Subaru Automobiles

[nybirdman]

I owned three Subaru's with good luck;in the family now are a 2019,2022 and a 2023(daughter and granddaughters).Wife liked the new Acadia's better or we would still own one.

 

[California]

Minor news, I posted in the EV thread that squirrels ate the wiring in the Focus Wagon. Today I picked it up repaired, and asked what this Subaru/Tesla/Audi specialty shop would charge to replace the spark plugs in my '99 Outback.

Last time the OB's plugs were replaced, I watched the tech with some magic extensions do the project in 45 minutes.

Today this specialty shop quoted me $450 to do the plugs.

Uh no thanks. I'll shop around. Maybe buy $100 of extensions, and/or bend some cheap HF tools to get in there.

 

[Racenut]

I did the plugs in my WRX with basic home garage tools. But, it involved pulling the battery, the air intake and unbolting the motor motor mounts and jacking the engine up a few inches. And I had 2 friends to help. EASY PEASY

Me and my son doing a Subaru spark plug change for the FRS.

I don't understand all the complaints about changing Subaru spark plugs

 

[DKCDKC]

Had a 2015 Outback for years - loved it - but it was t-boned by a careless driver and totalled. I switched to a 2021 Forester Touring. We generally loved Subaru because of the snow performance and ground clearance - we live at the end of a mile-long gravel drive through a forest. We went with the Touring because it had something my height-challenged bride really wanted - a passenger seat that went up and down. So the car came with all the extras. Love the transmission. This car goes through snow (up to 9 inches) and on ice better than my 4WD F150 - which is important on some really steep curves on our driveway. We routinely slide some with past cars and trucks - never with the Subaru.
I like the adaptive cruise control and use it a lot - with a fairly long following distance. I'm an old guy now and just never drive in a rush - so it is great. The lane centering is handy really only on mostly open roads when I want to take a sip of coffee or open a snack. I never take both hands off the wheel, but it is great and avoiding inadvertent steering. My only real gripe is the system that watches the driver's face and warns him to pay attention. I am blind in one eye and that eye is smaller. The car cannot recognize me and is constantly telling me to stay awake. Subaru tells me that they cannot turn off that feature or adjust it to recognize my eye - so I have to turn it off every time I get in the car.
Otherwise the car is well made and easy to maintain. Mileage is great and the turning off the engine at lights doesn't seem to hurt anything - and I've adjusted to it without angst. My area has a lot of farmers and a lot of retirees - and, consequently, a lot of Subarus. You can see a half dozen side-by-side in parking lots all the time.

 

[westcliffe01]

I own a 2009 Forester. The VW beetle equivalent, it has virtually no options at all. Manual transmission. The clutch bearing went out at 114k miles. Its a pretty serious repair. They suggest the transmission has to come out, which would mean pulling the front suspension to remove the drive shafts, remove the exhaust (not gonna happen on a Michigan vehicle unless its with a sawzall) and then remove the transmission itself. I elected to do the job the other way around by removing the engine, still a bear of a job. Of course the last nut that goes on the stud adjacent to the inner CV joints stripped and I had to cut off the stud with an angle grinder. Massive rip off getting new fasteners from the dealer, like $7 per fastener... Best part is that the new clutch bearing is just as junk as the old one, no seals on it whatsoever, stamped races instead of machined ones. Never seen anything so bad in my life. No doubt it will be finished in another 100k miles... Otherwise it has been a pretty reliable vehicle. Mine is the first production year of the newer model, it has rear suspension issues that means it wanders badly in a crosswind, makes it very tiring to drive long distances (I had a weekly 5 hour 1 way commute to Dayton OH, so I did that a lot). There is supposedly a fix for that, but no doubt pretty expensive. The Audi A6 I had prior, bought as a 3 year old car was a much better car in every possible way. This will be my last.

 

[MossRoad]

Minor news, I posted in the EV thread that squirrels ate the wiring in the Focus Wagon. Today I picked it up repaired, and asked what this Subaru/Tesla/Audi specialty shop would charge to replace the spark plugs in my '99 Outback.

Last time the OB's plugs were replaced, I watched the tech with some magic extensions do the project in 45 minutes.

Today this specialty shop quoted me $450 to do the plugs.

Uh no thanks. I'll shop around. Maybe buy $100 of extensions, and/or bend some cheap HF tools to get in there.

YIKES!

 

[MossRoad]

I did the plugs in my WRX with basic home garage tools. But, it involved pulling the battery, the air intake and unbolting the motor motor mounts and jacking the engine up a few inches. And I had 2 friends to help. EASY PEASY

Me and my son doing a Subaru spark plug change for the FRS.
View attachment 789630

I don't understand all the complaints about changing Subaru spark plugs

YIKES! YIKES!

 

[MossRoad]

Had a 2015 Outback for years - loved it - but it was t-boned by a careless driver and totalled. I switched to a 2021 Forester Touring. We generally loved Subaru because of the snow performance and ground clearance - we live at the end of a mile-long gravel drive through a forest. We went with the Touring because it had something my height-challenged bride really wanted - a passenger seat that went up and down. So the car came with all the extras. Love the transmission. This car goes through snow (up to 9 inches) and on ice better than my 4WD F150 - which is important on some really steep curves on our driveway. We routinely slide some with past cars and trucks - never with the Subaru.
I like the adaptive cruise control and use it a lot - with a fairly long following distance. I'm an old guy now and just never drive in a rush - so it is great. The lane centering is handy really only on mostly open roads when I want to take a sip of coffee or open a snack. I never take both hands off the wheel, but it is great and avoiding inadvertent steering. My only real gripe is the system that watches the driver's face and warns him to pay attention. I am blind in one eye and that eye is smaller. The car cannot recognize me and is constantly telling me to stay awake. Subaru tells me that they cannot turn off that feature or adjust it to recognize my eye - so I have to turn it off every time I get in the car.
Otherwise the car is well made and easy to maintain. Mileage is great and the turning off the engine at lights doesn't seem to hurt anything - and I've adjusted to it without angst. My area has a lot of farmers and a lot of retirees - and, consequently, a lot of Subarus. You can see a half dozen side-by-side in parking lots all the time.

I'm noticing a lot of Outback's in parking lots. A lot! More than I noticed before. All kinds of nice colors. I pointed out half a dozen to my wife yesterday. Every parking lot we pulled into. Crazy.

 

[BadDecisions]

Minor news, I posted in the EV thread that squirrels ate the wiring in the Focus Wagon.

Similar happened to my Volt, except that it appeared to be rodents. 15 other vehicles parked here, never a problem with the vermin..until I brought home the "green" car. Seems to be a common problem across the board as they all use veggie oil based wiring insulation, and Toyota even ended up with a class action lawsuit against them because of it.

Dealer tried to convince me to buy a new Volt...instead they got to buy it back from me, and I still consider that to be the best $1800 loss I ever took on a car...god, I hated that thing, lol.

 

[Pixguy]

I bought an Outback back in 17 for a work vehicle. It's a great vehicle for mileage, 35mpg in summer, 29 in winter and when I threw on studded tires, that thing can go anywhere. 105k now.