Other powertrain problem on the 2009 Subaru Outback
Only 4 reports for this mode came with an odometer reading, which is too few for percentiles to mean anything. The page is here because someone linked to it; treat the figures as anecdotes, and see the full report for this year instead.
When other powertrain problem gets reported
There are 5 reports of other powertrain problem on the 2009 Subaru Outback, 4 with a mileage attached. That is too few to place the failure on the odometer with any confidence.
A part like this is normally expected to survive 92,000 miles. It is the 10th most-reported problem on this model year.
The whole distribution
| 10th | 25th | Median | 75th | 90th |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| — | — | 22,679 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
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 28 model years of this car. It shows up earliest on the 2015, at a median of 500 miles, and latest on the 2006 at 135,000 miles.
By volume the 2011 carries the most reports, with 79; the 2009 has 5. 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.
Tl* the contact owns a 2009 subaru outback. The contact was driving at 45 MPH when every service warning light illuminated. The vehicle began to jerk abnormally while changing gears. The vehicle was towed to the dealer where the contact was informed that there was a miscommunication between the speed sensor and transmission. The dealer made repairs to the vehicle. The warning lights were no longer illuminated. Two hours later, the failure recurred. The vehicle was taken back to the dealer where another repair was performed on the vehicle. The failure persisted intermittently after the second repair when driving between 25 and 35 MPH. The failure mileage was 13,357 and the current mileage was 14,800.
This type of incident happened twice. Making a left hand turn, pulling onto main two-way road, the dash lights flashed on, car jerked and then stalled. This was a very dangerous situation as 50 MPH cars and trucks were coming in both directions at us - with two small children in the car, screaming their heads off. I managed to turn it off and restart and pull over, got vehicle towed. Curry subaru computer couldn't come up with anything. Same incident happened 02/17/2011, making a left onto a main road. My daughter thought we were going to be killed, the car dash lights flashed and car died. I managed to restart and jerk forward. This car is a death-trap. My online research shows others with same exact situation. I brought car to my dealer - bill kolb - with no satisfaction. Car revvs forward at times during normal driving. Siting many on line complaints, subaru must be well aware of the danger this situation presents, I cannot operate this car - my children are terrified after two incidents of near collisions.
About a month ago (april 2011) while moving forward at around 5 to 10 MPH I reached for the glove box and my shirt cuff caught the shift handle and thru the transmission into reverse. While I was lucky and there were no injuries this appears to be a serious safety defect that should be addressed by subaru of north america. There are no built in safety locks or mechanisms to prevent the transmission from being moved from reverse to drive or drive to manual shift option. Actually you can shift anywhere from reverse to manual auto by bumping or pulling the shift handle with very little effort. Someone could have been seriously injured or killed. Is there a recall available to correct this condition. Every american made car I've owned had a built in mechanism that required that you push down / pull up and push forward or pull backwards at the same time thru some type of manual locking mechanism...... Thanks I'm still driving the car but damage to the transmission is unknown. *tr
Also reported on the 2009 Subaru Outback
Wiring harness or short circuit
Other electrical problem
Airbag inflator rupture
Airbag warning light or occupant sensor fault
Other suspension problem
Other body or interior problem
How far this goes
This page is kept out of search results because 5 reports is not enough to publish percentiles from. It stays reachable because somebody looking at this exact car would rather see the reports than be told there are none.
Complaints are voluntary, so 5 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 2009 Subaru Outback?
Across 4 owner reports that included an odometer reading, half were filed by 25,000 miles. A quarter were filed before — and a quarter after —. These are the mileages owners reported when they complained, not a prediction for any individual car.
How common is other powertrain problem on the 2009 Subaru Outback?
5 reports have been filed with NHTSA, about 0.2 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