general problems of the 2021 Subaru Ascent

On Friday, June 13, 2025, while (thankfully) in my driveway, the transmission broke on my 2021 Subaru Ascent in my driveway. I simply started my car, put it in reverse, and my car jerked and stopped. No prior warning. I was on a slight slope. I thank my lucky stars I did not have my kids out on the road when it happened. I had to have it towed to the closest Subaru dealership (a $395 charge). Upon inspection, my transmission (the cvt model) was no longer working. My car was bought in December 2021 and it has around 80,000 miles on it. In researching, I saw that the 2019 and 2020 models with the cvt had been recalled (or had their warranties extended to 100,000 miles coverage) for the exact thing that happened to my car. If I am correct, my car was manufactured in November of 2020 from what I was told. I find it so hard to imagine that a transmission should fail due to "no reason" at this point, my car is not even 5 years old! the fact that this has happened on cars right in the timeframe of when mine was made, it's hard to imagine I should have to pay almost $10,000 for a new transmission when the history of these transmissions failing have been quite newsworthy! it was not fixable, the only choice I was given was to buy a new transmission. In today's economy, I just find this unacceptable.

Every time I go out of park there is a massive clubking noise from under the car. It's actually a super common item with these cars I am seeing as well in other forums. I believe this could lead to sheared parking brakes in the future.

Transmission needed to replaced at around 50k miles. Sister in law has the same year and her transmission went about the same mileage.

Car has always refused to accelerate if gas pedal is pushed down too quickly. Just before 60k miles, on way home we had pulled over at a roadside stop on a hill. Tried to pull across highway to continue up road, car refused to accelerate and luckily were able to brake in time to keep from getting t-boned by big truck heading down the hill. No trouble lights came on, so weren't sure if this was operator failure from pushing gas down on hill or mechanical problem. Also were too close to 60k miles to get home and back to dealership without going over warranty and serious service issues with dealership previously, and leaving for vacation following day. Decided to see if there were further problems. Live at 8k elevation, vacation at half that. No further problems until after returning from vacation. Car definitely hesitating when cold to accelerate at 8k elevation. Checked owners manual, at this time believed appropriate 36k service at dealership had inspected cvt fluid as requested, and was a bit early for next inspection listed in book at 66k miles, but thought perhaps cvt fluid needed changed (did not expect transmission to be failing with such a new car, only a bit over warranty miles now). Because of previous with dealership, instead found ase certified shop for cvt fluid inspection. Fluid at shop inspection was dark and needed replaced. Shop exchanged with oem fluid, not Subaru brand. Cvt functioned much better for a time, then got worse and not just hesitating with cold but also jerking. Called service shop to insure they had used correct fluid and amount, they had. Brought in to confirm and fluid level was correct. They suspected cvt was failing. Called Subaru of America and made appointment at suggested dealership different from purchase dealership, confirmed transmission failure. Dealership rented car for safety because of suspected cvt failure. Subaru refused to replace cvt under warranty and wanted $7k+ to fix after $3k "discount: still no trouble lights.

The transmission of my 2021 Ascent regularly slips or shutters when trying to accelerate time to time(not always). Loud noises when shifting from low speed. Went to dealership but they said car working perfectly.

Car purchased in August 2021 new. In may 2022, the car had hesitation problems when traveling between 15-30 mph. The car was taken into the dealership with approximately 7,600 miles. Dealer had a Subaru field tech review data as they saw transmission slippage at basically all speeds. Suggested to reprogram the transmission. We were advised to drive it and let it "relearn" the reprogram. The transmission slipped but not as bad with reprogram until about 150-200 miles later. The slippage was even worse and immediately taken to the dealer. The dealer found metal particles in the transmission fluid and replaced the transmission. A loaner was provided for approximately 2 weeks and work was completed. Car has been better and we were told we just need to get used to the cvt on this car. On 9/10/2022 with approx 11,700 miles, we were driving around town and experienced slippage of transmission just as bad as the original faulty transmission. Car is parked and appointment will be made with dealer to check. Subaru was notified as we are also experiencing brake problems.

I have a 2021 Subaru Ascent premium with 6,000 miles. The transmission or cvt feels odd every time I shift from park to drive or reverse I feel a hard clunk additional to that every time I get in the highway and add some rpms to the SUV the cvt shifting feels hard more likely like I m driving a manual vehicle something that is not suppose to happen or feel that way. I took it to the dealer and they only found that the part that press tp brake to shift was not lubricated ( no clue the real name) and they also mention that is how the cvt works something that I don't think so and they also mention to wait for a recall.

Vehicle will jerk and shudder when accelerating and DE-accelerating. Mostly between 15mph and 30mph. I’ve taken the vehicle back to the dealership and they didn’t find the issue. This prompted me to do some research online and found in one of many. There is a class action lawsuit for 2018-2019 Ascents. The 2020-2021 and 2022 models will follow suit as they have identical issues. I’m concerned the transmission will fail and I’ll have a lemon on my hands. The sudden loss of power to sometimes sudden acceleration by suddenly downshifting is a concern. The vehicle will often hesitate while it tries to figure out which gear it needs. This has been happening since day 1 of ownership.

The transmission on the vehicle was exhibiting excessive noise when shifting from park to drive and was progressively becoming undrivable with odd shifting, hard shifting, rpm fluttering, and chugging. It made progressively louder audible sounds and squeaks during cold starts when shifting from park to drive. It was brought in for service and the original transmission was replaced due to metal shavings found in the case, a direct indication of failure, with no warning lamps or codes from the onboard computers. After approximately 500 miles, the replacement transmission is exhibiting the same progressively worse drivability issues and transmissions sounds. I returned to the same dealership for service and they said they did hear the issue but needed a field technician to diagnose the issue. I have contacted the servicing dealership and Subaru America's directly and after 6 weeks, they have continued to tell me they will try to get someone to look at it, but will not set a date or time. They have refused to provide any written documentation around the issue and will not issue a repair order stating the vehicle is operating normally even after directly requesting it from both the dealer and Subaru America. They have stated the documentation is internal only and cannot be shared with the consumer. The replacement transmission has 3,000 miles at this point and is exhibiting the same progressive failures. The vehicle feels unsafe because the transmission behavior is now unpredictable and erratic.

First transmission was replaced after months of trying to get the issue diagnosed. Symptoms included severe hesitation when trying to accelerate, shuttering, and feeling of jerking between gears even though it's a cvt. This escalated to shuttering while driving on the highway. Because the problem was intermittent, my car spent a great deal of time in the shop trying to get a diagnosis. After much back-and-forth with Subaru of America, the transmission was replaced at 48,000 miles. I asked for an extended warranty beyond the 60k warranty due to the fact that it took so long to get the first issue properly fixed. They said no. Less than 3,000 miles later and I'm having the same jerking/hesitation issues. The dealership technician says he cannot duplicate the problem, and soa still refuses to honor an extended warranty. My 60k warranty is almost up and I fear that I will end up paying for a new transmission or worse, end up in an accident due to the poor performance issues. Subaru will do nothing about this known issue.

When operating the 2021 Ascent, I experience intermittent problems at various shift-points in the cvt and at various rpms. The transmission seems to shudder and slip between shift-points, and the shuddering sensation is so severe that it transfers up through the steering column and the steering wheel shakes. I have brought the vehicle to my dealership (kocourek Subaru in wausau), and they have acknowledged that the shuddering is taking place and even documented it in the 18k service invoice. They ran it through the protocols for NHTSA TSB 10185089, and were not able to achieve fluctuation in the gear ratio. Since the TSB test, the dealership again took the vehicle and has had it for CA. Three-weeks, and have tested it, replicated the issues described above, downloaded data, sent data to Subaru of America, replaced some kind of sensor associated with the cvt, and sent additional data to Subaru of America, and are awaiting a response from soa as to the next steps.