any one with subaru experience?

[goldxlt]

i have been tossing around the idea of selling my truck and getting a subaru forester. All the used foresters i see at the price im looking to pay have around 100k miles. i hear all the time the the motors will carry on long past that but i want to hear some people with experience, any other common problems with these cars that i should know about; what should i be looking for, and what can i expect? i understand a 100k mile car is a 100k mile car, i would just like to avoid the chronic problems.


and for those of you who feel that selling a ranger would be blasphemy, just know that this is a tough decision. i absolutely love my truck, it only has about 60k miles and is very reliable; the problem is that i still owe 2500 on it and over the last year i lost my job. i have found a new job but it pays ALOT less and i am unsure if i will keep it over the winter so i thought if i sold the truck i would get rid of the payment and the higher ins. cost(needed for loan), and that would put me in a better spot financially every month.

 

[graff104]

A friend of mine had a subaru. It had a gas leak. She never got it fixed. One day she came out of the store and it was up in flames. Thats pretty much my experience lol.

 

[4byRANGER]

subaru's are really nice, dependable, well built vehicles.. and also pretty damn fuel efficient!! ive gotten to drive a couple, impreza, wrx, and a forester and all gave me a smile from ear to ear while driving, they're just plain fun!

and if you get the AWD version you can still go offroad and not get stuck. helps when your driveway is a 1/4 miles long and gets washed out by the rain

 

[4byRANGER]

if i could afford one id have one!

i want a damn WRX turbo AWD w/ the boxter motor, blue with bronze rally wheels.
maybe one day

 

[martin]

If it has 100k on it then the timing belt is due to be changed or has been changed, might want to find out. It's not difficult to change but it is time consuming. Other than that they are pretty good.

 

[TheNicky]

^^^ I had a friend spend 13k for a WRX and 3 months down the road timing belt went
and im not 100% but i think it was a non interfaced so the motor turned and was time for a rebuild... they ended up getting a new engine which was around 6k

Sooooo yea check that timing belt asap just for sh!ts and giggles

 

[mentalbreakdown00]

I do like subaru's, but I would not get an all wheel drive one. Just having half used tires on one end of the car can burn the transfer case up quickly. Now with 100K on the clock, I would personally do the timing belt, and all related with it, full tune-up, and change all the fluids. You can expect it to need things like brakes, struts, and the like.

 

[rickcdewitt]

the transmissions are very pricey to replace as well.my sisters subi also had the fuel leak but it was easy for me to change the hoses.

 

[TheNicky]

I have personally never owned one... but seems
a well taken care subi will go far...

and to take care of one might be a little on the expensive side...

I always thought subi's were mostly AWD atleast the newer ones anywho

If i was in your spot a and all you had were 100k subi's i would either

A) talk em down a crap load to make up for things you have to replace and such unless it already has been done

B) look into some other vehicles maybe something compact and FWD

this is IMO of coarse and my 2 cents

 

[dorian]

All Subarus are AWD. They are expensive to maintain compared to say, a Ranger, but compared to a German sports car, not so much. You can save money by doing everything yourself, of course. We own a 2005 Outback and it is a nice solid car with what appears to be intelligent engineering. As with any make or model, I would avoid a turbocharged engine. If you're looking at a Forester in a low price range, there won't be any turbos available anyway because the Forester XT (turbo) is a late model vintage. Everything before the XT uses the same HO 4-cylinder as is in the Outback. Subaru significantly upgraded their lineup in the mid-2000s as they attempted to go upmarket a bit. Hence, a later model car is going to be much nicer. They are doing it again with the 2010 cars.
Anyway, transmissions (not the transfer cases) seem to be a weak point in Subarus. Check the condition of the fluid.
Tires wear quickly because of the AWD and all four need to replaced at the same time. we just dropped $700 on Michelins. That's alot of cash.

Think about it.

Good luck!

 

[cocoasranger]

I used to be a service manager at a Subaru dealership. We had many high mileage cars come in for routine maintenance where the engine was still original.

The Subaru engine has a great reliability and power to weight ratio and is popular as a choice for experimental aircraft. If you do routine maintenance and timing belts they are very dependable.

The only negative I saw was that they sometimes put the small 4 cylinder engine in the larger cars which resulted in sluggish performance.

 

[Original_Ranger84]

Personally... Living in Alaska where 80% of the cars are subies and having my mom own one... They are grade A 20+ thousand dollar POS's. We have them come in all the time for tires (if one goes you gotta buy a whole new set! If not your gonna be buying a transmission)

Not to mention my moms car has gone through 2 engines and and it hasn't even reached 100,xxx miles yet... And for gas mileage... My truck almost gets as good of mileage as it does, its like 28 mpgs my truck gets 25 on the highway. Plus my truck accelerates way faster (3.oL).

My opinion. (others have had good experience with them but I have hated all of the ones I know.)

 

[mentalbreakdown00]

I didnt think all of them were. I know some of the older ones have an option of 2 or awd.... to me they are decent vehicles, and if they werent put on a poll as gayiest car in america i would have bought one.

 

[irishblessing]

ken block gymkhana
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BkNzkutTiGs

 

[goldxlt]

well thanks for the help and opions, it is very helpfull. cool video as well but if i wanted to drive like that i would keep my ranger