Any Subaru guys out there?

That’s interesting, I had a catch can but had never heard of one that recirculated, makes total sense. It’s funny you mentioned your build exceeding daily drivability. One of my good friends is approaching this with his, engine out, full build, Audi A3 Quattro. Looks bone stock on the outside, hurts some Murcielago feelings. I have always thought of Subaru to be a very reliable well built brand.
 
2013 Legacy Leather interior sunroof alloy rims, 2.5 engine with CVT nice riding car
 
Managed to get a couple pics of my Subaru.

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We're got 3 of them in the family.
A 2003 Legacy Sedan, a 2006 Legacy Wagon, and a 2008 Legacy Wagon.
The sedan has around 100k miles / 150kms on it, and the wagons both have about
140k miles / 200k kms.
The sedan is showing it's years, but the Legacy wagons bloody amazing. They both
drive/ride like a car with 30k miles on it.
I'll only buy Subarus. I buy then lightly used.

Dave
 
I literally bought that car to go with a set of wheels that were a good price on craigslist. Not those, but some aftermarket ASAs

I ended up putting snow tires on the black wheels.

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Late to the party here: as regards the head gasket failures I have seen arguments for and against the 6 cylinder engines having fewer, or no, failures compared to the 4 cylinder engines.

https://carfromjapan.com/article/industry-knowledge/the-history-of-subaru-head-gasket-problem/

According to this webpage, the problem was pretty widespread: but I don't find any mention of the 4 cylinder vs. 6 cylinder question:

Subaru Head Gasket Problem: When Did It Start?
The models that have this failed gasket problem are:
Impreza (from 1999 to 2011)
Forester (from 1999 to 2010)
Legacy (from 2000 to 2009)
Outback (from 2000 to 2009)
Baja (from 2003 to 2006)
If you consider the Subaru head gasket years, you can pinpoint the problem to distinct groups of production years.
The Group 1 or first generation models include Impreza, Forrester, Legacy G.T., and Outback between 1996 and 1999. These cars face the problem of an internal leak in the head gasket that causes the engine to overheat.




Anyone here know more?

Thanks
 
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I've only heard of major head gasket issues on the 99-2001 or so EJ25 naturally aspirated 4cyl motors. The turbos have beefier gaskets, the old 2.2s are bombproof and the newer motors got a redesign to fix the gasket issues.
 
I have 2 legacy wagons, a 2006 and a 2008, both with 200,000 kms on them. (130,000 miles). (And btw, I ****ing hate the metric system).
Anyhoo, I just always figured that all the flat fours had the dripping bottom side of the head gasket issue, with a $2000 head job at 100,000 miles. I thot of it as a small price to pay for an efficient engine with a nice low roll center. And I plan to have both of these vehicles till around 200,000 miles.
My cars are certainly fuel injected, and post 2001. But I'm very glad to hear that they have found a way around the issue on the newer engines.
Happy motoring.

Dave
 
I've never owned a Subaru but I'm pretty sure every single one of my buddies has. Friend of mine that lives up the street has owned them since the early 90s. I don't think he ever had the blown head issue although he was fully aware of it, didn't keep him away from the brand. But--he DID buy one of those 2012 Impreza Sports with the excessive oil consumption, that Subaru basically shrugged off until a class action lawsuit forced their hand:

https://www.classlawgroup.com/subaru-oil-consumption-class-action-lawsuit/

He had complained to the dealership about it and they said it was "within acceptable limits." It was total BS so he got rid of it and got a Honda CR-V then a Honda Fit both of which had issues of their own, so he went right back to Subaru- he now has a 2016 Forester and his wife has a 2013 Crosstrek.

Buddy of mine way back in the 80s had an 85 (I think) GL wagon, that little thing was awesome. Also liked the old Brats from that era.

But if had a blast from the past Subie to choose it would be the almost forgotten Subaru SVX. :biggrin:

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I've only heard of major head gasket issues on the 99-2001 or so EJ25 naturally aspirated 4cyl motors. The turbos have beefier gaskets, the old 2.2s are bombproof and the newer motors got a redesign to fix the gasket issues.

If only they had kept the aircooled design from the company they "borrowed" the flat 4 boxer engine from :D
 
Did a lot of 4-wheeling in my '87 GL wagon with the hi/low gear box..so much fun to be out there with the wranglers and such :) and being out there at 14k on some of colordo's peaks was incredible...
 
My wife drives a LOT of miles for her job. She has a three year old Honda HRV that will roll over 100K this month. That vehicle is the 7th new Honda that we have purchased for our family since 2000. It has been an excellent, trouble free vehicle the entire time. Our Honda dealership changed ownership last year and the transition has not gone well. The previous owners set the bar real high for customer service. The new owners don’t seem to understand the concept. That has us back on the market for another brand of vehicle. To get to the point, my wife is close to ordering a Subaru Forester Touring model. We just learned that Subaru no longer offers the Forester in a 6-cylinder or a 4-cylinder turbo. For those that have experience with the Forester, does the base 4-cylinder model, now the only engine available, provide enough power to navigate the hills of Pennsylvania? Is it quick enough to keep up with the “big dogs” on the interstates? As nice as it would be, we really don’t need it to be able to keep pace with the hot rod WRX, but we also don’t want to be struggling to keep pace with traffic on the interstate, especially when we encounter the many mountains that we traverse every day.

Your thoughts?
 
They're not fast, but Subaru's CVT does a good job of making the most of their limited power and getting more than decent highway mileage out of an all the time AWD car. I wouldn't be concerned for daily driving.
 
Owned 2... a 2004 Outback Limited a family member totaled 2 years ago... At the time of the accident it had over 180k miles and they walked away from it without a scratch. We have another 2012 outback and its the preverbial energizer bunny, keep going and going...
 
My wife drives a LOT of miles for her job. She has a three year old Honda HRV that will roll over 100K this month. That vehicle is the 7th new Honda that we have purchased for our family since 2000. It has been an excellent, trouble free vehicle the entire time. Our Honda dealership changed ownership last year and the transition has not gone well. The previous owners set the bar real high for customer service. The new owners don’t seem to understand the concept. That has us back on the market for another brand of vehicle. To get to the point, my wife is close to ordering a Subaru Forester Touring model. We just learned that Subaru no longer offers the Forester in a 6-cylinder or a 4-cylinder turbo. For those that have experience with the Forester, does the base 4-cylinder model, now the only engine available, provide enough power to navigate the hills of Pennsylvania? Is it quick enough to keep up with the “big dogs” on the interstates? As nice as it would be, we really don’t need it to be able to keep pace with the hot rod WRX, but we also don’t want to be struggling to keep pace with traffic on the interstate, especially when we encounter the many mountains that we traverse every day.

Your thoughts?

wouldn't worry at all....
 
The basic flat four puts out 170 bhp, and its always been plenty of power for my sporty driving. We've been driving subarus for 10 years now. I find their style and accessories to be a bit utilitarian, and I like that.

Dave
 
My sister bought a new Forester in 2016. It has the CVT.

She has 150K miles on it now, without any problems. I like the way it drives, and it has the best brakes of any vehicle I've ever driven. I had to do a hard stop to avoid hitting a deer. I was going about 70 mph when the deer came through the ditch from the right. I swear it went from 70 down to 30 mph in about a 50 foot distance.

I don't much care for the styling, or the interior, but it's functional.
 
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