2012 Subaru Forester Powertrain & Transmission Problems

ON 12/31/18, WHEN DRIVING HOME AT 11P.M.,AND AN HOUR FROM MY HOME, MY "OIL LIGHT" CAME ON. I STOPPED AT A SERVICE STATION AND HAD 3 QUARTS OF OIL PUT IN MY OIL TANK. TWO DAYS LATER, I TOOK IT TO MY MECHANIC WHO COULD NOT FIND A LEAK BUT OVER THE NEXT 9 MONTHS, AT APPROXIMATELY EVERY 2 WEEK INTERVALS, HE PUT BETWEEN 1/2-3 QUARTS OF OIL IN MY CAR. IN MAY 2019 THE NORTH END SUBARU SERVICE DEPT. CHECKED OVER MY CAR AND COULD NOT FIND A OIL LEAK EITHER. ON 9/21/19, MY MECHANIC READ AN ARTICLE ONLINE ABOUT THE EXCESSIVE OIL CONSUMPTION IN MOST SUBARU MODELS BETWEEN 2011-15. I NEVER RECEIVED NOTIFICATION FROM SUBARU RE: THIS PROBLEM. I WROTE 2 LETTERS TO SUBARU OF AMERICA (ONE TO THE PRESIDENT). I WAS NOTIFIED BY THEM THAT MY CAR WAS "OUT OF WARRANTY" BECAUSE IT, BY THEN, HAD OVER 100,000 MILES. THEY OFFERED ME A $1500 "LOYAL CUSTOMER" CREDIT ON A NEW SUBARU, WHICH THEY NEVER SENT ME. I HAVE BEEN DRIVING SUBARUS SINCE 1990 AND HAVE TALKED MY WHOLE FAMILY AND SEVERAL FRIENDS INTO BUYING THEM. I USUALLY DRIVE MY SUBARUS UNTIL 250.000 MILES AND DON'T WANT TO GET A NEW CAR. THIS WAS A DEFECT IN MANY MODELS AND I WAS NOT NOTIFIED AS AN OWNER. I TAKE METICULOUS CARE OF MY CARS. I CONTINUE TO DRIVE THIS ONE, HAVING THE OIL LEVELS CHECKED EVERY 2 WEEKS. THE COST OF A NEW "ENGINE BLOCK ASSEMBLY" WOULD BE $4995, WHICH I THINK SUBARU SHOULD BE RESPONSIBLE FOR. I HAVE FILED A COMPLAINT WITH THE MA ATTORNEY GENERAL'S OFFICE AND THEY SUGGESTED I ALSO CONTACT YOU. ATTACHED IN THE MENTIONED COMPLAINT, THE 2 LETTERS I WROTE TO SUBARU AND AN ARTICLE RE: THE EXCESSIVE OIL CONSUMPTION PROBLEM. THANK YOU FOR ANY ASSISTANCE YOU CAN GIVE ME. *TR

VEHICLE TRANSMISSION SHIFTED INTO NEUTRAL WHILE IN CRUISE CONTROL ON THE HIGHWAY. THE VEHICLE HAD TO BE POWERED OFF AND BACK ON BEFORE THE TRANSMISSION WOULD REENGAGE. DTC WAS P2138. THIS IS THE FOURTH INCIDENCE OVER A 14 MONTH PERIOD. AFTER POWER CYCLE RESET, THE ISSUE DOESN'T RECUR FOR ONE TO THREE MONTHS. IN TWO INSTANCES, THE VEHICLE WAS IN CRUISE CONTROL BUT NOT IN THE OTHER TWO.

SINCE MARCH, 2017 MY FORESTER BEGAN MAKING A GRINDING NOISE WHEN I FIRST STARTED THE CAR AND PRESSED THE CLUTCH IN TO REVERSE OUT OF THE GARAGE. MY MECHANIC SAID IT WAS TOO EARLY FOR THE CLUTCH TO FAIL AT ONLY 74,000 MILES AND LUBRICATED IT-- TWICE OVER THE INSURING MONTHS AS THE NOISE NOT ONLY PERSISTED BUT GOT LOUDER AND MORE PERSISTENT. IN AUGUST, I TOOK THE CAR TO ANOTHER INDEPENDENT SHOP OUT OF TOWN AND THEY CONFIRMED MY SUSPICIONS THAT THE THROW OUT BEARING WAS FAILING. TO REPAIR IT INVOLVED A NEW CLUTCH KIT AND A DAY OF LABOR FOR A $1300 BILL. I HAVE BEEN DRIVING THE CAR FIVE DAYS NOW SINCE IT WAS FIXED AND THE CLUTCH SEEMS TO BE WORKING FINE AGAIN. I AM FILING THIS REPORT SO OTHERS WILL BE AWARE OF A MANUAL TRANSMISSION FAILURE WAY TOO EARLY IN MILEAGE AND NOT ASSUME IT'S A SQUEAK THAT LUBRICANT CAN FIX. FOR TEN YEARS, I HAD A 2002 MANUAL FORESTER THAT I DROVE FOR OVER 200,000 MILES AND NEVER HAD A CLUTCH PROBLEM. A CLUTCH REBUILD AT 75,649 MILES IS RIDICULOUS AND SUBARU SHOULD WARN OWNERS OF THE PROBLEM.

2012 FORESTER 2.5X, 4-SPD AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION: WHEN TRAVELING AT HIGHWAY SPEEDS, 50+ MPH, ANY ATTEMPT TO QUICKLY ACCELERATE CAUSES THE AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION TO DOWNSHIFT ALL THE WAY TO SECOND GEAR. THIS RESULTS IN VERY HIGH RPMS, BUT A LOSS IN VELOCITY AS THE DOWNSHIFT TO SECOND GEAR IS NOT APPROPRIATE AT THE HIGH END OF THE ALLOWABLE RPMS FOR THE ENGINE. THE LOSS IN SPEED WHEN ATTEMPTING TO ACCELERATE IS VERY UNSAFE AND HAS CAUSED ME TO HAVE TO UNEXPECTEDLY RETURN TO MY LANE WHEN ATTEMPTING TO PASS ANOTHER VEHICLE. LIKEWISE, ATTEMPTING TO MERGE INTO TRAFFIC TRAVELING FASTER IN ANOTHER LANE IS ALSO UNSAFE AS I LOSE SPEED WHILE EMERGING INTO THE LANE WITH FASTER TRAFFIC. THIS DOWNSHIFT INTO SECOND GEAR RATHER THAN THIRD GEAR AT HIGHWAY SPEEDS OCCASIONALLY CAUSES THE CHECK ENGINE LIGHT TO TURN ON AND THE TRACTION CONTROL WARNING LIGHT TO TURN ON. THIS IS AN ONGOING PROBLEM AND CAN BE REPLICATED AT ANY TIME. THIS OCCURS AT HIGHWAY SPEEDS, AND CAN BE REPLICATED BY DEPRESSING THE ACCELERATOR PEDAL QUICKLY, OR JUST TAPPING ON THE ACCELERATOR. THE VEHICLE SHOULD NOT BE ABLE TO DOWNSHIFT TO SECOND GEAR AT HIGH SPEEDS USING AN AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION. I HAVE RETURNED IT TO THE DEALER TWICE AND THE DEALERS MECHANICS ARE EASILY ABLE TO REPLICATE THE PROBLEM. AFTER NUMEROUS ATTEMPTS TO FIX THE PROBLEM, THE DEALERSHIP CONTACTED THE SUBARU HEADQUARTERS AND WERE TOLD THIS IS NORMAL OPERATION. IT IS ANYTHING BUT NORMAL FOR AN AUTOMOBILE AND IS VERY DANGEROUS. THERE APPEAR TO BE A NUMBER OF COMPLAINTS ON VARIOUS INTERNET SITES ON FORESTERS WITH SIMILAR PROBLEMS. *TR

AFTER SHARP ACCELERATION THE CHECK ENGINE LIGHT CAME ON AND STAYED ON. NO OTHER ISSUES NOTED. TWO MONTHS LATER WITH 7500 MILES ON THE ODOMETER, THE SAME THING OCCURRED BUT THIS TIME THE CRUISE CONTROL LIGHT AND THE VEHICLE STABILIZATION LIGHT CAME ON AS WELL. CRUISE CONTROL DID NOT WORK AND I ASSUME THE STABILIZATION DIDN'T EITHER.