How Subaru Improved New Forester And Outback Quality And 3 Reasons Why They Did It Fast

I bought a 2018 Subaru crosstrek I have 12000 miles i hardly drive it And I will never buy another subaru I had many cars on my life time bmw volvo toyota but I was convinced that subaru was a great car but not had many problems with it and I don't drive alot it's been going to the dealer several times from ac compressor replacement bad smell noise on the back underpower antifreeze smell rubber smell recalls ect that's why I bought a new car not to have problems for a couple a years but no very upsetting don't buy subaru

Transmission problems center arm rest melted 2020 Forster. 2919 legacy had road noise and touchy brakes body assembly issues 9 Subes and all were troublesome

I purchased a new Subaru Outback. One day out of nowhere every code Light on the dash came on I drove to my local Subaru dealer , they would not scan the computer , told me my next appointment was in a week , don’t worry drive the car, brought back the car was given a rental. Was told I bought gas with the motor running , Not so, told me it was open loop in the evaporator system they cleared the code. All lights off few days latter again all lights on dash. Drove back to Subaru again only to be told . There will be a 2 week wait few of there Techs quit. The service advisor I first saw quit also I called a different Subaru dealer made appt for next morning 8:00Am . First thing in front of me they scanned the ECM . Again open loop in evaporator. In front of my eyes we both made sure the gas cap was tight. I me my self opened the gas cap looked at the gas cap found the rubber gasket RIPPED. I showed the tech here is my problem . How come no Tech looked at the most simple answer when your scanner shows code for open loop?? I retired after 48 years in the automotive trade. Subaru has to have there Dealer network given more training. & if there is so much turnover in there service dept. I blame the service manager. And owners.

I bought a 2013 outback and I found it an incredibly capable vehicle until it reached the 130,000km mark. The CVT started to fall and feel apart because of poor design. I repaired the vehicle at a cost of $4500. It ran well for another 80,000km then the chain in the CVT broke. This cost me with repairs another $4000. I am now aware that Subaru buys its CVT'S from Nissan. I will never purchase a Subaru again after this experience and I have actively encouraged others not to purchase Subaru products because of the reliability issues. What a shame that Subaru quality has come to this

It is a real pity that they have not put as much care into providing spares . I suffered a broken windscreen in my 3 month old Forester e Boxer and am told that there is not one available in Australia? A contact at Subaru Australia informs me that this is due to industrial disputation on the wharves but this is November and they have still not resolved the problem. So much for customer care? Not good enough Subaru!

So in 8 months Subaru hasn't had a recall? Good for them since they are a small player and there is almost two months left in the year and and we lost two months due to Covid.

Or, conversely, not as many people are driving as much, due to Roja, so the issues haven't surfaced yet

I owned a 2006 Forester--great car. I put 255k miles on it with only one sensor dying at about 180k miles. I then bought a 2017 Forester. Not so great. More squeaks and rattles. A/C problems and of all things the driver's visor was replaced due to squeaking and difficulty to adjust. Now, the replacement visor is acting up again. Subaru really needs to get their act together.

It would be great if there were absolute consistency across models for all manufacturers, but there are lots of examples of huge variations between certain years (lemons), most notably in decades past and not so much recently as quality management became “a thing”.

A lot of times when there are major redesigns or production ramp-ups/expansions going on internally, the bulk of the engineers and even production staff at times get moved to the new projects and quality on the outgoing model(s) suffers. For example, in 2016 they couldn’t make Outback’s fast enough after the 2015 redesign and the one I got (the Foresters are my wife’s cars) had all sorts of indications of being rushed through the factory (like crooked beads of sealant in weird places and missing badges), but that was also the one that convinced me to stop leasing and actually buy the outgoing model. I waited to order a 2019 3.6R Touring, but then they took the dark blue away that I wanted and I had to scramble to find a 2018 across the state and have my local dealer snag it then have it transferred. Except for them screwing up the rear suspension by making it too soft (and dangerous at highway speeds under certain conditions) I love it, but there’s always something to complain about. Subaru actually likes it when you write directly to them with user information and suggestions (I have done this a lot and they even sent me gifts in the mail for some of my recommendations).

Aside from all that rambling, if you go back and look at the issues going on at both the company and the factories within the last few years (the bulk of what this article is about without actually specifying it), it’s a wonder they could still produce the global supply that they did. It’s pretty amazing the different versions of each model they make (as well as major Boeing 787 parts) and overall I think with their new leadership and being very quiet about internal restructuring, there really does seem to be a pretty big difference in product quality. Getting back to the 2019 Forester, it rides totally different than any of the Crosstrek’s, Outback’s, or Forester’s I’ve previously had and like I mentioned before, it just seems like they did so many things right with that redesign and you really can’t compare it to previous models — you just have to drive it for a while to see how much nicer it is to just be in it for long periods of time. I’ve actually been thinking of keeping the Forester and trading in my Outback when it’s time to get an electric car for my wife.