RomRaider

Not sure what this is about....

Damn, just bought an 09 FXT for the wife. What is the chassis number? The last digits of the VIN?

EDIT: Yep, mine is affected.

ouch, this isn't a late april fools joke is it???

i'm not sure what exactly chasis code is... although the numbers listed do look like the last 6 digits of the vin.

the impreza sedan would start with a 5xxxxx and the wagon a 8xxxxx

dm

I think it is legitimate. It is posted on Nasioc and some of the dealers confirm it in that thread. My vehicle is affected. I was going to do an oil change at 1k, but now I'm paranoid to touch the car in case there's an issue (I usually do all my own maintenance). That also means that I shouldn't tune it when we have that capability (there's rumor of a flash counter in the ECU - don't know if that is true or not).

That sucks, but I am not surprised. I don't know what to tell you. I know you want to crack into the ECU (and all of us do), but mechanical problems are a PITA on the pocketbook. Especially if it is not your fault and then you get stuck with the bill. I have had my 07 STI for a year and it has been on the road 1/2 that time. Finally, in 2 weeks or so, I will have a reliable fast WRX like I remember having in 2001-2003.

Yeah, I've learned a bit from the 07 STi debacle that you guys had to go through. I was just planning on a mild stage 1 tune for her car, but not now, at least until they figure this thing out.

Sucks to hear about that.. I would definately go into the dealer with that printout and get a refund. Then when they fix the problem go back and tell them you want all the options at no charge and 0% financing =)

That would be nice if I could get a refund, but that is only possible if it falls under the lemon law.

Sorry to hear it Merch.
First thing I thought of when I saw this was Gabedude's STi, wonder if it is related or similar.

Where is this posted on NASIOC?

Yeah, I don't know. "internal wear" is very vague and they say "failed units" which means someone has a blown engine somewhere.

Between the paint chip issues and this, I feel really bad for new Subaru owners. Yeah, this doesn't sound good. I definitely remember seeing a few posts about 08 models going in with seemingly blown engines on NASIOC, and one guy who blew an engine on a test drive.

posted on Iwsti:

see updated list later in thread

Read your state's lemon law. There is a clause in the lemon law that states that the manufacturer must provide a vehicle of greater value or refund the money spent on the car if the car's resale value goes down because of a serious defect (engine replacement falls into that category, as well as others) within the first year of ownership.

I almost lemon lawed mine. In retrospect, I should have done that and got a used 06 STI. Oh well. My build is coming along well.

Yeah, I heard about that. I'll have to research that more. Wife loves her car and doesn't want to give it up, though. She says to have them fix it, but I'm leary about dealerships doing major repairs on my cars. Someone was mentioning that Subaru might produce a bunch of long blocks for this fix so the dealer doesn't have to mess with as much.

As far as the expanded VIN range, that appears to be a hoax, so only the original VIN range applies.

It looks worse:

not confirmed yet, but from Nasioc http://forums.nasioc.com/forums/showpost.php?p=21814918&postcount=169


IMMEDIATE STOP SALE ORDER
TO: GLR-- MAR-- NWR-- SCR-- SDC-- SWR Dealers
FROM: Subaru of America, Inc.
DEPARTMENT: Service
DATE: 04/07/2008

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Legacy vehicles have been added to the Stop Sale

We regret to inform you that we must place an immediate stop sale order on all of the 2008/2009 Subaru Impreza, Forester and Legacy vehicles equipped with a 2.5L Turbo Engine produced with the beginning chassis number and later as shown below.

Model
Body Type
Chassis Number
Production Date

Forester Wagon 701045 or later 2008/01/08 or later

Legacy 2.5GT-LTD 222825 or later 2008/02/04 or later
2.5GT-B 222958 or later 2008/02/04 or later
OBK 2.5XT-LTD 353835 or later 2008/02/01 or later

Impreza Sedan 523363 or later 2008/01/08 or later
Wagon 825183 or later 2008/01/08 or later


The reason for this immediate Quality Assurance action is that there have been several reports of “Engine Knocking Noise” from other markets on vehicles produced after the production dates listed.

Initial investigation confirms an internal wear issue on the failed units.

In the interest of preventing any possibility of failures for our customers, we have chosen to isolate any potentially affected vehicles by ceasing sales of the potentially affected units until the root cause and correction can be identified.

All the other displacement engines and the 2.5L Natural Aspirated Engine are excluded from this action.

Your region/distributor will be contacting you with a detailed list of affected vehicles assigned to your dealership. However, dealer trades cannot be tracked so please be aware of the affected VIN range.

If you have a vehicle in inventory that falls into the affected vehicle range, please ensure that your sales and service staff are immediately notified that the unit is un-saleable until further notice from SOA or your region/distributor.

If any of those vehicles has an unusual engine noise, please notify the SOA Technical Helpline immediately with all of the details and submit an E-QMR.

Should a customer bring an affected vehicle into your service department for an unusual engine noise, please immediately arrange that they are given the use of a clean SSLP vehicle and notify the Technical Helpline and submit an E-QMR.

You will be contacted shortly thereafter on how to proceed.