Because Subaru Can't Turn Back Time, Some Owners Stand to Gain a New Ascent

by Steph Willems

Published: August 15th, 2018

because subaru can t turn back time some owners stand to gain a new ascent

A recall serious enough to necessitate the replacement of a car is rare, but Subaru should be glad it caught the problem before more faulty vehicles left the factory.

Over the course of eight days in July, 293 Ascents from the 2019 model year made it off the assembly line while potentially missing a full complement of welds — hardly something the automaker can just go back and touch up.

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, key spot welds on the midsize crossover’s B-pillar may have been missed, all thanks to an improperly programmed welding robot. As robots don’t program themselves (and thank goodness for that), we can chalk this issue up to human error.

Of the 293 vehicles recalled by Subaru, only nine found their way to owners. The rest, Subaru says, were either in transit or sitting on dealer lots. A stop-sale order covers those vehicles.

“If some of the spot welds around the B-pillar were missed, the strength of the vehicle’s body may be reduced, potentially increasing the risk of injury in the event of a crash,” a Subaru spokesman told Consumer Reports. “This is why we are replacing the vehicles and not repairing.”

The automaker discovered the issue during an inspection of a new Ascent on July 21st. Not all of the 293 vehicles left the factory without key welds, Subaru claims. Regardless, recall notices hit mailboxes this month. If you suspect you could be among the unlucky nine, punch your VIN into NHTSA.gov to see if your new Ascent stands to gain an odometer rollback (of sorts).

It could be an opportunity to change that paint color you have mixed feelings about.

#Quality #Recall #Safety #Subaru #SubaruAscent

Steph Willems

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16 of 57 comments

VW4motion on Aug 15, 2018

Great, at least they are not pretending nothing is happening. Hence, toyota for rusted frame and gas pedal issues and mazda for rust and skyactiv carbon build up. Yes, this does sound a bit ridiculous missing build welds. And good they are not pretending it did not happen.

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- Gtem on Aug 15, 2018
  
  Not pretending like when they were paying people out 150% book value on Tacomas, right?
  
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- Art Vandelay on Aug 15, 2018
  
  @gtem How long did that take.again?
  
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- Slavuta on Aug 15, 2018
  
  No, they are pretending. I am yet to see commercial that says, "Sorry folks, we forgot to weld your car." They all say, "Because its love"
  
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- VW4motion on Aug 16, 2018
  
  @slavuta Or a commercial that says “ sorry folks we didn’t test your engine after 100,000 miles or do any type of testing in salt or corrosive type areas of the world.” Like I this is extremely poor quality control. But they are at least replacing the vehicles and not pretending that their is nothing wrong. Unlike other auto makers.
  
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- VW4motion on Aug 16, 2018
  
  @gtem,150% book value on Tacoma’s? Which is a lie. And how many sold their POS Toyota’s due to lack of responsibility from Toyota before a class action lawsuit? Glass houses ?!?
  
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- Gtem on Aug 16, 2018
  
  @VW Do I really have to spoonfeed you this stuff? https://wheels.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/05/07/toyota-offers-to-buy-back-rusty-tacomas/ Google is just a click away buddy. Now let's talk about the endemic and serious engine issues that VAG has brushed under the rug for years on the original 1.8Ts, the oil burning and cam follower eating 2.0Ts, the chain stretching 3.2s, etc. In relative terms Toyota handled the frame replacement/buyback recall with aplomb. Art as far as I can tell the buybacks started around 2008, 13 years after the first "1995.5" Tacomas went on sale and 4 years after the last first gen (2004) truck was sold, I don't know when the first cases of rotted frames started to appear but 13 years in the salt belt sounds about right.
  
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- Slavuta on Aug 16, 2018
  
  @VW4motion VW, don't worry. I've done all the testing past 100K. These engines run 200K with no issues. I mean Mazda engines. Subaru - no so much
  
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- Pete Zaitcev on Aug 16, 2018
  
  There was no "gas pedal issue". Completely bogus.
  
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- 30-mile fetch on Aug 16, 2018
  
  @Pete Zaitcev Malcolm Gladwell produced an interesting episode of his Revisionist History podcast on that issue and came to that conclusion as well. Although Toyota critics can just redirect the snipes to Toyota owners instead, which should come naturally to them. This graph shows how the complaints spiked after the high profile crash that started the ball rolling: https://www.caranddriver.com/features/its-all-your-fault-the-dot-renders-its-verdict-on-toyotas-unintended-acceleration-scare-feature And don't layer the floormats.
  
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- TwoBelugas on Aug 16, 2018
  
  @Pete Zaitcev Toyota had real issues with early DBW throttle systems around 05. I know because my 05 Camry used to apply heavy throttle on its own at stoplights with my foot firmly on the brake pedal nowhere near the accelerator pedal. I went to the dealer 4 times before calling their regional corporate and they finally replaced some parts but they refused to tell me what was going on, in any case after the repair the self-surge was gone. Years later I heard about the other cars having issues and while I know in some cases it's driver error, the mid-2000s Toyotas did have real with the DBW throttle system. My best guess was a part defect or assembly error that introduced a short or debris that created false signals to the ECU indicating throttle was being applied when I wasn't on the accelerator pedal at all.
  
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APaGttH on Aug 15, 2018

No, it is here, here, here, here, here, and here. Not here here here here here here!

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Inside Looking Out on Aug 15, 2018

How nobody mentioned Ford yet? DW?

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Ryoku75 on Aug 16, 2018

Since we're talking about Subaru here, can anyone fill me in on the latest "rod knock" troubles running around Subaru?

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- VW4motion on Aug 16, 2018
  
  Rod knock is caused by a severe failure of one or more crankshaft connecting rod bearings. Repairs require engine removal and complete disassembly at significant expense. The most common cause is lack of engine oil, this is usually the first part in an engine to fail when it runs out of oil.
  
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- Bullnuke on Aug 16, 2018
  
  Ryoku75 - How about a website or reference to this. First I've heard of it.
  
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