NHTSA Complaint #11245566 — 2012 SUBARU OUTBACK

2012 SUBARU OUTBACK WITH APPROX. 122,000 MILES. THE CVT TRANSMISSION BEGAN RASPING WHILE UNDER ACCELERATION. RANDOMLY, AND OVER A PERIOD OF SEVERAL DAYS, THE VEHICLE STALLED, PARTICULARLY WHEN RAPIDLY DECELERATING UNDER BRAKING CONDITIONS. THIS REQUIRED THE VEHICLE TO BE SHIFTED INTO PARK OR NEUTRAL AND RESTARTED. ONLINE, I DISCOVERED THAT THERE IS A RATHER LENGTHY HISTORY OF PROBLEMS WITH THIS SUBARU TRANSMISSION, AND THAT SUBARU, APPARENTLY TO AVOID A RECALL, EXTENDED ITS WARRANTY ON THE 2012 OUTBACK TO JULY 31, 2018 OR 100,000 MILES, WHICHEVER CAME FIRST. I WAS NEVER NOTIFIED OF THE WARRANTY EXTENSION, A FACT THAT SUBARU USA ON JULY 29, 2019 TACITLY ACKNOWLEDGE (THEY SAID THEY HAD NO RECORD THAT I HAD BEEN NOTIFIED), BUT SUBARU USA SAID, DESPITE THIS, THAT THE WARRANTY DATE AND MILEAGE HAD NOW EXPIRED AND THEY COULD DO NOTHING FOR ME. SUBARU USA ALSO ACKNOWLEDGED THAT THE ESTIMATED REPAIR COST OF $9500 WAS "QUITE HIGH" AND TOLD ME THAT AS A "GOOD WILL" GESTURE THEY WERE PREPARED TO OFFER ME $1500 CREDIT TOWARD THE PURCHASE OF A NEW SUBARU.