Edmunds dealer partner, Bayway Leasing, is now offering transparent lease deals via these forums. Click here to see the latest vehicles!
Subaru Reliability
I have been doing research for a few months already. Overall, everybody rates Foresters as reliable cars but after reading this forum and http://www.carsurvey.org/model_Subaru_Forester.html
I have second thoughts.
I am looking for a reliable car on the first place and after reading forums and numerous articles it appears that Subarus got a lot of issues: bearings, head gaskets, leaks, electrical problems..... I know that head gasket and bearing problems are fixed in new models, but new owners complain about hesitation in cold weather, electrical problems, poor paint quality etc. What is it all about???? Is Subaru quality going down. My friend owns 98 Forester with 138 000 miles with no problems at all. But ON THIS FORUM I read stories when people have major problems with new Foresters.
Many of my friends drive Hondas and Toyotas, some of them got over 150 000 miles with no major issues.
Is Forester going to last that long without expensive repairs? Can anybody comment on the current issues with Foresters and rate its reliability?
I was also wondering which Subaru is more reliable - Forester 2005-2007 or Outback 2005-2007?
I have second thoughts.
I am looking for a reliable car on the first place and after reading forums and numerous articles it appears that Subarus got a lot of issues: bearings, head gaskets, leaks, electrical problems..... I know that head gasket and bearing problems are fixed in new models, but new owners complain about hesitation in cold weather, electrical problems, poor paint quality etc. What is it all about???? Is Subaru quality going down. My friend owns 98 Forester with 138 000 miles with no problems at all. But ON THIS FORUM I read stories when people have major problems with new Foresters.
Many of my friends drive Hondas and Toyotas, some of them got over 150 000 miles with no major issues.
Is Forester going to last that long without expensive repairs? Can anybody comment on the current issues with Foresters and rate its reliability?
I was also wondering which Subaru is more reliable - Forester 2005-2007 or Outback 2005-2007?
0
This discussion has been closed.
Comments
I put 220,000 miles on a '96 Outback without what I would consider any "major" problems. 150,000 miles?
Should be fairly easy, but depends greatly on the drivers' habits, maintenance, and, to some extent, on luck of the draw. Manufacturing problems often show up within the warranty period, so while that does not make an owner experiencing the problem feel any better, at least the expense of the repair is covered. By 100,000 miles or more, problems tend to center more around use than defects in manufacturing.
I had mine for 9 trouble-free years, and I still miss it.
In fact we will very likely get a 2009 model when those come out. Can't wait. :shades:
Honestly, some times I get tired of refuting misperceptions and am tempted to tell people to just go ahead and get a Toyota :P
-Frank
Transmission hesitation, engine sludge (even though that was 2 engine generations ago), drive-by-wire throttle delays, power sliding doors on the vans.
And these are the reliable vans.
Perception lags behind reality.
In automotive reliability, I'd say by about 5 years.
Hyundai will have to build solid cars for at least 5 years before the public even begins to change their perception of what a Hyundai is. The 2004 Sonata was the most reliable car in CR's survey, ahead of all Lexus models by the way.
Conversely, Toyota's new 6 speed transmission has given them problems but people refuse to believe it's true, and still rate Toyota at the top (Consumer Reports says they dropped to #3 behind Honda and Subaru).
To be fair, Hyundai earned a bad rep with the Excel subcompact, and in this case people don't have short memories.
What was wrong with the Excel? My friend's dad bought 2 of them for $10k total with tax in college for him and his dad. 4speed manuals, am/fm radios, no A/C But for 100k, the cars ran without mechanical issues.
-mike
Back then they used a pretty basic Mitsubishi powertrain, so they may have been OK if you took care of them.
-mike
Whoa, I stand corrected! I didn't realize how fast Toyota had gone down hill... The weekly Click & Clack Car Talk column in yesterday's paper had a letter from the owner of a 3-year old Sienna with 28k miles. The writer said that within the span of a month both power sliding rear doors fell off and that Toyota customer service had acknoweledged that they were aware of the problem but that Toyota was refusing to pay for the repairs!
Talk about a publicity nightmare. There's nothing quite like getting slammed in a nationally syndicated column :surprise:
-Frank
There is a TSB on the doors where some welds can break on 04-06 models and separate partially, but they don't quite "fall off".
I think that just sounds better for dramatic effect.
Also, Toyota recently announced they were going to cover the doors under a 7/100 warranty, with letters going out to all owners. I'm surprised that made yesterday's paper, it's probably from a radio show from a few weeks ago, prior to Toyota's announcement.
I'm sure the Toyota PR machine is all over that one.
2007-2008 models have had no recalls at all so far and are not affected. 04-06 models are still the highest rated van for reliability according to CR.
Like I said, though, people love to complain. I'm sure Click & Clack published that because doors falling off just sounds funny.
http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=678203
Shame on Click & Clack for not mentioning this a month and a half later.
Not the type of quality we've come to expect from Toyota. I guess this is just an example of why CR downgraded Toyota's reliability ratings
Toyota hasn't issued a factory recall for the Sienna door problem, perhaps because such notices generate a lot of negative publicity, said Joe Wiesenfelder with Cars.com
That's true but there's a point where not issuing a recall for a widely known problem can generate even more negative publicity than had they just bitten the bullet and done the recall. Being proactive with a recall at least reassures the public that the company stands behind its products and isn't trying to dodge responsibility.
-Frank
FWIW, CR down graded the Tundra V8, the Camry V6 (because of the 6 speed automatic), and one Lexus model.
Sienna remains their highest rated and most reliable van.
-Frank
Actually the 2007s aren't affected. No recalls yet.
The only issue I've had was the dealer simply forgot to attach my radio antennae!
In fairness some models have an in-glass antennae.
Have you seen the Forester spy pics? We should be getting one of those for the wifey in the Spring.
-Frank
Yeah the new 5.7L Tundra engine has glass camshafts that are snapping on them. Even the mightly Toyota has reliability issues...
-mike
-mike
-Frank
Our dog is down to about 9 lbs, and we still get them on a full-sized van.
His favorite is All Dogs Go to Heaven.
-mike
Only 50K on the 2002 Forester and a Wheel Bearing went, I had to replace an 02 Sensor also, and now (at 56K) the Clutch went. I was not gonna spend the $1200+ for a new clutch just two months after spending $400+ on a wheel bearing.
I'm done with Subaru. I know others are happy, I guess I'm just unlucky..
They did change the wheel bearing design on the 2003 and later models. They moved to the sturdier design from the Legacy.
To me an 02 sensor is a wear part. Bosch says they should be changed every 30k miles, though they sell them so I'm sure they have an interest in recommending short intervals for those.
Good luck with the Honda, hopefully you'll have better luck.
-mike
Motorsports and Modifications Host
I've got 66k on my Forester and hopefully the clutch will last at least double that.
-Frank
Clutches wear out at significantly different rates depending on driving conditions (city vs highway) and driving habits (jack rabbit starts, slipping the clutch, etc). For instance, it's not uncommon to hear about a young "enthusiastic" driver needing a new clutch before 20k while others can go for more than 150k miles without replacing their clutch. In my case, I sold my Jeep with over 125k miles on the original clutch and fully expect to approach if not exceed that mark with the Forester
-Frank
I sold my Forester with nearly 90k miles and it was on the original clutch.
A friend of mine had an Impreza 2.5RS, 2 years newer, and was on his 2nd clutch (an ACT model) within a couple of years. He abused it, though.
AWD burnouts sure are cool but you gotta pay to play!
Sold my Mazda truck with over 150k miles and original clutch, which had pulled 2000 lbs of boat and trailer every summer since 1991.
Having been a passenger in many manual transmission cars in the past 50 years, I have noticed that very few people use the clutch in a way that will get the most life from it. They are not abusive, but they just don't know.
Love the car on ice & snow, so far no other problems but the interior fabric.
Both happened under warranty.
Seats are a wear item, to be honest I'm surprised they even replaced the covers for you the first time.
Another thing - the X model gets different fabric than the upper trim lines. Just check that out before you decide.
I wouldn't count on the warranty to fix any of that stuff, from any make to be honest.
Like I said, perhaps are Subaru Kharma was bad or something because I know others have great luck with them.
That said, I had no problems with the cloth on either of my newer Outbacks (07 and 08) with about 7500 miles put on each.
My 98 had a thick woven fabric that turned out to be very durable, but didn't feel soft, like the fabric on the higher trim line (S models). But that softer velvet-textured fabric was less durable, as a trade-off.
paisan pointed out in another thread that lark6 used to rest his elbow on the window sill and the fabric there had some wear.
Len
FWIW, I owned a 98 Forester and drove in on sand often. It was fine. Owned it for 9 years. Sold it and got 30% of what I paid for it back.
It was great.
Better luck with your next car. Truck, I should say.
-Frank
216k miles is 216k miles. It will all come down to how the car was maintained.
If it's made it this far, though...they must have taken care of it.
Inspect the head and valve cover gaskets, and the front and rear main seals, all for oil leaks. Drive the car with the radio off and the windows open, and do a figure 8. That will reveal is any diffs or axles are bad.
If it's smooth, then wow! That's all I can say.
-mike
Motorsports and Modifications Host
My impression is that service life is similar to a Toyota although frequency of minor niggles does tend to build up as mileage grows. I have found it revealing that so many Subaru drivers keep their cars to 300,000km plus (say 188,000mile) and then buy another.
The comments by others that this might not be a long distance cruiser at this age are pretty accurate but could be modified if the car has been used carefully for long distances rather than hard driven in the past.
Cheers
Graham