[rasterman]

I joined this board not because I love Subarus but because I hate them.

I have owned one Subaru in my life, a 2003 Outback Legacy wagon 2.5 4 cyclinder and it was nothing but a money pit.

I joined because I'd like to honestly share my experience as a Subaru owner with others and inform them of the better, more cost effective options there are.

I hope this will be allowed and that this is not just a rah rah Subaru's are the best cheerleading site.

This would make sense if you were in the business of selling non-Subaru cars over the Internet. But I take it you aren't doing that.... so what do you actually get out of the effort?

I would agree with you that it is unfortunate to have any car turn into a money pit, but unless you can contribute something positive, it's time to let it go and move on with your life.

If you actually are looking to sell some competing cars over the Internet, I'm sure the autoguide/verticalscope folks (owners of this site) would love to discuss some ad sales with you.

 

[rasterman]

But perhaps my biggest gripe with Subaru is the head gasket issue and how they handled it. Many of you may already know that there was an epidemic of failed head gaskets on certain early to mid 2000 models. The issue was quite clearly their fault but instead of stepping up to the plate to issue a recall they left thousands of customers facing repair bills well in excess of 1000 - 1500 dollars. I have NEVER had to replace a head gasket on any Honda or Toyota I have owned much less replace it at 80K miles.

I'll be the first to agree that the head gasket situation is nuts. I bought a '98 2.5 for cheap money back in 2006. A year and a half later the HGs were leaking and I was shelling out to get it fixed. I'd gone into it completely uneducated, and got burned in the process. I have no problem owning that mistake. The issue was known and documented on this and other websites by that time, but I'd never bothered to look. After I fixed it, I drove it a few more years and decided I wanted a newer car. I still liked Subarus enough to look for another, but I learned from my mistake and made sure I picked a model not affected by HG trouble.

Every week I see a few posts from somebody new who maxed out their budget to buy a 2.5L Subaru with 110k miles, no maintenance records, no pre-purchase inspection by a qualified mechanic, bought it because "they heard Subarus were good" and zero research done.

If I had a dollar for each of those posts, I'd probably be driving a Bugatti.

Successfully owning a used car for cheap without the safety net of a warranty requires general knowledge, specific information and the kind of judgement that comes from experience.

 

[rasterman]

I bought the car because of the rabid following thinking there must be something special about Subarus.

Well there's your mistake... you bought it without understanding why.

At least you figured that out. Live and learn!

 

[rasterman]

I know how many of you on here love your Suabrus. That's great for you and I'm happy for you. However the point of me starting this thread was that I have owned many different Hondas and Toyotas and not a single one of them cost me as much to maintain as the one Subaru I have owned. Not even close. So to me Subaru is not a good value.

 

[rasterman]

The TONE of your posts is the problem, not the topic.

Considering what is posted so far... I think people here are quite civil. Nice to see actually.

I agree wholeheartedly.

It's one thing to put up a thread that says "Hey, I got hosed and here's how you can avoid my mistakes" and it's something else entirely to be the wild-eyed guy in the corner muttering "I'll make them understand... I'll make them understaaand..."

I can't credit(blame) the OP for hitting either of these extremes, thus the ball is in play. We can turn this thread into an education for new buyers of used Subarus, or it can go to thermonuclear poo flinging.

Many of us know that there are a fair number of EJ25-powered Outbacks on the used-car market with bad head gaskets.

We also know that a lot of Subaru's reputation for reliability came from the previous generation of EJ22-powered cars. Buyers hear great things about the old ones and think the same properties apply to the newer ones. This website is one of the few ways we can educate potential buyers.

Having gone through the head gasket surprise on a '98 myself, I'd love to help people avoid going through the same. We have lots of posts on this board that get the message out, but can we be doing more?