Posted: 6/23/2012 7:49:04 AM EDT
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We are looking at buying a new Subaru Outback. Does anyone have any experience with them. How are they for maintenance and reliability?
Also where can I find the co exist sticker with the right wing logos? |
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I don't know about the newer subarus, but the older ones work pretty well. My wife is still driving a 97 Impreza.
The one big positive I have for it: Anytime anything goes wrong, that flat 4 makes it really easy to work on. Not sure if the modern ones have more crap in the way or if they're still easy to wrench on. |
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I've owned 4 Sube wagons including an Outback.
Ex-Wife #1 still drives the Outback and has over 200k miles on it. Still runs like a top. Ex girlfriend got in a head on (low speed) and rolled one into a ditch. We pulled it out, flipped it over and drove it away (slowly). It was completely totaled, but drivable (sorta) and kept her safe. Drove one to over 300k miles and sold it to a buddy. He still drives it was a run-around "beater". Sold the other at 275k miles and I still saw it driving around in my old town 4 years later. Subarus ROCK. |
| My 2005 Outback tells me I don't need another car for 5 more years. I did change all belts and hoses at 96K miles but they didn't need it. I've put a battery and brakes on mine, replaced a boot on a steering rod and I'll have to get another set of tires this fall. Other than those things it's never needed anything else. It's been a rock solid vehicle carrying me in snow and mud from work to the cabin. I have the 2.5i. |
| My mother drives an 08 Forester, before that she had a 97 Outback. Her Outback was totaled when it was hit at a stop light. A lady driving an Expedition had a seizure and passed out at the wheel and rammed the rear end of my mother's Outback. The accident report estimated that the Expedition was doing about 50 when it hit her stationary Outback sitting at a stoplight. My mother walked away more or less unscathed. Due to that accident she bought the Forester... larger vehicle but still a Subaru. In the several years she has had Subarus she has had no major problems. |
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We have a 2001 Outback with 80,000 miles on it, and we are well satisfied.
We asked a shitload of people in parking lots if they liked theirs, before we bought ours, and no one, repeat no one, said "It's a POS, I wish I'd never bought it." Fairness demands that I mention that ours slipped a valve guide somewhere around 65,000 miles, which resulted in a new cylinder head on one side. It was an isolated incident, but it was out of warranty, so it was a "Tough Shit" kind of thing. The irony is that we bought the damned thing for reliability, but we are still quite happy with the car. PS We did not get the big engine. I think it's a waste of money. Good luck. ETA: Routine fuel economy is 20ish MPG. |
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I bought my '02 WRX wagon used with 76Kmi on it in '08, haven't ever regretted it, haven't had any problems whatsoever other than wear items, worst issue I've had was a bad CV at about 100Kmi.
Subaru builds good cars. Several models have had an "outback" version but I don't think they make a bad model. I'd drive one with a turbo though before I bought an NA model. Legacy GTs are way underpriced on the used market IMO. |
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My Car: Subaru STI My Wife's Car: Subaru Outback Sport My Mom's Car: Subaru Forester My MIL's Car: Subaru Impreza Only real problems outbacks ever had was with the headgaskets in the mid oughts. If you're buying new, you've got nothing to worry about. They don't get fantastic fuel economy (but it's not bad) and they don't make fantastic horsepower (well, my STI does, but I digress) but as an All Around, Do Anything Car an Outback is pretty much perfect.
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My mother has an Outback, she loves it. Had a Tribeca before that and an Outback wagon before that.
My ex-wife had an Impreza wagon for 10 years. The only trouble it ever gave her was having an O2 sensor go out. I currently drive a Subaru badged as something else, but it's not AWD. 
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