NHTSA Complaint #11649831 — 2017 SUBARU OUTBACK

 Hi I had my car into the local Subaru Dealership (Wheeling Subaru) a few weeks ago to investigate a couple of issues that the car has been having for years (and they have never been able to find). Over the course of that investigation, they finally were able to recreate two issues that should have been covered under the warranty since it's been happening and reported to them for years (the seat memory programming button isn't working and the right sight steering wheel controller isn't working). The parts and labor for those two issues come to $545. But the much bigger issue is that they told me the engine needs to be pulled out and resealed because of cam carrier and spark plug gasket leaks, and that repair is $5,076 plus tax. When I expressed astonishment over this and asked what is going on, the service advisor explained this is a common problem with Subaru cars from this model year because of the switch from timing belts to whatever it has now. with the CVT engine I looked around online and discovered that this is a common issue with 2017 Outbacks. I thought I was making an investment that would last when I bought a brand new Subaru rather than a Ford, Honda, Toyota, Hyundai, etc because Subaru was supposed to be a car that did not have poor quality manufacturing issues like this. Given that this appears to be a common issue with the way this model and year car was manufactured, I am very upset that Subaru is not fixing this under recall but is expecting me to pay $5076 (before tax) to have what was explained to me as a manufacturing defect repaired. Since I've seen a lot of reports for other Subaru owners of this issue, I was advised to file a report with you to investigate. Thank you so much for investigating. Sincerely, [XXX]   INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)