Buying a 2011 Forester

[metalfanmartin]

Hello All,

 

Long time no see. Sold my L-Series a while ago and now I'm looking at getting a Forester.

Tomorrow I'm going to be inspecting a 2011 Forester, 2.5L Petrol Auto. It's done 82,000km's. Does anyone have any tips on what I should check for, what services should definitely be there etc. I wasn't sure what search terms to use to find out myself

 

Cheers

[1 Lucky Texan]

is that the first FB engine model for your market?

[idosubaru]

that's right around the time foresters went from EJ to FB so that will make a difference. 

 

EJ - plan on a full timing kit soon.  (just the belt is not enough).  timing belt is 8 years old now and entering timing change interval by age.  Don't pay premium price for a cheeseball timing belt only job. 

 

If an FB engine: keep an eye out for oil consumption related info

 

also if an FB engine, check to see if they have similar serpentine pulley bearing failures like the H6 EZ engines do.  they fail all the time at seemingly random mileages - i've seen them fail at 30k and last until 150k.  i consider them 60k replacement items, that catches most of them.  they're also super easy - $20 for 2 bearings and it takes well under and hour to tap them in and out so it's not a big deal.  the FB belt routing looks suspiciously similar to he EZ/H6 engines so I'd guess they're going to fare similarly to those rather than other subaru platforms that never had this issue.  

 

that being said - maybe the redesign has helped this issue...

 

otherwise just standard parts, inspection, axle boots, rust, fluid changes/history/maintenance. 

[1 Lucky Texan]

if all 4 tires are not identical, that could be a red flag.

 

you might consider paying a soob-friendly shop to do a pre-purchase inspection. Use any minor/moderate issues found to negotiate a better price.

[GeneralDisorder]

Pretty much 100% of those cars needed the short blocks replaced due to bad factory piston rings. There was a class-action suit on it. Inspect VERY carefully. Honestly I would never own one because the dealer tech's were really poor at doing the short block replacements due to lack of training on that new engine - 11 was the first year and it was in Forester's only. I've seen some horrific work with about 10x too much sealant used. Those engines are almost 100% glued together and the factory RTV application is done by robots. The dealer tech's doing it by hand have about 1000 places where a little dab will do you and a big fat glob will $crew you. 

 

GD

Edited April 19, 2018 by GeneralDisorder

[metalfanmartin]

Thanks for all your input everybody! I'm not 100% sure if the Forester is a 2010 or 2011 model, looking up the rego it says 2010 but using VIN check it says 2011 compliance? So perhaps it's a 2010 with the ej.

[metalfanmartin]

I'm also looking at a 2010 outback, 2.5L auto with 65,000ks on the clock. It's *almost* suspiciously cheaper than similar era outbacks, anything to look out for?