US: Subaru Solterra Recalled Again For Wheels That Could Fall Off

The company says "Please do not drive the [affected] vehicles."

2023 Subaru Solterra

Mark Kane

By: Mark Kane

Feb 12, 2023 at 5:45pm ET

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The Subaru Solterra model is really unlucky as it's affected by anther recall, which is related to the original wheel hub bolts issue.

The Japanese company announced that select 2023 Subaru Solterra vehicles (1,182 of them) in the United States are being recalled.

According to the press release, the vehicles were the subject of an earlier recall requiring the replacement of original hub bolts. Unfortunately, Subaru identified an issue with vehicles repaired at two port locations by one particular team of contractors. The work was not done properly and the affected vehicles will be recalled again - just to make sure that the wheels do not fall off.

"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."

The good news is that other Subaru Solterras in the US (without the original hub bolt concern and vehicles repaired at other facilities) are not affected.

The bad news is that those vehicles, which are affected, should not be driven:

"For all potentially affected vehicles, Subaru retailers will inspect the hub bolts and, if necessary, retorque to the specification at no cost to the customer. Until the inspection/remedy is completed, please do not drive the vehicle. Customers will be instructed not to drive their vehicle and to contact their retailer to have the vehicle towed for inspection. Towing will be offered at no cost to the customer."

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Let's recall that the issue with wheel hub bolts ruined the launch of the Toyota bZ4X and Subaru Solterra (the two electric siblings from Japan), and it took quite some time until production resumed in October 2022.

Hopefully, the problem will finally be solved with this last recall. According to sales data, Subaru sold a total of 1,418 Solterra in the US by the end of January (919 in 2022 and 499 in January). Meanwhile, Toyota sold some 1,220 bZ4X in 2022 (no data for January 2023).