By accessing this website, you acknowledge that Edmunds and its third party business partners may use cookies, pixels, and similar technologies to collect information about you and your interactions with the website as described in our
Privacy Statement, and you agree that your use of the website is subject to our
Visitor Agreement.
Comments
-mike
I don't follow so closely, actually. If I stay back I get a better perspective with the underneath view. I has given me time to comtemplate packaging of various types of undersides, though.
-juice
Anyway, was hoping for the new H6 sedan. But my loaner is a 2002 Ford Explorer with 1000 miles. Felt like a truck driver on the parkway. Hated the bumpy and noisey ride. Pulled into my parking lot at work and had to hunt for a spot that wasn't too tight. Almost fell on my back trying to get out without hitting the car next to me.
No thanks! And I have to replace the gas before I return it (I could see the gas needle move)! SUV, or at least Explorer owners don't know what they're missing! I WANT MY BEAN BACK!!!!!!!!!
Bob
We wanted it port-installed since the savings wasn't worth the hassle to order it separately.
HTH, Theo in Colorado
Theo: can you take some pics of the OE hitch on your VDC? Is it possible to see where they cut/drill?
Anyone with a non-OE hitch on a '00 and above OB?
-Brian
The guy next to you in the Suburban got there before you, and is still there when you leave, putting in probably 785 gallons or so...
The comment about watching the gas gauge move had me LOL.
-juice
The gas around here is the reformulated type (Chicago metropolitan area) with ethanol in most blends. Winter brings on yet another blend that lowers mileage on everything.
-Brian
The H6 uses the same filter as the SVX. The Sube part is SOA5165109. As for the aftermarket, you don't get the ONE-TIME use crush washer at the auto parts store. Work a deal with your Sube parts guy to throw in the washers with filters.
I own an SUV and a VDC. I have a '97 Suburban, and no it does no off roading. I do tow some trailers, but none that the Sube couldn't handle. What I do have is 2 LARGE dogs, 1 Small child - 1 on the way and the need to put all of it in one vehicle.
As for the gas statistics, I get 20-22 MPG in the VDC. I was able to get 15-16 MPG in the Suburban with the same driving habits! If your looking for a real gas guzzler look at the Dodge and Ford products, My 8 passenger Chevy gets better mileage than the much smaller Durange and almost all of the Ford products.
Just my 2 cents.
Keith
-mike
Theo - Thanks for the info on the trailer hitch. Can you post the instructions and photos of your installation? I haven't ordered the kit yet for my '02 OB. Waiting until I get thru the 1k miles break in period before thinking about towing or taking a knife to a new car (cringe...).
SUV's - Last week when my Windstar was in at Colonial Ford-Subaru they gave me a monster truck to drive for 3 days (thru their Enterprise affiliate). Ford F-150 XLT Supercab 4x4, 5.4L OHC V8, suicide doors, etc. in bright red over grey. Testosterone Truck!!!! Terrific beast for a few days of fun, but not what you would want as your daily drive. Took my two kids for a fast jaunt down a local dirt road - something I probably would not want to do with my brand new Subie. Gas mileage? Around 12-13 when I filled it up.
Steve
Bob
Our group was so large we split up into 3 groups, 1 Saab and 2 Subie groups. I was co-pilot in paisan's car for Subaru One. It was pretty fun to drive with all the Amish sharing the roads.
I strongly suggest that any car nuts out there attend local meets. i Club has them all the time, in many regions.
-juice
Theo (in chilly Colorado)
I wish I knew the answer, it sounds like a product I'd like to use on my wife's GT. Try asking on the Ultimate Subaru Message Board in the New Generation forum. Use google.com to find the URL; Edmunds's policy prevents me from specifying the URL here. I did a quick search there that returned no results; however, their search function has known problems. Also, try the Outback mailing list on groups.yahoo.com.
Please keep us updated on your progress here.
Good luck.
..Mike in MD
..Mike
Thanks. I'll subaruparts.com and make sure they also give the crush washer. Congrats for your baby on the way!
Greg
-juice
If you need the crush washer part number just post a question here and I will look for my invoice. I had a Subaru credit card rebate check and purchased a full case from my dealer, he threw in about 30 washers and matched the online prices.
Keith
11126AA000. think the price at subaruparts.com is about .30 each
I had been debating for a while between this car and the Camry 2002SE with VSC and Trax. The only thing I will really miss from the Camry is the extra width and the curtain airbags.
I am looking forward to driving this car in the winter (eventhough we don't have much of a winter here in Vancouver, BC).
Pat.
(For moderators - why are the search engines in here so bad??? I hate to make these loyal crew members answer the same questions over and over)
I'll start off with the problems I had and finish with the positives I had.
Problems:
1. Front Wind Screen: That damn annoying wind screen on the top/front of my hood has a habit of coming undone on one side, especially at speeds above 60 mph. I've tried putting two-sided adhesive tape on it and also getting the little plastic 25 cent gadget that holds it in place replaced by Subarus dealerships. It doesn't look like either will work. Apparently, Subaru fixed the problem after the 99 year model, but that doesn't help me with my 99.
2. Tire balance: It seems like no matter how many times I get the tires balanced they never seem to drive level. These tires are the most sensitive to air pressure of any vehicle I think I have driven. This can be very annoying.
3. Seal on Front Door Windows: Apparently, my front windows never get a good seal because a wind whistle starts up at any speed over 60 mph. The local dealership wants a little more than I want to pay right now to go in and check the inside of the door and to tighten up the windows. I should have caught this defect when I took the car out for a test drive prior to buying it but I was too busy listening to and talking with the owner and checking out his sound system to hear the annoying noise. You really start to notice things like this though when you are making the long trip through the prairie states.
Strong Points:
1. Fording Capability: In Alabama, I drove this vehicle through a 20-foot wide stream that had a depth which reached the top of the wheel wells (mid thigh depth). It cruised through that stream like a charm. It did have a squeaky noise from the brake pads for about an hour after the stream fording, but I suppose that was to be expected. I was very impressed, especially since the creek was deeper than I had first thought and the Subaru rolled right on through like a champ.
2. Pushing Ability: I had my doubts about the front bumper's strength. However, while I was passing through Colorado Springs, CO, I took the Subaru up into the high hills back near Pike's Peak. While back there testing it out for my first time with it in real mountains, I ran into 3 teenagers (2 girls, one guy) whose car had either run out of gas or blown something in the engine, they were trying to push their car out of the mountains on the dirt road. Their back bumper matched up at the same height as my front, so I decided to see if the Subaru could push it out, the Subaru performed again like a charm and I pushed them for a mile and a half until they could get a solid downhill to coast it off the mountain. I was impressed even more so that there were no scratches or dents in the front bumper of my Subaru.
3. Load Carrying Capacity: Since arriving here in Tacoma I've used the cargo space of my Subaru to cart huge loads of gravel in big round containers to build a walkway in my back yard. Even though I've had to drive over some knarley river stone/glacial till areas with the heavy load the Subaru has held up well. However, it has caused the tire pressure to go down on the two tires on one side of the car, depending on where I positioned the gravel buckets. I suppose I could have paid a gravel company to deliver the stuff to my house but since I paid good money for the Subaru I figured I might as well put it to the test.
4. Off-roading: It seems like everyone who does any serious off-roading out here in Western Washington has trucks that are about 5 feet off the ground, very rarely do I see other Subarus attempting real off-roading. Most people here that drive Subarus never leave the road, in my experience. But being the adventurous type that I am, I've taken it through some pretty hairy paths along the Nisqually river basin for fishing and out onto the beach shores along the Pacific Ocean because my wife wanted to see the ocean. I haven't had trouble in either location, even though I've had the vehicle in some situations where only 3 wheels were touching the ground and in others where the underside got scraped (by the way, I had the real differential protector put on my car when I got out here for a good reason).
I'd appreciate any constructive feedback on the 3 problem areas I have with my vehicle.
Rob M
Nice report; thanks for sharing the good and the bad.
1. Front Wind Screen: The bug deflector? Haven't heard of this problem.
2. Tire balance: I'm not sure what you mean by "drive level". On a flat road without a crown (I know, hard to find), does it pull to one side? My 00 GT wagon did that; it was misaligned from the factory.
3. Seal on Front Door Windows: This might be the mirror. To test, apply blue masking tape (auto paint shops use it, no residue) on the gaps; remove one at a time to isolate. To minimize extraneous noises while testing, remove the cross bars.
..Mike in MD
..Mike
Has anyone had similar experience? The air pump is a heavy duty model, but indicates it is good for both cars & trucks.
Thanks,
Bob
Check the Amp rating of your pump. (If it shows in Watts and not in Amps, convert by dividing the number of watts by the voltage (12) to get the Amps rating, as you probably know already!). If it is not excessive, you may have a bad unit which has too much friction (normally they are permanently lubrified inside but there may have been a problem there) and draws too much current.
I saw screws on the front of the glove box. Do you have to take all those out and then pull the entire glove box out to get to the air filter? Are there any screws on the side? Is it obvious how you change the filter, or is there a trick to it?
Also, does anybody have any problems with leaks after changing your oil and filter. I used a new washer and filter and it leaks slightly, about a 2.5-inch diameter stain every night. Grrr.
I have never had this problem before on other cars.
I have an H6 and am wondering if maybe they sold me a H4 filter and it does not fit right on the H6, although I am not sure if it is coming from the filter or drain plug.
I Had a 93' Legacy Turbo Touring Wagon, 15" wheels,,,put snows on it every year,,,,She died on me this year,,so I have a 2002 Outback,,,Hey Outback owners,,,,did you Drop the 4 Bridgestone Potenza's for (4) Pure Snow Tires???? Any Comments????
Greg
Jon
For the price its the best option for me.
I even have $2400 in GM card earnings, and still want the Subaru...Found a nice Wintergreen 5-speed with a couple of options for $19,200. This is $200 over invoice no dicker. This wagon will be used on a limited use seasonal road, this means dirt road not plowed in the winter, most every weekend. Will keep you posted on the purchase experience, and updates as the miles accumulate. Any advise will be appreaciated.
By the way some other 2k OB owners who have this option were under the mistaken assumption that the dealer was replacing these as part of the oil change. They dont and dont like to because it takes quite a bit of time. Its not even included as part of the 30k interval in most cases. I know one person who has never changed it (35k). If you have this option the filter should be changed about 2 times a year or every 7500miles. If you look at the filter after 7500 miles you will know why it needs to be changed then....its almost black.
Its one of the worst designs, if not the worst, I have ever seen. There are plenty of other places it could have been mounted.....still dont know what they were thinking.
-mort
The 2001 OB frequently sqeaks when you back out in the morning. Ours does every morning, but it's the only time it does. Has to do with the composition of the brake pads. If you can live with it, you'll have longer-lasting brakes. (paraphrase of what Patti @ SOA told me)
FWIW, Theo in Colorado
Isn't that ironic? MSN (Microsoft, the ISP) must know something that Microsoft (the developers) doesn't.
..Mike in MD
..Mike
With the advice and pictures provided by Brian, and some advice from Dave Chen, the total process of installing the filters and reassembly required appox 50 minutes (this was my first time). I found it a relatively easy task. My first set of filters are due for a change in about 3 weeks. I will post what I find.
Brian's advice:
" It took me about 1.5 hrs. Two things slowed me down. One was the glovebox wiring harness connector which I found very awkward to disconnect and reconnect. The wiring harness has no slack and the glovebox hangs on it when you undo the screws. I thought the weight might damage the wiring so supported the assembly with one hand while fiddling with the connector with the other. But the connector has a latch which means you really need two hands to undo it. The second was removing pine needles that stuck to the rubber surround.
Tips:
Before you do anything use a small crosshead screwdriver to remove the plastic "screw" at the front of the console side panel. You can't get at this easily if you follow Subaru's sequence.
When you remove the console side panel pull the back off last; there is a tab which goes under the back part of the console. After removing the panel another glovebox holding screw is revealed which you must undo as well.
To disconnect the glovebox wiring harness squeeze the white tab. Support the dangling glovebox on something to take the strain off the wires and allow you to use two hands to disconnect the harness.
When removing the glovebox knock pins use a flat bladed screwdriver to push in the locking tabs on both sides of each knock pin (I don't know how long these would stand up to annual removal).
Vacuum out the opening for the filters before you install them. The instructions say put in the upper filter first, but it won't stay in place while you put in the lower one so you have to hold it while making sure the tongues and grooves on the filters mate properly as you slide in the lower one.
Don't forget to replace the console side panel "screw" last (just pushes in)."
Also from Dave Chen:
"...takes 10-20 minutes & needs to be replaced
every year (though this seems arbitrary). You have
to remove the trim panel by the passenger's left
foot (2-3 screws), and the glove box (6 screws?),
and a plastic duct cover (2 snap clips). The
tricky part is, you have to remove the two posts
that give the glovebox its 'snap open' feel. This
appeared to be nearly impossible without a special
tool, so you instead have to push/bend the sides of
the glovebox inwards so the posts will clear the
tracks that they glide in.
Also, the two filters aren't held snugly when you
slide them in...they don't click neatly into place.
Neat feature overall, but obviously designed-in as
an afterthought."
For the pictures, go to:
http://albums.photopoint.com/j/AlbumIndex?u=1187271&a=8744610
Hope this helps. Cheers.
Now, a year later I have to replace them again. But the two dealers I have tried do not have them in stock so they are coming next weekend...from Ontario!
Rob: I think dealers are getting a fix for the brakes that squeek. Ask your dealer if they know about it yet.
Changing the HVAC filters on the Forester is easier. Just two screws, and you don't even touch the glove box. Also, it only uses one filter.
-juice
Includes both hitch and skid plate install.
-juice
Depending on your driving style that interval can shrink to about half as long for oil changes.
-juice
The Outback also gets a 4.11 final drive ratio, so the shorter gearing makes it a little friskier off the line. It would also help you in towing.
The seats go from cloth to heated leather, though they are shaped similarly. Try it to see if you feel comfy, my dad's are great!
I like the L a lot, and the OBLtd is just more of a good thing, IMO.
-juice