2019 Subaru Ascent Suspension Problems

My Ascent is primarily driven in the city of San Francisco, a fairly hilly city. We have had issues with the suspension on this vehicle in the past, and I will need to install my third pair of struts in the coming weeks (the parts are currently on backorder). The CVT has also been replaced on the vehicle. The tires are routinely rotated, and we keep up with the maintenance schedule. We were driving home after dropping our daughters at school and while accelerating up a hill heard a crack. We immediately pulled over, and saw that the lower control arm had sheared.

There is a knocking or clunking noise at low speeds during and after turning in the front driver's side of the vehicle. Car has 17,500 miles on it. Assembled inspection suggests that tie rod (inner and outer), ball joint, stabilizer links are all intact and functioning properly. No loose components or fasteners. All bushings appear firm and intact. There is an apparent [XXX] ), though seemingly unreported issue with the front-end suspension system that dealerships and service techs can't seem to diagnose. At best, noises go away for a period of time then return. If it's an issue with a wear component then it may be that the OEM parts are deficient for use on this vehicle. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

The front suspension is making a clanking noise. Inspection of the front strut towers tops shows an interior separation of the rubber in the Strut bearing at 63k miles. There is also a noticeable difference between the left and right side relative to the components present. The space at the drivers side which is making the noise has a bigger separation in its components when the wheels are in a straight ahead position. The failure of this component can cause a catastrophic accident.

While driving, the rear right suspension trailing arm got sheared/broken apart into 2 pieces at about 1 inch away from the bushing and the welded spot. The car lost control while breaking.

The contact owns a 2019 Subaru Ascent. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, there was an abnormally loud sound coming from the vehicle. Upon investigation, the contact self-diagnosed that the front struts were faulty. The dealer was made aware of the failure, and the contact was waiting for a callback from the dealer. The vehicle was not diagnosed nor repaired by an independent mechanic or the dealer. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The rear struts were previously replaced in 2019 by the dealer. The failure mileage was approximately 43,000.

We observed Subaru Ascent 2019 (Limited) car handling poorly over bumpy areas, especially over bumps on turns even at speeds under 40 mph. Car feels as if it is loosing contact with the road. It is also jarring over bumps even while driving straight. In wet conditions, I do not know if I will be able to stop within the proper distance. We took the car to the dealer, that indicated front struts needed replacement. They could not provide an estimate of when struts would be available -- this was over one month ago. I am uncertain if a repair is possible to correct this apparent safety issue.

WE TOOK OUR 2019 ASCENT IN BECAUSE WE WERE HEARING SOME WEIRD NOISES COMING FROM THE FRONT END ROUGHLY 5000 MILES. UPON FURTHER INSPECTION THE SUBARU DEALERSHIP INFORMED US THAT THERE WAS AN ISSUE WITH THE STEERING RACK. THEY ASKED US TO ALLOW THEM TO ORDER A NEW STEERING RACK AND THEY WOULD CALL US AND SETUP AN APPOINTMENT TO CHANGE OUT THE RACK. ON SATURDAY THE AUG 17TH WE WENT ON A DRIVE WITH A TECHNICIAN TO SHOW HIM WHAT WE WERE FEELING IN THE TRANSMISSION. HE DROVE IT FOR PROBABLY 15 TO 20 MINUTES, SEVERAL DIFFERENT SPEEDS. HE TOO NOTICED SOME WEIRD SHIFT POINTS. ALSO COULD HEAR THE FRONT END. WE LEFT IT THERE AND CALLED THEM TODAY (19TH) TO FIND OUT THAT IT ISN'T THE STEERING RACK. IT'S THE COIL SPRINGS HITTING SOMETHING CAUSING THEM TO CHIP. THE TECHNICIAN STATED, WE WILL GET WITH THEM ON A NEW UPDATED PART AND YOU CAN PROBABLY COME IN AND SWAP OUT CARS UNTIL WE GET THE PARTS IN. MEANING, GIVE BACK SERVICE VEHICLE FOR OURS. I TOLD HIM AT THAT POINT THAT I HAVE NO ISSUES WITH THEM KEEPING IT TO REASSURE IT'S SAFE FOR OUR FAMILY TO BE IN. HE SAID OK I APPRECIATE IT I'LL BE CALLING YOU TOMORROW. THEY ALSO SAID THAT THEY DID A TORQUE CONVERTER DIAL IN AND THAT THE TRANSMISSION SHOULD BE BACK TO NORMAL. HOPEFULLY ALL IS WELL AND IT DOES IN FACT FIX THE WEIRD SHIFTING AND HESITATION AT ALL SPEEDS. ACCELERATING AND DECELERATING.

CLUNKING NOISE IN FRONT RIGHT WHEEL AREA, GOING SLOW OVER SHARP BUMPS OR MODERATE SPEED OVER RIPPLED PAVEMENT. SOMETIMES MULTIPLE CHUNKS OVER A SERIES OF BUMPS. TURNING AT LOW SPEED SEEMS TO MAKE IT MORE SUSCEPTIBLE.

THE CAR WILL EMIT WHITE HEAVY SMOKE ON START. THE WHITE SMOKE SMELLS LIKE BURNED PLASTIC/OIL. THE ISSUE WAS REPORTED TO SUBARU CORPORATE AND VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO SERVICE FOR INSPECTION. A VIDEO WAS RECORDED AND SENT TO BOTH DEALER AND CORPORATE BUT ISSUE COULD NOT BE REPLICATED. THE ISSUE STILL PERSISTS FOR MORE THAN 3 MONTHS AND SUBARU COULD NOT RESOLVE IT. THIS IS A CONCERN TO MY FAMILY SAFETY AND TO THE ENVIRONMENT. SECOND ISSUE WAS WITH SPRING ASSEMBLY BOTH FRONT AND BACK HAS TO BE REPLACED AS DEFECTIVE.

WITHIN MY FIRST TWO WEEKS (200-300 MILES) OF OWNING THE VEHICLE I WAS TOLD BY STEVENS CREEK SUBARU THAT THE CAR WAS NOT SAFE TO DRIVE AND HERE WE ARE AGAIN. ANOTHER FAILED STRUT. SO BY DEDUCTION, IT'S UNSAFE TO DRIVE BUT THAT HASN'T STOPPED SUBARU FROM PUTTING ME BACK IN IT, FULLY AWARE THAT THE STRUT HAS FAILED VERIFIED AT 20,000 MILES BUT PROBLEM STARTED 12,000 MILES AGO. IN MOTION THIS IS A PROBLEM EVERYWHERE. SAFETY ISSUE. SUBARU IS NOT MAKING ME DRIVE FOR ALMOST A MONTH WITH A FAILED STRUT, WAITING ON PARTS. LET'S TALK ABOUT BRAKES NEXT... SO THEY REPLACED THE FRONT PADS WITH "SPECIAL" BRAKES, HAND DELIVERED FROM JAPAN. WHY? WHAT ARE THESE "SPECIAL" PADS AND HOW ARE THEY DIFFERENT? I REALLY WANT TO KNOW WHAT'S DIFFERENT ABOUT THESE? ARE THEY SOFTER? WILL THEY WEAR OUT FASTER? I'M NOT HONESTLY THRILLED THAT THEY RESURFACED THE ROTORS. AGAIN... BRAND NEW CAR... BRAND NEW ROTORS... NOW THEY HAVE EXTRA "WEAR" AS A RESULT OF THE BAD BRAKES FROM THE FACTORY AND THEY WILL WEAR OUT FASTER. WOULD HAVE PREFERRED THEM TO BE REPLACED. THIS ONLY ADDS ADDITIONAL OUT OF WARRANTY COSTS TO ME IN THE END. ESPECIALLY IF THE NEW PADS ALSO WEAR QUICKER. SAFETY WE JUST BLINDLY APPLIED THE ECU FIRMWARE UPGRADE WITH NO PRE-DRIVE TEST TO VERIFY THE PROBLEM. WHICH WAS WHY THE CAR WAS LEFT OVERNIGHT IN THE FIRST PLACE INITIALLY. SO WE HAVE NO DOCUMENTATION OF THE ISSUE JUST THAT WE FLASHED THE FIRMWARE. FROM MY TESTS THE PAST TWO MORNINGS IT SEEMS BETTER AND POSSIBLY RESOLVED BUT AGAIN, THIS SHOULD HAVE BEEN PROPERLY DOCUMENTED AND TESTED AND WAS NOT. THE SURGING ENGINE CONDITION / TRANSMISSION GEAR RATIO HUNTING PROBLEM WAS NEVER VERIFIED BY THE DEALER. THEY BLINDLY FLASHED THE FIRMWARE AND ALSO DIDN'T ROAD TEST AFTER THE FACT. THERE ALSO STILL AN UNDIAGNOSED TRANSMISSION PROBLEM. ADDITIONALLY THERE'S MANY MORE THINGS WRONG WITH MY CAR BUT YOUR FORM LIMITS ME TO THREE AT A TIME.