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 - SPRINGS - COIL SPRINGS | ||||||||||||||||
| 01V216000 | SUBARU OF AMERICA, INC. | from 01/25/1994 to 01/30/1998 | V (Vehicle) | 180000 | 09/18/2001 | MFR | SUBARU OF AMERICA, INC. | 06/25/2001 | 06/26/2001 | |||||||
| Defect Summary | Vehicle description: passenger vehicles equipped with front coil springs originally sold in or currently registered in the states of connecticut, delaware, illinois, indiana, iowa, kentucky, maine, maryland, massachusetts, michigan, minnesota, missouri, new york, new jersey, new hampshire, ohio, pennsylvania, rhode island, vermont, virginia, west virginia, and wisconsin, and in the district of columbia. the front coil springs were produced with poor paint quality which, after continued exposure to corrosive salt, can result in breakage of the spring. | |||||||||||||||
| Consequence Summary | Depending on the location of the fracture, a broken spring could move past the spring seat and contact a front tire. some tires have deflated due to contact with a broken spring. | |||||||||||||||
| Corrective Summary | Dealers will notifiy customers to bring their vehicle to an authorize dealership to have a spring guard installed on both front struts to prevent tire puncture and replace any broken springs free of charge. owner notification began september 18, 2001. owners who take their vehicles to an authorized dealer on an agreed upon service date and do not receive the free remedy within a reasonable time should contact subaru at 1-800-782-2783. | |||||||||||||||
| Notes | Also contact the national highway traffic safety administration's auto safety hotline at 1-888-dash-2-dot (1-888-327-4236). | |||||||||||||||
Bulletins
| Bulletin | Bulletin date | Replacement Bulletin | Item no. | Summary | Added |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SUSPENSION | |||||
| 010102 | 01/01/2002 | 627826 | Information regarding front spring guard bulletin update. *yd | 02/25/2002 | |
Consumer Complaints
| Fail date | miles | occurences | Purchase date |
|---|---|---|---|
| SUSPENSION | |||
| 11/15/1999 | 3000 | ||
| I bought a 1999 subaru outback 30th anniversary limited edition in june of 1999. within six months, the car began to exhibit clutch and transmission problems. i brought this to the immediate attention of the subaru dealer. for three years they denied that there was anything wrong with the vehicle, always saying they were unable to duplicate the problems. finally in june of 2002, i was able to get a regional service supervisor to admit that the car definitely had problems. his first solution was to suggest that i trade the car in on a new one. when i declined, he offered to have the car properly repaired, as it should have been three years prior. after four trips to two different subaru dealers and after supposedly having the entire clutch assembly replaced three times, the car is in worse shape than it ever has been. subaru has refused to repair the car, despite the fact that it's under an extended warranty that covers the entire transmission. i have had to retain an attorney to deal with subaru of america. subaru claims that the car now operates as designed and that any problems i am now experiencing are a result of my driving habits. subaru refuses to replace the car because they were able to stall any repairs until the car passed the two year lemon law exclusion. this is not the only problem with this car. i have had repeated brake failures. the car went through a set of michelin radial tires in less than 20,000 miles. the driver's side seat belt is defective. i have experienced repeated electrical system failures. this car cannot be driven in snow (contrary to subaru's commercials) because the tires become compacted with snow and are thrown out of balance. the brakes also become compacted with snow and ice and have failed repeatedly, almost causing serious injury. the radio antenna refuses to retract in cold weather. i could go on and on, but subaru refuses to listen or repair the car. | |||
| 2 | 05/15/2003 | ||
| Check engine indicator light illuminated. also, while driving at highway speeds vehicle pulls to the left. the cause of the problems have not been determined. *ak | |||
| 1 | 08/01/1998 | ||
| Vehicle vibrates while driving. | |||
| SUSPENSION - FRONT | |||
| 05/20/2010 | 115250 | ||
| We experienced an incident in which a front suspension coil spring failed. parking our 1999 subaru legacy outback, the vehicle was perfectly fine. in the morning the vehicle had a flat driver | |||
| 05/17/2009 | 171798 | ||
| Tl*the contact owns a 1999 subaru outback. while driving in reverse at an unknown speed, the passenger side coil spring failed and punctured the front passenger side tire. the contact did not realize the failure until the tire was changed. the vin was not included in nhtsa campaign id number (01v216000). the current and failure mileages were 171,798. | |||
| SUSPENSION - FRONT - SPRINGS - COIL SPRINGS | |||
| 11/03/2005 | 1 | ||
| Dt: the contact stated when leaving the dealership after getting the vehicle serviced the driver's side front coil spring fractured. this punctured the tire and caused it to go flat in a matter of seconds. the mechanic took the tire off and found that the coil spring fractured. there was nhtsa recall, 01v216000, but this vehicle was not included due to vin. the vehicle is currently at the dealership getting repaired. | |||
| 07/10/2004 | 75000 | 1 | 07/10/2004 |
| Front right coil spring broke which and caused the front tire to become shredded. the car was undriveable and needed to be towed to our mechanic. we discovered that a recall had been issued for this exact problem (nhtsa campaign id number : 01v216000). however, subaru refussed to pay for the repair because the car was not included in the batch of cars involved in the recall. we therefore had our mechanic repair the vehicle. | |||
| 08/10/2004 | 1 | ||
| Consumer's vehicle experienced the same problem as mentioned in nhtsa recall 01v216000. passenger vehicles equipped with front coil springs originally sold or currently registered in the states of connecticut, new jersey, new hampshire, ohio, the front coil springs were produced with poor paint quality which, after continued exposure to corrosive salt, can result in breakage of the spring. dealership indicated this vehicle was not included in the recall due to vin. *ak | |||
| SUSPENSION - MULTIPLE AXLE | |||
| 03/20/2002 | 1 | 08/01/1999 | |
| Consumer could hear a grating sound coming from the rear passenger side of the vehicle, dealer sated that the wheel bearing was defective and needed replaced. *slc | |||
| 10/08/1999 | 10 | ||
| Rear wheel bearing has worn out, rear end started making a loud noise, and vehicle became hard to control also, smoke and oil came from wheels. this was the 10th time tha consumer had to replace it. contacted dealer. *ak | |||
| SUSPENSION - REAR - SHOCK ABSORBER | |||
| 08/20/2001 | 4 | 08/02/2001 | |
| I was quite hurt (to the degree of having to go on ssd) in a rear end collision in a 1998 subaru legacy wagon. in trying to recover the original head rest of this car i learned it is no longer available and can only be replaced with a much safer model. in doing a recent crash analysis with this new head rest i realized the significant differences and how much safer the new head rest is. i learned on your car safety web site of the national caution on the whole seat of this model seats and head rest. i have had numerous orthopedic (left arm, all/whole back, right leg, both knees, posture) and brain injury problems from my car accident. i recently learned (3/06), that subaru started unofficially replacing the seat and head rest of this model legacy 1998 thru 1999 whenever possible. meaning whenever these models requested new parts, there is an unofficial recall in that it is impossible to get the original part only the safer new parts. i keep thinking about how easy a recall for approximately a 2 and a half years model car is (i have experienced a gm recall of a part that went very smoothly). there is a great cost to society and myself of there not being an official recall. please respond to this email with a letter or i will send another letter by signed receipt email. sincerely, marcie ellis. *jb | |||