NHTSA Complaint #10690453 — 2004 SUBARU FORESTER

THERE IS A VERY STRONG AND DISTINCT SMELL OF RAW FUEL COMING FROM THE ENGINE COMPARTMENT WHEN THE WEATHER IS BELOW FREEZING (20F OR BELOW). THE SMELL COMES THROUGH THE AIR VENTS INTO THE PASSENGER COMPARTMENT AND IS STRONG ENOUGH TO CAUSE A HEADACHE FOR THE PASSENGERS IN THE CAR. THE SMELL IS WORST WHEN THE CAR IS STOPPED AFTER A DRIVE. IT SEEMS THAT THIS IS A KNOWN PROBLEM WITH SUBARU WRX 2002 & 2003 CARS AND SUBARU HAS ISSUED A RECALL FOR THEM. THIS ALSO SEEMS TO BE A COMMON ENOUGH PROBLEM FOR SUBARU FORRESTER CARS FROM THE SAME TIMEFRAME. ON THE WEBSITE HTTP://WWW.ABOUTAUTOMOBILE.COM/COMPLAINT/2004/SUBARU/FORESTER, ALMOST 50% OF THE COMPLAINTS OUT OF 154 COMPLAINTS IS ABOUT THIS FUEL LEAK ISSUE. THIS SEEMS TO BE A WELL KNOWN PROBLEM ACCORDING TO DEALERS AND OTHER SUBARU FORRESTER OWNERS AS WELL (HTTP://WWW.SUBARUFORESTER.ORG/VBULLETIN/F87/SMELL-GAS-COLD-STARTS-41319/). IT HAS ALSO BEEN DOCUMENTED BY OTHER OWNERS AT NHTSA: HTTPS://SITES.GOOGLE.COM/SITE/20042005FORESTERXTFUELLEAKS/ SUBARU OF AMERICA SEEMS TO HAVE IMPLICITLY ACKNOWLEDGED THE SYSTEMIC PROBLEM AS THEY HAVE BEEN REIMBURSING SOME OWNERS (BUT NOT ALL) FOR THEIR SERVICE COSTS WHICH CAN BE IN THE RANGE FOR $800 (HTTP://WWW.SUBARUFORESTER.ORG/VBULLETIN/F88/FIXING-LEAKING-FUEL-GAS-LINE-86782/). HOWEVER, SUBARU HAS NOT RECALLED THESE CARS AND IS EXPECTING OWNERS TO FIX THE PROBLEMS WHICH MAY MAY CAUSE HEALTH ISSUES AND GIVEN FUEL LEAKING ON HOT ENGINE PARTS, MAY LEAD TO AN ENGINE FIRE IF NOT FIXED. *JS