Well, I’ve got my third appointment this coming Saturday for this issue. Frankly, it’s driving me bananas. I would prefer to leave it for a full day but don’t have that luxury right now. Plan is to get there early in the morning and camp out in the waiting room for about 3 hours which should be sufficient time to reproduce some sound from under there, which is more than I’ve been able to produce with a tech in the vehicle.
Will reply back with the results soon.
Thanks again to everyone.
While you’re at the dealer, drive one of their new Imprezas and see if it makes the same noise.
Clarify something first. You refer to “shifting out of reverse and into drive, all while going under 10 MPH”.
Now, does this mean that you are shifting the transmission into DRIVE before it stops rolling backwards or what?
Just wonderin’.
Fantastic idea. I was considering that earlier today while I was walking around stewing about my predicament. 
This I shall do!
Reverse > complete stop > Drive > forward a short distance under 10MPH > NOISE
Had a friend in the vehicle last night. She heard it and commented on how annoyed she would be too.
What’s also puzzling is that the sound can vary in intensity / volume. Sometimes it’s more of a quiet thump/clang, other times it’s significantly louder and sounds like the “basketball bouncing off the car” as described by another forum member above.
The only thing that’s a certainty right now is that it does NOT occur after the car has been running for a while, such as my 40 minute highway drive to the dealership.
It’s me again.
Back from the dealership. The tech FINALLY heard it while we were in the car together. Clank / Thump. Leaving it over night did the trick. In short, he was baffled at what the sound could be and confirms it’s abnormal and should not be making such a noise. It’s nice having the tech on your side! He states he does not believe that it’s related to the ABS or ABS self-test whatsoever. I explicitly brought that theory up.
He did put it back up on the lift and, for starters, sanded the rotor(s) a bit, tweaked the brake pad(s), and mentioned that he saw some sort of black buildup on the e-brake or e-brake line which I’m guessing must have been from the factory. He cleaned that up too. I should know within 24 hours if this was the fix or not. Hate to sound pessimistic, but I’m not confident that I’m out of the woods yet…
Am I understanding correctly that you’re shifting out of reverse and into drive while you’re still rolling backwards? This is not a good practice. Even at slow speeds, you’re using the drivetrain to suddenly reverse the inertia of a 2000 pound vehicle.
I know not the cause of your thump, but recommend that you get in the habit of stopping the car before shifting into D.
“Am I understanding correctly that you’re shifting out of reverse and into drive while you’re still rolling backwards?”
No, you’re not. This statement is utterly false.
Do not be offended by someone asking whether or not you’re shifting from reverse into drive while still rolling backwards.
That’s not a rare problem and was asked for the same reason I asked earlier; it’s the way you phrased it in your original post.
Since that’s not an issue my feeling is that the problem could be in the park brake shoe assembly; not the brake rotors and pads.
I’m not offended. Just being clear. I know that no one here is out to offend anyone, just to be helpful.
Thanks for your input on the shoe assembly. I’ll mention it to the tech this week when I head back to the dealership. It turns out that nothing has changed, the sound is as present as ever.
They’ll give me a loaner car this time around. I’m going to insist that they keep it for a while, not just one or two days. I’ve found little enjoyment with my new purchase because of this issue and just want it fixed. I realize my situation is likely an isolated one but I don’t have much positive to say about Subaru right now and somewhat regret my decision.
For anyone interested in this ongoing saga- After 3 repair attempts, 18 business days in the shop, endless frustration, and a Service Manager with the listening skills of a 3 year old, I filed Lemon Law papers yesterday. This could be the beginning of the real fight. Time will tell.
No one, including Subaru of America or the dealer, has any idea what is causing this sound and the dealership has made only half-hearted attempts to truly try and reproduce it so as to troubleshoot the issue.
hello I am from Chile and i found this page with this interesting forum, well I have right now the same noise in mi Impreza 2010 is a sedan 1.5, I already check the car in the autorized dealer may be 10 times, and the mechanics listen the noise and they disarmed all the mechanical pieces and not found something but the noise still remaining under the car untill now I dont have any answer from this guys, i think is the transnision sistem but they want to recognize this, so do you have any news about this?
I wish I had a final answer for you, sir. My story ended a few months ago with Subaru of America purchasing the car back from me. They were unable to fix it and could never determine what the cause was in the end. Thankfully, they were cooperative when all was said and done. However I spent months trying to work with the mechanics and managers and it sounds like you have too. They never could tell me what the cause of the sound was, and it was reproducable only under certain conditions. It was extremely frustrating. But I still maintain that something was faulty and it should NOT have been making the sound it did. I beleive it was a mechanical design flaw of some sort. I am also confident other Subaru’s are making the same sound as the Service Manager at the dealership acknowledged that he heard the same sound in a new 2011 model that arrived while mine was being serviced.
Hello again, do you have any email of Subaru America and finally how do you get the atention of this guys?
thanks a lot.
If you’re from Chile I assume that the laws and regulations are different from not only the United States, but also from the state that I live in here in the U.S.
How did I get their attention? I threatended legal action with a well-prepared and well-documented written letter with something called the Lemon Law after the Dealership was incapable of figuring out the problem. That process alone took something like 6 weeks if I remember correctly, let alone the months I spent before that troubleshooting with the Dealership. My best advice to you is to thoroughly investigate whatever legal recourse you may have in Chile if you feel it’s gone that far.
I’m not sure if this would help you, but here is Subaru of America’s address:
Subaru of America
Subaru Plaza
P.O.Box 6000
Cherry Hill, NJ 08034-6000
Tel. 1-800-782-2783
I’m sure you’re aware of this, but here is the Subaru web site for Chile: