Subaru Recalls 660K Vehicles for Brake Line Rust

[Paul_Heery]

Link to the full story below. But, apparently because of a design defect, salty water can splash onto the brake lines and cause rust causing the cars to be recalled. But, the recall is limited to cars that were either bought or registered in states where salt is used to clear the roads.

So, I guess it is pretty much screw you to anyone that may regularly pass through these states with a vehicle registered elsewhere. This doesn't make sense to me. Why limit the recall since it is a defect that could potentially impact all listed models?

Subaru Recalls 660K Vehicles for Brake Line Rust - ABC News

[Nickshu]

Bummer. Subaru had a major recall on the brake master cylinder on Outbacks (2013's I think) awhile back too. I just traded my 2013 Outback, it was a great car, I didn't like the suspension but the 3.6L 6-cyl motor was great and it was hands down the best car I have ever driven in snow/ice.

[biosurfer1]

660k doesn't seem like so many thanks to all he GM recalls lately

[gshase]

Isn't G.M. approaching 17 Trillion recalls?

[pavulon]

This will be the second brake line recall for my outback. The first only required applying a coating to the area at issue. I suspect that this will be a similar nearly non-event. The car works well especially in snow w/ winter tires.

[fastfredracing]

I'm surprised more manufactures are not going to follow suit. I do tons of brake lines here

[VincentVega]

I wonder if they started using GM's brake line supplier.

[Nickshu]

Originally Posted by peteremsley

I have a 2013 outback too. its been a great ski car for us. Curious as to what you didn't like about the suspension?

I owned both a 2012 and 2013. I traded in my 2012 because the suspension was so terrible.

The 2010-2012 OB's had terribly soft suspension. So much so that they feel like they are going to roll over every time you go around a corner. They also had a rear end oscillation issue that would cause instability at highway speeds and also contributed to the dreaded chronic incurable steering wheel shake that the 2010-2011.5 suffered, but Subaru never issued a recall like they should have.

Subaru improved this in 2013 with several changes to the chassis and subframes, as well as the spring rates and struts. It was much better but they left the front end too soft IMHO and it's still bouncy. Take a corner at speed in yours while hitting a dip (like a drainage culvert) and you'll notice the front end wiggles/oscillates side to side for the next 20-30 feet. Very annoying to me.

I realize it's not a performance car, but lots of high profile cars are much more stable and solid. Subaru has struggled as they have been outgrowing their "frumpiness" and becoming mainstream in the past 5-6 years. Their designers are torn between pleasing the "average" Toyota-buying consumer (who will never leave the pavement) while not alienating the niche-market Subaru purists who want offroad capability (long/soft suspension travel).

If Subaru had not taken the Legacy GT wagon out of the US market I would have bought one of these instead. Some people have lowered the OB with Legacy suspension, but the rear alignment is tough to get right, some have made custom spacers to achieve this.

I know way too much about this because I really like the OB with the 3.6L 6-cyl engine. I looked at many options to fix the problem and keep the car but in the end I traded it in and gave up. I tried different sway bars, a strut top bar, and a couple different alignment setups but it still sucked. If you go over to the Subaru Outback boards there is tons of discussion on this issue, complaints, fixes, and non-fixes.

The new 2015's look great, hopefully they got the suspension right with the new bodystyle.

[dad911]

My Expedition brake lines and transmission line rusted through, causing an exciting near crash (brake) and getting stuck 4 hours from home on a holiday weekend (transmission line)

Ford didn't send me any notices (original owner).... so no more Fords.

[bri450sl]

I have a 2012 Outback. While it does have a very soft suspension and does seem "odd" at times, it stays really flat around corners.

[Oracle]

Those subies are the most rust prone cars on the road IMO.
And second by not much is Mazda...

I'm not surprised ...

Subaru should have done few recalls in the past

[onewhippedpuppy]

For whatever reason, the Japanese can't seem to fully grasp the concept of rust-proofing.

[Rick V]

That recall only applies to cars that are registered in the salt states. I am a Subi tech, and it is a non event, just something to stave off any pending lawsuits in today's take no responsibility, I did nothing wrong, I am going to sue you for coffee being hot society

[Skytrooper]

I just traded my 03 subie in on a newer vehicle. I replaced the brake lines twice in that time and when I traded it the rears were gone again. I blocked them off and removed the ABS fuse. I do live in a salt state so it was to be expected for 11 years of driving.

[VINMAN]

Originally Posted by VincentVega

I wonder if they started using GM's brake line supplier.

Or Chrysler's... all the lines on my Ram and Jeep rusted out also.


.

[widgeon13]

"For about half the vehicles, it's the second recall for the same problem."

Can't afford to fix the problem properly, what idiots!