A youngster I know was given a 99 Subaru Forester by an older relative 2 years ago. They didn't drive it a lot, and he just now drove it over the 100,000 mark. Then, it started smoking a lot. He took it in and it needs head gaskets, exhaust, boots, rust repair, etc. Needless to say, it costs more than it's worth.

So, I went online to Mr. Google, and there are way more than average unhappy drivers out there, using language that gets censored here. (I know from my plumbing post)

Are Subarus crap? I wonder if there's a cheap band-aid fix so he can sell it.

Sounds like he blew a head gasket (all cars are prone to this under certain conditions, not a sign of a bad car) and then they smelled a sucker.
Subarus are notorious for lasting "forever."

That year of Subaru had known issues with head gaskets. At the time, some people were able to get Subaru to pay for the repairs. But that period is long past. Pretty much every 2.5L engine Subaru made for a few years has this issue. Yes, all cars can have this issue, but this was a major issue with Subaru.

I bought one of the affected cars new. They dealt with it by telling all owners of the problem, and then saying they needed to put a special conditioner in the oil. The first treatment was free, but every additional treatment was something like $50 and only available from the dealer. It needed to be done every 5k miles. If they had repaired all of the engines, they probably would have gone out of business.

There are other threads here about this as well.

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They're really popular in New Hampshire. It's not uncommon for a owner of a pre-2003 to have one or two up on blocks in the back yard to cannibalize for parts.
Like many did with old VW bugs ( or at least had a spare engine in the garage ready to go ).

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I don't know about new ones, but pre-2000 era Subaru's rusted away if you even thought about driving into Pennsylvania. I never saw a functioning Subaru until moved away to the Pacific Northwest. almost EVERYONE has a Subaru around here, and they last a long time. Having said that, around '97-2001 era the head gaskets had a known flaw. Every person I knew with one from that era met the same fate. Outbacks, Foresters, all of them blew up. I think the newer models last longer.

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Just last week I traded in my '06 Forester with 219k miles. Maybe I was lucky, but I never had the notorious head gasket problem. I had it long enough to have to do two timing belt jobs (newer ones have a timing chain), the usual brakes and other routine maintenance. Frankly, the only reason I traded it in is that I probably wouldn't have passed inspection without replacing the catalytic converter. That would have been more money than I could justify spending on an otherwise dependable car with that many miles.

Let's just say it didn't owe me anything.

Most failures were 94-03. That said, while I was just digging for the numbers, I read some reports of there still being significant issues for 03-09. Subaru acknowledge the issue in 2003, IIRC.

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I think people confuse "run forever" with "requires no repairs." Then those same people get crabby when something breaks that needs to be fixed. The engine/transmission/driveline will run for 300k plus miles easily without a catastrophic hard part failure. That doesn't mean that you won't have to replace gaskets, pumps, or other parts along the way. But you won't be replacing major parts unless you neglected maintenance or didn't provide the right amount of care when something went wrong.

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C(-)ris
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I had a 1980s front-wheel-drive Subaru DL (i think that was the model).

It ran great, even when I let the oil get dangerously low. Manual, never got stuck in PA snow.

What killed it? Frame rust.

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I had a 2001 Subaru Forester and while I escaped the dreaded head gasket issue I did get nailed with replacing the rear wheel bearings twice. The inside fixtures were pretty cr@ppy and the plastic was cheap but I loved the way the car handled, especially in the snow and it was pretty zippy for a 4. I kept it 10 yrs and got better than book value when I sold it due to relatively low milage for a Subie.

That being said, I wouldn't by another.

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JoeM

Quote
decay
I had a 1980s front-wheel-drive Subaru DL (i think that was the model).

It ran great, even when I let the oil get dangerously low. Manual, never got stuck in PA snow.

What killed it? Frame rust.

I had a 1981 and a 1987. Most fun I ever had driving was in the '87. It was 4WD, not AWD, and I flew up a mountain highway, speedo usually around 60mph, all drifting around switch backs and every other turn.

If you didn't have a mirror on the passenger side, it was a DL. The DLs also had 1600cc instead of 1800cc motors.

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I picked up a 99' Legacy Outback about 2 years ago for a good price. It was well maintained by the previous owner(s) and drives well now with about 126K miles. There seems to be some kind of intermittent cooling issue but the radiator and head gasket have been pressure checked and have no leaks. Might be a thermostat, might be debris floating in the system, but it drives fine. Even if it goes within the next year or two it will still have been a worthwhile purchase.

I know a lot of folk that swear by their Subies... not at them. An Outback saved my BIL's life when he went into a diabetic coma at 45 mph. He needed a single band-aid. And glucose.. lots of glucose. Just like any vehicle.. maintenance, maintenance, and more maintenance.

I love my '02 Honda civic... just hit 179K miles and I practice the form of maintenance called 'benign neglect'. Rust is getting it, but I expect at least 50K more miles before it falls the rest of the way apart.

Several people at work have them and absolutely love them.

#1. You like your Subaru? Yes, love it. Didn't you get a rear main seal leak on that car? Yes, but it was under warranty. Didn't that car break down when it was -19F in South Dakota, 150 miles from the dealer? Yes, but there was a campaign on the alternator and they paid for the tow.

#2. You like your Subaru? Yes, love it. Didn't the engine blow up with the head gasket thing. Yes, but the new ones don't do that now.

Quote
M A V I C

I bought one of the affected cars new. They dealt with it by telling all owners of the problem, and then saying they needed to put a special conditioner in the oil. The first treatment was free, but every additional treatment was something like $50 and only available from the dealer. It needed to be done every 5k miles. If they had repaired all of the engines, they probably would have gone out of business.

There are other threads here about this as well.

That actually wasn't legal under the Magnuson-Moss act. Wonder why they weren't sued for it. Slam dunk win.

My 2001 Outback just had the gaskets/timing belts replaced right before I got it. 173K, runs great in the snow, went right up the steep alley along my building to the parking lot in 8 inches of snow. And leather seats, uh huh......

Quote
Racer X

Quote
M A V I C

I bought one of the affected cars new. They dealt with it by telling all owners of the problem, and then saying they needed to put a special conditioner in the oil. The first treatment was free, but every additional treatment was something like $50 and only available from the dealer. It needed to be done every 5k miles. If they had repaired all of the engines, they probably would have gone out of business.

There are other threads here about this as well.

That actually wasn't legal under the Magnuson-Moss act. Wonder why they weren't sued for it. Slam dunk win.

It wasn't a warranty thing. They basically just said "hey, we know the engine in the new car you bought is bad. rather than fixing the root issue, you can prolong the life of your car by giving us more money. or you can just let it die prematurely. your choice."

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On our third Subaru. Had one with the head gasket issue, but that was before 99. Current one is a 99 Legacy Wagon, have had about 10 years, bought used. Hoping it will last a few more and expect that it will.

Still have a 1997 Legacy GT.

Got it from a relative with 100K miles, babied it, but still had to have the head gasket replaced at 125K at an out-of-town dealer in 2008.

Fortunately this was up in the mountains where it seems every 5th vehicle is a Subaru, so they did it right with OEM parts.

For $2000 I had the head gasket replaced (including machining), all belts, seals, hoses, water pump/timing belt, radiator, spark plugs/wires, transmission fluid/filter, one half-shaft, plus a loaner for a week.

Now it has 175K & in the interim the largest repair was the other half-shaft.