Other powertrain problem on the 2000 Subaru Forester
1 crash 1 injury 2 of the 18 reports for this failure mention a crash, a fire, an injury or a death. Those are the owner's words on the complaint form, not a verified finding, and one report can mention more than one.
When other powertrain problem gets reported
Owners of the 2000 Subaru Forester report other powertrain problem at a median of 75,000 miles. A quarter of the reports come in before 45,000 miles and a quarter after 90,000 miles, from 14 reports that carried an odometer reading.
A part like this is normally expected to survive 92,000 miles. It is the 1st most-reported problem on this model year.
The mileage distribution
The reported range runs from 25,000 miles at the tenth percentile to 95,000 miles at the ninetieth, a spread of 69,877 miles across the middle 80% of reports.
When the reports scatter this far, the mileage is telling you about how these cars were driven more than about the part itself.
21% of the dated reports were filed under 36,000 miles.
The whole distribution
| 10th | 25th | Median | 75th | 90th |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 24,500 miles | 45,000 miles | 74,000 miles | 90,750 miles | 94,377 miles |
Read the 10th percentile as “one report in ten arrived this early”. Exact figures are shown in this table because it is the table of record; everywhere else on the site they are rounded to the precision the sample can carry.
What a percentile can and cannot tell you here
These five numbers describe the readings owners gave, in order. The median is the middle one: half the reports arrived below it. The 10th and 90th are the edges of the bulk of the distribution, and the distance between them is the part worth reading. A tight spread — say 70,000 to 95,000 miles — points at something that wears out on a schedule, and the schedule is knowable. A wide one, 20,000 to 190,000, points at a fault that hits some cars and never troubles others, which means the mileage on the listing in front of you tells you very little about your odds.
What these figures are not is a survival curve. Every reading here comes from a car whose owner filed a complaint, so the sample contains only failures: it cannot say what share of the fleet made it past 150,000 miles untouched, because those owners had nothing to report. Nor is the mileage the moment of failure — it is the odometer reading as recalled at the time of filing, which may be weeks later and is sometimes rounded to the nearest ten thousand by the person typing it.
Percentiles are shown at all only once 8 readings exist for the vehicle and mode. Below that the middle of a handful of numbers is noise wearing a decimal point, so the figures are withheld rather than dressed up.
What happens, and what it costs
Of these reports, 1 a crash and 1 an injury are mentioned. Owners write their own complaints and the agency does not verify them, so read this as what the reports say happened rather than as a confirmed count.
Putting it right typically runs $400–$4,500 at an independent US shop. That range is an editorial estimate held in this site's failure-mode catalogue, not a figure from NHTSA, and it is a repair cost rather than a diagnosis cost.
The same failure on other years
The same failure is reported on 21 model years of this car. It shows up earliest on the 2020, at a median of 500 miles, and latest on the 2000 at 75,000 miles.
By volume the 2015 carries the most reports, with 51; the 2000 has 18. A mode that appears across most years of a model is usually a design choice rather than a bad batch.
If one year stands out to the left, that is the year to avoid; if the whole line sits at a similar mileage, this is wear rather than a defect in one production run.
Tick median reported mileage Solid middle half of reports Faint 10th to 90th percentile Colour how bad the failure is when it happens
What owners wrote
Verbatim from NHTSA complaint narratives, trimmed for length. The mileage is the one the owner gave.
Began noticing and complaining of clutch chatter at 20,000 miles. Mentioned at every service visit and told by dealer that it was normal or that they adjusted the clutch. Car would be fine for a month and then chatter would return. Particularly occurs when cold and trying to engage in first gear. Told at 44,000 miles that the clutch was worn and needed replacing. When I complained about the chatter they never resolved, they kept saying that was normal and the early wear must be due to my driving. Replaced the clutch and once again, a few months later chatter returned. Another dealer told me that they should have replaced the flywheel as well since 99% of clutch chatter is caused by the flywheel surface. Took the car back to the original dealer who again said the chatter was normal and would not do anything about it. The car still jerks when I shift into first when it is cold, making it very unsafe for me and my teenage daughter to drive. *jb ***dimsii ivoq entry posted after 12/12/02 cut-over to artemis*****764329
Clutch shutter, through all four gears especially when the vehicile is cold. I have had this problem with this vehicle since I brought it. I have been driving standard transmisions for 40 years and never have I expereinced this problem. I believe subrau has a defective clutch and for some reason refuses to correct the situation .*ak
On a cold start, generally the vehicle will go forward when shifting it into drive, but after it is warmed up if you stop the engine and then try to go again, it won't engage in drive but it will go in reverse. I see on subaru's service bulletins, on the web, show there are pages upon pages of the same happenings. It was explained that the interior seals of the transmission are allowing fluid to leak by decreasing fluid pressure in the transmission preventing it from operating properly, sometimes leaving us stranded. The vehicle is a subaru forester 2000, other vehicles were same models and were also included 1999 models. My question is should this be happening in cars just four years old?*ak
Also reported on the 2000 Subaru Forester
Engine sensor failure
Wheel bearing or hub failure
Head gasket failure
Other suspension problem
Other wheel or tire problem
Fuel leak or fuel odor
How far this goes
Complaints are voluntary, so 18 is a floor and not a count of affected cars. Mileages are typed in by owners and cluster on round numbers. And the mode itself is assigned by software reading the complaint text, which is reliable in bulk and fallible one report at a time.
Questions this page answers
At what mileage does other powertrain problem happen on the 2000 Subaru Forester?
Across 14 owner reports that included an odometer reading, half were filed by 75,000 miles. A quarter were filed before 45,000 miles and a quarter after 90,000 miles. These are the mileages owners reported when they complained, not a prediction for any individual car.
How common is other powertrain problem on the 2000 Subaru Forester?
18 reports have been filed with NHTSA, about 0.4 per 1,000 vehicles. Complaints are voluntary, so this is a floor rather than a count of affected cars.
What this is and is not. These are the mileages at which owners chose to complain to a federal agency, which is not the same as the mileage at which the part fails on every car. It skews toward failures that happened outside warranty, cost real money, or frightened someone. It is still the only public dataset that carries failure mileage at all, and the shape of a few hundred readings is informative even when a single one is not. Methodology · JSON · this failure on other cars
Source Owner complaints and recall records published by the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, model years 1996–2027 Figures rebuilt Published by AtWhatMileage How every figure is computed