2001 H6 Subaru Outback Wagon auto transmission noise

[Koen]

We have an LL Bean edition Outback Wagon with an automatic
transmission, about 65K miles, that is starting to have some problems.
First we had the left-front wheel bearings replaced (thumping noise
when turning to the right). Now it seems that the transmission is
making a high-pitch whining noise. Our mechanic recommends to have the
transmission taken out and inspected, which is obviously not a cheap
job. Did anyone on this group have a similar experience? I guess we're
out of luck with regards to a warranty claim on this?

Any feedback is highly appreciated!

Thanks, Koen

 

[Funkadyleik Spynwhanker]

We have an LL Bean edition Outback Wagon with an automatic
transmission, about 65K miles, that is starting to have some problems.
First we had the left-front wheel bearings replaced (thumping noise
when turning to the right). Now it seems that the transmission is
making a high-pitch whining noise. Our mechanic recommends to have the
transmission taken out and inspected, which is obviously not a cheap
job. Did anyone on this group have a similar experience? I guess we're
out of luck with regards to a warranty claim on this?

Any feedback is highly appreciated!

Thanks, Koen

Checked the fluid yet?

 

[Koen]

We had our mechanic look at it. I assume that's the first thing he
checked...I'm not much of a mechanic myself, is there an easy way to
check myself?

Thanks! Koen

 

[Koen]

We had our mechanic look at it. I assume that's the first thing he
checked...I'm not much of a mechanic myself, is there an easy way to
check myself?

Thanks! Koen

 

[Boris]

We have an LL Bean edition Outback Wagon with an automatic
transmission, about 65K miles, that is starting to have some problems.
First we had the left-front wheel bearings replaced (thumping noise
when turning to the right). Now it seems that the transmission is
making a high-pitch whining noise. Our mechanic recommends to have the
transmission taken out and inspected, which is obviously not a cheap
job. Did anyone on this group have a similar experience? I guess we're
out of luck with regards to a warranty claim on this?

This raises a question: how reliable are these Subarus? I have a 2001
Forester...it's covered by 7y/100K miles extended warranty from Subaru. The
warranty was pretty expensive: almost $1500...the thing is, I never used it
so far...the car has slightly less than 60K miles now. My next car will
probably also be Subaru...but I can't decide if it makes sense to buy
extended warranty for it.

Boris

 

[Koen]

Well, the verdict is in, we need a new transmission. This is pretty bad
at 66k miles. At 64k miles we had to replace some wheel bearings @$350
which would have been covered if it had happened 4k miles earlier...now
we're looking at $2500 after a generous(?) $1500 rebate from Subaru.
I'm holding my breath to see what's next. Generally we love the car,
but will our next one be a Subaru??.... not so sure at this point. If
at all, definitely with extended warranty!

 

[mkirsch1]

Boris,

Considering how expensive it is to fix some of this stuff after the
warranty expires (i.e. $2500 for a transmission, $4000 without the
sympathy/scream-like-hell rebate from Subaru), can you afford to NOT
spend the extra $1500 up front?

 

[Koen]

Note that at $2500 they are not loosing a penny on this. They just
decided to give us a fair price rather than the inflated one.
We could have had this done at the local mechanic at the same price,
but the dealer is faster.

We still plan to write Subaru about this. We switched from Audi to
Subaru for reliability reasons. A transmission should not fail at 65K
miles. Who's left, Honda, Toyota?