2013 Subaru Outback Engine Problems

According to my mechanic, the Engine Cradle is severly corroded and needs to be replaced. According to Subaru, today December 4, 2024, Subaru inspected my vehicle and determined it was badly corroded. I have pictures to show this and the report from Subaru showing they did look at this corrosion. I had wanted Subaru to replace the Engine Cradle because of the damage. They claimed the car was out of Warranty and was 12 years old. Even so, that much corrosion should not have happened.

We bought this around June 2018 with ~96,000 miles. I change oil every 6 months or 6,000 miles with OEM filters and Mobil 1 0w-30 oil. This car has burned 1/2 to 3/4 of oil initially. After 140,000 miles it climbed to over 1 1/2 quarts between changes. I had repeated O2 sensor codes and sensor replacements and finally catalytic converter codes. Replaced the converter around 160,000 miles. I took off the intake manifold after seeing excessive oil deposits under the throttle body. There's was over 1/8" of caked oil inside the manifold and butterfly valves. I'm very confused as to why the class action lawsuit didn't cover my Serial number. I checked this before buying the car and incorrectly assumed all the affected cars were included in the recall/repair process.

The contact owned a 2013 Subaru Outback. The contact stated that while the vehicle was parked in the contact's residential driveway, the contact noticed the smoke exiting from the hood area of the vehicle. The contact stated that the vehicle was on fire. The fire department arrived on the scene and extinguished the fire. A fire report was filed. The vehicle remained at the contact's residence. The vehicle was condemned to total loss. The contact stated that as a result of the fire, the contact's residential driveway was damaged and needed to be replaced. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was unknown.

Piston rings are defective heavy oil consumption caused my engine to seize with only 150,000 miles

Head gasket leak with 87,000 miles. All recommended service with the dealer except for routine oil changes. This is a safety issue due to the rapid overheating. Luckily for me it happened a few blocks from the dealership, but this could be deadly if I was driving in the desert.

Engine failure due to oil leakage. No “oil light” warning light ever turned on. Engine confirmed failed by repair shop and replaced.

I had 2 dealerships look at my vehicle and both gave me an answer that is blowing me off. As now I have seen it’s a major issue with a lot of people. Oil consumption progressively increased until it was 2 burning 2 quarts of oil for every fill up. That’s ridiculous especially when I was very religious about taking care of my vehicle. I cannot understand how a manufacturer can get away with not issuing a recall to fix their major known problem. It took me awhile to complain and the vehicle has been sitting for awhile now. It only has 145,000 miles on it. I bought a Subaru with taking care of it, keeping up with maintenance and it should have lasted in my opinion at least 200,000 miles. When you pay good money for a product and take care of it you certainly hope it lasts longer than it did. I hope others complain enough that they are forced to do something about it. I am not going to hold my breath. I am sure will not be made to take care of their issues. Know this, I’ll NEVER waste my money on another subraru EVER again! Thanks for letting me vent.

Valve spring broke dropping a valve into the engine and causing engine to seize. This is the same problem as the recall that was issued for other 2013 Subaru models, but it doesn't cover the Outback at this time. Instead, there's only a TSB (#10154425) that they've changed specifications for the valve springs.

AT 95,000 SUBARU REPLACED MY TRANSMISSION WHICH WAS COVERED UNDER AN "EXTENDED WARRANTY". IT IS NOW 1.5 YEARS LATER, I HAVE 117,000 MILES AND THEY SAY I NEED ANOTHER NEW TRANSMISSION BUT BECAUSE IT IS OVER 100,000 MILES THEY WILL NOT COVER IT. I HAVE SINCE FOUND COUNTLESS OTHER PEOPLE WITH THE SAME PROBLEM

THE MOTOR BLEW ON MY 2013 SUBARU OUTBACK WITH ONLY 78K MILES ON IT. THERE WERE NO WARNINGS THERE WAS ANYTHING WRONG JUST STOPPED WORKING AND SHUT DOWN. THE 2013 SUBARU OUTBACK HAS KNOWN ISSUES AND HAD MULTIPLE RECALLS. THIS SHOULDN'T HAPPEN ON A VEHICLE THAT WAS FULLY MAINTAINED AND HAD LESS THEN 100K MILES ON IT.

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2013 SUBARU OUTBACK. THE CONTACT STATED THAT WHILE AT A RED LIGHT, THE ENGINE REVVED UP. THE CONTACT TURNED OFF THE VEHICLE. THE VEHICLE WAS RESTARTED HOWEVER, THE FAILURE RECURRED. THE CONTACT RESTARTED THE VEHICLE AND DROVE TO THE RESIDENCE. THE CONTACT STATED THAT THE VEHICLE EXPERIENCED UNINTENDED ACCELERATION. THERE WAS NO WARNING LIGHTS ILLUMINATED. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO AN INDEPENDENT MECHANIC AND LATER WAS TOWED TO SCHUMACHER SUBARU LOCATED AT (3021 OKEECHOBEE BLVD, WEST PALM BEACH, FL 33409) AND WAS DIAGNOSED HOWEVER, THE MECHANIC WAS UNABLE TO DUPLICATE THE FAILURE. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT REPAIRED. THE MANUFACTURER WAS MADE AWARE OF THE FAILURE. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS APPROXIMATELY 87,145.

DATE OF EVENT: 01/11/2020 TIME OF EVENT: 14:00 WHILE ATTEMPTING TO MERGE ONTO INTERSTATE 84 OUR 2013 SUBARU OUTBACK CHUGGED THEN COMPLETELY STALLED, REQUIRING AN EMERGENCY LANE SHIFT ONTO THE SHOULDER TO AVOID ENTERING THE BUSY FREEWAY WITH NO ENGINE POWER. LUCKILY THE CAR STARTED UP AGAIN (ALBEIT VERY ROUGHLY) AND WE WERE ABLE TO LIMP IT TO THE NEXT EXIT TO A LOCATION TO BE TOWED. THIS WAS A VERY INTENSE AND SCARY SITUATION THAT THANKFULLY ENDED IN NO INCIDENT. UPON RESEARCHING THE PROBLEM IT APPEARS THIS STALLING ISSUE IS NOT UNCOMMON YET SUBARU DOES NOTHING TO CORRECT IT. THIS WAS A NEAR MISS THAT I ATTRIBUTE TO A RECALL THAT SHOULD HAVE ALREADY OCCURRED VOLUNTARILY BY THE OEM.

I NEED TO PUT A QUART OF OIL EVERY 250 MILES. I DID AN OIL CHECK WITH GRAYSON SUBARU KNOXVILLE TN, AND THEY TOLD ME THAT THE CAR WAS FINE.

THE CAR LOOSES POWER TO THE POINT WHERE IT OCCASIONALLY STALLS WHEN I DECELERATE AND COME TO A STOP OR JUST BEFORE THE STOP. I REPLACED THE BATTERY AS IT WAS ON ITS WAY OUT ANYWAY AND THE PROBLEM PERSISTS. I DON'T THINK IT HAS ANYTHING TO DO WITH THE ALTERNATOR AND I HAVEN'T BROUGHT THE CAR TO A DEALER OR MECHANIC YET. BUT WANT TO RAISE THE FLAG ON THE ISSUE I'M HAVING BECAUSE I'VE SEEN LOTS OF FORUMS WHERE OTHER FOLKS ARE EXPERIENCING A SIMILAR ISSUE.

ON A FREEZING DAY IN NOVEMBER 2019, WHILE RUNNING AN ERRAND FIRST THING IN THE MORNING, MY 2013 SUBARU OUTBACK REVVED AND TRIED TO ACCELERATE WHEN I WAS DRIVING THAT I HAD TO PUSH THE BRAKES DOWN ALL THE WAY TO CONTROL THE SPEED. I PUT THE CAR IN NEUTRAL WHILE PULLING UP TO A STOPLIGHT. IT QUIT REVVING SO MUCH, SO WHEN THE LIGHT TURNED GREEN, I PUT BACK IN DRIVE AND WAS CONTROLLABLE. I LET THE CAR SIT FOR AN HOUR AND DROVE AGAIN TOWARDS OUR LOCAL SUBARU DEALERSHIP. WHILE EN ROUTE, IT REVVED AND ACCELERATED AS BEFORE. I WAS ABLE TO PUT IN NEUTRAL AND IT QUIT REVVING. WHEN I ARRIVED AT THE DEALERSHIP, THE CAR WASN'T REVVING ANY MORE. THE SERVICE TECH SAID UNLESS IT WAS DOING IT WHEN I BROUGHT IN, THEY WOULDN'T BE ABLE TO IDENTIFY. THE CAR HAS NOT REVVED SINCE. HOWEVER, I READ AN ARTICLE ABOUT THIS PROBLEM IN OTHER YEAR OUTBACKS AND WANTED TO MAKE THE NHTSA AWARE.

WHILE GOING UP OVER THE GRAPEVINE ON I-5 SOUTHBOUND, I NOTICED THE AIR CONDITIONER STOPPED WORKING AND THE TEMPERATURE GAUGE STARTED CREEPING UPWARD. WHEN I GOT TO THE TOP, EVERYTHING RETURNED TO NORMAL, BUT I WAS CONCERNED. AFTER RETURNING HOME FROM SO. CA, AND AFTER SEVERAL ATTEMPTS BY SUBARU OF SONORA TO RECTIFY OUR REPAIR COSTS ISSUE, IT WAS SUGGESTED THAT I CALL SUBARU OF AMERICA IN NEW JERSEY. LATER THAT DAY, I RECEIVED AN EMAIL OFFERING A 50/50 COST COVERAGE OF THE $3,636 REPAIR BILL. IN OTHER WORDS, I WOULD PAY HALF AND HALF WOULD BE PAID BY SUBARU OF AMERICA IN NJ. SOA THEN AUTHORIZED SUBARU OF SONORA, CA TO REPLACE THE CYLINDER HEAD GASKETS ONCE AGAIN (FIRST REPLACED AT 95,000 MILES) AND RELATED ITEMS/PARTS. THE WORK WAS STARTED ON 7/15/19 AND COMPLETED ON 9/3/19 WITH 133,336 MILES ON THE CAR. I HAVE A 2 PAGE RECEIPT FROM SUBARU OF SONORA FOR THIS WORK, ALONG WITH AN EMAIL FROM SOA.

EXCESSIVE OIL CONSUMPTION. THE CAR GOES THROUGH A QUART OF OIL ABOUT EVERY 700-800 MILES DESPITE REGULAR OIL CHANGES AND MAINTAINCE

VEHICLE USES OIL EXCESSIVE AMOUNTS OF OIL AND THIS YEAR OF OUTBACK HAS HAD RECALLS BUT SAID VIN # HAS NOT HAD A RECALL FOR EXCESSIVE OIL CONSUMPTION.

THIS CAR IS AN EXTREME OIL BURNER. WE HAVE TO ADD OIL EVERY 1,000 MILES. THERE WAS A LAWSUIT AND SUBARU IS OFFERING TO REPLACE THE ENGINE BLOCK, BUT OUR DEALERSHIP SAYS THE CAR CONTINUES TO PASS THE OIL CONSUMPTION TEST. ALSO, THE CLUTCH JUST WENT OUT AT 58,000 MILES. AFTER AN ONLINE SEARCH, I AM SEEING THIS IS TYPICAL OF THIS CAR.

LEAKING SEAL ON ENGINE