Subaru - Outback :: 2011 - Poor Rear Window Visibility?
May 22, 2011
I recently purchased a 2011 Subaru Outback and I'm having difficulty seeing out the back window when I'm parallel parking or backing up. The rear window is up high and narrow. I use the side mirrors as much as I can, but feel disoriented when I can see the car behind me. I've checked out some camera systems online, but I haven't see great reviews for them. I also contacted Subaru to see if I could get one installed after market, as they only included their rear view mirror camera on the high end Limited edition that included the moon roof which I didn't want, but they can't install it after market.
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I have a 99 Subaru Outback Limited. Since I bought it five years ago (93k miles, now 133k miles) the drivers window, when all the way down, will "jutter," moving up and down just slightly; there is also a clicking sound and the up button won't work. The only way to get the window to move up is to click up and down on the window lock switch, which always works. I replaced the window master switch assembly in the drivers door panel, but that didn't fix the problem. One mechanic, at 100k miles, told me assuredly that my alternator was bad, but I've driven it for 28k miles and 3.5 years with no problem so I don't think it's the alternator.
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I have a 2011 Subaru Outback with 40000 miles. For the third time since I've had it (6 months), the engine suddenly gets very loud at highway speeds while I am on cruise control. The RPMs go up about 500 and this lasts for a few minutes before going away. What is going on?
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We have plenty of cold. My new Outback is wonderful except for ONE very big thing. The heater is terrible. You end up with frozen feet. What to do???? 2011 Subaru Outback....
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Heard a funny intermittent rattle and my mechanic told me that my check engine light should be going on any time now as my cat converter is bad. The part is about a thousand bucks! Looked on line and see some aftermarket ones from walker and some other retailers. My car has 103K miles on it,.
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Why when I come to a stop with the heater on, the car smells like exhaust? I took in into our local Subaru shop and they couldn't find anything wrong. When I'm driving it's fine, but in town or in traffic, I have to keep shutting off the heater. If I forget, the car fills up fumes and I have to drive with the windows down or my daughter's asthma flares up.
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When I use my automatic transmission to slow my vehicle on steep downhills, the RPMs are much higher than when the engine idles because I use my brakes. The pistons are firing many more times per minute - so am i using more gas? Is the answer different for a standard transmission?
My "mystery vehicle" is a 2011..... outback...
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I purchased a new Outback Limited (2.5) in April of this year. I've got a service appointment coming up next week for an oil change anyway, and I noticed that the road noise from the sunroof is very loud.
I own an `09 Legacy Limited which also has a sunroof and it's not even close in terms of loudness.
When I called to make my service appointment, I was told that this is really "normal" for the sunroof, and I obviously don't think so.
My Outback has a sunroof air deflector which might be causing the problem - none of my other cars have had this option and it came with it when I purchased it. I'm considering removing it, but I want to be sure this is the cause rather than a problem with the sunroof itself.
Has driven an `11 Outback with a sunroof (with or without an air deflector), and if you have, is it noticably louder than other cars you've driven?
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I'm on a road trip and was taking off this morning when my CEL, vehicle dynamics control light came on steadily, with a flashing brake light. It's Sunday and no repair shops are open and I need to drive from CO to S. Cal today. Is it safe to travel? From what I've seen, it could be a problem with the gas cap or ABS is disabled. Haven't had cruise control light come on (yet), but haven't tried driving anywhere.
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My Outback has some squeaking coming from the rear end. The car is way too new (2014) to need shocks, but that is exactly what is sounds like. One side note, I drove it through the city at a very high rate of speed (family member emergency, long story) and was wondering if I could have damaged them in just one trip? The total drive time was probably 20 or 30 minutes / 5 miles, but the city roads contain plenty of potholes, etc.
The car isn't exhibiting any other symptoms, alignment is fine, etc.
The only other thought I had was the storage compartment around the spare. I actually removed everything and drove it around for a bit and still got the same thing.
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I bought a new 2011 Outback about 3 weeks ago, and I have around 1500 miles on it.
A couple days ago I started noticing a clicking noise near the right-front wheel area whenever I turn for the first time after I start the engine (releasing handbrake, shift to Drive, etc). This happens only one time per drive, and mostly after I turn to the right for the first time. After hearing that sound, the next time I will hear it is only after I park and shutdown the engine and restart.
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I have a 96 outback which all of a sudden has no awd. The rear differential looks as though it has leaked some. I don't know if it has a bad axle, or if this loss of fluid is the culprit..... Where to start?
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Our "brand new" 2010 outback (7K miles) was hit while parked on the street. Rear-ended on the passenger side, both rear tires and Left front tire were no longer vertical. The hit was also so hard that the front bumper had to be replaced from hitting the car in front of us. Luckily there was no frame damage, only tires & drive train. Almost $9,000 in repairs later, the car vibrates when turning at moderate or higher speeds (30mph or faster). The Vibration sounds like hitting the rumble strips on the edges of the highway and gets worse the tighter the turn or the faster the speed. When going straight, no noise or vibration. Mechanic says its a bearing, but can't tell which one because its not bad enough yet.
My uncle thinks it might be related to a mis-alignment in the drive train - possibly causing the rear axles and Differential? to be out of square with each other or how it is actually bolted to the frame. We have put on about 600 miles with no change except a fear of doing more damage. Are either of these on track? Or do I really need to bring it to a Subaru dealer/repair shop? (our local mechanic convinced us to let him do the work, and due to a variety of reasons we decided to go that route - hope it was the right one)
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I have a 2000 Outback, 80K, and I've been having brake issues. The first thing I noticed was a burning brake smell. I pulled over and found that my two front wheels were very hot. I pumped the brakes a few times and let them cool down and drove on. Pulled over in a bit to check them and they were fine. Took the car to the dealer who said, "We can't really find anything wrong with the fronts, but the backs are sticking a bit and we fixed that." So, off I went. Of course, it happened again. Left front seemed the hottest, but this time I noticed that the rear wheels were warm as well. Took it in again. Again, "We don't know." "Could it be the calipers or the lines or the ABS chip," I asked? "Well, yeah, maybe the front calipers." So they replaced the front calipers.
Picked it up and noticed two things of interest on the print out: "Rear brakes hanging up," and the front pads are a 8mm and the rear at 3mm! Hm... Seemed fishy to me. I had all the pads replaced a year and half ago. The last set lasted 75K, so this is odd, as is the discrepancy between back and front. I had the dealer pull the service record. In May the rear were at 5mm. Two weeks ago they were at 3.5mm. Yesterday they were a 3mm. I asked, "What would cause that?" They said, "Well, probably whoever did your brake job didn't clean the brakes up well so they are getting stuck and wearing down." I took the car and drove 60 miles, mostly on the highway. Fronts wheels were cool. Rear wheels were warm to hot.
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I have an 02 Subaru Impreza Outback Sport with 130k miles. It makes a whining noise from the center to rear of the car that gets louder with Acceleration. The second you take your foot off the gas it gets quieter. The noise never completely disappears though. It also doesn't change if I am turning or driving straight.
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I have a 2006 Subaru Outback. When I start it, it makes a constant rather loud rumbling noise that seems to be coming from the rear of the car. I can feel a little vibration through the steering wheel, but when I put the car in neutral the noise/vibration goes away.
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I had a question regarding the rear sunshade. Currently my sun shade is stuck in the middle position and it is very annoying and also is reducing my visibility in my rear view mirror because the bar is in the middle of my view. I took it to my local dealer and they said just to put it in the lower position would cost $800-1000. Does this seem fair ? I didn't break it, and why should I have to pay for something that is a malfunctioning part. The worst part is my rear view mirror is also turning black in the inside of the mirror also reducing my visibility ?
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Recently I took my 2006 Subaru Outback wagon on a trip in the mountains. I parked my car in the driveway overnight and noticed oily fluid on all of the tiresand on the ground in the morning. The fluid spill was worse on the driver's side front and rear tires, but was noticeable on the passenger side as well. I did not notice an odor to it. I used the brakes alot on the way back down from the mountains..... I have taken this car places where I have used the brakes a whole lot but have not noticed this before. How bad is this? Is it possibly "normal?
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Two different Subaru dealership repair shops told me that i have loose rear wheel bearings on my 2003 Outback. My car does sound like a VERY loud airplane all the time now, but the noise is the only symptom i have noticed. My shop has told me that they will fix it for a discounted price, but they are not pushing me to get it fixed, and have told me that it shouldn't cause any actual problems besides the loud noise being very annoying. All internet research to the contrary, though. I have to drive about 1000 miles round trip next month -- is it just going to be a noisy trip, or is something horrible going to happen if i don't get the bearings taken care of?
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I have a 2002 Subaru Outback. The rear right brake light housing cracked, and filled up with water, shorting the bulbs. I thought I was clever in taking the light unit off, draining the water, changing the bulbs, and caulking the crack with silicon. This worked for a while, then the battery died. I couldn't really figure out why - it was a year old, and had no prior issues starting the car. I swapped out the battery for a brand new one, and that seemed to solve the issue for a week. Then the car refused to start all over again. I remembered the brake light, checked it - filled again. So I replaced the unit and the pig electric line, and charge the battery. This seemed to solve the problem, but then the car failed to start after about 3 weeks.
One additional detail is the dial light switch on the driving shaft. One is able to turn this to adjust light settings. Regardless of position, the lights turn off when I turn off the car. However, failure to start seems to be additionally related to the position of this switch; if it's switched all the way back towards the driver the car appears to start consistently for weeks on end, BUT the tail lights fail to turn on in this position (though the brake lights work). Alternatively, dialing the switch all the way away from the driver turns on the tail lights, but seems to be related to battery drain.
I've checked the health of the battery and the contacts - everything checks out. At this point I'm wondering if it's an electrical fault or the alternator.
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I've been noticing sometimes that when you try to roll up the right rear window, it won't work. It goes down fine, but sometimes, the button won't make it go up. I'm not sure if it's just the rear switch or both the rear and the driver's switch.
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