The Subaru Solterra electric SUV has been recalled for a second time over concerns the wheels may fall off. This time the recall affects 1,182 units that may have been improperly repaired from the first recall.
Last year over 2,600 Solterra’s, along with over 2,700 units of the jointly developed Toyota bZ4X, were recalled due to hub bolts that can loosen and potentially cause the wheels of the electric SUVs to fall off. The problem was so bad Toyota and Subaru were warning owners not to drive the EVs even offered to buy them back from customers.
It surprisingly took nearly four months for engineers to come up with a fix and replace the hub bolts, but even that apparently wasn’t enough. On Friday 1,182 Subaru Solterras were recalled once again because the replacement hub bolts may have been “significantly under-torqued.”
Subaru identified an issue with vehicles repaired at two port locations by one particular team of contractors. The teams did not properly complete the repair procedure resulting in the potential for significantly under-torqued bolts. Out of an abundance of caution, Subaru is recalling all vehicles repaired at all port locations supported by the third-party contractor.
Subaru is again warning owners not to drive the EV and that it will need to be towed to be re-inspected. To find out if your Solterra is affected, please go to subaru.com/recalls. Subaru says owners can also visit NHTSA.gov/recalls and enter their 17-digit vehicle identification number for more information on this recall, although when we checked the site there was no new recall posted.
