Subaru is Extending the warranty for Owners of certain Subaru models with the CVT transmission.
The extended warranty covers the 2010-15 Legacy and Outback; 2015 Legacy and Outback with 3.6 liter H6; the 2012-15 Impreza; 2013-15 Crosstrek; 2014-15 Crosstrek Hybrid; 2014-15 Forester with 2.5 liter four-cylinder; 2014-15 Forester with turbocharged 2.0 liter four cylinder and 2015 WRX 2.0.
In 2014 Subaru issued a TSB ( Technical Service Bulletin ) Subaru TSB 16-90-13 regarding a stalling situation in 2010-2012 Models with the CVT, but it was only covered under the original 5 year 60,000 mile warranty. We have made several of these repairs, but really mostly to 2010 and 2011 models.
This newest development must mean that Subaru expects the problem could affect more vehicles and is extending the warranty to offer piece of mind. I will add that I am surprised this has not triggered a recall, as typically speaking a stalling event is a safety concern and generally results in one.
SOA (Subaru Of America) will be sending letters to customer’s with affected vehicles that states if the car is not having an issue it does not need to go to a Dealership. I also think its very important to point out that it could be a tricky situation to get this covered if at say 90k, the CVT has an issue and the Dealer states the fluid is dirty and caused the failure, I would, as always advise you that the fluid while having a longer service interval then prior models, is not a “lifetime fluid” and you should have it inspected, and or replaced by 60k, and checked or replaced every 30k from that point on. Remember in the fine print in the owners manual it states that I = inspect, correct or replace, not just inspect!
The good news is that if you have had to pay for the repair, Subaru has stated you are eligible for reimbursement. We will notifying our local customers of this, and I hope where ever you take your Subaru they do the same.
Thanks for reading
-Justin
I have a 2012 Outback and received the letter a few days ago. Being mechanically challenged :), I don’t even know what this means. Is there a warning that I should have it looked at? My oil light has been on non-stop since August of 2016 even though I have taken it in to the Dealer 3 times (they finally told me not to worry about it( but now I am wondering if it has to do with the CVT issue.
Any thoughts?
What are terms of the extended tsb?
I’ve read elsewhere it is 10 years, 100,000 miles.
Is this correct?
I’ve had one engine hiccup that I can recall over the life of the car, 2012 outback. I attributed this to a spot of bad fuel or a sticky injector. A bottle of chevon techtron fuel injector cleaner seems to elimated this.
With 25,000 miles & 5 years should I consider tranny fluid replacement soon?
Thanks for this. I have an 11 OB that is affected. I haven’t had a full stall but the rpms do drop considerably when I stop abruptly (changing light, didn’t see a stop sign till last second etc.)
What’s your take on the longevity of the CVT as a result of this. I’m a little skeptical now. I’m considering changing from my OB to a Forester 6MT before the 100k warranty is up. I know the high torque version had beefier internals. I was hoping to go for a Outback 3.6 around the 100k mark anyway, but still unsure of the CVT since even the high torques are included in the TSB.
Also trying to figure out if the torque converter TSB is covered since people on forums have been told it’s not covered in the CVT extension.
Thanks!
Also very skeptical of lifetime fluid interval on the CVT. Seems like that’ll gunk up the valve body at some point once the fluid can no longer hold the “schmutz” in suspension. I am kind of surprised they didn’t also say that a 30 or 60k interval was new policy.