- Vehicles
- 71,683
- Built between
- Sep 1979 – Feb 1980
- Models
- 1
- Recall type
- Vehicle
- Initiated by
- Manufacturer
- Owners notified
- 15 September 1980
- Repaired
- Not reported
- Unrepaired
- Not reported
Does this affect my vehicle?
This recall covers vehicles built between September 1979 and February 1980. If yours was built outside that window, it is not part of this recall.
- 1980 Subaru SubaruBuilt September 1979 to February 1980
What the defect is
When wiper blades are frozen to the windshield and the wiper motor is turned on, the right-hand wiper pivot may become bent. The plastic bearing, which is a snap-on device fitting over the ball joint on the drive motor, may pull off the ball, disengaging the wiper system, making both wipers inoperative.
What gets fixed
DEALER WILL INSTALL A NEWLY DESIGNED MASTER LINK IN THE WINDSHIELD WIPER SYSTEM WITHOUT CHARGE TO OWNER.
Timeline
- Vehicles builtSeptember 1979 to February 1980
- Recall reported to NHTSA19 June 1980
- Owners notified15 September 1980
Your rights
A safety recall repair is free. Under US federal law the manufacturer must fix a safety defect at no cost to you — no charge for parts, labor or diagnosis — whether or not you are the original owner. A dealer cannot charge you for recall work, and cannot require you to have bought the vehicle from them.
That entitlement is not unlimited. It applies where the vehicle was first sold less than 15 years before the recall was announced — 5 years for tires. Past that a manufacturer may still do the repair free of charge, and many do, but they are no longer obliged to. This recall was reported on 19 June 1980.
To arrange the repair, contact any franchised dealer for the brand. If a dealer refuses the work or tries to charge for it, you can report that to NHTSA at nhtsa.gov/recalls or on 1-888-327-4236.
Official source
- Recalling manufacturer
- SUBARU OF AMERICA, INC.
- Recall initiated by
- MFR
Everything on this page — the models listed, the build dates and the repair figures — comes from the manufacturer's filing to NHTSA and describes the vehicle line as a whole, not any individual car. Only the manufacturer can confirm whether a specific vehicle is affected, and whether its recall work has already been carried out. Check yours by VIN and read the official notice at nhtsa.gov/recalls.
Additional notes
Vehicle description: passenger vehicles.system: visual; windshield wiper.consequences of defect: the lack of functioning wipers would impair visibilityin adverse weather conditions and an accident could result.
Check your own vehicle
This page describes the recall, not any one car. To see which recalls cover a specific vehicle, search by make, model and year.
A VIN lookup here identifies your vehicle and shows recalls issued for that make, model and year. It cannot tell you what is still open on your individual car - only the manufacturer knows that. Search by VIN instead, or check your VIN at nhtsa.gov for whether a recall is still open on your individual car.