I'm just having a complete head job on my brand new 2010 Forester with 11,000 miles. It seems that the Subaru designers added a heat shield between the radiator and the exhaust and mounted the shield to the radiator. The shield sticks below the frame and is exposed to foreign objects. If something hits the shield and it's deflected enough, it cracks the radiator at the mounting point. You quickly loose all your water, overheat the engine and in the shop you go. Don't know what I hit. I don't recall anything obvious. After talking to the mechanic, he said that he has had two other Foresters in for the same thing, one being caused by just a snow bank that the person pulled into at a ski area. When I get the car back, I'll take some pictures and post them. You have to be under the car to see what I'm talking about. It's not really visible from above.
I would be most interested in hearing of others who have had this happen to them. I don't know if its possible to get Subaru to fix this via a recall or not. Personally, I'm going to mount a skid plate that covers the shield and keeps anything from hitting it. I'd rather just re-mount the shield but afraid I might void my warranty. Speaking of warranty, this was not covered. I had to use my auto insurance.
Edit 3/8: This only applies to 09/10 automatic transmission models in North America.
Edit 3/12: Now it looks like it applies to the 08 models too. Read on ...
I would be most interested in hearing of others who have had this happen to them. I don't know if its possible to get Subaru to fix this via a recall or not. Personally, I'm going to mount a skid plate that covers the shield and keeps anything from hitting it. I'd rather just re-mount the shield but afraid I might void my warranty. Speaking of warranty, this was not covered. I had to use my auto insurance.
Edit 3/8: This only applies to 09/10 automatic transmission models in North America.
Edit 3/12: Now it looks like it applies to the 08 models too. Read on ...