It looks like Subaru made an oopsie with a batch of Ascents. Out of 293 of the new SUVs manufactured last month, the automaker didn't make the correct spot welds on the B-pillar during manufacturing. The company has issued a notice to all its dealers to stop sales immediately until a factory representative has inspected them. A handful of people who have bought the car from this batch will get a brand new Ascent in exchange. But what’s the remedy for the faulty cars? Simple - Destroy them!
The Details
Subaru manufactured the affected vehicles from July 13 to July 21, 2018. Improper software programming for the welding robots caused them to miss the spot welds. The problem came to light on July 21, when a routine sampling inspection at Subaru’s Indiana factory revealed vehicles with missing spot welds around the B-pillar. The company concluded its investigation into the issue on July 26 and ordered this recall shortly thereafter.
What They Said?
According to a document submitted to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Subaru said, "All potentially affected vehicles will be inspected by an SIA factory representative, and if the vehicle is missing any spot welds, the vehicle will be replaced with a new one. There is no physical remedy available; therefore, any vehicles found with missing welds will be destroyed," A company spokesperson told Consumer Reports that it had only sold nine Ascents with this problem. The rest were still at dealers when the automaker discovered the issue.
About The Car
The Ascent uses Subaru's new 2.4-liter, four-cylinder engine that produces 260 horses and 277 pound-feet of torque. It is mated to a CVT that sends power to all of the wheels. Top-trim models get features like LED headlights, powered tailgate, and a panoramic moonroof, to name a few. The multimedia package comes with an 8-inch touchscreen infotainment system and two iPads. The car starts at $32,000 and is one of Subaru’s top-selling products. Subaru has delivered 6,486 examples of the Ascent in 2018, including 4,589 of them in July.
With that said, these are the things the Japanese manufacturer should be careful of. Since there’s no solution to fix such a problem, destroying the cars is going to cost them dearly; or is Subaru doing so well to afford such mistakes? Let us know your thoughts on this incident in the comments section below.
Further reading
Read our full review on the 2019 Subaru Ascent.
Read our full review on the 2017 Subaru Ascent Concept.
Read more Subaru news.