Subaru???

[TFucili]

The downside, you're not going to get any friendly waves from people driving 4x4's on the back roads. There's a certain stigma that comes with the brand, justified or not.

Having previously owned a couple Volvos, I am familiar with the stigma thing. Honestly, I find Subaru's advertising quite annoying, but it must work for their target audience. It's just a car to me.

 

[Wayne M.]

Indeed their marketing is odd. At the NY intl auto show, all the female and male models looked spectacular, the other reps were in tailored suits. Subaru "folks" were downright frumpy wearing jeans and polos. Quite odd.

 

[jgillott]

Indeed their marketing is odd. At the NY intl auto show, all the female and male models looked spectacular, the other reps were in tailored suits. Subaru "folks" were downright frumpy wearing jeans and polos. Quite odd.

They really try and market to the LL Bean suburban crowd. You know, the types that need to go and experience nature with their designer hiking boots and matching socks.

Needless to say, I'm too old to care about stereotypes. If the vehicle or product fits my needs I go for it, regardless of if I fit their marketing target or not.

 

[TFucili]

They really try and market to the LL Bean suburban crowd. You know, the types that need to go and experience nature with their designer hiking boots and matching socks.

Needless to say, I'm too old to care about stereotypes. If the vehicle or product fits my needs I go for it, regardless of if I fit their marketing target or not.

Exactly!

 

[Bill Lins]

I know the Pentastar, by all accounts, is head and shoulders better than previous V-6s, but I have had such bad luck with every one I have owned-2.8 and 2.9 Ford, 3VZE Toyota, 3.5 Dodge-there may be others, but they are the ones that come to mind.

What kind of problems did you have with the Toyota?

 

[TFucili]

What kind of problems did you have with the Toyota?

All sorts of driveability problems, and the MPG kept dropping to where the Chevy C-30 Rollback with 454 I had was getting better MPG. For real. It also had a serious design issue with the brake system, as in so much front bias that in icy conditions the fronts would lock solid while the rears were still pushing just with the engine idling. I would not let my wife drive it in foul weather, which defeated the whole purpose of owning it. I did make it somewhat better by disconnecting the load sensing link on the rear axle at the axle end, and wiring it up to simulate maximum load at the rear. There were a variety of other issues, as well. Then, the issue the 3VZE was infamous for---blown head gasket---at around 26K miles. My Toyota experience could not have been much worse.

 

[Regcabguy]

My friend's got a dealership for Subaru's. They sell the heck out of them with very high owner satisfaction. I'm 6'4" and fit quite well into the Forester. Really a quick,quiet great handling suv.
Only complaints are the seats for me.

 

[seafish]

I
The downside, you're not going to get any friendly waves from people driving 4x4's on the back roads. There's a certain stigma that comes with the brand, justified or not.

You might have to wait to get the friendly wave until AFTER you pull their truck out of the snow bank or muddle...the Subie AWD is very effective offload and in all sorts of poor conditions. Don't laugh, we pulled a 3/4 ton FORD out once with ours.
Kinda sad we sold the 99 Outback...my neighbor has the same car that has 350k on it.

All that being said, I WISH that Subaru would take the time and trouble to get their Boxer Diesel power plant certified in the states..I DEFINITELY would buy one of those!!!! Its been out not he road since 2008 in other countries and now meets Euro 5 specs but they have given up getting it certified int he US.

https://www.mrtperformance.com.au/r...nder-the-hood-of-subarus-2nd-gen-boxer-diesel

And see it and hear it --

 

[jhenderson]

Europeans use the logical measurement of pollution; amount per miles driven. We use gals burned. Better mileage means less pollution per mile and happy Europeans. But we’re too smart to fall for common sense. That’s why euro diesels don’t make it here. They don’t allow bureaucrats to set scientific benchmarks.

 

[crispyboy]

My sister and a good friend of mine both own late model Subaru’s. Both are getting new short blocks due to failing oil consumption tests to the tune of a quart every 1000 miles or less. Subaru is standing behind the warranty. I would personally have the charger over Subaru. While the Subaru is a nice car it is boring....

 

[sag2]

Since I retired I have attended the Subaru summer workshops for instructors. Their products may not have all the new technology, but they are very simple and reliable. They have donated two WRX cars to the college and several engines and transmissions. So far I'm impressed with them. In August we have this years session and we will be covering the new technology features. Looks like for 2019 they are catching up with the rest of the industry.

 

[TFucili]

Since I retired I have attended the Subaru summer workshops for instructors. Their products may not have all the new technology, but they are very simple and reliable. They have donated two WRX cars to the college and several engines and transmissions. So far I'm impressed with them. In August we have this years session and we will be covering the new technology features. Looks like for 2019 they are catching up with the rest of the industry.

Given your background, I appreciate your opinion, sag2. So, by saying they are catching up I assume that means the nanny functions will be standard?? If so, I better get the boss to decide what she wants before the 18s are gone.

 

[sag2]

Since I retired I have attended the Subaru summer workshops for instructors. Their products may not have all the new technology, but they are very simple and reliable. They have donated two WRX cars to the college and several engines and transmissions. So far I'm impressed with them. In August we have this years session and we will be covering the new technology features. Looks like for 2019 they are catching up with the rest of the industry.

 

[Wayne M.]

sag, during these workshops, was there any hint about commingling technology with Toyota? I went for a Prius refresher, and the instructor dropped hints of this.

 

[jhenderson]

My sister and a good friend of mine both own late model Subaru’s. Both are getting new short blocks due to failing oil consumption tests to the tune of a quart every 1000 miles or less. Subaru is standing behind the warranty. I would personally have the charger over Subaru. While the Subaru is a nice car it is boring....

Ever seen the pistons in a Subaru? It’s no wonder some use oil. The skirts are very short in order to clear the crank at the bottom of the stroke. It’s surprising to me that more don’t have oil consumption or piston noise problems. The ones that do show trouble are a smaller segment of production than I would have thought given the number on the road, compared to the few I’ve seen in my friends machine shop.

 

[TFucili]

The oil consumption issue seems to be a certain range of model years. I assume they were experimenting with ring design, maybe lower tension trying to get .000000000001 MPG more. There are a lot of gas engines running what seem to be impossibly small slipper skirts. Subaru did drag their feet in properly addressing this problem. Having gone through that with Ford on a couple Navijunk 6.9s, I feel for the people stuck with them.

 

[Bill Lins]

Anybody on here have Subaru feedback? MPG is about where we are right now, maybe a hair better, BUT the 2.5 does not feel as snappy as our current Acura. They offer the Boxer 6 but the MPG penalty is quite significant at 5-6 MPG.

Some years back they had major head gasket problems with the fours. Dunno if they ever solved them but the sixes seemed to be much better.