Three problems related to transmission not engage have been reported for the 2000 Subaru Outback. The most recently reported issues are listed below.
Stopped for a red light. When the light turned green car would not go forward because the automatic transmission would not engage forward gears. Evidently this is a common problem with a known defect and expensive repair.
Vehicle will not engage into drive from park, or vehicle will disengage from drive without warning, putting the car into neutral. Although no accident has occurred vehicle has failed to engage into drive in several high traffic situations. The vehicle only has 67,000 miles.
The automatic transmission has delayed engagement when changing from park to drive. The transmission will not engage for up to 10 seconds then it will engage abruptly causing the vehicle to lunge forward uncontrollably in an unsafe manner. Subaru has deemed the problem a transmission failure requiring a new transmission. Problem has occurred at 74,000 miles despite regular maintenance. This situation has been described in complaint# 10074032, 10090065, 10106683, and 10122566. Subaru of America denies that there is a pattern of complaints/problems.