Subarus - are they any better these days??

[trd_chik]

subbie=shitty

[scope]

i never knew they were this bad

[Mr. Mainstream]

ive owned 4 subarus and there were all great cars i thought, well except my 91 wag with wrx engine that the crank fell out driving

[Emperor]

Regard to Leon's understeer comment.. My Forester is the hell oversteer machine..

But maybe try driving a RA with the quick steering rack.. Like a go kart mate

[flygt4]

pretty much every 4wd car I've been in has had loads of understeer on corner entry,subarus aren't alone there. they just sit on that outside shock and keep going straight when you push them in.only the very late model 4wd's seem to fare quite a bit better.

Oversteer on corner exit is easy to achieve in any moderately powered 4wd car anyway.

[touge rolla]

I have to give them some respect for how long an RS Legacy (one of the old ones) lasted in the hands of a friend of mine who is a notorious car killer.
19psi, constant thrashing, flatshifting (he could usually beat earlier STi's just through savage launches and gearshifting) It withstood this for about a month.
Then one night whilst just driving normally it stopped running so well. Closer inspection showed that water was coming out of the b.o.v lol
Tried to drive it from Christchurch back to Akaroa but it died on the way.
So they towed it. Next day it started but was only running on 2 cylinders. Which was enough for him to thrash it in a paddock for a couple of hours before it cracked the blocks completely and caught fire.

[Lloyd]

Some good buys out there in the $9000 - $12,000 range for 1999 Models.

There a fair few twin turbo B4s coming up with reasonable kms on (140ish) for around the 7-8k mark now. They're getting pretty cheap

[B1NZ]

So far I've noticed a few things with Subaru's if you want them to be reliable:

Buy the single turbo models, they seem to not explode as much, Keep it stock, or if you mod it do it properly.
Keep an eye on the coolant system and oil levels (as per any other car) but Subarus die easily if something is wrong with the cooling system.
Don't let idiots drive/own them, If you look after them and service them properly they are no worse than any other 4WD turbo car, They are never going to be as reliable as a Corolla, but if you look after them you should get years of fun out of them.


I own a 97 V4 STI impreza, Things needed doing since I've owned it:

New cambelt. = $600ish

Although it had rocker cover seals and top tanks on radiator replaced at the yard I purchased it from

[RS13]

Best. Subaru. Ever. Apologies to those who have already seen this.

http://videos.streetfire.net/video/TIME ... 193091.htm

Sure makes me want to buy one!

[no_8wire]

How many of those who are saying Subaru suck have actually owned one and not just my mates mate etc?

Parents have had a turbo B4 in the family for a while, the older 2001 model and now the 2006. Their car always runs sweet, no problems at all.

So much so I got myself a 2000 b4, manual, turbo, with 130 on the clock. in the time I have had it no problems so far.

You really have got to wonder, if instead of Subaru not been good, if it is the drivers themselves that suck, not only in driving but also in maintaining their cars?

[Dell'Orto]

How many of those who are saying Subaru suck have actually owned one and not just my mates mate etc?

It would appear most that are saing they're bad are in one way or another in the automotive trade

You really have got to wonder, if instead of Subaru not been good, if it is the drivers themselves that suck, not only in driving but also in maintaining their cars?

If thats the case, you'd think Evo's would also have the same issues, given they attract the same kind of owner

[Leon]

How many of those who are saying Subaru suck have actually owned one

I owned an Sti, and didn't say it sucked. I just said it was suitable only for folk with large amounts of disposable income

[no_8wire]

It would appear most that are saing they're bad are in one way or another in the automotive trade

In that case you would think they would be raving about them. I mean you dont bite the hand that feeds you!


But seriously, I do think a lot of it is the owners. And there are a lot more B4 legacys on the roads than evos, at least in Auckland anyway, so the amount that need to be fixed you would expect to be higher.

Any turbo car is going to need more maintaining than a NA, just one of those things. Its when you fail to maintain them that things go horribly wrong. (same as most turbo cars)

[johndoe1025]

But seriously, I do think a lot of it is the owners. And there are a lot more B4 legacys on the roads than evos, at least in Auckland anyway, so the amount that need to be fixed you would expect to be higher.

the amount of subarus, turbo and non turbo, auto and manual, low k and high k that we have to repair at work is vastly greater than any other car. youd think that because so many people have corollas (one of the most popular cars in the world aint it?) that we'd get a lot of them in too, cause they get a hard life too some of them, but we barely see any.

[rollaholic]

we see heaps of corollas at my work. oil, filter, out the door!

subarus on the other hand - its fine to say you have to look after turbo cars more religiously - but honestly turbo or otherwise doesnt make a difference - they all have the same problems, you can blame owners all you like but in my experience the cost of maintaining a subaru is on average significantly higher than any other japanese manufacturer.

which by me is fine - as mentioned above, hand that feeds - and they are alot easier to work on than most euro stuff which seems to need similar levels of attention.

as the head mechanic told me when i first started in the industry, subaru know they build shit boxes so the cars are designed for ease of engine removal!

[repowered]

I have to give them some respect for how long an RS Legacy (one of the old ones) lasted in the hands of a friend of mine who is a notorious car killer.
19psi, constant thrashing, flatshifting (he could usually beat earlier STi's just through savage launches and gearshifting) It withstood this for about a month.
Then one night whilst just driving normally it stopped running so well. Closer inspection showed that water was coming out of the b.o.v lol
Tried to drive it from Christchurch back to Akaroa but it died on the way.
So they towed it. Next day it started but was only running on 2 cylinders. Which was enough for him to thrash it in a paddock for a couple of hours before it cracked the blocks completely and caught fire.

lol! ...hate car killers

[Zitchu]

Best. Subaru. Ever. Apologies to those who have already seen this.

http://videos.streetfire.net/video/TIME ... 193091.htm

Sure makes me want to buy one!

Well that redeems anything wrong with them methinks

[skoty]

Well, a few of these comments are a little unfair. Sure you get some Subarus that blow up in no time at all, but I ask you, how did these people service it back in Japan? Probably not very well, and as soon as they got sick of it, they flicked it off to the auction houses for unlucky sods (like us) to buy.

But same applies with any other vehicle that comes out of Japan with it don't you think? Do Subarus get treated worse/serviced & maintained less than say a Toyota or Nissan? Yet they still go the distance.

We have pretty much established that the build quality is a lot less than other car manurfactures but thats not to say Subaru still has some positive points

[Emperor]

^ Agree to a point... However I think it does depend on how the Japan owner treated it.

Example - My RX7 came in with just shy of 60,000km, and all it had done to it was enkei mags and momo wheel. And it had blown apex seals and one of the turbos completely seized

[Lloyd]

F*ck yeah: http://videos.streetfire.net/video/Ken- ... 198783.htm