Recall · 21V955000
Subaru of America recalled 3 models over power train
198,255
Vehicles covered
3
Models
4
Model years
December 9, 2021
Filed with NHTSA
POWER TRAIN:AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION:CONTROL MODULE (TCM/PCM/TECM)
- The defect
- Subaru of America, Inc. (Subaru) is recalling certain 2019-2020 Ascent, 2020 Legacy and Outback vehicles. A programming error in the Transmission Control Unit (TCU) may allow the clutch to engage before the drive chain is completely clamped.
- What it can cause
- An improperly secured drive chain may slip and break, causing a loss of drive power and increasing the risk of a crash.
- What the dealer does
- Dealers will reprogram the TCU, inspect TCU data for chain slip, and visually inspect the chain guide. If evidence of chain slippage or damage is found, the transmission will be replaced. Repairs will be performed free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed August 19, 2022. This recall includes all vehicles previously recalled under 19V-855. Vehicles previously recalled under 19V-855 will need to have the new remedy performed for this recall once available. Owners may contact Subaru customer service at 1-844-373-6614. Subaru's number for this recall is WRK-21.
- NHTSA's note
- Owners may also contact the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Vehicle Safety Hotline at 1-888-327-4236 (TTY 1-800-424-9153), or go to www.nhtsa.gov.
The repair is free, whatever the age or mileage of the vehicle, and whether or not you are the original owner.
Which vehicles
A recall reaches a range of VINs inside these model years, not every car built in them. Yours may not be covered even if it is listed here, and the only way to find out is NHTSA's own VIN lookup .
How this campaign compares
At 198,255 vehicles this is a bigger campaign than 95% of the 19,818 vehicle recalls filed since 1995 whose size NHTSA published. The middle campaign on file covers 472. It covers model years 2019 to 2020, so the oldest vehicles on it were 2 model years old when the defect was reported to NHTSA.
Subaru vehicles have been recalled over the power train 10 times before this, most recently in January 2021 as 21V024000. That is not evidence the earlier repair failed.
This site holds the complaint record for all 4 model years the campaign names. Their owners have filed 1,776 complaints with NHTSA, 972 of them before this campaign was filed. 198 of those name the power train, the system this recall is about — a count of complaints, not of this defect. The earliest of them reached NHTSA in August 2018, 3 years before this filing.
The vehicles on this campaign carry 8 other recalls published here, the newest being: 26V436000 (equipment), 24V227000 (air bags), 22V907000 (electrical system), 22V485000 (power train).
Check your own car
A VIN check is the only answer for a specific vehicle, and it also shows every other open recall on it, which is usually the reason it is worth doing rather than reading one campaign.
Filed by Subaru of America, Inc. with NHTSA on December 9, 2021 as campaign 21V955000. Every word of the defect, consequence and remedy above is NHTSA's published record of that filing, not a summary of it.
Compiled and maintained by guarledes . Data last checked 2021-12-09.
Independent developer and analyst