NHTSA Complaint #11331318 — 2011 SUBARU OUTBACK

SUBARU OF AMERICA'S CORPORATE CALL CENTER AND TWO SEPARATE DEALERSHIPS (PRIME SUBARU MANCHESTER NH, CLAY SUBARU NORWOOD MA) PROVIDED WRONG INFORMATION ON NUMEROUS OCCASIONS THAT CONFLICTED WITH THEIR TSB 11-104-11. THEY AFFIRMATIVELY SAID THAT THERE WAS NEVER AN UPDATE FOR THE TRANSMISSION CONTROL MODULE AVAILABLE FOR THE VEHICLE AFTER IT LEFT THE FACTORY. THIS IS COMPLETELY INCORRECT AND THUS I SPENT 2 YEARS TROUBLESHOOTING A KNOWN ISSUE, HUNDREDS OF DOLLARS ON DIAGNOSTIC FEES, AND I EVEN REPLACED THE TORQUE CONVERTER AS IT WAS AFFLICTED WITH THE SQUEAL DESCRIBED IN TSB 16-101-16R AND WE COULDN'T RULE OUT THAT ISSUE. THE SYMPTOM IS AN ERRATIC SHIFTING PATTERN, ESPECIALLY WHEN SLOWING DOWN FOR A RED LIGHT THEN SPEEDING UP WHEN IT TURNS GREEN. I DID MY OWN RESEARCH TO DISCOVER THIS TSB VIA ONLINE POSTS AND DOWNLOAD IT FROM THE NHTSA WEBSITE. KRISTEN WEAVER WAS THE ASSOCIATE I SPOKE TO AT SUBARU OF AMERICA ON 5/29/2020. SHE DENIED THAT THE TSB APPLIES TO MY CAR EVEN THOUGH IT CLEARLY SAYS ON THE TSB THAT ALL MY11 OUTBACK 3.6R ARE EFFECTED. PRIME SUBARU IN MANCHESTER NH PERFORMED THE TORQUE CONVERTER REPLACEMENT AND SHOULD HAVE UPDATED THE TCM AT THE TIME, BUT THEY SAID THERE WAS NO UPDATE AVAILABLE. CLAY SUBARU IN NORWOOD MA ALSO SAID AFFIRMATIVELY THAT THERE WAS NEVER A TCM UPDATE AVAILABLE. MILFORD SUBARU IN MILFORD NH FINALLY APPLIED THE UPDATE AT MY SPECIFIC REQUEST AND CONFIRMED THAT PRIME SUBARU SHOULD HAVE DONE SO WHEN THEY DID THE TORQUE CONVERTER UPDATE, AND THAT THEY DID NOT.