Subaru: Forester 2000 Many issues with this vehicle Nationwide
I purchased my Subaru Forester 2000 2nd hand in 2003 at 72,000 miles at Farmington Ford in Farmington Maine.
A little over 30 thousand miles later it started to develop serious issues.
1st: Transmission was slipping so I had to replace the entire transmission for a total of $2,097 at this time the power steerig knuckle also had an issue and that was repaired as well- the guy also replaced the timming belt.
2nd: A month later my car started to make funny sounds again and I thought it might be the struts but it was more. The wheel bearings were going and I had to get them replaced. At this time my repair guy found issues with the struts as well as a crack i the catalatic converter. I also had an issue with the center lights in my car- this til this day has not been fixed. My repair guy feels it might be electrical. At this time I contacted Subaru through e mail and also spoke to a person at their head office. She told me that all they could do was offer me $700.00 off a new Subaru. Great! No, Thanks.
I moved up north to be with my boyfriend and car pooled alot up there. My car finally got a break and I had no issues. We moved back to my hometown and the issues started arrising again ( the more I use the car you know?)
3rd: My car needed welding done on the exhaust system in order to get inspected. I had this done in November of 2006-
4th: This Month currently Febuary 2007 my car is now in the shop due to a cooolant issue. My repair man thinks it could be head gaskets which are going to run me thousands of dolalrs more. At this time I would like nothing more then another car- but I still owe 5,000 dollars on this car- and another 2,500 dollars in loans for the repairs of this car- I am at a total loss and all I can really afford to do is take all these repairs because really minus the engine (Knocks on wood) its practically a brand new car! I am not the only person who has had issues with these problems there are more of us- but yet subaru has only done a recall on a couple of very minor things.
I just wrote subaru with my new complaints as well as attached my previous ones. I will update with any response that they provde me.
-Sarah Age: 24
Sarah
Rumford, Maine
U.S.A.
5 Updates & Rebuttals
Jeffrey
Naperville,Illinois,
U.S.A.
service records
#6Consumer Suggestion
Thu, May 24, 2007
You said you bought this car when it was one year old with 73,000 miles on it!
73,000 mile in one year is alot of miles, did you get maintenance records from the people you bought it from to make sure they did all the required maintence on it?
the car should have had numerous transmissin oil changes along with lots of oil and filter changes.
It sounds like this car was driven hard, I wouldn't blame the car for possible lack of maintenance.
The car comes with a 3yr or 36,000 mile warranty and a 5yr or 60,000 powertrain warranty. How long should the maufacture warranty a car for?
Robert
Huntsville,Alabama,
U.S.A.
Forrester 2000 with 102K miles
#6Consumer Comment
Wed, February 28, 2007
Sarah from Maine,
A Subaru should normally run for 100K before you get any significant repairs. Who is your mechanic? $700 off a new one, is this off the sticker price, what about trade-in value. Is that $5000 off as well?
In 2003 in a Baja owner site, a now former 2003 Baja owner had a head gasket problem and Subaru refused to make the repair correctly under warranty. Rather tried to fix the gasket leak with additives in the oil, something like that. Clearly this company is no longer making the quality engines of the 80's. Subaru was then known for running 200K miles easy.
CV joint rubber boots replacement is usually the first repair to be done. Some of the 2.5L engines have had head gasket problems so they are less reliable than the older 2.2L engines.
My 2003 2.5L Baja came with piston slap, this a designed in feature which is not worth the advantages of a smaller piston.
Was this Forrester purchased used at a Subaru dealer? Was the car from a local owner?
You owe $5000 plus $2500 in repairs. What is the wholesale value of the car?
Your 30K trouble free miles is great for a used car. Be aware that Subaru cars are the easiest to repair. The timing belt, 100K maintenance, can be done by the owner for $40, price of belt. Will be doing that in 2010 for the 2003 Baja.
93 Legacy 165K runs great
03 Baja 47K runs better, oops with piston slap
John
Roseville,Illinois,
U.S.A.
I'm trying to determine if this is actually...
#6Consumer Suggestion
Fri, February 23, 2007
a serious posting or not. You bought the car used, it is now 7 years old, problems "started" after you had driven the car more than 30,000 miles after you bought it and it had over 102,000 miles on the odometer and you think it's a ripoff? Cars need maintaince. Repairs are expensive.
JMHO
Cory
San Antonio,Texas,
U.S.A.
They Sure Don't Make Em Like They Use To
#6Consumer Comment
Fri, February 23, 2007
An at least, seven year old, used, all wheel drive vehicle, with over 102,000 miles on it, having been driven in heavy winters with lots of snow and ice and salt and sand. The first owner averaged probably 25,000 miles per year. Go figure, the vehicle has; transmissions problems, the vehicle had to have the timming belt replaced(all vehicles have to have the timming belt replaced), the struts wore out(all stuts wear out), the cat converter had a crack, the exhaust system needed some welding(it probably rusted out). Age:24, that might explain this post. I had a 16 month old ford f-150 2005 PU with 21,000 miles on it and the tranny went out. ford replaced the trans under warranty. It never did run worth a d**n after that. I dumped it in a heart beat. That's something to complain about.
Thomas
Anderson,South Carolina,
U.S.A.
You bought a used car with 72,000 miles on it.....
#6Consumer Comment
Fri, February 23, 2007
What maintanence did the previous owner(s) do on that car? Do you know? How was it driven? Fast and hard over rough roads? Do you know? Was it a leased car? Do you know? The questions go on and on when you look at any used car. Maybe none of this is Subaru's fault at all because the car was abused.
Cars need maintanence. I changed the auto tranny fluid & filter every 50,000 miles in our '91 Camry and we drove that car 323K before we traded it in on an '07 Camry. We never had to repair the tranny, the engine, the exhaust system; we never had to replace the shocks or any suspension parts or wheel bearings. We maintained the car and we did not abuse it. You bought a used car. Why did the previous owner(s) dump it with "only" 72,000 miles on it? It sounds to me like deferred maintanence and abusive treatment by the previous owner(s) are the causes of your problems here.