/01/2002 | 1 | 03/01/2098 | |
| Safety issue: seal failure causes oil to leak onto hot exhaust (fire hazard). mr | |||
| 1 | 09/01/1997 | ||
| Exhaust system leaks fumes into the ventillation system. | |||
| 12/07/1998 | |||
| The consumer has been experiencing problems with exhaust pumps. whe vehicle is parked or when vehicle is started up, consumert can smell a sulphur smell. the manufacturer has yet to be contacted. *ak | |||
| ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING - EXHAUST SYSTEM - EMISSION CONTROL - CATALYTIC CONVERTOR | |||
| 09/18/1997 | 10 | 1 | 09/24/1997 |
| My subaru outback has dripped a little oil from the front ever since i bought the car new and had a burning smell. i took it back 2 times in the first year but they didn't do anything except tell me it was transit paint burning off. i took it back when i was 1000 miles out of my warranty because it was worse and smelled burning more. they told me it was the oil pump seal but wouldn't cover it under warranty. they said if i had been having regular work done through the dealer they might have been able to work something out. since then it is worse and the burning smell is very bad. i know of 2 other subaru legacy's with the same problem and a $500 to $700 fix. i was also told by a mechanic that there have been some fires in subarus due to this problem and dripping on the catalytic convertor.*ak | |||
| ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING - EXHAUST SYSTEM - EMISSION CONTROL - GAS RECIRCULATION VALVE (EGR VALVE) | |||
| 09/20/1999 | 1 | ||
| Egr solonoid failed. *slc | |||