Subaru Problems

You could well be right. It would seem they haven’t found what’s causing the noise and have simply guessed that it’s a problem with the tyre. The car is still under warranty, so I would take it back and demand they find and fix the fault.

The speedo is allowed to read up to 10 percent higher than the real speed of your car, plus 4 km/h, and there’s nothing you can do about it. A GPS, which is more accurate, can be a useful guide to your real speed.

If you’ve had paint protection applied your complaint is against the company that did that work, not Subaru. If it were done through the dealer, then you might also have a claim against the dealer. I would be very annoyed with paint protection company for not telling me they have problems with Subaru paint, if that is indeed the case, before they took my money and did the job.

It should tow your trailer without a problem, as long as the trailer is braked, and you are sure it weighs less than 1000 kg when loaded with all of your gear. In addition to the cars you are looking at there are plenty of other cars that could also tow your camper, like the Hyundai Santa Fe, Nissan X-Trail, Honda CR-V etc.

The law allows speedos to read as much as 10 percent fast, which makes yours legal. There's not much you can do about it, other than make mental adjustments as you drive.

Clutches are considered wear and tear items; they wear out. It’s really a matter of whether they have a reasonable life span or not. Yours has done 90,000 km, which is in my view quite reasonable, and you know little of how it was treated before you bought it, so you have no real chance of claiming Subaru was at fault.

Clutch wear could be your problem, have your dealer check it for you.

Here's Subaru's answer: "As with most brands gearboxes are not totally sealed units. If the vehicle is exposed to very heavy sand, the clutch may fail and sand could be evident during replacement." From that you should get the message that you shouldn't attempt to drive through heavy sand.

We have had previous reports of this issue and have approached Subaru for their comment, which was that they were not aware of a problem. They also advised that owners should only use Subaru- approved globes, suggesting that any problem that might exist was related to non-factory globes.

We don’t have ‘lemon’ laws in this country so you need to work through the laws in each state relating to consumer rights, and based on what you say has happened to your car you would appear to have a strong case against Subaru. Before you go that far, however, you should try to resolve your issues through the dealer, and if that fails, through Subaru.

Under the Australian Consumer Law introduced in January 2011, a consumer can request a refund or a replacement for persistent problems if the car doesn’t do the job it’s supposed to do.