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We love our Subaru. Frankly, other than the belt, plugs and a relay it has been trouble free for 110,000 miles. It is a great get around car with 7 passenger seating that does as well in the mountains on dirt/mud roads as it does in cities. We think we will always have a Subaru from now on.
As I was resting during changing the plugs, I was admiring how everything was pinned down, routed well and most parts said Denso on them. They are not for everyone and if I had to work on it a lot, I would have a different perspective I am sure.
As long as it is good to us though, we will appreciate it and do what we can to take care of it so it takes care of us.
We have a Kia Soul that mirrors these sentiments. 85k trouble free miles and it's great for a smaller car. It only seats 5, but it is a great grocery getter and daytripper.
Those Boxer engines are ok but suffer from head gasket problems, specially the turbo models.
I had not heard that or seen that, thankfully. We got turned into Subaru about 9 years ago due to their build quality and my wife's family has several with 100's of thousands of miles.
We are grateful that our Tribeca has been rock solid and been cross country twice. It has been through grass up to the windows, mud up to the doors and through ditches filled with snow. It works very well for us and our lifestyle, but they are not for everyone.
Those Boxer engines are ok but suffer from head gasket problems, specially the turbo models.
‘Subaru had that issue in the 90’s but they’ve since dealt with it. I have an 07 Outback I bought after the PO failed check the oil, a small Subaru shop completely rebuilt the engine, new turbo, I paid $6500 OTD. It’s been flawless as a DD and an absolute beast in the snow.
I over generalised, most were boosted STI's with crazy dudes driving them and yes those 2.5 liked to blow head gaskets fast as hell tho, even got raped by one driving my 450hp avatar.
Those Boxer engines are ok but suffer from head gasket problems, specially the turbo models.
We lived with that issue in my son's '06 Outback. Apparently, it was '09 before Subaru got the head gasket issue resolved with a better metallic gasket. However, having the thermostat at the bottom of the engine also makes it super easy to have trapped air in the system, and burping it is more of a repeated activity over time as opposed to simply starting it up, getting it warm, and burping it once and done.
My wife got the last new-to-us vehicle. We were looking around and came across a Jeep Liberty. She instantly fell in love with it and wanted it. I did a little research (never considered a Jeep before) and then bought it.
It has been very reliable and has never spent the night in a shop.
In five years the only repair I did was this past weekend when I replaced the water pump and coolant temp sensor. Other than that it's been normal wear items (tires) and regularly scheduled fluid changes, along with one brake job (new pads and rotors all the way around). It's been surprsingly trouble-free {knock on wood} and she loves that thing just as much today as the day she got it.
To this day, though, I still get the "your Liberty isn't really a Jeep" comments and have never received a Jeep wave , although most give up the explanation when I tell them it's my wife's vehicle .
Since we're talking cars, I'm shopping for my wife too. Our '02 Sequoia is ready to move on. I'm still working on replacing the waterpump and hoping that gets it running.
List of potential replacements in no particular order:
Toyota Sequoia(our '02 had a serious design flaw with the rear hatch/handle. Hopefully they've fixed that)
Toyota Landcruiser
Audi Q7
Infinity QX80
Subaru Ascent
Anyone have experience with the above? We're shopping used in the 2014-2018 range.
That is one nice barn Zach!! Coming along. I'd give input on the car front, but I have no experience with any of those. have you checked pout Kia's bigger SUVs? They make a great car for an affordable price and good warranty.
That is one nice barn Zach!! Coming along. I'd give input on the car front, but I have no experience with any of those. have you checked pout Kia's bigger SUVs? They make a great car for an affordable price and good warranty.
Hadn't looked at the Kia's, but looks like the Sorento is the only one that might fit the criteria. I'll see what she thinks.
Zach,
The Infinity and Audi are going to be very expensive to repair down the road. A guy I work with drives an Audi A7 great car but damn the repair costs are ridiculous. I don’t think you can go wrong with a Toyota, Subaru or even the Kia.
Since we're talking cars .... I'm still working on replacing the water pump and hoping that gets it running.
Just did the timing belt and water pump in my son's '04 Tundra 4.7 this past weekend. Talk about an involved front end tear down to get to the belt and pump.... Geeesh! Since he was wanting learn as we went, and do the work himself, it took us two days to get it all done.
Don't have any experience with the other vehicles you mentioned, but my wife's '10 Lexus RX450h is the quietest and most comfortable vehicle I've ever owned.
I have to echo what John said about the Audi and Infiniti. I owned an Audi S4 from new and sold it shortly after it needing brake pads. There were a few other reasons why it had to move on.
Toyota and Subaru get my vote.
That new 2.4 engine in the Ascent is what Subaru will be putting into a lot of their vehicles in the coming years. It is very responsive with the small turbo, but small enough to get decent, mileage. The Outback with the new 2.4 turbo is going to be our next vehicle.
Fortunately I believe many car makers are going back to timing chains. Apparently the newer Subaru's are one of them. The earlier year models were belts and a PITA. My '08 4-Runner has a timing chain as well and I won't own a vehicle that needs to have a belt changed on a regular basis. Been there done that, with an "interference" designed valve train. Don't need any pucker factor on a regular basis!
We have a 2001 Subaru Forester, and yep the head gaskets leaked coolant. That generation they all need head gaskets eventually. As I understand it the gasket material was a poor choice, unable to cope with constant oil or coolant contact, I forget which. Mechanic charged $1400 two years ago, and for that price I was glad to let a pro do it. I did plugs, wires and coil a couple months ago, super easy and accessible. Need a bit of hose on the plugs to get them started down into their holes. Restored the power at the top end but it's still a slug. I checked with a tuner and he claimed 10% more hp, but he did not do transmission tuning. Which is what I really wanted since the shifts are slow and not at all calibrated for sporting purposes. 2.5 liter normally aspirated flat 4. Put on 07 Forester alloys so I could fit the larger 07 brakes and rotors and wider tires. Handles and brakes like a champ but the excitement ends there. 238k trouble free miles on it.
My cousin just bought a 2019 Subaru Ascent, very nice car. Gee whiz gadgetry everywhere. Biggest surprise for me was the huge interior. 4 of us and our luggage went up to Napa for a wine tasting weekend and we were all comfortable. Visited some family there, the heathens were tossing out some nice old JBL speakers so I called dibs and chucked them in the back of the Ascent. Good power too, 260 hp from turbo 4 with intercooler, can tow 5k. If it is anywhere near as reliable as our Forester it'll be a great car. But it is a first year model and I prefer later years, give the factory some time to work out the inevitable bugs in the design.
We were really looking forward to the Ascent coming out since it is the "replacement" for the 08 Tribeca that we have and love. We feel the Ascent is just a touch too big for us, but are looking forward to that engine/turbo to be in the newer models. The current Outback is more in line with our 08 Tribeca and what we will probably upgrade to.
The adaptive cruise control is one of the features I am looking forward to the most. Will make my wife's job of following the camper so much easier.
01-14-2019, 07:59 PM
, although most give up the explanation when I tell them it's my wife's vehicle 
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