Consumer Complaints
| Fail date | miles | occurences | Purchase date |
|---|---|---|---|
| SUSPENSION | |||
| 04/01/2011 | 5000 | 1 | |
| The front end of the car shakes on smooth roads (recently repaved road) and it tends to persist whether you are accelerating or decelerating. previously took car in for the dealership to look at this issue and they stated it was a wheel balance issue. they rotated my wheels, stated they balanced the wheels and also stated that i needed new tires even though there is plenty of wear left on the tires. the issue never went away on the shaking front end of my car and continues to be an issue today. ## vin passed ## 2010 subaru outback 3.6r ## *tr | |||
| 09/02/2011 | 25000 | ||
| While driving downhill in the summer on a dry road at around 60 mph the steering wheel excessively begin to vibrate/shake around 55mph and higher speeds left to right and right to left excessively. the vibration/shaking was almost uncontrollable as if it were on black ice. the vibration only became controllable if i slowed down. this shaking/vibration only seems to occur at higher speeds and occurs quite often. | |||
| 11/05/2010 | 2000 | ||
| About two months after purchasing my 2010 2.5i outback with the cvt i noticed a sway on the highway when traveling around 80 mph. the car feels to drift from side to side (almost snake like) when driving straight. i asked the local service department if they were aware of any issues and they said no, but would take a look. they found nothing to be incorrect yet the car continues to sway at higher speeds. it feels as if it would benefit from an upgraded front and rear sway bar to tie the lengthier vehicle together a bit more. i would purchase these myself but donot want to void the lease warranty and really feel that subary should provide and install these for free since multiple people seem to have the same or similar issue. | |||
| 04/14/2010 | 100 | ||
| Our 2010 3.6r outback arrived in apr. the first time that the vehicle was taken on the highway, i noticed a prominent high frequency vibration in the steering wheel. there is also unusual feedback in the steering wheel at slower speeds that feels unlike anything related to road noise. i researched the problem on the internet and seen that there were many forums identifying the same problem for 2010 outbacks. i informed our local subaru service dept. about the vibration and made an appointment. a subaru service technician confirmed the vibration during a test drive and recommended a spin balance. after reading all the complaints and proposed fixes on the internet, i told them that i was not confident that a spin balance was going to be successful. i asked the service dept. manager if they had been informed/aware of the ongoing problems and she denied having any previous knowledge of steering vibration issues with any outbacks. the spin balance added a multitude of stick-on weights to all four wheels (some exceed 9 in. in length). the invoice said that a follow-up test drive by a technician produced normal steering as designed. a test drive home from the dealership on the highway again produced the same high frequency vibration. i informed the service dept. immediately and the vehicle was again left there this morning. i produced several pages of complaints found on the internet identifying this issue. they made copies of them and told me that they were going to contact soa factory engineers. the bottom line is this. the vibration is prominent enough to cause fatigue and numbness in the hands on extended drives. there is also a concern of what may fail and cause a loss of steering or vehicle control. the faulty component needs to be identified and the issue fixed by soa immediately. soa has tried a number of fixes without success (spin-balance, forced balance, alignment, backlash spring, wheel bearing, steering pump, replace out-of-round tires) | |||
| 03/28/2010 | 1700 | 1 | |
| Starting from 1,700 miles, this car started developing the vibration on the steering wheel. this vibration/shimmy is more pronounced on highway (>70mph) but noticeable in other speeds. i have owned a couple of vehicles and this kind of shimmy/vibration has never happened on any cars that i owned/drove. i am 100% sure it is not normal road feel and it didn't happen during the first 1,700 miles. also, the car doesn't track straight and drifts on highway. two alignments, tire balancing and rotation have been done but the vibration and drifting persist. i definitely consider the steering wheel vibration and drifting a safety issue since it totally isolated the road feel on highway. also, i just can | |||
| 12/15/2009 | 250 | 1 | |
| Brand new 2010 subaru outback has a shimmy problem . the steering wheel shimmies and when making a wide turn, often the steering feels like you hit an ice patch, even tho the road is dry. subaru is and was aware of these problems before production, and sold them anyway. *tr | |||
| 12/15/2009 | 400 | 1 | |
| The 2010 subaru outback exhibits extremely poor handling at highway speeds. when traveling at normal highway speed, the steering wheel vibrates, and the car feels like it | |||
| SUSPENSION - FRONT | |||
| 03/16/2010 | 90 | ||
| I purchased a subaru outback 2.5i premium (manual transmission) on 03/15/2010 and noticed moderate to severe steering wheel and front driver's side wheel vibration above 40mph on the second day. i subsequently checked tire pressure on all four tires, gave the car some time to break in, and tested various road conditions and speeds to determine if the problem is more pronounced under certain conditions. the vibration can be felt at speeds above 50mph on the front driver and passenger side floors, seats, and in the steering wheel, with the intensity increasing with speed, regardless of road smoothness. after the car didn't self-correct, i scheduled an appointment at the dealership for 04/26/2010 to do an initial/routine check of the car. they rebalanced all four tires and said that should fix it, but asked that i advise any future issues. the vibration remains, but at speeds above 60mph (a mere 10mph increase) from both the steering wheel and tires, and - as before - is increasingly noticeable at higher speeds and during rain/wet weather. i called the dealer and have scheduled another appointment to address this vibration issue. i will post a follow-up once this service is complete. | |||
| 10/12/2009 | 1 | ||
| There is an continuous vibration and shimmy in the front-end and steering wheel of my 2010 subaru outback that since new (oct 2009) has not been able to be rectified by subaru mechanics, even with cooperation by subaru of america. this vibration can sometimes be dramatic through the steering wheel at highway speeds, and causes erratic drivability, especially in adverse conditions. this vibration may also cause premature wear on front tires, steering and suspension components that could lead to failure and injury, especially at highway speeds. in fact, subaru initially blamed the tire manufacturer - continental - for the issue, stating the tires were defective, and had continental issue replacement tires for my outback. this did solve the problem. if this problem is researched on popular and respectable automotive web sites, one can find that it has been affecting a considerable amount of 2010 subaru outbacks and to date, no owners have had their issue resolved by subaru of america. many other owners reported subaru of america replacing what were considered defective continental tires, with another set of exact tires from continental. i am worried that this issue is not getting enough exposure and may take an unfortunate accident for anyone to seriously take notice. i have a customer service case open with subaru, but it is evident from my repeated conversations with them that they are being evasive with where they are in fixing this issue, and i have now become deeply concerned for the safety of my family. they want to try another 'fix', but that will not be until mid-march, with no guarantee of resolution. this is a brand new car with only 6,000 miles on it, and i have been thoroughly disappointed with the issues it has had. this vehicle was heavily influenced by toyota, who owns a considerable percentage of subaru...if this says anything. *tr | |||
| SUSPENSION - REAR | |||
| 11/28/2009 | 800 | ||
| My wife and i have been loyal subaru owners for over ten years, but we have encountered two troubling problems within the same year. the first problem was eventually taken care of by subaru of america after several months of going to different dealers to resolve the problem. we had a bad transmission which finally was recognized as the problem and it needed replacing but subaru of america decided it would buy back the 2009 subaru forrester which had this problem from the day my wife purchased it. we were told we had to buy another subaru but this we thought was no problem. my wife chose a 2010 outback and within a couple of weeks the nightmare started all over again. we thought how could this happen | |||