2000 Subaru Outback from North America - Comments

I have a 2001 Legacy Outback with exactly 80,009 miles on it; it is my 3rd Subaru. I purchased it from a local used car dealer 2 years ago. I have already replaced the clutch (which I blamed on my teenage son who was learning to drive - didn't know about all the other people who have had this problem). It has smelled "hot" for months, but no other problems (yes, road noise, but I thought that was just me) and now steam/smoke is coming out from under the hood after driving it even a short distance. I was told by a local mechanic that it has a head gasket problem and to take it to the dealer. Is there a warranty or recall for this? Any help would be appreciated!

My son's 1999 Subaru Forester with 90k comes out of the Subaru dealership with a replaced "free repair" for the notorious left bank head gasket leak. He drives it 80 miles and the engine eats itself alive. I look at the repair tag and I find that they added coolant, but they never changed the oil or filter! (This is a recipe for disaster if coolant gets anywhere near the oil!)

My question is, "where do I find the history of lawsuits against Subaru for these nightmare problems?" Anyone out there know a good lawyer in Kansas who can get us a new engine and some "pain and suffering" money,... (the last bit's a joke of course!)

Thanks. Contact me at dkratz@nc.rr.com.

I have a 1996 Outback I bought new. The car had been good to me all this years. But what I doubt is the skill level of the mechanics who work on our cars. Here is why?

1. 15000 mile service, the manual transmission was low on oil when I got it back. The coolant reservoir was empty. I did not find out until I got home to check under the hood.

2. Before my 36K mile warranty expired, I complained of noise in the rear. I was given all sort of excuses like roof rack noise, moulding noise, etc. I don't have time to waste. Ignored it. Noise got worse, turned out to be a bad rear wheel bearing.

3. 60,000 mile service. I got my car, the clutch pedal was too loose. You can feel the free-play is too much. You can feel a slap on your foot when you engage or when you release the clutch. I did not leave the lot and complained. The mechanic argued that it is what it should be. I questioned whether it was just his opinion or subaru's changed specs, I need to see proof. In the end, he showed me how to adjust cable free-play, which I know to begin with.

4. 70,000 mile service. replaced timing belt. 10,000 miles later, I have oil leaks due too bad oil pump seal. I learned it was just another 30 min job to do this along with the timing belt. If they had suggested, I would have done it. I wasted time to get this seal replaced, not counting quarts of oil to top off before I could take it back to the dealer plus engine cleaning and money to open up the front of the engine, just like a timing belt change.

5. 110,000 miles. New rear brake pads and rotors. The hand brake / emergency brake was not properly adjusted. Again, I did not leave the lot and complained. It was adjusted alright, (3 clicks) but I am not happy with it. Re-adjusted myself when I got home to 7-clicks.

6. 120,000 miles. Check Engine light. I was quoted new Catalytic converter. I questioned how did they came to that conclusion, the computer did. Conducted my own research, understood the relationship of Oxygen sensors with regards to catalytic converters. Had a local garage mechanic replace the oxygen sensor before the catalytic converter, check engine light gone. Still have original catalytic converter to this date.

Dealer also told I have bent rear suspension trailing arm.

I have been doing my own oil changes after 15000 miles, that is how it looked to me ever since. Why did you not notice that when you worked on my rear brakes? Dealer gave me all crap of excuses of carrying heavy load hitting a pot hole, etc.etc.

Overall, I think Subaru's are good cars for the money.

I just don't know if we have enough competent mechanics

to work on it and keep it a good car.

I have a 2001 Outback with 65,000 miles and about a month ago my wife noticed the smell of gas inside the cabin. We took the car to the dealer and they made an adjustment on a fuel line clamp and sent the car home. The smell of gas returned about two weeks after we got the car back. Took the car to the dealer again and they did not find anything wrong with the fuel line, but said the head gasket needed to be replaced. They told me that the smell I smelled was antifreeze; I don't buy it. Got the car back two days ago and it smells of gas again. Has anyone experienced this issue? Please help!

I have a 2002 Outback Sport. I just dropped it off at the dealership repair shop for the second time, due to a gas smell in the cabin that I first noticed in January, when it was very cold. I noticed it on cold starts (only on the coldest days), but it would persist for hours. And the odor would come through the heater vents when the dash vents were on. I first took it over in February and left it for two days. They said they didn't smell any gas, but did notice a head gasket leak, which they repaired. They tried to give me the line about the "cold weather" additives in the gas being the cause, but that is supposedly only on start-up and only for a minute or so. They gave it back to me with strict instructions to return to them immediately when I smelled gas, which I did. This time, they also smelled the gas, but only under the hood. They didn't see any leak, but showed me a bulletin from Subaru, reporting that others have had the same issue, and that changing the O-rings on the fuel injectors has seemed to work. Also checking the clamp on the fuel line, but the O-rings were usually the problem. I haven't gotten my car back yet, but if the issue turns out to be something other than the O-rings, I'll post again.

Purchased my first 2000 Subaru Outback in Sept., 1999. Always used dealership for oil changes (approx every 3,000 miles), state inspections and maintenance. In February, 2001, took into dealer because of noise in brakes and vibration in steering wheel; dealer resurfaced rear rotors with noise gone, but vibration in steering wheel remaining; dealer resurfaced front rotors and all was OK---and covered under warranty. In November, 2001, had 15,000 mile maintenance done at dealer. In February, 2003, car wouldn't run and dealer found that 02 sensor was faulty and they replaced (covered under extended warranty that I had purchased). In August, 2003, returned car to dealer for recall for rear sub frame corrosion. In March, 2004, took to dealer for recall regarding cooling system conditioner. In April, 2004, had 60 month maintenance done at dealer (only 29,377 miles on car). they replaced front and rear brake pads plus resurfaced both front and rear rotors. This was an expense that I couldn't understand because I never had any type of problem like that with any prior vehicles. On April 4, 2007, I took the car to a different Subaru dealer because the prior one closed. The car was due for 90 month maintenance (only 49,890 miles on car). They called to tell me that there was a fluid leak--they found both valve cover gaskets leaking and being the stupid, trusting woman that I am, I said fix it. I picked up the car that evening and it sat until Sunday morning when I drove for approximately 5 miles. When I returned to the car after about an hour, I noticed a rather large spot under the front. I figured it had been there from some previous car and drove home. Later I went to use the car again and noticed a large spot under the car. Not exactly a coincidence. A friend looked under the hood and said the car is now leaking oil and antifreeze. Am I fuming??? Oh yeah. I now have to take off work tomorrow and drive out to the dealer first thing and be ready to insist that my car be taken care of right away because I need it!! Then, after reading all these other posts with all the problems with head gaskets, etc., I am worried about what they are going to tell me. I can assume that some moron mechanic didn't tighten something (s) properly, but I am braced for the worst. When they told me there was a fluid leak, they said oil was dripping on the plug wires, but there wasn't any damage to the wires, but it would continue to leak and start dripping under the car. Since I had planned on keeping this car for a long time, I figured the best thing to do was to trust this new dealer and go with it. Then since I am stranded here at home, afraid to drive anywhere because of the leaks, I looked over my receipts and saw that I just had an oil change done in September, 2006 @ 47,034 miles AND THEY DIDN'T NOTICE ANY LEAK THEN?? I know nothing about engines, but I feel that this trusting woman (me) has been deceived and taken advantage of. It probably won't do me a bit of good, but I will contact Subaru and complain against this new dealer. When I buy another car, it will most certainly NOT be a Subaru.

I purchased a 2000 Subaru Legacy Outback Wagon December 1999; it is still my primary car with 81,000 miles on it. It has a manual transmission, with heated seats. All warranty work has been done on the car by the dealer.

My issues have been foremost, fuel injectors. There is only one original fuel injector left. Two injectors under warranty and one out of pocket. I now have them cleaned yearly, and so far for 4 years I have not had one fail. No oil or fuel leaks. I am now afraid to have the timing belt replaced.

Next, the clutch issues. I still have the original, but it shudders, it gets better and worst. Twice the clutch has hung up and burned until I could get the car stopped and free up the clutch.

Rattling of the exhaust shields has been annoying, but easy to fix by bending them and I had one of them welded back into place.

I need to replace the exhaust pipe from the catalytic convert to the muffler, it developed a hole in the last few weeks. Occasionally there is a sulfur smell when the car is hot, but it's been there on and off for 7 1/2 years.

The OEM tires lasted a long time, the new tires are better than the OEM tires. I have had new brakes once, the rotors were still good. I average about 23-24.5 MPG.

I have had one alignment done, it could use another, but it's not bad. I didn't notice a problem either time until I hit a nasty pothole. I hit the roof on the last one.

I'm a big guy, I can sit in the drivers seat for a long time and be comfortable and adjust it. I love the heated seats. I do find the passenger seat less comfortable, but my wife is good with it.

The finish has been disappointing. I have a lot of paint chips, in the front from road debris and in the back from loading and loading in the hatchback. There is one spot of rust on the driver's roof pillar.

I like the car, it's great in the snow or rain, it holds the road well, gets better mileage than an SUV and can handle everything on dirt and country roads comfortably. I will however, not get another one, I really don't like the changes to the new Outback as far as appearance.

I bought a 2000 Subaru Forester in Nov. 2004 with 61,000 miles. I drive a lot and now have about 131,000. I've always driven manual transmissions, but now and then the clutch on this would "shudder", especially in first gear. I figured I was doing something wrong, or it was the shoes I was wearing or something. Then about 3 months ago the clutch died and I had to have the car towed to a repair place. (I had bought it from a Subaru dealer, but had only bad experiences with them for maintenance, so took it to a private place owned by friends-of-friends.) After they replaced the clutch, it still "shuddered", mainly in first gear, so I took it back once and they didn't notice it and said it should "drive out" in a few hundred miles. I'm ready to take it back in and have them get into it and maybe put in a new clutch. But reading all this weird stuff about clutches, now I'm wondering what to do. Any ideas are welcome. (I had 3 Miatas until I moved here to the mountains just east of San Diego. I'll go back to a Miata as soon as I can - never another Subaru. One thing after another, in addition to this stupid clutch problem.

I'm currently driving a 2000 Subaru outback limited... It's at 138k and still going great. I'm not the original owner, but he told me he had never had any major work done to it, and I've only had the check engine light checked. The light seems to come on and off occasionally and the 2 mechanics I spoke with said it was nothing to be concerned about (it wasn't on at the time dontcha know).

I am the original owner of a 2000 Outback Wagon, soon to hit 100k miles.

Read some of the comments... have to say I've had only what I would consider "normal" problems with my BuBu.

Paint is flawless (except for where my son threw a rock at it) I've had some warping in the front brakes, but no more than in my previous cars.

The only "complaint" I would make would be the double sun-roof...the poorly designed drains became clogged and started backing up into the car; 2 different dealers were willing to charge me $1200 to fix the problem, but a screw driver and 2 hours on a Saturday morning fixed it for free.

Having driven this car for 7 years... and I'm pretty hard on my cars... I don't think I'll ever buy a different vehicle. Who else makes an AWD wagon that's fast as balls, handles great, gets 23 MPG, and handles mud like a champ...all while carrying a full compliment of construction tools in the back?

Subaru Legacy Outback 2000 - 80,000+ miles runs good, but has that under powered knock. The brakes have been replaced twice in back, once in the front. Broke a front left sway bar (50K miles) and had the front and rear sway bars taken off and lubricated at the mount point to eliminate the squeaky noise when bouncing up and down (their equivalent of a body lubrication). I like Subaru's and have been around a few; the sway bars are a design flaw as is the poor seal on the door windows does make driving noisy (don't close door with the window, use the door body). Currently I have a slow to react power window switch (drivers side) and an unbelievable shrill bursting in my ventilation system (the sound reminds me of when I was a kid, take a blade grass between my thumbs and blow on it - that vibrating reed). The sound only comes at highway speeds and in a cross or head wind - frequent and intermittent in duration - but extremely annoying, nothing with the controls makes a difference; air/no air, recirculate/fresh or 0 through 4 fan speed - anyone had that?

2000 Subaru Legacy Outback, bought in 2005 with 172k miles and is now passing the 200k mark. Had to have head gasket work done to it, because of an oil leak, one week after I bought it. Replaced spark plug wires, both headlight bulbs, front sway bar and the knock sensor and added some freon since then. For the shear amount of miles, the fact that it still drives like new and that I've had to do almost nothing to it for how much I drive it, I would recommend a Subaru to anyone and I will definitely own another.

About 2 weeks ago, I purchased a 2000 Outback wagon limited, fully loaded 4-cyl automatic. I'm the second owner and the car is in immaculate condition... seems very well taken care of.

But when I accelerate from a stop with any speed (if going super slow it shifts normally), the transmission lurches a little going from 1st to 2nd and then A LOT from 2nd to 3rd. The rest of the shifting is smooth. Some of the other comments here have mentioned a slowness in shifting from park to drive - there's a minor delay in that shift, too.

This is my first Subaru and I love everything about it except for this issue. Going to take it to the dealer for an official opinion in the next few days.

Any comments?

2000 Outback Limited Wagon. This car is a piece.

At 80K the head gaskets went out, the heat shields were just replaced, the radiator just went out (88k), and the brakes always squeak.

The dealer is a total rip, but you have to let them service the car to be playing by the rules of their head gasket nonsense.

The windows seals are a joke and the thing eats tires (40k).

This car has been into the dealer for every service as required by the factory, and we still get stranded. So, at 88K it looks like I am going to have to deal with cat converter and the tranny is going to start to slip soon. The gas smell and wheel bearing will most likely follow.

We are trading it for a Highlander.

I have a 2000 Outback Wagon with 61k miles. I have owned 6 Subaru's since 1985. Never had any major issues with my previous Subaru's. This 2000 wagon has had many problems with the brakes. I have read all the previous comments, but have not seen too many issues with the brakes. Yesterday I came home from work and parked my car in the garage. About 10 minutes later I went into the garage to fetch something. The garage was filled with a light haze of smoke. The smoke smelled like a rubber scent. I checked under the car and didn't see anything leaking, etc. I opened my garage door to let the garage air out. Today I drove the car without any problems, nor did I see the engine light on. I checked for a smell and didn't smell anything. Has anyone else had this problem?