NHTSA Complaint #10133872 — 2000 SUBARU FORESTER

THE 2000 SUBARU FORESTER, WHEN SHIFTED TO "D", "3", "2, OR "1" WILL NOT GO FORWARD. IT WILL ALWAYS GO WHEN IN REVERSE! WE HAVE BEEN TOLD BY SEVERAL DEALERS THAT THE TRANSMISSION MUST BE REPLACED (AT THE TIME THE CAR HAD 70K MILES AND WAS 5+ YEARS OLD - JUST OUT OF WARRANTY). THIS PROBLEM APPEARS TO BE WELL KNOWN TO SUBARU DEALERS. TO MITIGATE THIS PROBLEM, I MUST TAP THE ACCELERATOR, AND WAIT AND WAIT 1 SECOND TO 30 SECONDS BEFORE THE TRANSMISSION WILL ENGAGE. A YEAR AGO, THE TRANSMISSION WAS DRAINED, FLUSHED AND THE FILTER REPLACED, THAT HELPED A LITTLE. THE SERVICE WRITER SAID THE TRANSMISSION WAS OUT OF WARRANTY A SHOULD BE REPLACED, HE ALSO SAID THE WARRANTY SPECIFIED THAT BEFORE 40K MILES THE TRANSMISSION SHOULD BE DRAINED, FLUSHED, AND THE FILTER REPLACED. AFTER READING THE 2000 WARRANTY AND MAINTENANCE BOOKLET (MSA5M0001W, ISSUED JUNE 1999), PAGE 42 (2000 MY FEDERAL SPECIFICATION VEHICLES) AND PAGE 43 (NOTES) I FOUND OUT THAT HE WAS IN ERROR. ITEM 10 AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION FLUID IS AN "INSPECTION (I)" ITEM ONLY AT 30K, 60K, 90K, AND 120K MILES. PAGE 43 "NOTES 4 AND 9" ARE SPECIFIC, REPEAT SPECIFIC, TO THE AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION FLUID (ITEM 10). NOTE 4 DESCRIBES "SEVERE DRIVING CONDITIONS", BUT ONLY TWO OF THEM "APPEAR (NOT SPECIFIC TO ITEM 10)" TO PERTAIN TO AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION FLUID, "C. DRIVING IN DUSTY CONDITIONS" AND "G. TOWING A TRAILER" - I AND MOST OTHER OWNERS DO NEITHER. AND AS FOR NOTE 9, THE NOTES STOP AT 8, - 9 IS MISSING -, THE CALIFORNIA SCHEDULE OF INSPECTION AND MAINTENANCE SERVICES AND NOTES (PAGES 44 AND 45) ALSO HAVE NOTE 9 MISSING! INTERNET CITATIONS ATTRIBUTE THIS HESITATION PROBLEM TO A SOFTWARE PROBLEM (THIS YEAR WAS AMONG THE FIRST YEARS TO HAVE ELECTRONIC TRANSMISSION CONTROL - THEY MENTION) A PERVASIVE AND CONTINUING PROBLEM THAT SUBARU IS ATTEMPTING TO AVOID. THE APRIL 2005 CONSUMER REPORTS (PAGE 92 RELIABILITY SCORES) ALSO DOCUMENTS THE HIGHER INCIDENCE OF TRANSMISSION PROBLEMS WITH THE 1999 AND 2000 FORESTER.