AdventureSubaru Posted May 12, 2015 Share Posted May 12, 2015 (edited) My wife has drooled over the 2010+ body style of Outback since they first hit the market. After our son was born, we sold her 2000 outback at 362,000 miles and I bought a 2006 LLBean Outback sedan with a blown motor, installed a good used motor and she drove that for a while. We weren't a huge fan of the sedan since the kiddos stroller doesn't fit in the trunk and my wife did not like the rear windshield/view for backing up and turning. So I sold the 06 and a couple other cars that have been hanging around (Funny how subarus multiply) and last weekend we got a great deal on a 2011 Outback. It met the list of my wife's desires and then some - green in color, sunroof, cloth seats. Great car. It has 60k on the clock and Ej25 with automatic trans. Only downside was that it took a 2 day road trip to Portland and back. Well worth the money saved and the wife is happy, so I'm happy. (On our way home with it. Mount Shasta in the background.) I've done lots of work on 80s and 90s cars. engine, trans swaps, head gaskets, lifts etc. But other than doing the motor swap on the 06 and a set of brakes, the newest subaru I've worked on is my 2000 outback. I see the EJ25 SOHC configuration under the hood of this 2011 and most of it looks comfortably familiar. But I want to know how to take care of this thing as best I can. What do I need to know about this modern animal? So far I did an oil change as soon as we got it home. I looked at the maintenance schedule and see that spark plugs are due. What else should I know? Any troubles to be aware of? recalls? tips, tricks etc. If you have first hand working knowledge on this generation, I'm all ears. My wife and i saved for a while to work our way to be able to afford it. We're hard workers and careful with our money, so I'm wanting to really care for this car and make it last. Edited May 12, 2015 by AdventureSubaru Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wirelessenabled Posted May 12, 2015 Share Posted May 12, 2015 Congrats! Nice looking rig. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gbhrps Posted May 12, 2015 Share Posted May 12, 2015 AdventureSubaru, Congrats on the new ride! Yup, I think like you, and am now on my 4th OBW LTD (1997, 2004, 2007, 2012), and I will continue to own many more before my younger relatives convince the doctor to pull my driver's licence when I'm 120 years old. What do you need to know about this latest generation? Not a whole lot. They're as dependable as houses and if the regular maintenance is kept up you aren't going to have any issues. The head gasket issues are all gone. Rust problems shouldn't ocurr where you live, so forget that. You'll find that the CVT tranny has a lot going for it. Put it into Manual mode and flip the paddles if you must. The best fuel mileage will come from leaving it in Auto and letting it do its thing. And even in auto mode, you can downshift the paddles to aid in braking. Likewise, if you've used the paddles to downshift to take a corner and accelerate quickly out of it, you can paddle shift up through to 6th gear (simulated). Do the paddle shift down to take a corner and then sloowly accelerate out of it, and the tranny will drop back into Auto mode "D" all by itself. Be aware of the electric parking brake, and the tool in the trunk tool kit, and the procedure for unlocking it if it seizes from lack of use (read the manual). My personal suggestion is to use it at least once a week to keep all parts working freely. I'm sure it'll be a cheap part to replace, if the parking brake motor iever goes south (wink, wink). Give me the old parking brake system instead. As for the ECO gauge .... dumb piece of junk! Put in a real coolant temperature gauge in its place! (Enough ranting.) You'll love the reclining rear seats and the extra rear leg room, and the fact that the cargo cover can be stored under the rear floor. Love the disappearing roof rack rails as well. Enjoy! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AdventureSubaru Posted May 13, 2015 Author Share Posted May 13, 2015 Thanks for the info! So far wondering if there's much need/advantage for synthetic fluid/ My subarus have always been very happy on cheap oil with frequent changes (3000 miles) I know the really new ones are basically required. Is a 2011 going to benefit from synthetic over regular? Any maintenance/fluid changes for the CVT? or just let it be? I am already wanting a temperature gauge. Already a complaint as we're used to glancing over coolant temp on any other subaru. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fairtax4me Posted May 13, 2015 Share Posted May 13, 2015 Cvt fluid needs to be changed just like any other fluid. Subaru fluid is expensive, so a lot of people use Valvoline because it claims to meet Subaru spec. I'm not sure that you absolutely have to run synthetic engine oil, but there's no reason not to run synthetic. What does the owners manual recommend? If you notice that it's having oil consumption problems then consider switching to a conventional 5w-30 maybe. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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