Is the reliable Subaru a myth? A legend from times past?

O

oggb

Joined
Jun 1, 2009
Messages
2,877
Location
Virginia
We have a 2005 Outback LL Bean with 96,000 miles in the family. In the past two weeks I've replaced:

-Both rear wheel bearings (these were replaced by Subaru under warranty once before)
-Front struts
-Valve cover gaskets
-Rear main seal

It still needs:
-Alternator
-Front driver side axle (both front axles in it are < 5 yrs old, Subaru OEM)
-New driveshaft assembly ($700+ from the dealer. WHY WOULD YOU PUT A CARRIER BEARING IN THE MIDDLE OF A FOUR FOOT LONG DRIVESHAFT!?!?!?!)

I can't imagine what the labor on all of this would have cost if I'd taken it to a shop. It'd probably have been enough to warrant just selling the car as is and moving on.
 
Speaking of times past, that's a lot more trouble than my '72 Subaru (listed below) had in its first 170k---unless we count the rust, which was its worst problem.
 
I have a two year old WRX. Bought it brand new, beat it up, car is still like new. No problems with it whatsoever. Best car I've ever owned and as long as Subaru makes them I will own them. Easy to maintain myself, and insanely fun to drive that I am always excited to get in it. 22K miles and counting.....

I actually learned to drive manual on it so was quite abusive to it at the beginning but the car isn't any worse for wear. Fast forward to today and I can drive it as good as any other car. Heel-toe, double clutch... no problem. Only thing I still can't do smoothly is a left foot brake, heel-toe double clutch downshift.

Anyway, there's a reason why Subaru is almost always the highest resale value in its class. Subaru as a company can't keep up with sales; it's the fastest growing car manufacturer on the market today.

That being said, as any car gets up in the years the probability something will go wrong increases. You pay a premium to get in a brand new car and having a trouble free experience is usually a part of that premium.

15 years old? Not sure if you were expecting to drive it forever? Yes the mileage is not that high but that's only one factor.

Assuming the MSRP was $30K and you bought it brand new, and scrapped it today for nothing, that's about $170 per month. I'd say that's reasonable.
 
2strokeNorthstar said:
Like most Japan cars, reliability peaked in the 90s. The non turbo Subarus from then lasted and were pretty simple to work on.
Click to expand...

Have to disagree with this statement. I'd much rather own a modern Japanese vehicle than the competition unless it's a truck than I will go big three. For anything else, I'll take Japanese.

Cars are more complicated as a whole due to emissions requirements and demands by the consumer for tech (sensors, cameras, etc.). So obviously more things to go wrong.

On my WRX the upkeep is extremely simple. Lots of space everywhere so easy to get to everything, and straightforward design all around.

Toyota basically invented continuous improvement and a focus on reliability, so I think it's a little absurd to say their reliability declined.
 
OppositeLocK said:
Have to disagree with this statement. I'd much rather own a modern Japanese vehicle than the competition unless it's a truck than I will go big three. For anything else, I'll take Japanese.

Cars are more complicated as a whole due to emissions requirements and demands by the consumer for tech (sensors, cameras, etc.). So obviously more things to go wrong.

On my WRX the upkeep is extremely simple. Lots of space everywhere so easy to get to everything, and straightforward design all around.

Toyota basically invented continuous improvement and a focus on reliability, so I think it's a little absurd to say their reliability declined.
Click to expand...
What you would rather own isn’t the point. I agree newer cars are better to drive. 90s Subarus were much simpler and went much longer without repairs. I’m not talking 25k miles. They went 100-200k miles or more without cooling system issues that are now much more common
 
2strokeNorthstar said:
What you would rather own isn’t the point. I agree newer cars are better to drive. 90s Subarus were much simpler and went much longer without repairs. I’m not talking 25k miles. They went 100-200k miles or more without cooling system issues that are now much more common
Click to expand...
the serious cooling problems were really an NA thing. the turbo EJ cars can more often be seen blowing oil smokescreens all over the highway
 
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2strokeNorthstar said:
What you would rather own isn’t the point. I agree newer cars are better to drive. 90s Subarus were much simpler and went much longer without repairs. I’m not talking 25k miles. They went 100-200k miles or more without cooling system issues that are now much more common
Click to expand...

Plenty of high mileage newer Subarus in my area.
 
JRed said:
We have a 2005 Outback LL Bean with 96,000 miles in the family. In the past two weeks I've replaced:

-Both rear wheel bearings (these were replaced by Subaru under warranty once before)
-Front struts
-Valve cover gaskets
-Rear main seal

It still needs:
-Alternator
-Front driver side axle (both front axles in it are < 5 yrs old, Subaru OEM)
-New driveshaft assembly ($700+ from the dealer. WHY WOULD YOU PUT A CARRIER BEARING IN THE MIDDLE OF A FOUR FOOT LONG DRIVESHAFT!?!?!?!)

I can't imagine what the labor on all of this would have cost if I'd taken it to a shop. It'd probably have been enough to warrant just selling the car as is and moving on.
Click to expand...
Buy a Jeep product and you'll miss that Scooby.
 
Ours(2005 Legacy GT (250HP turbo) wagon) was decently reliable for the first 180k/10 years of ownership. Then after those issues + another serious(burned valve) cropped up similar except rear main seal. At 15 years some of that listed is wear items at that point. We septs ours 13 years/240k and moved on mainly because it had rubber oil line leaks (emissions/turbo) all over the engine and wife did not like all the smoking :)

We drove around for 40k miles with a "bad" carrier bearing. If nothing is noticeable drive on.

I think a decent car for normal ownership periods of 7-10 years. Extended they seem to have some issues.
 
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We owned a 1985 subaru glc lasted 15years,,was ok car..not really any problems and then one day it developed a knock poof it was gone...lol we never bought another one,,no real reason, the wife wanted a Honda and it ran well...she wreck it, got another one,,,then got a truck and now we just have that truck 2010 F150 and our ancient 2005 Log wagon Lasabre..lol
 
I dunno. 15 years old, so, it gave it's money's worth, right? But then there seems to be endless examples of other vehicles going 20, 25 years and needing the equivalent of 3 tires and a sparkplug for a total list of work needed.

There must be some sort of range here, were we'd have to accept a "normal" amount of repairs (and stupid design choices), plus/minus some deviation, before we praise/condemn a vehicle. Reaching a consensus on that "normal" and "range"... might as well talk Ford vs Chevy as we'll never reach the end.
 
JRed said:
We have a 2005 Outback LL Bean with 96,000 miles in the family. In the past two weeks I've replaced:

-Both rear wheel bearings (these were replaced by Subaru under warranty once before)
-Front struts
-Valve cover gaskets
-Rear main seal

It still needs:
-Alternator
-Front driver side axle (both front axles in it are < 5 yrs old, Subaru OEM)
-New driveshaft assembly ($700+ from the dealer. WHY WOULD YOU PUT A CARRIER BEARING IN THE MIDDLE OF A FOUR FOOT LONG DRIVESHAFT!?!?!?!)

I can't imagine what the labor on all of this would have cost if I'd taken it to a shop. It'd probably have been enough to warrant just selling the car as is and moving on.
Click to expand...
Wheel bearings go bad on heavily crowned roads. Virginia is notorious for this especially on non-highways. I know because I lived there for several years.
15 years out of a set of struts, you've got extra money in your pocket anyways from this lifespan
VC gaskets and RMS are rubber, and 15 years of usage is pretty good, especially considering you likely used conventional oils for most of its life
Alternators were a little undersized, and if you have any extra accessories it will increase the load (and wear), but again, 15 years of service
CVs are a known issue especially on the front, potholes don't help
Never ever seen a driveshaft fail on Subarus (I've owned all NAs) and the carrier bearing is there to keep the shaft as close as possible to the body while allowing rear articulation

For the opposite of your experience, my mail lady (I'm on a rural route) has a 98 Legacy wagon. It's over 400k miles and has never opened the engine or transmission. Amsoil fluids since new, and zero wheel bearings as well. Roads are flat with minimal crown here in corn & bean country! It's even only got minimal rust, and near the driver's door from rocks being thrown up. Fun fact, it's RHD too!
 
In my area there is a Subaru on every block. If they weren’t reliable or dependable I think it would be reflected in the numbers I see every day.
 
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