2019 Subaru Ascent
05-21-18, 08:05 PM
#46
Reviews are coming out. Most seem to be pretty positive. Standard EyeSight on all trims. Well rounded product, good space and general praise for the dynamics. Missing a few features - No 360/surround view camera, no child seat friendly tip and slide 2nd row function, no front parking sensors, and.. for mmarshall - no hood struts!
05-24-18, 06:24 PM
#48
Lexus Fanatic
iTrader: (20)
it just seems nothing special. a big, slow, homely, heavy 3 row ute.
but people in oregon and maine will buy it in droves.
edit: i just saw that alex on autos reviewed it in oregon
but people in oregon and maine will buy it in droves.
edit: i just saw that alex on autos reviewed it in oregon
Last edited by bitkahuna; 05-24-18 at 06:28 PM.
08-16-18, 07:25 AM
#49
Lexus Champion
Subaru Ascent Owners Will Get New Cars in Recall
If you just bought a 2019 Subaru Ascent, the brand’s new three-row SUV, the company may replace it with another brand-new car because of an unusual recall for a flaw that dealers can’t repair.
Subaru is recalling 293 vehicles in the United States because they’re missing spot welds in the B-pillar (that’s the vertical structural element behind the front door, where it latches). The welds are critical to maintaining the body frame’s rigidity in a crash. Since local dealers aren’t equipped with or trained to use welding robots, all of the affected cars must be returned to Subaru and crushed. Subaru said it found missing welds on certain 2019 Ascent models in a “routine sampling inspection” at its Lafayette, Indiana, assembly plant on July 21, according to filings with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). The welding robots were initially programmed incorrectly. Subaru says the robots were reprogrammed the following day. However, Subaru is recalling specific cars completed between July 16 and July 25.
Subaru said it started contacting owners on July 26 and will mail an official notice by the end of August. The automaker wants owners to bring their cars to the dealer for a 10-minute visual inspection, and if factory inspectors find that the welds are missing, it will arrange to replace the car and cover “any taxes, registration, or other fees” that result. An unspecified number of potentially affected cars may remain in dealer inventory and are now deemed “unsalable” until inspectors sign off, according to the notice. Subaru did not say if owners could change any options or equipment on these replacements, only referring to them as “comparable vehicles.”
https://www.caranddriver.com/news/20...-suvs-recalled
Subaru is recalling 293 vehicles in the United States because they’re missing spot welds in the B-pillar (that’s the vertical structural element behind the front door, where it latches). The welds are critical to maintaining the body frame’s rigidity in a crash. Since local dealers aren’t equipped with or trained to use welding robots, all of the affected cars must be returned to Subaru and crushed. Subaru said it found missing welds on certain 2019 Ascent models in a “routine sampling inspection” at its Lafayette, Indiana, assembly plant on July 21, according to filings with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). The welding robots were initially programmed incorrectly. Subaru says the robots were reprogrammed the following day. However, Subaru is recalling specific cars completed between July 16 and July 25.
Subaru said it started contacting owners on July 26 and will mail an official notice by the end of August. The automaker wants owners to bring their cars to the dealer for a 10-minute visual inspection, and if factory inspectors find that the welds are missing, it will arrange to replace the car and cover “any taxes, registration, or other fees” that result. An unspecified number of potentially affected cars may remain in dealer inventory and are now deemed “unsalable” until inspectors sign off, according to the notice. Subaru did not say if owners could change any options or equipment on these replacements, only referring to them as “comparable vehicles.”
08-16-18, 10:44 AM
#50
Lexus Fanatic
iTrader: (20)
yikes... that's an expensive recall!!!
08-16-18, 12:22 PM
#52
Super Moderator
The customer impact is quite minimal though. I didn't see it in the story posted, but in the one I read yesterday, it said only nine of the affected cars had actually been delivered to customers:
https://www.cnet.com/roadshow/news/s...missing-welds/
The other 284 were either in transit to dealers or sitting on dealer lots and have been deemed unsaleable. I give Subaru high marks for handling this swiftly and decisively. Everybody screws up, it's how you respond that really counts.
https://www.cnet.com/roadshow/news/s...missing-welds/
The other 284 were either in transit to dealers or sitting on dealer lots and have been deemed unsaleable. I give Subaru high marks for handling this swiftly and decisively. Everybody screws up, it's how you respond that really counts.
08-16-18, 12:40 PM
#53
^^ in that case $360,000 if we go by $40,000 average Ascent in terms cars affected more or less. Basically the improperly programmed robots cost them a Lamborghini . More when you add the 284 wasted vehicles. Hope they can save wheels, shiftknobs etc..
. More when you add the 284 wasted vehicles. Hope they can save wheels, shiftknobs etc..
08-16-18, 12:42 PM
#54
Lexus Champion
This problem, even if it could be corrected in already-built vehicles, would be difficult and extremely time-consuming (would involve stripping the vehicle down to the bare metal to re-weld) so it would be much easier to replace affected vehicles that have already been sold.
08-16-18, 03:36 PM
#55
Lexus Fanatic
How does a critical weld get omitted, and how do they know it didn't happen? Did someone watch video? Or did the robot tell them the weld didn't take place.
08-16-18, 06:53 PM
#56
Lexus Champion
Taking an educated guess, I am thinking that Subaru may have kept back one (or more) models from this batch to perform more intensive quality control inspections and tests on them. One of those inspections may be X-ray imaging of the body shell; that could have caught inadequate welds. With the careful records that manufacturers must keep, Subaru would have known how many cars were in the affected batch, where they were delivered and how many were sold.
08-17-18, 03:12 AM
#57
Super Moderator
If you read the article, it says the defect was found on a random quality check. As Sulu mentioned, one of these tests was likely an X-Ray or similar imaging of the body to check for structural integrity. Once they found it on one, they probably did root cause analysis, found the missing part of the robot's programming, and then went through production records to see which VINs went through that robot's line while it had the faulty programming.
08-17-18, 03:50 AM
#58
Lexus Champion
Is it? Can they fix the other 284 cars? If not, they still have to write off the cost of all 293 vehicles. Maybe they can salvage some parts off of them?
