[UUNCNDL1]

Things have been going well for my 2012 outback purchased Sept 2011. She had the 30K service Dec 2012, and then 4 weeks later out of the blue the Check Engine light came on, along with flashing Brake Light, Cruise, & AT temp. She also was running really rough. Dealer ran all the diagnostics and could not find anything wrong (no, it was not the gas cap). System was reset and I was told "must have been a glitch". Fast forward four weeks later (last Sunday) and the same thing happens. I noticed that in the Manual shift mode she ran fine, however in Drive she ran horrible. Left her at the dealer and Monday they call to say I need a new transmission. Today (Friday) I pick her up and talk to the service guy as I'm signing the paperwork. He says "they've never seen this happen on a 2012" and that They replaced it with a "New Factory Transmission" guaranteed for 12 months & unlimited miles. I get home and read my paperwork and see that they put in a Reconditioned Transmission. Pretty funny because service had told me "New" and I saw the factory paperwork that the dealer charged Subaru (more than $4,000 dollars).
Couple of things come to mind. Sure glad she was under warranty.
Should I get rid of this car as fast as I can? Why or why not? At least I have the Subaru Gold Extended Warranty that will cover her for 3 1/2 more years/100,000 miles. The problem for me is do I believe the service department the next time I go in for something? Enough rambling. I just wanted to hear any thoughts about the CVT transmission. Cleve

 

[Novablue]

I would not get rid of the car as fast as I can, no.

Reconditioned isn't necessarily bad, but the $4000 figure I would say shows that it isn't a new factory part. It's also possible the new '13 tranny and your tranny are not compatible so they didn't have a choice.

I think the big problem here is that they did not tell you. Would you feel the same way if they had said, "we can't get a new one... blah blah..."

Many times people do what is easy and not what is right. It's easier to just tell you it's new and give you the "new reconditioned part" than it is to spend time explaining everything. Technically it is new, but they lie is letting you believe it is new off the assembly line in Japan that we were going to use for a new car.

And that is too bad...

Not sure I'd go back to the same dealer or not. I would strongly consider dumping the car after the warranty.

 

[nipper]

"new" transmission just means it was replaced, it is a common mistake. It is a new transmission to the car as opposed to the old one. Same thing goes for "we put a new (put part here) in your car and it is fixed. That can mean Alt, PS pump, Ac compressor, transmission, engine.

On something like this Subaru prefers the transmission get sent back to them instead of repaired at the dealership as they want to see it unmolested. This is what warrenties are for. Unless you hate the car I would keep it.

 

[Looby]

"new" transmission just means it was replaced

new | no͞o | adjective
• not existing before; made, introduced, now for the first time
• not previously used or owned

...English much?

Looby

 

[nipper]

Ok this just ticked me off, not everyone in every shop is an english major, NOR is common usage by peoples in the trade a reason to be such an lanugauge snob. I am out of this thread as I feel oike I have just been insulted.

 

[AltaBrig]

I would expect a "non-remanufactured" tranny if mine went under warranty. They should have disclosed that it was a refurbished part IMO.:8:

I would be bummed, but not sure I would go any further with it unless you have more drive train issues in the near future, considering you have the Gold Warranty, you shouldn't have to sweat the seals and linkages to the CVT too much.

Give it some good hard driving with those paddles in the near future and watch her closely.

I don't know if they have a dipstick on those CVTs? On my CVT car - no way to watch the ATF fluid.:8:

 

[Looby]

...not everyone in every shop is an english major,
NOR is common usage by peoples in the trade ...

"Peoples in the trade" (any trade) shouldn't presume that
"valued customers" can distinguish between trade jargon
and outright lies. Clearly, the OP was naïve enough to
assume that "New Factory Transmission" meant "new."

"When I use a word,' Humpty Dumpty said in rather a scornful tone,
'it means just what I choose it to mean — neither more nor less."

.

 

[JAvendan]

My only comment is that If you keep the car past the factory warranty, 3 years/ 36k, and you have to use the extended warranty and you then sell/trade the car... Then you will not be refunded a percentage of what you paid towards the cost of the warranty as you "used" it.

Or, is that just a Honda thing????

I traded a Honda for my Subaru.

I was over the factory warranty coverage and had an extended warranty.

Since I did not use the extended warranty I was refunded a portion of the cost paid for the extended warranty.

Make sense???

Joel


Sent from AutoGuide.com App

 

[BadAV]

They probably simply meant they put in a new transmission; that they did not rebuild the bad one. A properly reconditioned CVT should be essentially like a new one.

 

[G-Omaha]

My only comment is that If you keep the car past the factory warranty, 3 years/ 36k, and you have to use the extended warranty and you then sell/trade the car... Then you will not be refunded a percentage of what you paid towards the cost of the warranty as you "used" it.

Or, is that just a Honda thing????

I traded a Honda for my Subaru.

I was over the factory warranty coverage and had an extended warranty.

Since I did not use the extended warranty I was refunded a portion of the cost paid for the extended warranty.

Make sense???

Joel


Sent from AutoGuide.com App

The Basic Drive Train warranty is greater than the 36 month/36,000 mile bumper to bumper warranty.

The basic warranty, as well as all SAS (Subaru Extended Warranty) allow for replacement parts that are not new (by that I mean re-manufactured). This is just a "fact of life" and common across all spectrum's of the auto industry and is not limited to Subaru - or to other products, in general.

If you have a Subaru Extended Warranty (actually called Subaru SAS), it may be refunded on a prorated basis or transferred to the next owner for a $35 fee. I have done the refund avenue twice. The refund basis is based on the Months/miles since the car was placed "in-service", aka original purchase date even if you used more "services" than the original cost of the SAS plan. Can't comment on how the Honda plan works.

 

[G-Omaha]

I don't know if they have a dipstick on those CVTs? On my CVT car - no way to watch the ATF fluid.:8:

For the CVT - they don't! It's a closed unit.

 

[OBnube]

IIRC this is the first report of a $4000 remanufactured replacement. The few others reported were new and $8000+. Are the 10-12 CVT's the same?? If so having three years worth and some early ones with higher milage maybe the supply of failed units has opened up a bit to be repaired. It still sounds like the factory is the only source for new or refurb.

 

[Novablue]

For the CVT - they don't! It's a closed unit.

Sorta. Tech manual has you remove the filler bolt and if fluid comes out then it's "full." So Closed Unit yes, non-check-able, no.

For anyone, I do not have a link to the service manual here but here is some CVT info that is already on the site.
http://www.subaruoutback.org/forums...-2011-2-5i-cvt-differential-fluid-change.html
http://www.subaruoutback.org/forums/104-gen-4-2010-present/27778-cvt-fluid-level.html

 

[DieselOx]

As Click and Clack used to say, you had a used transmission in there, you're not any worse off than you were before. I would take a factory reconditioned over new old stock; it will have all the latest engineering updates that a new one sitting on the shelf for a year didn't get. Probably not reality, dont think there are a lot of CVT's in stock anywhere.

I work in production, deal with quality, lean manufacturing issues, work closely with a former Toyota engineer who worked in the same plant with Subaru (it's a joint venture with Toyota); I trust Subaru factory reconditioned over most other new parts. They know what they are doing.

 

[DrD]

Another thing to consider is what is actually re-used for a remanufactured transmission - in some instances, the only part which is re-used is the case, so it's a reconditioned housing with new internals. (even if there are other parts re-used, to recondition they have to take it apart and go over everything and make sure nothing is worn) - a remanufactured transmission should be good as new - I wouldn't worry about it!

 

[lloyd123]

Obviously, reconditioned means they took someone else's failed transmission, took it apart and replaced what was broken. That could be a permanent fix or maybe not.

I bought a used 1995 SAAB 900 in 1997 with 20,000 miles that was a buy back from original owner because of a failed transmission. I was told by the sales person that SAAB had replaced the transmission with a "new" one - sound familiar - and it was as good as new. A couple years and 40,000 miles later the transmission failed and then it became clear that they had only repaired/reconditioned the original transmission but missed the underlying problem that caused the failure in the first place. I did not have extended warranty and received no goodwill from either SAAB or the dealer so I had to pay about $4,000 to have a used transmission installed. Never bought another SAAB.

 

[Ali_pine]

Check the papers YOU SIGNED BEFORE the repair work was done.

I bet you approved use of a 'used' unit. Used as in remanufactured/repaired.

I'd be happy with a factory remanufactured unit with warrenty as a rplacement for one with 34+k miles with the warrenty expiring in a couple of weeks.

 

[Looby]

Hmm... I have to wonder what "factory" means -- in
common usage, by peoples in the trade, of course.

 

[mpnret]

IIRC this is the first report of a $4000 remanufactured replacement. The few others reported were new and $8000+. Are the 10-12 CVT's the same?? If so having three years worth and some early ones with higher milage maybe the supply of failed units has opened up a bit to be repaired. It still sounds like the factory is the only source for new or refurb.

see below

Well, they finally got my car back to me yesterday. Looking over the service paperwork this morning I noticed a peculiar line-item:

31000AH780S1 REMAN TRANSM

I am really hoping that this does NOT mean what I think it does. If it does, is it completely unreasonable for me to NOT want a remanufactured transmission in a car with less than 7k on the clock?

 

[4wheeldog]

Japanese manufacturers often label actual "New" replacement parts as "Remanufactured". It saves then import duty.......If the part is actually made in Japan, and arrives with reman tag, it costs them less.

If it was remanufactured in this country, then it is what it is labeled. Personally, I would not have any heartburn over a reman transmission.......The updated parts would show up in them, before they would a tranny off the shelf.