Subaru, thumbs up or down?

[Snowman]

I think you'll be very happy with a Baja, or any Subaru for that matter, if you buy one. My parents have owned American trucks and Subaru cars since they moved to Alaska in the mid-seventies. The Subarus were generally far less problematic than the GM or Ford products. The only real issues that came up were brought about by mechanics that did not understand some of the quirks of the 1980's Subaru engines.

 

Specific to the Baja and other newer Subarus, the EJ-series engine in them is a really great motor. Subaru's testing indicated that they run for 300k or 400k before needing torn down. My mom currently owns a 97 Outback with the "problematic" first generation EJ25, and at 130,000 kms, the only thing we've done to the car other than PM is replacing the alternator.

 

My guess is that you will quickly become a GM/Subaru person in the near future.

[9098]

Thumbs up! I own a 90 Legacy Sedan, and a 98 Outback Wagon. The 90 has 177k on it and has seen me through college, first jobs and family. The only problems it has had were the alternator, radiator, and tape deck. Everything else has been routine maint.

The 98 OB is a great car for my wife and daughter but it has had a problem with oil leaks. It was covered by warranty. It has 67k and I just changed the spark plugs. It was a tough job on its 2.5L engine. The 2.2L on the 90 Legacy is much nicer. Oil changes are easy to do yourself. The two engines are the same in that respect.

I guess my heart is with the 90. It just wont die.

[ron917]

So nobody is going to mention the problems with the head gasket or piston slap?

I have a '99 Outback Wagon with 81K miles. The headgaskets are leaking, and will need to be replaced soon. Before buying the car 20 months ago, I did my research and learned of this common fault. When I compared with other vehicles on my short list, the HG issue was the only negative for the Outback.

 

For me, it came down to doing one major repair on the Subie vs. lots of smaller repairs on the other vehicles I was considering. In other words, one big expense vs. being nickle-and-dimed for the life of the vehicle.

 

Also, for me, tearing down an engine is not a problem. I do all of my own work on my cars. I've done headgaskets and total rebuilds before.

 

Depending on your own needs, mechanical skill and other vehicles on your list, your opinion may differ.

 

Oh, and the piston slap - mine does it, but it stops after driving 4 or 5 miles, even in the coldest weather. Not a big deal - my old Volvo 240 has been slapping in cold weather for the last 210,000 miles (sounds like an old school bus until it warms up). Your opinion will depend on your tolerance for mechanical noise - my first car was a 1978 VW Diesel, anything else is dead quiet compared to that.

[Ranger83]

You should be able to get an AMAZING deal on the Baja - they're pretty much anchored to the showrooms. That means resale value won't be great.

 

If you need AWD over MPG and performance, Subarus are a good choice.

[Sweet82]

Personal opinion.......

 

I think you can put a heck of a lot of miles on a new car without it feeling it.

 

You try to run an older car at the same pace 30k/yr and I think you'll get some problems.

 

New cars can just handle high mileage better....

 

For what that's worth?

Glenn

82 SubaruHummer 120,000

01 Forester 40,000

[JT95]

Personal opinion.......

 

I think you can put a heck of a lot of miles on a new car without it feeling it.

 

You try to run an older car at the same pace 30k/yr and I think you'll get some problems.

 

New cars can just handle high mileage better....

 

For what that's worth?

Glenn

82 SubaruHummer 120,000

01 Forester 40,000

Depends on what you call "older". When I was 16 my dad gave me the retired family car--that '70 Monte Carlo I mentioned earlier. It had 150,000 miles on it and had been sitting dead in a barn for five years. I did put a new water pump on it before driving it as pure prevention. We pulled the valve covers to put some new valve stem seals in it and I never looked back. Drove the car for a few years and never had one mechanical problem whatsoever other than a bit of smoke from the tailpipe when I stomped on the gas. A teenage boy rarely abuses the gas pedal of a 300 horsepower car, so that wasn't a frequent occurrence.

[Gnuman]

Drove the car for a few years and never had one mechanical problem whatsoever other than a bit of smoke from the tailpipe when I stomped on the gas. A teenage boy rarely abuses the gas pedal of a 300 horsepower car, so that wasn't a frequent occurrence.

Uh huh, suuuuuuuure. . .

 

Around here, I see quite the oposite happening. . . Lots of terminal cases of testosterone poisoning. . . I could mention details, but you would probably never believe me. . . And many sad consequences (little crosses on the side of the road, for example) seem to go ignored by a lot of them. . .

[Spazz698]

A teenage boy rarely abuses the gas pedal of a 300 horsepower car, so that wasn't a frequent occurrence.

You sure about that? I was a 17 yr old female with a built 96 cutlass, pushing 268hp, all the boys had problems trying to beat me drag racing, but maybe that's due to the fact I lived in a very common street racing area

[schspeedster]

Am spending some quality time under the dash of my new '05 Baja, installing a remote start security system. Have done remote start installs on my 80s-90s GMs, and the Subaru has higher quality materials down there. Lower plastic panels are tough and flexible, color molded in, attached with large bolts to sturdy metal brackets, vs brittle GM plastic trim, color painted on, attached by spring clips and tiny screws...feels designed to last a long time and be disassembled for service if necessary, rather than assembled for lowest unit cost hopefully never needing to be touched before trade-in.

 

No special challenges connecting to the Subaru wiring, am taking my sweet time and soldering all connections, using heat shrink tubing and wire looms whereever possible. Service manual sections w/wiring diagrams are downloadable with paid subscription from http://techinfo.subaru.com/html/index.jsp

 

Subaru's firewall has a large rubber plug and a perforated interior insulation cutout, I had to drill thru the firewall on my Chevy Cavalier to run wiring.

[subarubrat]

The EJ25 is a great engine. My 99 Impreza started off stock at about 165Hp. I installed a turbo and MANY other modifications and when I sold it at 150k miles it was running strong with aggresive use at just over 300Hp. My current daily driver is an STI Impreza that started stock at 300 and is now pushing right around 450 at the crank. It is driven 52 miles to work and 52 home 4 days a week as well as trips and such. I wouldn't trust any other car for that sort of reliability.

[Dr.Outback]

The "piston slap problem" was mentioned in an earlier post, but I would like to add that the noise being described is totally normal for the 2.5L. Subaru redesigned the pistons, making them with shorter skirts and coating them with Molybdenum to imporve gas mileage. The shorter skirt contributed to some knocking noise at cold start that would quickly dissipate as the engine warmed. Sometimes the sound can be traced to a bad timing belt tensioner. We have had a couple of customers cause enough of a problem to replace there pistons or short block just to get them to shut up, but it didn't take care of the "problem". Look up www.endwrench.com, they have a lot of service issue related material.

[FSRBIKER]

I would buy another Subaru without hesitation, 163,000 on my 97 Outback and the car is still a blast to drive. Plenty of power still and can honestly say my Outback is better in the snow then any truck I have owned. Hopefully Subaru's new SUV entry that is coming will have 3 rows of seats and I can trade the minivan in for one for the wife and kids.

[Balr14]

The only thing I've noticed about the Subarus I've driven (except WRX and STI) is an excessive amount of body roll. I don't know if that pertains to the Baja, though.

[LoyaleFan]

Subaru redesigned the pistons, making them with shorter skirts and coating them with Molybdenum to imporve gas mileage.

 

Kinda interesting, if ya didnt know it...They use Molybdenum to coat bullets. They leave less residue and copper in the barrel when coated with the mentioned lubricant. Neat, eh?

[blitz]

Along with the shortened skirts, the ring-pack & wrist-pin position have been moved higher. In short, the entire piston geometry has been changed.

 

In deferrence to the official reasoning given by the manufacturers as to the reason for the moly coating, I've deduced that it's sole purpose is to deaden the slapping noise, inherent in the "(not so) smart" piston geometry.

 

The slapping noise emerges in direct proportion to the amount of coating that wears away. e.g. the noise becomes apparent at about 20 - 25k miles, and is in full bloom around 50 - 70k miles.

[subarubrat]

Any Subaru owners out there that would like to share their experiences with the product? Mainly interested in the longevity of the motors, trannys before needing rebuilds, major work......here is my deal:

 

Sweet mother of tourqe where do I begin.

 

I don't so much commute to work as I rally to work on a tarmac course. The STI with just a hair over 500Lb Tq explodes out of cornes, smoking all four briefly as I rotate and dissapear faster than a 12 second drag car can launch on a straight dry track. The flat four humms like the devil's own backup orchestra as I guide it from one turn to the next. The beast produces 180 Hp per Ltr compared to the Mustang's primitive 62.5 Hp per Ltr. And you know what? It will do it for the next 250K miles before I have an excuse to go just that much larger on a rebuild.

 

(note) I love a classic mustang (or new one) nothing is like the sound of a V8 and watching the front hoist a foot in the air and the gravel shake. Much respect. But controlable power is a whole different world.