CVT Warranty Extension for MY 2016-2017 ... and now MY 2018

[MrCobbs]

Thanks for following up. Was it the timing cover on the engine or the oil pump drive cover on the CVT? Leakage around the oil pump drive cover (TR690 only) has been the subject of a TSB.

 

"I was told" it was the Timing Cover. I will confirm with them once the work is done and let you know. Luckily still no cost to me although I'm curious what would cause that at 18XXX miles.

[SubieN8]

^ My timing cover leaked at 8k mi on my 2015 Legacy 2.5. I had a CVT seal leak on my 2016 FXT at 17k mi...

[AWDPLZ]

Got the notice letter over the weekend, going to file it with the other paperwork and hope I never need it.

[hkshooter]

Got the notice letter over the weekend, going to file it with the other paperwork and hope I never need it.

 

Same here. I'll be out of warranty again next September. For good.

[ammcinnis]

A new TSB (16-117-18), issued 9 Oct 2018, now extends the CVT warranty on MY2018 Legacy and Outback. See attachment.

TSB_16-117-18_CVT_Warranty_Extension_MY2018.pdf

[tornichoe]

A new TSB (16-117-18), issued 9 Oct 2018, now extends the CVT warranty on MY2018 Legacy and Outback. See attachment.

 

SOA should just offer 10yr/100k power train warranty straight form the get go and market it as such. It'll be a much better sales pitch.

[crudzinskas]

SOA should just offer 10yr/100k power train warranty straight form the get go and market it as such. It'll be a much better sales pitch.

 

This seems good on the surface, but would probably cause a lot of confusion for uninformed buyers why all of the other models don't have the same warranty and might feel like they are buying an "inferior" Impreza for example when the Legacy/Outback warranty is so much longer.

 

As a marginally related anecdote about an uneducated buyer - when I was last at the dealer, a lady was actually considering buying a new Forester because hers did not have a built in UBS port. Then she told the sales people she would buy an "official Subaru USB Port" if it would only be a "couple hundred dollars or so." I chimed in and told her she could buy a USB adapter for her 12v port for like $8, and she looked at me like I came from 100 years into the future to tell her this. She proceeded to ask the sales people if she could test drive a new Forester, but one of the tech guys happened to overhear and tell her, "Ma'am , you have a built in USB port in your Forester, let me show you where it is."

 

The sales guy played it off, but you could tell he was a little mad that he didn't get the chance to sell a new car to someone who only needed a USB adapter.

[ncted]

This seems good on the surface, but would probably cause a lot of confusion for uninformed buyers why all of the other models don't have the same warranty and might feel like they are buying an "inferior" Impreza for example when the Legacy/Outback warranty is so much longer.

 

As a marginally related anecdote about an uneducated buyer - when I was last at the dealer, a lady was actually considering buying a new Forester because hers did not have a built in UBS port. Then she told the sales people she would buy an "official Subaru USB Port" if it would only be a "couple hundred dollars or so." I chimed in and told her she could buy a USB adapter for her 12v port for like $8, and she looked at me like I came from 100 years into the future to tell her this. She proceeded to ask the sales people if she could test drive a new Forester, but one of the tech guys happened to overhear and tell her, "Ma'am , you have a built in USB port in your Forester, let me show you where it is."

 

The sales guy played it off, but you could tell he was a little mad that he didn't get the chance to sell a new car to someone who only needed a USB adapter.

 

That story made my day.

[tornichoe]

This seems good on the surface, but would probably cause a lot of confusion for uninformed buyers why all of the other models don't have the same warranty and might feel like they are buying an "inferior" Impreza for example when the Legacy/Outback warranty is so much longer.

 

 

I meant to say that they should offer that for the entire line up. I think they have a few different variants of the transmission that they use across all models.

I know Hyundai changed over to 10/100 a few years ago. Don't know the details of how they went about it, but they could start with offering it on current MY and then extend to owners of a couple of MYs back where they used the same tranny.

[andrew_l_s]

Super happy to hear about the extension to 2018 models. I was expecting it since this has turned into a pattern now lol. I wonder if/when they're going to stop or just offer 10yr/100k on CVT models from the get go.

 

Hyundai/Kia's 10yr/100k powertrain coverage is slightly misleading in that it only applies to the first owner. Second owner gets 5yr/60k if I remember right. As far as I know the CVT extension isn't limited like this.

 

A few people on the CVT WRX Facebook group are convinced that the transmission failure rate is 50% based on a poll they did. Small polling sample and being in an enthusiast group with modded cars definitely doesn't skew that figure or anything:lol:

[ammcinnis]

A few people on the CVT WRX Facebook group are convinced that the transmission failure rate is 50% based on a poll they did. Small polling sample and being in an enthusiast group with modded cars definitely doesn't skew that figure or anything:lol:

Beat on a transmission enough and it will eventually fail, due to shock loading if nothing else. Not to mention that any engine performance mods risk voiding Subaru's CVT warranty. Exceeding the design torque capacity of any transmission is a sure road to catastrophic (and usually very expensive) failure.

 

Digression: Back in the mid 1960s I was doing some research on the then-new GM "Muncie" 4-speed manual transmission being delivered in new Corvettes. (I was preparing to transplant one into my Jaguar 3.8 Mk-II sedan.) I was surprised to discover that the design lifetime of the Muncie's 2nd gear gearset was only 50 hours at the rated torque of the Corvette's V8 engine. Of course, the transmission would only see that peak torque for less than ten seconds at a time, so it would probably take years of aggressive street driving to add up to 50 hours.

[andrew_l_s]

Beat on a transmission enough and it will eventually fail, due to shock loading if nothing else. Not to mention that any engine performance mods risk voiding Subaru's CVT warranty. Exceeding the design torque capacity of any transmission is a sure road to catastrophic (and usually very expensive) failure.

 

Digression: Back in the mid 1960s I was doing some research on the then-new GM "Muncie" 4-speed manual transmission being delivered in new Corvettes. (I was preparing to transplant one into my Jaguar 3.8 Mk-II sedan.) I was surprised to discover that the design lifetime of the Muncie's 2nd gear gearset was only 50 hours at the rated torque of the Corvette's V8 engine. Of course, the transmission would only see that peak torque for less than ten seconds at a time, so it would probably take years of aggressive street driving to add up to 50 hours.

 

 

Very true, abuse or neglect will kill any part. Subaru obviously did countless hours of testing on the CVT and calculated failure rates. If it was really 50% I highly doubt it would have made it to market. Things like the launch control feature, aggressive driving, heavy loads, etc. were undoubtedly accounted for. A high failure rate would prompt a fix, not a mere peace-of-mind warranty extension.

 

Case and point, the 2009 Nissan GT-Rs had launch control reprogrammed by dealers after a handful of cars (<1%) had transmissions grenade.

 

I've seen some of the technical information out there on Subaru's CVT and it's built quite well. However being a friction based system it's limited on how much torque you can push through it without the chain slipping.