The first Legacy that I had suffered badly from problems with the clutch. As is the usual, it's the way you drive Sir. The clutch gave way at 17 000 miles and the pressure plate and friction disc were replaced. The pressure plate was found to be cracked and had shaved the friction disc almost away. How the disc came to be cracked I don't know. I had to buy special shoes because the pedal pressure was too much for every pair that I had.

That sweet smell is from the friction disc overheating. Get it in for adjustment.

Its not you.

Mine has just failed at 13280 miles. I told Subaru last year about the problem and they claimed there was nothing wrong. I even had the AA with me at the time and the AA man questioned this statement.

The clutch failed on Tuesday night leaving me without a car and 200 miles away from home. Subaru assistance has provided me a hire car and the garage are fixing the issue at the moment.

I will update the message when they tell me whats wrong and what can be done.

Personally I have never had a clutch failure in 20 + years of driving and hundreds of thousands of driven miles. I used to drive 30,000 miles a year for work around the UK so this was a first for me. I would also ask everyone to think about how many times they here of a clutch failure with cars? This is a failure small issue with modern cars.

I love the car and I hope subaru are sensible about this obvious weakness.

I bought a Legacy Estat last January. At 1700 miles without any warning, the clutch disintegrated leaving my wife stranded on the motorway.

It was replaced and after another 2000 miles (4 weeks) the clutch gave way again without any warning.The first time it happened, Subaru said it was due ti "excessive towing" but I pointed out that all I tow was a wheelie bin 50 yards to the end of my lane. The second time they sais it was "excessive driving"! Their engineer monitored it and said it had not been driven excessively and that he could not conclude that it could not have been caused by my style of driving. An executive in Subaru (Ireland) sent me an email saying I was not used to driving a common rail diesel - he ignored the fact that my previous car which I drove for 11 years was a top of the range Citroen common rail diesel Zantia. An independent enginerr observed me driving and said that I did not drive with my foot on the clutch nor slip it. Subaru (UK) refused to replace it under warranty saying that it was "normal wear and tear (after only 2000 miles!) so the dealer did saying this was that last time. I drove it home from him (25 miles) and there was a strong smell of burning. The dealer (Eastwoods of Lisburn) had it for the weekend and said that the smell was caused by the burning off of carbon deposits from the last 2 clutches - my many motor engineering friends split their sides laughing at this excuse!

For a long while after, there was a smell of burning. At around 9000 miles, again the clutch gave way without any warning again stranding my wife, this time in the dark on a very remote road in depths of Donegal in the West of Ireland.

Eastwood contacted Subaru (UK) and they said I had to give my permission for him to dismantle the car and if there was no fault found, it would be a case of normal wear and tear and they would not replace it under warranty leaving me with a bill of some £1500.

All the motor engineers I have spoken with say the same thing - DualMass flywheel! I consider that having failed 3 times in a year, it is not fit for purpose under The Sale of Goods Act - as some-one said "you were unlucky to buy a Friday afternoon car"!

I have had 20 previous cars, some being powerful sports car and I have never had any failing in such a manner. My previous Zantia (2 litre common rail diesel) had a new clutch but this was after 100,000 miles and it gave plenty of warning before giving out. I do very little town driving, living in the country as I do.

I have recently bought a 2010 legacy 2.0 Diesel 50K miles with all the bells a whistles. The bells and whistles (so far) work but the clutch is a joke. In the morning it judders like hell whatever you do with the revs. Its better when it warms up but there is still a lack of definitive bite that I have always had on previous cars (been driving since 1983). The other problems with the car are with the road noise which is horendous. Probably a combination of low Profiles and something not quite right with the shocks as they clonk like hell....sounds like there is something loose. Just to finish off I recently got into the car and when I sat back there was a cracking sound. It appears that the plastic frame behind the padding has either broken or dislodged. Whatever has happended the electic lumber support does not push out the support anymore and the seat has no support at all, feels like the old seat I had in my 1972 Austin Allegro.My last car was a Honda accord diesel. Had it six years, put 210,000 on the clock same clutch in fact same everything apart from some pads and tires, very refined at speed, quiet economical reliable and comfortable. Sadly the Subaru is failing on most of these so far.

My second Subaru Legacy 2.0d clutch has started juddering on take off after just 13,000 miles of use. You can see a video of the judder here: youtu.be/BVCJplSxH2E