2006 outback limited problems

[tiw57]

The car has developed a hollow dronning sound in the left rear.

Two dealers say this is normal but driving their loaner cars I don't hear it. Any ideas?

 

Also throttle response is terrible! I experience delays in response to accelerating. If you floor it sometimes it downshifts, sometimes not! The engine doesn't seem to have much torgue or rev up very quickly especially in 3 or 4Th. Switching to sportmatic mode and manully shifting isn't much help. Tried premium for awhile, switched back to 89 octane, no difference. By the way the "total climate control" is terrible unless you like cold air blowing in your face all of the time! The 05 heating system is much better.

It would appear that the engine and transmission controler is making all of the decisions even how you drive! I think it should be named Outback Lemon! Anybody had similar problems? If so what did you do/find out about the above problems? Thanks for any help. Going nuts with my new Yugo!!

[Cougar]

The sound may be due to a problem in the drive assembly. You might try swapping rear tires to see if it changes anything. It sounds like the dealers are trying to pass you off.

[mtsmiths]

The sound may be due to a problem in the drive assembly. You might try swapping rear tires to see if it changes anything. It sounds like the dealers are trying to pass you off.

Two words Zone Rep. It's new, it's warrantied, make them live up to it.

[idosubaru]

troubleshooting a 2006 is best done under warranty. if you're not getting the service you need then go up the ladder/chain of command. the squeaky wheel gets the oil they say.

[ericem]

The car has developed a hollow dronning sound in the left rear.

Two dealers say this is normal but driving their loaner cars I don't hear it. Any ideas?

 

Also throttle response is terrible! I experience delays in response to accelerating. If you floor it sometimes it downshifts, sometimes not! The engine doesn't seem to have much torgue or rev up very quickly especially in 3 or 4Th. Switching to sportmatic mode and manully shifting isn't much help. Tried premium for awhile, switched back to 89 octane, no difference. By the way the "total climate control" is terrible unless you like cold air blowing in your face all of the time! The 05 heating system is much better.

It would appear that the engine and transmission controler is making all of the decisions even how you drive! I think it should be named Outback Lemon! Anybody had similar problems? If so what did you do/find out about the above problems? Thanks for any help. Going nuts with my new Yugo!!

 

This is really wierd, could be a bad apple. Try different dealers. Maybe ur over reacting.

[tiw57]

This is really wierd, could be a bad apple. Try different dealers. Maybe ur over reacting.

 

Well it has been to 2 dealers now and both say nothing is wrong! They haven't spent a ;ot of time in it as I have driving it for the past 6 months! I've thought about swapping the wheels around, but thye haven't. It is really bad when you go to pass and the damn tranny won't downshift of if it does it only unlocks the torque converter. Sometimes it is OK. It does seem to be better in colder weather, I think. I am supposed to see the area rep nest week. We'll see. SOA customer no-service never called back after they said they would. It might be interesting to go to the head of SOA after the area rep, then Fugi heavy industries, then national highway and safety..

[ericem]

I suggest u complain to the acual subaru subaru not the dealer then call them and say WTF!!

[tiw57]

Well, 2 dealers 3 trips, meeting and drive with the area rep.

Guess what? Nothing is wrong! So the area rep orders the dealer to do a 4 wheel alignment. Guess what? They say 3 of 4 of the wheels are out of alignment! WTFO? Does Subarus not know how to build their cars? Or is the dealer's alignment rack out of calibration. The steering wheel is off center going down the road, didn't fix that either! The bigger problem is that the car does NOT RESPOND TO FULL THROTTLE INPUT with as much as 2 second delays then only sluggish acceleration and no downshift! scary as hell merging onto the freeway! I guess it is time to send in the 2 dealer reports to SOA, the Consumer's report and the JD Power surveys. I can't think of anything good to say. FYI the sluggish transmission is rumored to be the work of the federal govenment to improve our driving habits for better gas mileage. speaking of which the "avg mpg reported by the car is consistently 2 miles more than the old way of how many gallons to fill up divided into the miles driven. I also heard that in the 07's that you can't even change a tire as something in the computer has to be reset! Can you say Gerge Orwell's brave new world! Thank god I still have my 92 Legacy! When I floor it, it responds and goes! Still fun to drive after 14 years and despite its lowly 125 HP! Stay tuned as the outback lemon saga continues!

[ericem]

I know what ur saying i got the 93 legacy, but mine has 130hp and when u floor it, its gone.

[brus brother]

You say that you don't hear the noise in loaner cars. Apples to apples, is the lousy acceleration the same or different in loaner cars?

With the new alignment is the noise gone?

If loaners (06 I presume) behave differently and more to your liking, ask them to replace your car (under threat of the Lemon Law if necessary) with a similar car with similar mileage that doesn't behave badly. Let them use your car as a loaner for themselves. No reason you should get stuck with the runt of the liter. SOA replaced my new car under even less obvious circumstances. It's not like you are asking for your money back, just getting what you assume you paid for.

BTW, I much prefer the handling of my 2000 Legacy GT Auto than my 05 Outback Auto (which feels like I am steering a small sailboat) but I guess the accerelation is about the same when I stomp on it. Is it possible that the older cars you and others mention may be lighter than these new fangled models?

[Commuter]

The bigger problem is that the car does NOT RESPOND TO FULL THROTTLE INPUT with as much as 2 second delays then only sluggish acceleration and no downshift! scary as hell merging onto the freeway!

I've had a couple of 05/06 courtesy vehicles from my dealer. For the most part, with the way I drive (gentle), the electronic throttle was transparent. But... I pulled into my apartment building, gave the throttle a quick 'stab' to about the half way point to get by some on coming traffic... wondered what the heck was happening as the car took about half a second until it decided to go! I was not impressed.

 

Later on, I purposely stabbed and floored the throttle a few times in quick succession, varying the duration and the lift off. The system got totally confused and didn't know what to do. Granted, what I was doing would probably never be a real world scenario, but it was disconcerting.

 

I've read other reports (Honda) of people complaining about the electronic throttles. They don't have the algorithms down right yet.

 

If I was looking for new right now... It's one aspect of the car(s) that I would be paying close attention too.

 

If the vehicle is inconsistent in its shifting behavior as related throttle response, then I'd say there is a problem. Perhaps you can lay out a route, with a hill, with a specific point where you can floor it to simulate passing, with varing speeds, etc. Take your car and others of the same year and model on this route and show the rep that you have an oddball. Just an idea.

 

Commuter

[tiw57]

I've had a couple of 05/06 courtesy vehicles from my dealer. For the most part, with the way I drive (gentle), the electronic throttle was transparent. But... I pulled into my apartment building, gave the throttle a quick 'stab' to about the half way point to get by some on coming traffic... wondered what the heck was happening as the car took about half a second until it decided to go! I was not impressed.

 

Later on, I purposely stabbed and floored the throttle a few times in quick succession, varying the duration and the lift off. The system got totally confused and didn't know what to do. Granted, what I was doing would probably never be a real world scenario, but it was disconcerting.

 

I've read other reports (Honda) of people complaining about the electronic throttles. They don't have the algorithms down right yet.

 

If I was looking for new right now... It's one aspect of the car(s) that I would be paying close attention too.

 

If the vehicle is inconsistent in its shifting behavior as related throttle response, then I'd say there is a problem. Perhaps you can lay out a route, with a hill, with a specific point where you can floor it to simulate passing, with varing speeds, etc. Take your car and others of the same year and model on this route and show the rep that you have an oddball. Just an idea.

 

Commuter

 

In reply to Jus brother, the weights of the 2 cars are almost identical due in part to the aluminum hood and tailgate.

I have been talking with an independent repair service that only works on Subarus. I was told that the unresponsive throttle problem eg, floor it and no to sluggosh response is a gov't mandate to improve gas mileage ? WTFO Or could it be an excuse to start changing and controling the way we drive? I have just ordered 2 ea OBD II/CAN bus scanners. One is a handheld the other is a computer interface between the OBDII port on the car and your laptop. I can check for codes with the handheld, but with the interface I can check what the car is doing from all the sensors and log it in real time if I understand it correctly. Also there are websites out there and cables for re-tweaking the ROM maps in the ECU. Now that would be interesting if I had all the knowledge required. If it is infact true of not having the electronic throttle algorythm done or the gov't involed, I can see one helluva an aftermarket business potential!

Even when the service rep went with me for a ride before the area rep visit, and I slammed the pedal to the metal and ther was close to a second delay, he said it wasn't a second and a half as I had claimed happened previously and that he was listening to the "noise" I was also complaining about so he wasn't really paying attention!!

It is good to know that others have experienced the same problem and in other makes. When I get the diagnostic tools, I will report back on what i find. If I can log an anomaly in throttle response, a bunch of people are going to have a lot of egg on their face!! Stay tuned! I think it is time to fill out the 2 dealer reports from SOA, the consumer reports survey and the JD powe survey. What might be interesting is for you other owners who have 2005-2006 try the floor it test and see what happens. I think it is bes tried at 40 mph. Do a quick slam it to the floor as if you are in an emergency situation. The throttle response does seem reasonable if you slowly increas the throttle. Try that too. I do know that when in sportmatic manual mode the car WILL go 40 mph in second gear before the rev limiter kicks in. I think the car in standard automatic mode will not ususally down shift into second but go into third gear, then perhaps unlock the torque conver with more prodding but by then you have managed to exceed the max speed in second so you are stuck in third which doesn't do much untill you reach 55mph. Well enough ranting, but that is the way it looks from here. I think Subaru knows they have a problem, but don't want to admit to it, especially the customer.