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Subaru Blames Lafayette Plant Worker Over Outback, Impreza Recall

Subaru is no stranger to recalls over huge problems. Not that long ago, the Japanese automaker had to replace 293 examples of the Ascent mid-size SUV over missing spot welds that compromised the vehicle’s rigidity in a crash. At that time, the company didn’t put the blame explicitly on the people who programmed the welding robots at the Lafayette plant.
Subaru Outback 40 photos
Photo: Subaru
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Fast forward to the present day, and “a single associate assigned to a specific production line” is responsible for the recall of 383 vehicles. More to the point, the worker in question used a different torque rating for 314 units of the Outback and 69 Imprezas produced from December 14th to 18th.

Subaru of America identified the problem during a routine assembly line sampling on December 21st when lower-than-specified CVT select lever cable nut torque was discovered on a single vehicle. No fewer than 91 vehicles were contained over this issue, and on the next day, the automaker expanded the containment window to every vehicle built by the said associate.

No accidents or injuries related to this condition have been reported thus far, but nevertheless, blaming a worker is petty beyond belief. That's pretty rich coming from a company that has cheated CO2 emission tests with no consequences other than a resignation and a fine, don't you think?

Everyone can make a mistake, and it’s only natural to blunder. It’s within our nature to err because learning from one’s mistakes is the best way to get better. On that note, Subaru may want to stop pointing fingers and start locking the desired torque into its torque wrenches to eliminate any issue.

Owners of affected vehicles are scheduled to be notified on February 19th, and dealers will apply the proper torque at no cost to the customer. If you’re not sure about your Outback or Impreza, just run the VIN on the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s website to find out what’s what.
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 Download: Subaru Outback, Impreza recall (PDF)

About the author: Mircea Panait
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After a 1:43 scale model of a Ferrari 250 GTO sparked Mircea's interest for cars when he was a kid, an early internship at Top Gear sealed his career path. He's most interested in muscle cars and American trucks, but he takes a passing interest in quirky kei cars as well.
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