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2010 Subaru Liberty and Subaru Outback six-speed manual recall

By Brett Davis |

Subaru has issued a recall for all 2010 model year Subaru Liberty and Outbacks fitted with the six-speed manual transmission.

The recall issued on the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, government website, says the problem is in the transmission. The report says it’s not supplying itself with adequate lubricant. In the long-term this could mean a complete failure of third gear and eventually all drive.

Subaru says this only affects 467 cars though, and out of those cars, only a small collection – if any – might be suffering from the oil starvation problem. Known owners of the affected vehicles will be contacted via mail and asked take their car to a dealer to have the problem checked and rectified if need be. Owners concerned or unsure are advised to contact their local dealer.


 
  • Dave

    When will they recall these cars due to styling faults?

    • Smithy

      They look fine on the road in the metal.
      Anyway, plenty of buyers dissagree with you – the best selling Libertys ever, both here and the US, fact.

      • Redback

        Sorry, it’s still hideous in the metal. Best selling in the US maybe (Americans like fat and ugly), but here in Oz their market share (relative to the Gen IV at the same time after launch) is way down.

        • Dave

          ^^^ 33 thumbs up and counting ;-)

          • Smithy

            Popularity is NOT a measure of correctness – you’re still wrong.

          • nickdl

            People vote a thumbs up if they think you’re correct.

            Just look at the next comment of Dave gloating, not really that popular…

  • Bob

    Ugly and dodgy gearboxes! (See if this one gets deleted like my one about the dodgy electrics)

    • Joe

      The 6 speed is actually an extremely reliable and strong gearbox, especially in comparison to the old 5 speed.

      • Bob

        Really? Why are they doing a recall then?

        • Joe

          A relatively small recall does not maketh a bad transmission.. Subaru have 10s of thousands of the same 6 speeds in all variants (including the STi) around the world, and in general they are a fantastic transmission.

          Plenty of the worlds best tuning workshops, including JUN and Cosworth, run the standard 6 speed in their Time Attack race cars, with great reliability.

          See, this is what happens when people just go off what they read on a few car news websites.. you really can’t make an informed judgement.

  • Frenchie

    Wow 3 recalls of a particular model in one year. Beats Holden Commodore!

    • Radbloke

      …almost.

  • James007

    Is it just me, or have recalls of Subaru’s actually increased since Toyota bought into Subaru??

    • nickdl

      Never had a recall on my MY00 Liberty on the 10 years I had it.

      • nickdl

        *IN the 10 years

  • Joe

    A relatively small recall does not maketh a bad transmission.. Subaru have 10s of thousands of the same 6 speeds in all variants (including the STi) around the world, and in general they are a fantastic transmission.

    Plenty of the worlds best tuning workshops, including JUN and Cosworth, run the standard 6 speed in their Time Attack race cars, with great reliability.

    See, this is what happens when people just go off what they read on a few car news websites.. you really can\’t make an informed judgement.

  • Hayzel

    The comment section becomes “bash the subaru brand” section. Can people be more open minded and just comment on the car as a car not as a preference or fan biased opinions?

    • MazMagic

      Yeah, your right. It’s funny that no one has mentioned about the Mazda3 recall in the US in regards to steering issues – far more serious than this. I can see what you mean Hayzel!

  • Nick K

    All makes are affected by recalls and issues… This is a fact of life with automotive products. Still, Subaru don’t do as well on quality and reliability as Toyota and Honda… Not bad in an absolute sense, just not as good relatively. This is to be expected from a small under capitalized manufacturer (FHI). Oh, an yes what an ugly slabsided this Liberty is.

  • Hung Low

    This might get deleted soon like my previous comment about claiming to be a Premium Japanese brand!

    The term \”New and Improved\” does not exist with this Liberty!
    The model it replaced is a far better car in and out!

    Like Toyota, now watch Subaru rely on the credibility of its good past generation models for sales and marketing whilst cutting cost on quality components, development and production. Do not expect a price drop either folks, they are still a so called \”premium Japanese brand\”!!

    • Joe

      On what basis do you claim that the old Liberty is better than the new one?

      Have you owned both?

      • Hung Low

        Well for starters Joe it did not have 3 recalls within its first release which speaks volumes on R&D time!
        Then moving on to the quality of the interior materials and presentation in which the older model was more classy and better presented, the current one is tacky and average.
        The frameless doors are now gone, a great feature of past Libertys. It is another cost cut which fronts this new model which now only requires generic door hinging and pillar reinforcement on its new lighter and flimsier doors.
        The older model had a better constructed version of the EJ20 series engine (no blown head gaskets here), they have stronger pistons, rods and gudgeon pins.!

        So on what basis can you prove this current model is better than the previous?
        Have you owned both?

        • nickdl

          Absolutely agree Hung. The only thing better about the new Liberty is the extra space over the old one. Other than that it is worse in just about every other way. I really dislike the tractor wheelarches which make the 17s on the base model look like 14s.

  • ALP

    Just a warning:
    A vote for the GREENS is a vote for LABOR and more incompetance!

    • Nick K

      So should I vote for a scary arch conservative in Tony Abbott? This guy is living in the past and has no vision… no thanks.

  • philip

    Wait for the next recall. STALLING 2010 Manual 2.5l cars. The recall has occurred in USA with service bulletin #11-96-10 “to announce that ECM reprogramming files now available to address RPM dropping below dle speed when clutch pedal depressed while engine is warming up”

    My car is 700km old as has stalled 8 times in 3rd to 2nd downshifts. Subaru Aust is looking into it at present.

  • Dan

    I too am having problems with my 2010 Liberty 2.5i. The thing has nearly stalled a couple of times when down shifting on approach at traffic lights. I also find it difficult to select the lower gears, they often bind & it can take 2 or 3 attempts to select 2nd or 1st gear. The local dealer stated that they had to top up gearbox with 500ml of lubricant. (They only serviced it 6 weeks prior) Still that hasn’t made any diffrence. Its booked back in again this week.

  • Philip

    Dan

    Give me a call on 0420 315 903 and I can let you know whom to talk too from Subaru technical and progress on my fix for stalling subaru. The dealers are pretty much in the dark on this one.

  • Sony K Arackal

    Since the cars show a lot of transmission problem,and a lot of complaints arising on them can we expect a modified car in the market soon insted of the existing one.