Subaru Automobiles

[MossRoad]

I'm not brand loyal by any means. Just got comfortable working on all of my Chevys over the years. The controls are familiar, and it feels like a good pair of jeans. If I found something more practical for us than Suburbans, I'd buy it.

The cars, as I've mentioned before, must meet the following wife requirements:

Has to be respectable enough to drive to funerals or weddings.

That's easy enough. No big dents, scratches or rust. About any car will do. But it just helps if it's shiny and comfortable, too.

 

[MossRoad]

I have a 2009 Nissan Maxama with a cvt and I've had NO problems with the trans.

There were some lawsuits on Nissan CVTs in the past. Didn't follow them.

 

[Racenut]

I bought a Subaru WRX in December 2002, drove it hard for 12 years. 4 autocross seasons and many a flogged mountain road. Was mildly modified +60-70HP. No engine issues.
Now I have a 2013 Scion FRS, which is a Subaru drivetrain. I bought it with a blown motor, but that was due to a badly done recall service. Toyota techs seemed to have trouble working on Subaru motors. We put another motor in it. Many track days and daily commute. No problems.
Both have/had added oil coolers on them.

Otherwise, most fun I've had on 4 wheels

 

[Bocephous]

Before I bought the '99 Outback I read a lot in the then-Yahoo Subaru group.

re head gaskets: Someone who adapted Subaru engines for light aircraft (where they have to be reliable), had advice that has worked for me: He said every head gasket case he knew of was caused by heavy throttle, causing localized uneven heating, before the engine was fully warm with everything at uniform temperature. Works for me. At 140k miles on the '99 the head gaskets are original, and that year was notorious for the head gasket problem appearing when Subaru went from 2.2L to 2.5L OHC a year or two previous.

Why this works for me is both home and ranch have a few miles of quiet residential or country-lane pavement before reaching an on-ramp or anything that needs heavy throttle.

Incidentally one thing from that Yahoo group that I've confirmed: Under 3k rpm the Outback is calm, unobtrusive, genteel. Use the shifter to keep RPM in the 4k~6k range and its a whole nother beast.

Wheel bearings? All original.

Brakes? At 10 k miles I want to the nearest Subaru/Ford dealer for the first tire rotation and a general checkup by a 'Subaru Professional'. Got robbed. The idiot there torqued the lug bolts so hard that he warped the rotors. At 20 k miles we couldn't stand the heavy vibration when braking so I had my usual neighborhood shop replace the rotors and I think, pads. Then the 'first' brake job at 135 k miles.

Me too. Just a suspicion. But I can't see how slipping a belt against a pulley can be as troublefree as the torque converter in my 4EAT A/T. I bought the Subaru to replace a 4 cyl 5 speed Trooper that was killed by the neighbor's tree falling on it. And chose the A/T version Outback specifically for being able to nudge one tire at a time over significant obstacles without a low range. Doing this with a CVT just doesn't sound right. But I've read that after that first year when they upgraded an inadequate bearing, the CVT is fine.

I live where they preemptively salt/brine the roads at the mere suspicion of an an inch of snow. Our Toyota vehicles ('13 RAV4-190,000 miles and '05 Tundra-118,000 miles) have no issues with it, but for some reason that Outback really didn't do well with it. I've gotten into the habit now of pressure washing the vehicles whenever a weekend day presents as 40F or higher in the winter.

We bought it used with about 40,000 miles on it if I remember correctly, and I didn't "inherit" it from my wife til it had about 110,000 on it. So, until then, warm-ups were probably not something that poor car enjoyed too often.

 

[MossRoad]

We put about 300 miles of mixed driving on the 2020 Outback today. Residential streets to freeway and everything in between.

Overall, very satisfied with the way things work, fit, finish, etc.

Plugged my phone into the USB and the HUGE touchscreen was great with google maps from the phone.

Got to use all of the driving features.

The lane departure warning works well. Has an audible beep. Shows lane lines changing to orange on the display as you look through the steering wheel. And some orange LEDs display on the windshield.

One thing we noticed was when you go through an intersection for side streets that have to stop, and you don't, at highway speeds, there's a break in the lane lines on the sides of the road, because, well, a road is crossing. Sometimes it beeps a warning. Kinda interesting.

Another thing we noticed is that DRY SALT LINES on the road confuses teh lane keep assist. We've had bouts of snow and ice the past few weeks, so the roads were heavily salted. Today was dry and sunny. So in many places, the tires had thrown the salt to the sides and centers of the lanes. They looked just like faint white stripes. Now along comes a truck and takes a while to change lanes, so they clear a couple hundred long diagonal across the salt line while changing lanes.

The car does not like that and tries to keep in what it thinks are the lines.

I turned it off and just used the lane departure feature.

Once the salt lines went away, I switched it back on and it works very well.

Adaptive cruse control I had set on MAX, which is really far out in front of you. About 5 seconds behind the car you're following. I bumped it down to the middle of the five settings and that put me just a speck over the 2 seconds that I like to follow at. Works great. I find myself passing less people as it follows them at a safe distance and doesn't vary much at all.

We got around 32-33mpg on the highways.

It was a windy day and the car held the road nicely.

 

[3Ts]

I have a Subaru Ascent. I bought it mostly because it had the most headroom of all the cars we looked at. (I don't bend very well.) I also don't like Onstar! We had a GMC truck with it and had a problem while under warranty where it wouldn't start (during an evacuation for a hurricane). We were in a parking lot alongside a state highway, called Onstar to get help and they wanted me to walk several miles down to the next cross road to determine where I was and give them the intersection road names. They were unable to help me. I ended up getting a tow truck and had it towed to the nearest dealership where they replaced the in-tank fuel pump and kept the full tank of fuel.

Back to the Subaru: driving home on I-45 I've had a couple of situations I felt were risky with the automatic features. 1st had a plastic shopping bag blow across the interstate and the car applied the brakes. Another time in the same area it applied the brakes all of a sudden and I have no idea why. There was nothing around that I could see. I'm concerned about getting rear ended, and wonder how that would play out with insurance companies and who would be at fault.

The adaptive cruise control is great! It does apply the brakes if needed. The acceleration rate can be adjusted in 4 steps and you can also adjust the following distance. I have mine set to #3 for both which is slow accleration and lots of following distance.

What i do not like is the windshield wiper delay system. I have the one that looks at the density of rain on the windshield and turns on the wipers based on that. It never seems to see the windshield as I see it. I'd rather have the timer the lower trim levels use.

The lane assist is nice. As my neighbor describes it: It reminds me when I get sloppy in my driving. I do agree with him and keep it on. It does object when you do a last minute swerve to avoid a pot hole though.

 

[MossRoad]

I forgot, one of the things lane centering does I do not like. When passing someone, car or big truck, doesn't matter, I like to get over to the left side of the passing lane to keep as much room as I can between me and the vehicle I'm passing. The lane centering tries to take my back to the middle of the passing lane, pushing to my right towards the vehicle I'm trying to stay away from. So, for the most part, I'm going to be using lane centering on open roads, and turn in off in traffic. I'll keep lane departure on all the time.

 

[cqaigy2]

That's how i've found myself using Lane Assist too. I like to use my whole lane, since i paid good money for it, and move either left or right to give somebody a little more room, just in case.

Another thing i learned, is to put a bit of pressure on the steering wheel when going into an area where entrance lane is merging onto the highway. For instance, lane merging onto highway from the right, the car will try to go center on the wide area that is coming onto the highway and move to the right, a bit of pressure keeping it closer to the left so it won't slide to the right to try and center it's self.

 

[MossRoad]

Another thing is this car automatically turns into Culver's restaurants for cherry shakes. Man, it's a good thing I like those.

 

[BadDecisions]

Well darn....Subaru just alienated all of us diabeetus folks with that one!

 

[nybirdman]

I owned three Subaru's with good luck;in the family now are a 2019,2022 and a 2023(daughter and granddaughters).Wife liked the new Acadia's better or we would still own one.

 

[California]

Minor news, I posted in the EV thread that squirrels ate the wiring in the Focus Wagon. Today I picked it up repaired, and asked what this Subaru/Tesla/Audi specialty shop would charge to replace the spark plugs in my '99 Outback.

Last time the OB's plugs were replaced, I watched the tech with some magic extensions do the project in 45 minutes.

Today this specialty shop quoted me $450 to do the plugs.

Uh no thanks. I'll shop around. Maybe buy $100 of extensions, and/or bend some cheap HF tools to get in there.

 

[Racenut]

I did the plugs in my WRX with basic home garage tools. But, it involved pulling the battery, the air intake and unbolting the motor motor mounts and jacking the engine up a few inches. And I had 2 friends to help. EASY PEASY

Me and my son doing a Subaru spark plug change for the FRS.

I don't understand all the complaints about changing Subaru spark plugs

 

[DKCDKC]

Had a 2015 Outback for years - loved it - but it was t-boned by a careless driver and totalled. I switched to a 2021 Forester Touring. We generally loved Subaru because of the snow performance and ground clearance - we live at the end of a mile-long gravel drive through a forest. We went with the Touring because it had something my height-challenged bride really wanted - a passenger seat that went up and down. So the car came with all the extras. Love the transmission. This car goes through snow (up to 9 inches) and on ice better than my 4WD F150 - which is important on some really steep curves on our driveway. We routinely slide some with past cars and trucks - never with the Subaru.
I like the adaptive cruise control and use it a lot - with a fairly long following distance. I'm an old guy now and just never drive in a rush - so it is great. The lane centering is handy really only on mostly open roads when I want to take a sip of coffee or open a snack. I never take both hands off the wheel, but it is great and avoiding inadvertent steering. My only real gripe is the system that watches the driver's face and warns him to pay attention. I am blind in one eye and that eye is smaller. The car cannot recognize me and is constantly telling me to stay awake. Subaru tells me that they cannot turn off that feature or adjust it to recognize my eye - so I have to turn it off every time I get in the car.
Otherwise the car is well made and easy to maintain. Mileage is great and the turning off the engine at lights doesn't seem to hurt anything - and I've adjusted to it without angst. My area has a lot of farmers and a lot of retirees - and, consequently, a lot of Subarus. You can see a half dozen side-by-side in parking lots all the time.

 

[westcliffe01]

I own a 2009 Forester. The VW beetle equivalent, it has virtually no options at all. Manual transmission. The clutch bearing went out at 114k miles. Its a pretty serious repair. They suggest the transmission has to come out, which would mean pulling the front suspension to remove the drive shafts, remove the exhaust (not gonna happen on a Michigan vehicle unless its with a sawzall) and then remove the transmission itself. I elected to do the job the other way around by removing the engine, still a bear of a job. Of course the last nut that goes on the stud adjacent to the inner CV joints stripped and I had to cut off the stud with an angle grinder. Massive rip off getting new fasteners from the dealer, like $7 per fastener... Best part is that the new clutch bearing is just as junk as the old one, no seals on it whatsoever, stamped races instead of machined ones. Never seen anything so bad in my life. No doubt it will be finished in another 100k miles... Otherwise it has been a pretty reliable vehicle. Mine is the first production year of the newer model, it has rear suspension issues that means it wanders badly in a crosswind, makes it very tiring to drive long distances (I had a weekly 5 hour 1 way commute to Dayton OH, so I did that a lot). There is supposedly a fix for that, but no doubt pretty expensive. The Audi A6 I had prior, bought as a 3 year old car was a much better car in every possible way. This will be my last.

 

[MossRoad]

Minor news, I posted in the EV thread that squirrels ate the wiring in the Focus Wagon. Today I picked it up repaired, and asked what this Subaru/Tesla/Audi specialty shop would charge to replace the spark plugs in my '99 Outback.

Last time the OB's plugs were replaced, I watched the tech with some magic extensions do the project in 45 minutes.

Today this specialty shop quoted me $450 to do the plugs.

Uh no thanks. I'll shop around. Maybe buy $100 of extensions, and/or bend some cheap HF tools to get in there.

YIKES!

 

[MossRoad]

I did the plugs in my WRX with basic home garage tools. But, it involved pulling the battery, the air intake and unbolting the motor motor mounts and jacking the engine up a few inches. And I had 2 friends to help. EASY PEASY

Me and my son doing a Subaru spark plug change for the FRS.
View attachment 789630

I don't understand all the complaints about changing Subaru spark plugs

YIKES! YIKES!

 

[MossRoad]

Had a 2015 Outback for years - loved it - but it was t-boned by a careless driver and totalled. I switched to a 2021 Forester Touring. We generally loved Subaru because of the snow performance and ground clearance - we live at the end of a mile-long gravel drive through a forest. We went with the Touring because it had something my height-challenged bride really wanted - a passenger seat that went up and down. So the car came with all the extras. Love the transmission. This car goes through snow (up to 9 inches) and on ice better than my 4WD F150 - which is important on some really steep curves on our driveway. We routinely slide some with past cars and trucks - never with the Subaru.
I like the adaptive cruise control and use it a lot - with a fairly long following distance. I'm an old guy now and just never drive in a rush - so it is great. The lane centering is handy really only on mostly open roads when I want to take a sip of coffee or open a snack. I never take both hands off the wheel, but it is great and avoiding inadvertent steering. My only real gripe is the system that watches the driver's face and warns him to pay attention. I am blind in one eye and that eye is smaller. The car cannot recognize me and is constantly telling me to stay awake. Subaru tells me that they cannot turn off that feature or adjust it to recognize my eye - so I have to turn it off every time I get in the car.
Otherwise the car is well made and easy to maintain. Mileage is great and the turning off the engine at lights doesn't seem to hurt anything - and I've adjusted to it without angst. My area has a lot of farmers and a lot of retirees - and, consequently, a lot of Subarus. You can see a half dozen side-by-side in parking lots all the time.

I'm noticing a lot of Outback's in parking lots. A lot! More than I noticed before. All kinds of nice colors. I pointed out half a dozen to my wife yesterday. Every parking lot we pulled into. Crazy.

 

[BadDecisions]

Minor news, I posted in the EV thread that squirrels ate the wiring in the Focus Wagon.

Similar happened to my Volt, except that it appeared to be rodents. 15 other vehicles parked here, never a problem with the vermin..until I brought home the "green" car. Seems to be a common problem across the board as they all use veggie oil based wiring insulation, and Toyota even ended up with a class action lawsuit against them because of it.

Dealer tried to convince me to buy a new Volt...instead they got to buy it back from me, and I still consider that to be the best $1800 loss I ever took on a car...god, I hated that thing, lol.

 

[Pixguy]

I bought an Outback back in 17 for a work vehicle. It's a great vehicle for mileage, 35mpg in summer, 29 in winter and when I threw on studded tires, that thing can go anywhere. 105k now.