wxray

No mechanical breakdown issues for my CVT, had 45,500mi when I traded in. What I could not stand any longer were the drivability issues. The constant DRONE of the engine/transmission when accelerating. The huge lag time when you put the car into reverse. I "drove around" the issues because I was aware of them, but I did not like it.

Wow! I thought I was the only one who had the lag time to reverse issue. Always gives me the creeps. But it has been stable since day 1.

My "almost stumble and die" CVT is acting pretty much the same for the last 50k. I'm at 100K right now. It almost dies about 2 or 3 times a week, but never does. I doubt I could recreate this for a service writer. It is stable for now. With my luck, it will die next August, a few days after the extended warranty.

I'm going to avoid CVTs next time too.

Thanks for the suggestion. Mine has 125k miles. I think that they offered only up to 100k, is that correct? I'll certainly try anyway.

INCORRECT. Every car in the campaign (starts with 2010 model year) gets the warranty -- regardless of mileage -- until July 31, 2018.

After 7/31/2018, then it is 10 years or 100k miles, whichever is first.

Got my letter today. I am 600 miles shy of 100k. What could I do to take advantage of this service, before I lose it.

Not much if you don't have symptoms or codes. My CVT occasionally stumbles near a stop, but no way could I reproduce this on demand. Plus, it seems to be getting better.

And besides, you are covered until July 31, 2018. You have another year.

well this thread is exactly what I didnt want to see after just picking up a 2010 2.5i with 81k on the clock this month

If it makes you feel any better...

My 2010 2.5 was starting to have the "almost die at red light" issue starting about 3 years ago. In the last 6 months, it has almost gone away, gotten better.

Strange.

I am currently at 91k. I'll watch it like a hawk in light of the current letter that is out there. But as it is right now, there are no symptoms so nothing they could repair or I could report.

That's almost what I was thinking.

Me too. I'm not going to change mine, even though I get the near-stall every other day.

Perhaps they only did the ECM, not the TCM. The latest TCM update for your CVT seems to have come out this Jan-2015.

Stop by a dealership and have them update the TCM and once done get them to give you the Calibration IDs (CALIDs, CIDs) for both the ECM and TCM.

Correct and good point. My records do not show the TCM change.

But this was for "reverse on an incline". I wonder what effect that would have at the rough idle, near death at stoplights?

Still worth a try, I suppose.

Sadly, I just looked up my records and I had WVU-31 applied in May 2011.

But today, I have a worstening "Engine RPM drops and rough idle at higher temps and Engine RPM drops when low speed with AC on" in droves.

I have discussed CVT oil change with the dealer that I like and trust, and they said that they haven't been touching them any sooner than 60K. I have about 52K miles now, but if the engine/trans warranty ends at 60K, it seems risky to change the CVT oil right at the end of the warranty.

Any suggestions? (I guess I could change it now, and have 8,000 miles left under warranty)

 

Tristan

Probably do it sooner than later. You want them to deal with it should anything "shake loose", or whatever.

My stealership wants me to do a CVT fluid change and induction cleaning. I guess that is easy money for them. Then they'll discuss deeper issues. I usually never buy the extended warranty, but I have it until December for this car. Not sure why I did it, but decided to this time. I guess I'll pay the stealership's extortion fee, then once it happens again, I'm going to write a snail mail letter to SOA and ask for another few years on the CVT warranty.

Working with the stealership is futile.

I wonder if it is just the behavior of the beast. Any one else have any thoughts?

My thought is the if it is the nature of the beast, then it is piss poor quality on Subaru's part. Who wants it to be "normal" for a car to shudder and vibrate when coming to a stop?

Subaru has a problem here and they are having a hard time fessing up.

My car is slowly but surely exhibiting this more and more. It is still hard to reproduce, though. I can't reproduce it at will. My service droid at the dealer wants me to get all kinds of induction cleaning, etc. (at my expense). Torque converter problems? He says he's never heard of them. Yeah, right.

I expect this to reach a crisis level later when all the cost is in my court. Right now, I'm pretty spooked. This is my first Subbie, and will be my last regardless of whether my issue eventually goes to stall. (It has come dang close a few times, including some trouble lights coming on briefly during the near-stall shudder.)

This is not normal. This is not quality. This is not something that wants me to continue to bleed Subaru red.

No sooner than I post here about my constant near-stalls while coming to a stop after highway driving, and now the car has been *flawless* the last week.

Maybe I need to post here more often. (Took a 4 year break.)

For my 2010 CVT (56K) I guess I am looking at a $2000 torque converter and/or $7000 entire trans change at around 100k miles. Really, the longest lasting midsize car? So get aftermarket insurance or dump at 80k or so. I also have a 2014 Forester that my wife loves.

Not so sure about the insurance. I'm at 55k on my 2010 4 cyl Legacy. Original warranty insurance still in force. Just called for an oil change and mentioned the near stall on stop. Said they would have to do a complete diagnostic, then charge me, but surely it is just something that needs some cleaning, like a throttle body. Insurance won't pay unless something is broken.

I.E. they won't find anything but will charge me $150+ so I can get this on the record. I know they won't find anything because it is so hard to reproduce, although it slowly seems to be getting worse.

I never bought the extended warranty before because of this game. I won't ever again.

Hopefully, my CVT will just continue this irritating near stall forever. If not, and it fails after the extended warranty (6 more months to go), I won't be getting another Subaru again.

Other than that, at the 5 year mark love everything else about this car.