Subaru WRX Forum banner

Transmission warranty woes only (problem occurrence log)

117K views 266 replies 113 participants last post by  AKESREX 
#1 ·
need new tranny

i just got my wrx,,,,i have around 5k on it and one day we had a little snow and i was fooling around doin donuts and then after that night...my tranny was messed up....NOw everytime i shift from 1st to 2nd my gears grind...i thought it was a sincro...but the dealer is rebuilding my tranny...I think that it shouldn't do that no matter how hard u beat on the car....
 
#4 ·
Ahh, man!

I just had the 1st gear and full synchro set replaced... for the same reason... *under warranty*! Of course, the grinding prob surfaced in the break-in period, so it wasn't my driving style.

The sneaky bastards @ the dealership tried to suss me out for two days, trying to get me to admit that I have raced the car on the street and/or rallyed it. I have, on both counts, but I stood my ground (I lied to them and said that I had not), and when they cracked the tranny they found *no damage* that could be attributed.

Stand by yer guns!! They have to fix it. Unless they prove you did do it :)
 
#5 ·
I did the same thing...i stood my ground...they are fixing it but it is taking so long for them to fix it...it's about 2 weeks now...so i don't know what is goin on.....+ do u think the tranny will be the same as when the day i got the car.....i have no clue...do u think i have to baby the car now...cause if it happens again i am goin to pay for it.....
 
#6 ·
There was some lengthy discussion on this topic on I-club. It seems that some folks found that SOA were shipping replacements parts to their dealership that carried the same part # as the original (damaged) pieces, but which had obviously been redesigned. Seems pretty sneaky on Subaru's part, but the general consensus from people that had experienced this was that their vehicles shifted better after the repair than they ever had done previously....

-Pace
 
#9 ·
I have always had a problem shifting into 1st even from a stop. I took the car in for the car shaking bad at idle, bad AC, and difficulty shifting into 1st. Guess what Subaru said, "Can not duplicate customers problems" They test drove it for probably 10 minutes and said nothing is wrong. I have seen numerous posts about these problems on our site. Obviously, Subaru built a poor quality car and is trying to deny the problem and screw all of us that encounter these problems. Anyone a lawyer?
 
#10 ·
Damn... for what it's worth: http://www.bbb.org

I used them to make complaints before. AT&T was giving me problems with their long distance service. It took some time, but the BBB takes it all the way up and check your version against theirs. Then file that company on the list of complaints and that company is at fault or deny everything without explaining their decisions. Yeah, you may still be screwed at this point, but AT&T was worried and a top person called me back and fixed the problem right away, REAL QUICK. They don't want to look bad. Subaru is a big company. I would assume they will take the BBB more seriously than you(sorry, no offense...) unless you have a good lawyer.
I also did it once for Red Lobster(the worse waiter ever!). I provided the exact amount paid, the receipt number, name of waiter and got a $50 coupon and apologies weeks later. I know we are talking about a 25K car here, still it's free and will show you are trying to do the right thing and they are not.

Just go online, make a complaint and wait. You will need details, names, dates, etc...
Another thing, be straight to the point, don't blame anybody for anything, just report the facts. When that complain reaches somebody big(hopefully) at Subaru, the tone of your complaint will either make that person feel your complaint could be legit or not. Some people who sent a bitchy complaint were discarded real quick. One time, a friend of mine was like "F*&% this and that", spent originally $200 and wanted more money back and wanted to keep the equipment: yeah, didn't work. :D
 
#11 ·
Another thing about the BBB... even if you think somehow the matter was solved afterwards after arguing and fighting with those people, just go online and file a complaint. The BBB asks you what kind of outcome you would like. Just specify you want to report that those practices are improper. Subaru or any other companies are very aware that this is not good for their image and will respond. If they respond properly, the BBB will clear the case.
If nobody knows about it, that kind of things will still be going on. Subaru, their employees or other companies.

So far, I'm a happy owner.
 
#14 ·
I agree with you, its sucks that they even had to touch it. But the mechanic that worked on the car is in his late 40's early 50's and is Subaru Master Certified, plus he's been with Suby for 23 years. :)

They had a new tech that went to Texas for a training while the car was in the shop and he came back telling everyone how every tech he talked to said their dealership had swapped at least 1 tranny or 1st gear. Once they realized this they were alot nicer to deal with.

Whit
 
#15 ·
Tranny dead at 40,066 miles

:(
oh well,
something went inside :( waiting to find out exactly what broke but the good news :p is all the gears are ok !!
so what's busted indide must be a bearing / or something :confused:

Any way thanks to another i-clubber who had one 4 sale i was up and running in less than 24hrs :D

Andy...
 
#16 ·
I think this thread should be a concern to all WRX owners as the high number of bad boxes suggests an intinsic failure of the tranny on Subaru's part. Because so many are going so early I would be worried that most would go eventually. My old celica alltrac had the same problem. Grinding in second, every alltrac owner I had ever met or talked to on the net had the same problem. If subaru has updated the parts to fix this problem then I suggest getting the work done before it goes off warranty and then it breaks. By the looks of things its only a matter of time until the boxes start to fall apart.
I think this has little to do with abuse and much more with the fragility of the tranny itself. The sheer numbers are to much to ignore, given clutch-dumping-I'm-gonna-rape-your-honda antics can't help things either but SOA should fess up to their engineering mistake.
 
#19 ·
This thread got off track somewhere and has switched from one guy's experience to a pissing match to a general tranny discussion. So I split the new tranny discussion part off and closed this original thread to prevent confusion. Sorry if you find the split point arbitrary, but it was hard to sort the good from the bad.

Silverrex4 - give us an update when your status changes.

Chris
 
#20 ·
Anyone's tranny popping out of gear?

Hi All,

Recently my '02 WRX wagon has begun popping out of 1st or 2nd gear. There's 15K miles on the clock and I have not raced it or abused it in any way -- no launches above 3500 RPM and no clutch dumps.

It only pops out when traveling at a steady speed or when letting off on the gas, never when accelerating. The first time it happened was about 1500 miles ago -- I was going down a steep hill in Berkeley in 2nd. It's happened maybe 30 or 40 times since then. Now it happens most in stop-and-go freeway traffic or when coming up to a light. In those situations I have to keep my hand on the shifter to keep it from popping out. BTW, it's a short-throw shifter.

I took it in to the dealer and they verified it and ordered parts (at least one synchro) and will fix it under warranty no problem. Has anyone else experienced this? If so, what did it turn out to be and was it resolved?

Thanks,

-- NeoLogos
 
#22 ·
Ok, I just had to spliit three threads out of here. Let me just reiterate:

This thread is for transmission warranty issues.

i.e. It is intended as an occurence log of; 'what broke, what the dealer said, what happens now, etc. etc'.

This thread is not intended for; 'Hmm.. my shifting is stubborn too!'

If you have have [attempted to] pursue a transmission warranty repair with your dealership, we want to hear about it here. If you ultimately had to cover the cost yourself, we still want to hear from you. Thanks! :)

-Pace
 
#23 ·
WRX TRansmission Problem!!!

I have a 2002 WRX wagon. One of my buddy bought a sedan and has little over 10k on it. His 2nd gear teeth sheared off, simply came off while shifting. He took the car to the dealership and they simply refused to pay him (the car was bone stock), and said would cost him $3000 to put new parts!!:mad: He went for aftermarket stuff, which is much better product that the Subaru factory parts, paying same price.

I have heard similar problem in one other incident. I seriously think Subaru is trying to cover up :confused: Anybody knows about similar incidents??
 
#24 ·
Transmission Problem, Teeth sheared off!!

I have a 2002 WRX wagon. One of my buddy bought a sedan and has little over 10k on it. His 2nd gear teeth sheared off, simply came off while shifting. He took the car to the dealership and they simply refused to pay him (the car was bone stock), and said would cost him $3000 to put new parts!!:mad: He went for aftermarket stuff, which is much better product that the Subaru factory parts, paying same price.

I have heard similar problem in one other incident. I seriously think Subaru is trying to cover up :confused: Anybosy knows about similar incidents??
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top