New member, questions about newer Subarus

[marcon]

Hi folks, I'm a newbie here from eastern Canada with a few questions for all the Subaru owners of this forum:

 

My wife and I have just started looking for a used car, and happened to drive a 03 Outback H6. This was the first Subaru I have ever driven and I was impressed by its smoothness and ride, as well as its overall solid feel.

 

Because of that test drive, I'm now wanting to learn a little more about these cars, to help me decide if there will be a Subaru in our driveway in the future.

 

I just found this forum, and have been reading some of the posts. It appears, from what I've read, that they are generally good reliable cars, but not without their quirks. The head gasket issue scares me a little bit, and I'm curious about the reliability of the all wheel drive system.

 

Can anybody offer me some advice? I'm basically looking at 02 - 07 Legacy-based Outback, but a Legacy sedan in that year range wouldn't be out of the question either.

 

How is the reliability of the 6 cyl vs the 4 cyl engines? Any problems with the auto trans? How about rust issues in the salty northeast... will I expect to see rust after a few years... or are they well protected?

 

I'm impressed with the feeling and the utility of the Outback, as well as the possible offroad capabilities (although truthfully I probably wouldn't use that much) which translates hopefully into good performance in deep snow, which we can get a lot of up here in Canada. However, I've noticed that they can be quite expensive, like 20 grand for an 03 with 80,000 kms and lots of dings and scrapes and interior damage. I can get a very nice low mileage Accord for that money (currently driving a 98 Accord, which we've had virtually no problems with - it's been a great car and the only reason we're thinking of trading is its age). Are Subarus priced like that everywhere, or is it just in my small part of the world?

 

Any advice or comments are welcome, and thank you in advance!

[Suzam]

Welcome to the board, you can research a lot of information from this site that can help you decide what will fit your needs. Also there are many knowledgeable members who are willing to share the experiences they've had.

 

The H-6 Subarus are very good, the only thing mentioned here is that the maintenance schedule should be follow exactly as far as the oil changes go. Since the engine is a chain drive instead of a belt, high quality oil and regular scheduled changes seem to bee the best way to ensure longevity. The one downside is premium fuel is recommended, however some board members report no significant difference in performance on standard octane.

 

The 2.5L from 2004 on also are good choices. There were several issues with headgasket design that plagued the pre-2003 models. So if you are shopping for used 2004 and newer would be the way to go.

 

The AWD is a very good setup, if the tires are properly inflated and monitored the system should last the life of the vehicle.

 

A few searches you can do here for more info would be for the following keywords:

 

Torque Bind or TB

H6

chain drive

headgasket

 

Also, http://www.cars101.com has plenty of information on various models.

 

Good hunting and good luck!

[marcon]

Thank you for your help. I'll do the searches you suggest and learn as much as I can!

 

FWIW, I took out a 4 cyl for a drive today and wasn't as impressed. Maybe I should have taken it out before the six. Still a nice solid car, but needed a little more torque to move the OB around IMHO. I noticed the 4 seemed to have a little stiffer ride than the 6, but also seemed to handle a little better. I guess that's the trade-off for the increased weight over the front wheels.

 

I did notice the 4 had a bit of a rough idle - almost felt a little imbalanced. Is that common for the flat 4s or just a symptom of this particular vehicle? The battery needed a boost to start it, so maybe it had to relearn its idle. (?)

 

Anyways... the search and the education continues. Thanks again.

[subsince77]

Others will know more, as I am not a mechanic, just a happy owner for about 30 years. The engine should not feel rough at all. On the contrary, I think horizontally opposed engines love to spin and do so very smoothly. Also, don't be afraid to rev it up. I have always driven manual transmissions so I am a bit prejudiced, but I think sometimes automatics try to keep the engines running at too low an RPM. I run my 2.5 4cyl from 3500 to 4500 rpm up long passes all the time. Accelerating onto the highway I often run it up to 5000 +. I have noticed that it has a real sweet spot for long climbs right around 4300. I find that I have plenty of acceleration and power even at 11 and 12000 feet, but I have been driving 4cyl. engines for a long time, so maybe I’m just used to it. Sometimes I have to drive a Chevy Suburban that my friend told me I would like because of its ability to pass on the highway. I find that my Outback has LOTS more pickup than that thing. All of this is just my opinion. Welcome to Subaru.

[x_25]

The 4 cylender engens should idle relativly smoothly but it realy depends on the car. I have a '99 OUtback waggon and it has a relativly rough idle. Also with the 4's thry don't have a lot of low end torqu, to get them to realy accelerate you need to get them above 3500rpm.

 

The AWD systems in subarus are very reliable and durable IF they are taken care of right. You need to keep your tires proporly inflated and you need to run tires that are all within a 1/4in circunfrance. If the tires are diferent sizes then the AWD will be engaged all the time causing a lot of damage. It often gets so bad that it causes tourque bind. This is where the AWD is engaged all the time even if the tires are the same size. It is easy to check for TB though. You drive in tight circles of figure 8's, it should do this smoothly, if the care sudders or feels like the breaks are on then the car is showing symptoms of torque bind.

 

Good luck with finding a car that suits you. And remember that AWD can't help you stop in the snow, only a good set of tires can.

[CNY_Dave]

I'm liking my '03 H6 3 liter, 55Kmiles, had it a month so far.

 

Only downer so far is the mileage- hard to break 24MPG on it (in fact, haven't yet).

 

I do mostly freeway driving, and hear this mileage is lower than it should be.

 

On mine, pickup and mileage are noticeably worse on 87 compared to 93 octane, 89 octane has no noticeable power loss, but I'm unsure if the gas mileage is as good as on 93.

 

Dave