Vehicle Shudder problems of the 2002 Subaru Outback

Clutch defects not acknowledged and not repaired by the dealer on a Subaru Outback 20002. Dealership: liberty, 1000 e park avenue, libertyville, IL 60048 problem started in 2003 and lasted to this date. In Aug 2008, dealer acknowledged present default but refused to concede that there was a problem from the start. When the car was serviced on many occasions started in 2003 (oil changes) we mentioned a problem with the clutch. The dealer blamed the "new hydraulic clutch" and gave us the run-around. Now in 2008, 3 years later, they "discovered" the clutch problem and wants to charge $1,300. 00 to fix it. We refused to have to pay for something that should have been done under warranty. Another garage told us that Subaru had issued an advisory about the exact same problem but the dealer never told us. The clutch is still not repaired. Both my wife and I have driven many manual gear shift cars with no problems, having driven our previous 1992 Subaru Outback to 140,000 before it needed a clutch repair. The clutch on the 2002 has been a problem almost right from the start. We have service report dated 06/17/05 invoice # sucs426989 saying: " ref#2 03suz : drive line - teck :553 - customer states at times vehicle shakes when letting out the clutch and taking off, more amplified after vehicle has been sitting. ---inspected vehicle, could not duplicate condition at this time- this was not the first time we reported the problem, but it is the first written acknowledgement from the dealer. There is a second written acknowledgement: dated 11/28/06, invoice sucs476828, ref j#2 08suz clutch ---tech 42898: customer states the car is chugging in first gear - see line 1 line 1 states j# 1 40suzdgrt diagnosis road test - customer states the engine light is on and car feels like it want to stall. Per scanner code, replace front O2 sensor and reflash ecm" as you see, they blamed the O2 sensor and refuse to acknowledge the clutch problem.

Car shudders and stalls continually when starting in 1st gear, more frequently when cold. Have stalled in middle of interection multiple times. This is a manual transmission. I have driven manuals for 20 years have had never had this problem with other vehilcles. This has been happening since I purchased car 6 months ago.

The manual transmission on this vehicle skips or shudders in 1st gear making it difficult to pull forward or into traffic at slow speeds without stalling the car. The only option is to rev the engine higher than normally to insure clutch engagement which then cause the clutch to burn. Sometimes even this doesn't work. It happens more often when the car is cold. Dealer said it could not be duplicated so it must be our driving, however I have been driving manuals for 20 years and this has never been a problem. This is a scary car to pull out into heavy or fast moving traffic.