FaultScore report
Owners have filed 10 complaints about the 1985 Subaru GL with NHTSA between 1995 and 1999. The largest single group is the suspension.
10
Complaints
0
Crashes reported
0
Fires reported
0
Injuries reported
Click any bar to open that year's report.
Every complaint is filed against a part. Follow any row for the complaints about that part alone.
A spike years after the car went on sale usually means a part wearing out on schedule across the whole fleet — the kind of pattern no single owner can see from inside their own car.
An investigation is the step before a recall: the agency has seen enough complaints to look into a pattern itself. An open one means it thinks something may be wrong and nothing has been fixed yet.
TRAILING ARM CORROSION
SEAT BELT RETRACTOR FAILS
SUMMARY OF INFORMATION FROM MANUFACTURER:SAFETY BELT RETRACTOR ISPECULIAR TO 1985 GL 4DOOR SEDAN AND STATIONWAGON.INSTALLED TO IMPROVESENSITIVITY AND LIMIT WEBBING MOVEMENT.REPLACED IN PRODUCTION BY NEW UNITTO PROVIDE 'COMMON USAGE WITH OTHER MANUFACTURERS'.PART SALES WERE NEARLYTWICE 1984 AND 1986 MODEL SALES (WHICH FIT OTHER VEHICLES).SOME 15 PARTNUMBERS WERE ISSUED FOR THIS SINGLE YEAR COMPONENT.ANALYSIS:THE 1985 MODEL APPEARS TO HAVE A SENSITIVITY PROBLEM.OF THE 8KNOWN ODI REPORTS ON ALL 1984-1986 SUBARU MODELS, 6 ARE THE 1985 GL STATIONWAGONS, 1 IS A 1984 MODEL GL STATION WAGON, AND THE O...
SEAT BELT RETRACTORS
SUMMARY OF MANUFACTURER INFORMATION:SUBARU CLAIMS IT HAS NO IDENTIFIABLEPROBLEMWITH THE SEAT BELT RETRACTORS.HOWEVER, THE 1985 RETRACTOR ISUSED ONLY ON THE 1985 MODEL 4 DOOR AND STATION WAGON.PART SALES FOR THERETRACTOR ARE NEARLY DOUBLE 1984 AND 1986 MODEL RETRACTOR SALES.SIMILARLY15 PART NUMBERS WERE ISSUED FOR THE 1985 RETRACTOR.THE PRIMARY REASONFOR SUBARU TO USE THE 1985 MODEL RETRACTOR OVER THE 1984 MODEL WAS TOIMPROVE SENSITIVITY.THE 1985 RETRACTOR ONLY FITS 1985 MODELS, WHILE BOTHTHE 1984 AND 1986 MODELS FIT NUMEROUS OTHER MODEL YEARS.THE GL STATIONWAGON AND 4 DOOR RETRACTOR IS USED ON...
A complaint is one owner's allegation. A recall is the point at which the manufacturer or a regulator agreed the defect is real and dangerous enough to fix for free — however old the car is.
Canada runs its own recall programme, and its campaigns do not always mirror the American ones.
Suspension
Note: vehicles located in Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland. Continuous exposure to road salt and chemicals may cause corrosion of the rear suspension inner arms which could affect the operation and control of the vehicle. Correction: Inner arms of the rear suspension will be inspected and rust proofed or replaced.
Recalls cover specific build ranges, so check your own vehicle by VIN at nhtsa.gov/recalls or, in Canada, Transport Canada.
In the owners' own words, exactly as filed with NHTSA.
SUSPENSION:FRONT
WHILE DRIVING AT 25MPH OR MORE VEHICLE WOULD PULL TO THE RIGHT. ALSO, CV BOOTS HAVE BEEN REPLACED TWICE DEALER STILL CAN'T FIND A SOLUTION.
NHTSA complaint #849075 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
POWER TRAIN:DRIVELINE:CONSTANT VELOCITY JOINT
WHILE DRIVING AT 25MPH OR MORE VEHICLE WOULD PULL TO THE RIGHT. ALSO, CV BOOTS HAVE BEEN REPLACED TWICE DEALER STILL CAN'T FIND A SOLUTION.
NHTSA complaint #849075 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
SUSPENSION:REAR
RIGHT REAR WHEEL ROTATED TO THE NEAR HORIZONTAL POSITION, MAKING THE VEHICLE INOPERATBLE.
NHTSA complaint #528875 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
SERVICE BRAKES, HYDRAULIC:FOUNDATION COMPONENTS:DISC
DRIVING ON FREEWAY AT 65 MPH, VEHICLE STOPPED SUDDENLY IN THE FAST LANE, TIMING BELT BROKE. *AK ALSO FRONT PADS AND ROTORS WERE REPLACED.
NHTSA complaint #805251 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING:ENGINE
DRIVING ON FREEWAY AT 65 MPH, VEHICLE STOPPED SUDDENLY IN THE FAST LANE, TIMING BELT BROKE. *AK ALSO FRONT PADS AND ROTORS WERE REPLACED.
NHTSA complaint #805251 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
WHEELS
THE LOWER CONTROL ARM SNAPPED AT THE WELD WHILE THE CAR WAS MOVING AND THE WHOLE LEFT WHEEL CAME OFF. PLEASE DESCRIBE. TT
NHTSA complaint #977913 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
SUSPENSION:FRONT:CONTROL ARM:LOWER ARM
THE LOWER CONTROL ARM SNAPPED AT THE WELD WHILE THE CAR WAS MOVING AND THE WHOLE LEFT WHEEL CAME OFF. PLEASE DESCRIBE. TT
NHTSA complaint #977913 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
SEAT BELTS:FRONT:BUCKLE ASSEMBLY
PASSENGER'S SIDE SEAT BELT BUCKLE FAILURE, UNABLE TO LATCH SEAT BELT. TT
NHTSA complaint #969132 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
W/MANUAL TRANSMISSION, VEHICLE EXPERIENCES UNWANTED ACCELERATION. PLEASE DESCRIBE DETAILS. TT
NHTSA complaint #965225 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
STRUCTURE:FRAME AND MEMBERS
CORROSION THROUGH OUT THE FRAME. TT
NHTSA complaint #964043 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.