[El Guapo]

Just bought my 2012 2.5i Premium CVT in June. Recently took it in due to a severe rattle/pinging from the engine compartment when accelerating. Subaru said they had to replace the timing belt / pully and timing cover. They sent me home in the car and I promptly discovered the same severe rattle/pinging (sounds like poor octane, but MUCH louder). Took the car back in. Just got the call from Subaru that a new transmission is going to be put in. I'm not at all quite sure what to think of this. The car was serviced by Subaru at 3500 per instructions and was in for the 7k this time. Has anyone else had trouble with their CVT transmission or required replacement at so few miles? 7k seems really low to be having these problems.:gasp:

BTW...before anyone thinks otherwise....I don't take this car offroad and I don't hotrod (I've gone over 4k rpms twice and that was only around 4.5k rpms and only after the car had 1500 on the clock).

 

[idosubaru]

many folks do drive aggressively, race, offroad with no issues after many miles...it is definitely bizarre to have 7,000 mile issues.

if indeed the transmission has failed this is not maintenance or wear related - a mistake was made during assembly or installation. this is exactly what warranties are for, mistakes happen. Ideally Subaru properly installs a good trans and you're done for the next 200,000 miles.

 

[mikelipke]

Anything made by man can have a problem.
Remember Chevrolet's venerable small block V8's. My dad had one break a crankshaft in half at about 3000 miles.
Be glad it happened now rather than at 80,000 miles.

 

[bradze]

you're not the only one

 

[subiesailor]

New car with some parts that are not happy. It happens with any auto maker but with the CVT there have been a couple of people mention CVT replacement due to a bad front diff leak but nothing like your case.

Let Subaru fix it and see where it goes. New cars are viewed as in the Honeymoon period the first 25K or so where faulty parts and electronics can and normally do surface. That is why all automakers offer at least 36K warranty with the purchase to start with

 

[fun2drive]

Given this is a seldom reported issue you got the luck of the draw, negative luck of the draw.
My guess is that you will not see this happen again and even when doing 100% inpection and testing you will have failures...

 

[NickH]

Just bought my 2012 2.5i Premium CVT in June. Recently took it in due to a severe rattle/pinging from the engine compartment when accelerating. Subaru said they had to replace the timing belt / pully and timing cover. They sent me home in the car and I promptly discovered the same severe rattle/pinging (sounds like poor octane, but MUCH louder). Took the car back in. Just got the call from Subaru that a new transmission is going to be put in. I'm not at all quite sure what to think of this. The car was serviced by Subaru at 3500 per instructions and was in for the 7k this time. Has anyone else had trouble with their CVT transmission or required replacement at so few miles? 7k seems really low to be having these problems.:gasp:

BTW...before anyone thinks otherwise....I don't take this car offroad and I don't hotrod (I've gone over 4k rpms twice and that was only around 4.5k rpms and only after the car had 1500 on the clock).

Did the rattle occur during acceleration at any speed? I have a rattle during acceleration as soon as my Outback shifts out of its initial gear.

Nick

 

[El Guapo]

Did the rattle occur during acceleration at any speed? I have a rattle during acceleration as soon as my Outback shifts out of its initial gear.

Nick

Yes. It would occur once it got above 2500 rpms. Cruising along the highway it wouldn't do it. But once I had to accelerate to pass someone, it would immediately start rattling like mad. It won't do it in Neutral no matter how high the engine revs.

 

[NickH]

Yes. It would occur once it got above 2500 rpms. Cruising along the highway it wouldn't do it. But once I had to accelerate to pass someone, it would immediately start rattling like mad. It won't do it in Neutral no matter how high the engine revs.

Mine won't do it at highway speeds either...sounds very similar...

I've had two dealers confirm they hear the noise and they both consider it normal. It doesn't sound normal to me at all.

Nick

 

[foxrider68]

My 11 Legacy always had a knocking sound at slow speeds and low RPMs which I treated as normal. Now I have a shudder when the car is cold if I'm going really slow in a parking lot through speed bumps. It goes away warm, I treat it as normal and I believe its been brought up before.

 

[bruce_van]

If something has a success rate of 99%, there is always that 1%. Unfortunately, you happened to have gotten the 1%.

If warranty work is going to happen, just be thankful it happened sooner than later. Sometimes in life, you end up drawing the shorter stick. Let's hope that's the only thing.