[AstroKats]

Similar story here. Due to my location, a lot of the 850+ people where I work have had Subarus. And just like your experience, quite a large number have got rid of them due to engine and reliability issues. Not Just Crosstrek, many were Imprezas and Forestors. One poor guy with an Outback is on engine #3 and is at the dealer for engine #4. And sadly, this car was a replacement for a buy back of a previous Subaru with issues they could not resolve. With all that is going on in the world, it's still waiting to be repaired. At least he has a loaner. In that case I think is a dealer issue but the others were clearly not. Most were covered under warranty but once you hit 100,000 , you are on your own. I personally have a new issue popping up regularly but am trying to get till retirement without buying a new car. Not sure I'll be able to make it though with this POS. I bought the Subaru for a reasonably reliable car that would make it 10 years and 200,000 miles but that is has not been. A lot of people I work with with real world experience would tell you the same thing and have dumped theirs and moved on.

A big issue is also the selling dealer. We used to have one of the oldest Subaru dealers in the country to help with issues. They were extremely good, treated their employees right, and knew what they were doing. The owner retired and ended up selling to a slick dealer that just plain is all about the money. They completely destroyed the reliable competent service department. Sadly still doesn't explain all the wheel bearing and CV failures just out of warranty. In my almost 45 years of working on cars, never replaced them at such low miles let alone at all in most cases.

Which model years were the other Crosstreks with these issues? I know yours had problems at a higher mileage, however, if what you're reporting is true, it doesn't jive with the mostly stellar reliability reputation of Subarus reported by CR and other highly regarded organizations, and the mostly positive posts on forums like this. On another forum there's a guy with a Crosstrek of a similar age that he's driven to over 800,000 miles and the engine lasted until about 650K!

 

[subyrubyroo]

Mine’s a 2014. Most of the others 2013-2015. The Outback is even newer. Lots of reports on here if you look. Lots of wheel bearing failures, AC issues, CV joints.

i have no faith in CR. It is people’s opinion. As an example, a neighbor had a Honda. Had all kinds of major problems but was the best car ever. Others have 1 minor issue and it’s junk. Those are the people reviewing. I base on real world what I see around me, what the small Subaru shop sees, not some Internet forum or magazine. I personally have never seen any other brand needing so many new engines. And that is firsthand, not word of mouth which can be unreliable. Maybe the newer ones are better it’s just not worth the risk IMHO. And most that I work with, not all, feel the same way at this point.

 

[AstroKats]

Mine’s a 2014. Most of the others 2013-2015. The Outback is even newer. Lots of reports on here if you look. Lots of wheel bearing failures, AC issues, CV joints.

i have no faith in CR. It is people’s opinion. As an example, a neighbor had a Honda. Had all kinds of major problems but was the best car ever. Others have 1 minor issue and it’s junk. Those are the people reviewing. I base on real world what I see around me, what the small Subaru shop sees, not some Internet forum or magazine.

I'll agree with you on crowdsourced reviews. Why we don't regard Vivino as a good source of wine recommendations - someone may be happy with a bottle of white zin from the supermarket and good for them but it doesn't mean I'll like it, LOL.

On the other hand, forums like this tend to skew significantly more to the negative because the average owner doesn't spontaneously decide to go on a car forum to say how reliable his or her car is. It's almost always because they're having a problem and want some help. With the volume of users and posts here I'm just not seeing a lot of negativity. Just the usual car issues and the occasional poster who has had a bad experience and thinks that means all Subarus are a "POS" as you put it.

 

[subyrubyroo]

Please learn to read. I said mine was a POS, not all. If mine was the only one with major issues, I would chalk it up to being unlucky. Such is not the case unfortunately. You have a newer car so maybe they have fixed a lot of the issues. Mine was model year 3 so my only concern when new was the expensive CVT, not the engine, cv joints, bearings, etc. Luckily I am able to fix most otherwise it would of cost a fortune.

It’s good that the OP was able to get real world local info instead of from people that don’t even own a comparable year model telling them there are no issues from what they have read.

 

[AstroKats]

Please learn to read. I said mine was a POS, not all. If mine was the only one with major issues, I would chalk it up to being unlucky. Such is not the case unfortunately. You have a newer car so maybe they have fixed a lot of the issues. Mine was model year 3 so my only concern when new was the expensive CVT, not the engine, cv joints, bearings, etc. Luckily I am able to fix most otherwise it would of cost a fortune.

It’s good that the OP was able to get real world local info instead of from people that don’t even own a comparable year model telling them there are no issues from what they have read.

And please be respectful - I learned to read a long time ago. Maybe yours really is a POS, and perhaps I could have phrased it better, that some people think all Subarus are a POS from one bad experience, which is the term that you used.

I disagree with your last sentence as his was a tiny sample, so not remotely statistically significant. Besides the great safety and reliability ratings on CR, etc. we chose to buy a Subaru (and then get one for mom-in-law) when it was time to replace a 14yo Lexus because of all of our friends who had bought them in the last several years, old and new, different models, and we didn't hear a bad word from anyone. Does that mean all Subarus are fabulous and no one has any problems? Of course not, for exactly the same reason: a statistically insignificant sample. If you read my earlier posts I acknowledge that some bad ones slip though, so I'm not saying that there are no issues and I'm sorry you seemed to have had a lot more than most. I just think that the relatively small number of people complaining here is a good indicator that it's a reliable brand with a high level of customer satisfaction.

 

[david94903]

Assuming your car is drivable, I would get a second opinion from another Subaru dealer, or even better an independent Subaru-only repair shop.

Good thought but I already had in at the dealer. So... But I have gone back and picked my independent mechanics brain. He said most likely if I'd brought it to him first, he'd have given the same diagnosis and sent me to the dealer to see about having them replace the engine at their cost. He said there is no excuse that any engine should fail with such low mileage.

 

[david94903]

Similar story here. Due to my location, a lot of the 850+ people where I work have had Subarus. And just like your experience, quite a large number have got rid of them due to engine and reliability issues. Not Just Crosstrek, many were Imprezas and Forestors. One poor guy with an Outback is on engine #3 and is at the dealer for engine #4. And sadly, this car was a replacement for a buy back of a previous Subaru with issues they could not resolve. With all that is going on in the world, it's still waiting to be repaired. At least he has a loaner. In that case I think is a dealer issue but the others were clearly not. Most were covered under warranty but once you hit 100,000 , you are on your own. I personally have a new issue popping up regularly but am trying to get till retirement without buying a new car. Not sure I'll be able to make it though with this POS. I bought the Subaru for a reasonably reliable car that would make it 10 years and 200,000 miles but that is has not been. A lot of people I work with with real world experience would tell you the same thing and have dumped theirs and moved on.

A big issue is also the selling dealer. We used to have one of the oldest Subaru dealers in the country to help with issues. They were extremely good, treated their employees right, and knew what they were doing. The owner retired and ended up selling to a slick dealer that just plain is all about the money. They completely destroyed the reliable competent service department. Sadly still doesn't explain all the wheel bearing and CV failures just out of warranty. In my almost 45 years of working on cars, never replaced them at such low miles let alone at all in most cases.

Sorry to hear you are having issues too. And like you, I have put my Crosstrek into the POS category. Which is too bad. I love driving the car, and Iove it's design simplicity and practicality. But this engine failure issue has out far weighed my love of the vehicle. I will be one of the those people selling my car sooner rather than later. I've already been looking and talking to my Nissan dealer. And get this... when I called him to talk cars, he asked me if I have had the engine replaced. Ummm... yeah... really???? Wasn't expecting THAT question. He said for trade in value engine replacement would actually work in my favor. But he also said I'd be better off selling it myself, I would get more money. I'm still waiting for the Subaru salesman to approach me about trade in.

 

[david94903]

Let's assume Subaru isn't stupid enough to be putting flawed replacement '13 engines in '14s

Guess what? Subaru IS that stupid apparenly. Subaru is/was replacing the my engine block with a refurbished engine block, not a new factory block. And NOT A NEW FACTORY ENGINE. They're reusing my existing internal engine parts (cylinders, camshaft, etc.) and rebuilding an old refurbished block. And they want more money now because they figured out those parts are to damaged to be reused. Like "no sh*t!" That's why they were "REPLACING" the old engine with a "NEW" factory engine. But that's not what they're actually doing. I caught wind of this when the dealer stopped work and demanded an additional $6000 for parts before they would proceed any further. When I questioned it, that's when I got the actual scope of work of what they were doing.

So it's ugly and going to get uglier. I'll update this more as I have more to update with.

 

[AstroKats]

Sorry...

Subaru, the manufacturer, isn't the same business as the local dealer.

 

[BlownCrosstrek]

Sorry...

Subaru, the manufacturer, isn't the same business as the local dealer.

Guess what? Subaru IS that stupid apparenly. Subaru is/was replacing the my engine block with a refurbished engine block, not a new factory block. And NOT A NEW FACTORY ENGINE. They're reusing my existing internal engine parts (cylinders, camshaft, etc.) and rebuilding an old refurbished block. And they want more money now because they figured out those parts are to damaged to be reused. Like "no sh*t!" That's why they were "REPLACING" the old engine with a "NEW" factory engine. But that's not what they're actually doing. I caught wind of this when the dealer stopped work and demanded an additional $6000 for parts before they would proceed any further. When I questioned it, that's when I got the actual scope of work of what they were doing.

So it's ugly and going to get uglier. I'll update this more as I have more to update with.

Did you ever get resolution?

I'm late to the party. I have a 2013 Crosstrek, 93k miles. It has been spending a good deal of time at the shop lately. On it's 3rd transmission (both replaced this year under recall). First was replaced in March about 88k miles but then continued to leak. Went to the dealer 2 more times before it was replaced again around 90k miles. Had the valve springs (recall) done at the same time the second trans went in. Last oil change was about 900 miles ago. Driving over TG weekend sounded like something popped? Was able to limp car off the busy highway about a 1/4 of a mile. Had it towed to it's regular dealership and they said it has a hole in the upper oil pan. Cost is between $1600-$6500 depending on what they find once they start opening it up? I'm pretty much leaning towards dumping the car as is as I'm not ready to spend any amount on a car that continues to have issues. I have reached out to SOA and am waiting for a call back but not holding my breadth.

A couple questions if anyone could assist or has experience?

1. What is the process like with SOA under the CAL to have the engine replaced? They called and said they would need to have the engine teared down to figure out the cause?

2. Does anyone know what it's worth as is? I did reach out to a company called car brain and they offered between $1600-$3000. I would obviously only sell if they offered the higher end but was wondering if anyone knew if that was reasonable?

Thanks in Advance!

 

[Montanan]

Welcome to the forum. A couple of thoughts:

1. Of course, it depends on exactly what the current issue with your car is, but if you suffered a major engine failure 3,000 miles after the valve spring recall was performed, I'd say there's at least a fair likelihood that the dealer screwed something up when it did the last work. Their work is hopefully under warranty, but whether it is or not you need to be really assertive about following up on the true cause of the problem -- don't just take the dealer's word for it. If they did something wrong, they need to pay for the work, whether they admit to it or not.

2. Even if you decide not to keep the car and you have to pay for the work yourself, you'll almost certainly come out a good ways ahead if you fix the car before trying to sell it. My 2013 was totaled a few months ago, and the insurance company paid me over $11,000 for the loss, which was almost certainly less than a private sale would have gotten me -- and my car had 145,000 miles on it.

 

[david94903]

Did you ever get resolution?

I'm late to the party. I have a 2013 Crosstrek, 93k miles. It has been spending a good deal of time at the shop lately. On it's 3rd transmission (both replaced this year under recall). First was replaced in March about 88k miles but then continued to leak. Went to the dealer 2 more times before it was replaced again around 90k miles. Had the valve springs (recall) done at the same time the second trans went in. Last oil change was about 900 miles ago. Driving over TG weekend sounded like something popped? Was able to limp car off the busy highway about a 1/4 of a mile. Had it towed to it's regular dealership and they said it has a hole in the upper oil pan. Cost is between $1600-$6500 depending on what they find once they start opening it up? I'm pretty much leaning towards dumping the car as is as I'm not ready to spend any amount on a car that continues to have issues. I have reached out to SOA and am waiting for a call back but not holding my breadth.

A couple questions if anyone could assist or has experience?

1. What is the process like with SOA under the CAL to have the engine replaced? They called and said they would need to have the engine teared down to figure out the cause?

2. Does anyone know what it's worth as is? I did reach out to a company called car brain and they offered between $1600-$3000. I would obviously only sell if they offered the higher end but was wondering if anyone knew if that was reasonable?

Thanks in Advance!

No resolution yet. I got an attorney and we're suing Subaru of America and the dealer under California's Lemon Law. We have a court date set for early January. In the meantime the car sits dead in the driveway.

Since you have a 2013 model and you're under 100K miles, your vehicle engine is covered under the lawsuit. You should not have to pay a penny. My advice is to push SOA and the dealer is and force them to replace the engine before you cross that 100K threshold. Just be aware they will try to jerk you around.

 

[77'911]

No resolution yet. I got an attorney and we're suing Subaru of America and the dealer under California's Lemon Law. We have a court date set for early January. In the meantime the car sits dead in the driveway.

Since you have a 2013 model and you're under 100K miles, your vehicle engine is covered under the lawsuit. You should not have to pay a penny. My advice is to push SOA and the dealer is and force them to replace the engine before you cross that 100K threshold. Just be aware they will try to jerk you around.

Good for you, hang in there. SOA and the dealer deserves everything they get. It's idiotic that situations like this need to even get to this level.
regards

 

[fireartist85]

I have a 2013 Crosstrek with 89K on the motor. Had the valve spring recall done by local subaru dealer in July '19 and within a week of getting my car back, I had oil leaking all over my exhaust and all over the splash shields on the passenger side. Brought it back into my dealer, they put it on the lift and said it wasn't from anything they did, and the mechanic that did the recall said it was leaking when he pulled the motor out to do the recall. Having done my own oil changes and work on this car since buying it used 4 years ago, I know that this car never leaked a drop of anything. They refused to do anything about it, and quoted me $1800 to pull the motor and replace the seal that they said was leaking. I asked why the mechanic hadn't said anything while the motor was out, and I would have paid the extra at that time. Well, never fixed that leak, and its seemed to have subsided a bit. I got used to it and just kept an eye on my oil levels. Skip ahead to two weeks ago, I came out of a grocery store to find a huge puddle of oil on the ground under the driver side of my car. Brought it into the body shop I work at and started looking, and found that the driver side valve cover had a crack in it. I got the new cover and gaskets and this past weekend went to replace it. When I pulled the cover off, I found the rear most rocker arm sitting down behind the cam. The cam was gouged bad, and after further inspection, found that the inside of the head is all mangled up. As our shop is a Subaru certified collision shop, we talked to the service manager at the dealer to see what he could do for me and what he recommended. He had me call Subaru of America, who instantly denied any sort of warranty repair on it because it was outside of the one year parts warranty. They said i'm on the hook for the repairs. The service manager said that either the valve spring had to have broken, or the tolerances in the rocker arm were not correct when it was put back together, but agreed that because it was outside of the one year, then I would need to pay the bill. Needless to say I was pisted!! The car ran perfect before the recall was done and I was sooooo hesitant to bring it in for the repair. I've now learned to listen to my gut, and along with a laundry list of customers in our area, I now know that our local dealer can not be trusted to work on this car. Next week it goes into a reputable mom and pop shop to have a used motor with 28K installed and keep my fingers crossed that nothing else goes wrong. I have a one year warranty on the motor, so I'm thinking within this next year I will be looking to sell my car and get into something else. Bought a Subaru because everyone always raved how great and reliable they were, and now i'll never buy one again.

 

[MarioAndretti]

I have a 2013 Crosstrek with 89K on the motor. Had the valve spring recall done by local subaru dealer in July '19 and within a week of getting my car back, I had oil leaking all over my exhaust and all over the splash shields on the passenger side. Brought it back into my dealer, they put it on the lift and said it wasn't from anything they did, and the mechanic that did the recall said it was leaking when he pulled the motor out to do the recall. Having done my own oil changes and work on this car since buying it used 4 years ago, I know that this car never leaked a drop of anything. They refused to do anything about it, and quoted me $1800 to pull the motor and replace the seal that they said was leaking. I asked why the mechanic hadn't said anything while the motor was out, and I would have paid the extra at that time. Well, never fixed that leak, and its seemed to have subsided a bit. I got used to it and just kept an eye on my oil levels. Skip ahead to two weeks ago, I came out of a grocery store to find a huge puddle of oil on the ground under the driver side of my car. Brought it into the body shop I work at and started looking, and found that the driver side valve cover had a crack in it. I got the new cover and gaskets and this past weekend went to replace it. When I pulled the cover off, I found the rear most rocker arm sitting down behind the cam. The cam was gouged bad, and after further inspection, found that the inside of the head is all mangled up. As our shop is a Subaru certified collision shop, we talked to the service manager at the dealer to see what he could do for me and what he recommended. He had me call Subaru of America, who instantly denied any sort of warranty repair on it because it was outside of the one year parts warranty. They said i'm on the hook for the repairs. The service manager said that either the valve spring had to have broken, or the tolerances in the rocker arm were not correct when it was put back together, but agreed that because it was outside of the one year, then I would need to pay the bill. Needless to say I was pisted!! The car ran perfect before the recall was done and I was sooooo hesitant to bring it in for the repair. I've now learned to listen to my gut, and along with a laundry list of customers in our area, I now know that our local dealer can not be trusted to work on this car. Next week it goes into a reputable mom and pop shop to have a used motor with 28K installed and keep my fingers crossed that nothing else goes wrong. I have a one year warranty on the motor, so I'm thinking within this next year I will be looking to sell my car and get into something else. Bought a Subaru because everyone always raved how great and reliable they were, and now i'll never buy one again.

They are great and reliable cars.It didn't just break.The tech that did the heads didn't tighten the rocker arm retainers properly.Valve covers don't just crack.When the rocker arm came off,it was bouncing around and that is what caused the crack and thus the leak.If the crack was there when you brought it in then the tech would have seen the oil and looked for the source of the leak.Upon doing so,he would have found the crack in the VC.He then would have replaced it and told you about it when you got your car back.Even if the VC wasn't cracked,any oil leaks from any part that was disassembled is the fault of the tech that did the assembly.Especially if it's noticed only 1 week later.

I would point these facts out to SOA.Tell them you don't want to hear anything about the 1 year parts warranty as the part didn't fail.It came apart due to the failure of the tech to do the job right.You have records that you brought it in just a week later for that oil leak and you have found the cause to be their fault.If you had made them fix the leak instead of letting them tell you it's not their fault and leaving,then they would have found the cracked VC as well as the rocker arm.It would have been fixed properly and you would have been happy with your purchase.

Again,these are great and reliable cars.However,even the best,most reliable car can and will be ruined if the tech does something wrong.

 

[fireartist85]

They are great and reliable cars.It didn't just break.The tech that did the heads didn't tighten the rocker arm retainers properly.Valve covers don't just crack.When the rocker arm came off,it was bouncing around and that is what caused the crack and thus the leak.If the crack was there when you brought it in then the tech would have seen the oil and looked for the source of the leak.Upon doing so,he would have found the crack in the VC.He then would have replaced it and told you about it when you got your car back.Even if the VC wasn't cracked,any oil leaks from any part that was disassembled is the fault of the tech that did the assembly.Especially if it's noticed only 1 week later.

I would point these facts out to SOA.Tell them you don't want to hear anything about the 1 year parts warranty as the part didn't fail.It came apart due to the failure of the tech to do the job right.You have records that you brought it in just a week later for that oil leak and you have found the cause to be their fault.If you had made them fix the leak instead of letting them tell you it's not their fault and leaving,then they would have found the cracked VC as well as the rocker arm.It would have been fixed properly and you would have been happy with your purchase.

Again,these are great and reliable cars.However,even the best,most reliable car can and will be ruined if the tech does something wrong.

I am aware that the cover doesn’t just break on its own and after opening it up found that it was obvious that the rocker arm bounced all around into there causing the damage. The odd part of that was the car ran perfect still. No misfires or anything. When I talked to SOA about what was wrong with the car, and explained that it seemed like a mechanic error because nothing else had let go, they said that’s on the dealer, not SOA. The dealer is shady and have been talking to other customers in our area that have had even bigger issues than mine. Numerous people have had bad repairs done and have had damage done to their vehicles which the dealer not owning up to it and saying not their problem; contact SOA. That is why I decided to bite the bullet and have a local reputable shop put in a new motor. I’m hoping that everything goes good with this motor. The whole reason I bought this car in the first place was because Subaru had a reputation of being a reliable long lasting car. The car was great before the dealer did the recall. I’ve seen numerous people saying even after getting in a new motor they off loaded the car because of concern that something else wouldn’t happen down the road. I have that thought in my head as well, but at the same time I do like my car and it fits my needs perfectly. Guess all I can do is wait and see what happens.


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[SubaruBill]

I've now learned to listen to my gut, and along with a laundry list of customers in our area, I now know that our local dealer can not be trusted to work on this car.

Mind naming the dealer? Might help someone else avoid the same predicament.

 

[fireartist85]

Mind naming the dealer? Might help someone else avoid the same predicament.

Center Subaru in CT


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