Subaru Recalls 400, 000 Cars, Heres What Happened
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Date: 2019-05-28
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Comments and reviews: 9
Robert Goodman
Hi Scotty, I have a friend who was a former Volvo owner, then moved to 3 Hondas, and now owns a Subaru Legacy. My friend likes the car, a 2011 bought in 2016/2017. The car dealer does write the following on its sales Website: 100% serviced Brand new timing belt, water pump, and head gaskets. 1-YEAR WARRANTY ON THE ENGINE AND 6-MONTH WARRANTY BUMPER-TO-BUMPER. As you know, and the folks at Consumer Reports report the timing belt, water pump, and head gaskets are 3 significant trouble spots on these cars. What advice do you have on how to deliver this kind of buyer beware information and advice to a sensitive friend? Ive always owned Toyotas. I purchased my first 1985 Toyota Camry in 1990 with 135, 000 miles on it. It lasted me 50, 000-some miles and about 6 or 7 years before it went through literally quarts of oil a day until I finally said enough and sold it to a junk dealer. My next Toyota was a 1998 Corolla that lasted me 21 years until it got totaled at the end of this March 2019 with over 206, 000 miles on it. I liked the Toyotas for their incredible reliability. But Id also like to try something new, like a used Suburu Outback or Legacy, perhaps an Impreza or Forester, if only to try something new and see if these cars are as fun to drive as they look. But alas, while people love their Subarus and have great buyer loyalty and have a lot of safety features, they have lousy repair histories compared with most Toyotas that just run fine for 200, 000 miles or more. What advice can you offer on a used Subaru Legacy or Outback, or an Impreza or Forester? What do you think of comparable used Toyota models like the RAV-4? I know you like the Camrys and Corollas. But how about something a bit more sporty and higher off the ground like those Subarus or perhaps another car maker?
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Hi Scotty, I have a friend who was a former Volvo owner, then moved to 3 Hondas, and now owns a Subaru Legacy. My friend likes the car, a 2011 bought in 2016/2017. The car dealer does write the following on its sales Website: 100% serviced Brand new timing belt, water pump, and head gaskets. 1-YEAR WARRANTY ON THE ENGINE AND 6-MONTH WARRANTY BUMPER-TO-BUMPER. As you know, and the folks at Consumer Reports report the timing belt, water pump, and head gaskets are 3 significant trouble spots on these cars. What advice do you have on how to deliver this kind of buyer beware information and advice to a sensitive friend? Ive always owned Toyotas. I purchased my first 1985 Toyota Camry in 1990 with 135, 000 miles on it. It lasted me 50, 000-some miles and about 6 or 7 years before it went through literally quarts of oil a day until I finally said enough and sold it to a junk dealer. My next Toyota was a 1998 Corolla that lasted me 21 years until it got totaled at the end of this March 2019 with over 206, 000 miles on it. I liked the Toyotas for their incredible reliability. But Id also like to try something new, like a used Suburu Outback or Legacy, perhaps an Impreza or Forester, if only to try something new and see if these cars are as fun to drive as they look. But alas, while people love their Subarus and have great buyer loyalty and have a lot of safety features, they have lousy repair histories compared with most Toyotas that just run fine for 200, 000 miles or more. What advice can you offer on a used Subaru Legacy or Outback, or an Impreza or Forester? What do you think of comparable used Toyota models like the RAV-4? I know you like the Camrys and Corollas. But how about something a bit more sporty and higher off the ground like those Subarus or perhaps another car maker?
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Mountain-Adventures
Toyota used the Subaru BRZ drivetrain because they wanted a rear-drive sporty car, but they dont have the production line tooling to build rear-wheel drive small cars. It was much more cost-effective to contract it to Subaru than to create a new production line. Saab did the same thing when they wanted an AWD vehicle, they were only set up to build front-wheel drive so they contracted to Subaru and managed to create the best Saab ever made, the 9-2X Aero. I personally will never own a front-wheel drive because transverse is very difficult for an owner to do bigger jobs on in their garage, repair costs rapidly become so out of control that theyre basically disposable. Subarus, whether AWD or RWD, are always longitudinal. Hey Im a Lexus SUV owner myself but I would never own a Toyota front-wheel drive. It is absolutely true though that Subaru has tanked: when our 2010 Impreza 5-speed manual had to go in for the Takata recall, the new Forester loaner they gave us was the worst vehicle Ive driven in decades, even worse than a rental Mitsubishi Outlander. So terrible in so many ways, couldnt believe Subaru has made so many lousy decisions.
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Toyota used the Subaru BRZ drivetrain because they wanted a rear-drive sporty car, but they dont have the production line tooling to build rear-wheel drive small cars. It was much more cost-effective to contract it to Subaru than to create a new production line. Saab did the same thing when they wanted an AWD vehicle, they were only set up to build front-wheel drive so they contracted to Subaru and managed to create the best Saab ever made, the 9-2X Aero. I personally will never own a front-wheel drive because transverse is very difficult for an owner to do bigger jobs on in their garage, repair costs rapidly become so out of control that theyre basically disposable. Subarus, whether AWD or RWD, are always longitudinal. Hey Im a Lexus SUV owner myself but I would never own a Toyota front-wheel drive. It is absolutely true though that Subaru has tanked: when our 2010 Impreza 5-speed manual had to go in for the Takata recall, the new Forester loaner they gave us was the worst vehicle Ive driven in decades, even worse than a rental Mitsubishi Outlander. So terrible in so many ways, couldnt believe Subaru has made so many lousy decisions.
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NorthernOtyg
In northern Sweden, Subarus are the real deal We get the diesel engines (not available in US) that dont have any head gasket issues, and everyone drives manual. This eliminates Scottys 2 complaints (bad automatic transmission and head gasket issues(since 2012 or something I dont think the US petrol engines have any head gasket issues anyway. Also, our Subarus are built in Japan and not in their Indiana, US factory. So basically, we get indestructible cars with the best all-wheel drive on the market. I have a 180000 mile Outback in perfect shape, my friends got a 240000 mile Legacy just going and going, and my familys had a Forester with 200000 miles (sold it several years ago because they wanted a wagon) and now have a new Legacy. I still see that Forester from time to time in my town, must be closer to 240 000 miles nowadays and it looks great from what Ive seen. Sure, my friends got a Toyota Corolla with 200000 miles on the meter, runs like a clock and she doesnt even check the oil, but compared to the Subarus its ugly as and lacks everything youd want during a Swedish winter. xD
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In northern Sweden, Subarus are the real deal We get the diesel engines (not available in US) that dont have any head gasket issues, and everyone drives manual. This eliminates Scottys 2 complaints (bad automatic transmission and head gasket issues(since 2012 or something I dont think the US petrol engines have any head gasket issues anyway. Also, our Subarus are built in Japan and not in their Indiana, US factory. So basically, we get indestructible cars with the best all-wheel drive on the market. I have a 180000 mile Outback in perfect shape, my friends got a 240000 mile Legacy just going and going, and my familys had a Forester with 200000 miles (sold it several years ago because they wanted a wagon) and now have a new Legacy. I still see that Forester from time to time in my town, must be closer to 240 000 miles nowadays and it looks great from what Ive seen. Sure, my friends got a Toyota Corolla with 200000 miles on the meter, runs like a clock and she doesnt even check the oil, but compared to the Subarus its ugly as and lacks everything youd want during a Swedish winter. xD
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Grumbaw
Its funny how a 12 hour job is compared to a 1. 6 hour job that warranty only pays at 1. 2 Whats funny is that with the tiny percentage of valve spring failures, Subaru still decided that they didnt want anymore of this to happen so called said cars back for new valve springs, and what you are missing is that the entire engine does not need to come apart, Subaru have designed special service tools which allow you to change the balance springs without removing the cylinder heads And once you do a few of them, 12 hours is actually a good time to do a good job I personally havent heard of any engines blowing up after getting new valve springs As for other things like the bread lines, its worse in some areas with more humidity and depending what the city uses to melt snow And the brake light switches are used by many other manufacturers, its not a Subaru specific part, its fails on other cars tooIts like you did some research then only mentioned half of whatever you found and ignored the rest.
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Its funny how a 12 hour job is compared to a 1. 6 hour job that warranty only pays at 1. 2 Whats funny is that with the tiny percentage of valve spring failures, Subaru still decided that they didnt want anymore of this to happen so called said cars back for new valve springs, and what you are missing is that the entire engine does not need to come apart, Subaru have designed special service tools which allow you to change the balance springs without removing the cylinder heads And once you do a few of them, 12 hours is actually a good time to do a good job I personally havent heard of any engines blowing up after getting new valve springs As for other things like the bread lines, its worse in some areas with more humidity and depending what the city uses to melt snow And the brake light switches are used by many other manufacturers, its not a Subaru specific part, its fails on other cars tooIts like you did some research then only mentioned half of whatever you found and ignored the rest.
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T. Cizzle
Ive had great rugged reliability with all of my Subarus. Sold my Impreza RS coupe with 185, 000 miles and was still driving it 800 miles a week. I still see that cool car on the road. My current 05 Forester has 135, 000 miles and runs great with no major repairs. My wifes 10 Forester has been great for her over the last 4 years. I was looking into the newer Toyota / Scion Corolla iM but they have crappy CVT transmissions and Scotty doesnt like those either. They dont even make Corollas like they used to. The 94 Celica isnt gonna be very good for my family so im really not sure what to buy now. Ive seen tons of Scottys videos, seems he doesnt approve of many cars made later than 2012.
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Ive had great rugged reliability with all of my Subarus. Sold my Impreza RS coupe with 185, 000 miles and was still driving it 800 miles a week. I still see that cool car on the road. My current 05 Forester has 135, 000 miles and runs great with no major repairs. My wifes 10 Forester has been great for her over the last 4 years. I was looking into the newer Toyota / Scion Corolla iM but they have crappy CVT transmissions and Scotty doesnt like those either. They dont even make Corollas like they used to. The 94 Celica isnt gonna be very good for my family so im really not sure what to buy now. Ive seen tons of Scottys videos, seems he doesnt approve of many cars made later than 2012.
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OreoThePanda
Scotty hates anything that isnt a yota. and toyota owned a good portion of subbie. and still does own that portion. and the problem lies withing the 2013 models. and yota has had their share since 2011. Kinda shows a lot about gigantic manufacturers taking advantage of smaller ones then blaming them for it. not only that, majority of the issues thay arise from both car companoes are made in the good ol U. S of A. Love both companies since they make great cars, used to like this channel but now its nothing but a cash grab, affiliate links, and the same old Toyota is god.
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Scotty hates anything that isnt a yota. and toyota owned a good portion of subbie. and still does own that portion. and the problem lies withing the 2013 models. and yota has had their share since 2011. Kinda shows a lot about gigantic manufacturers taking advantage of smaller ones then blaming them for it. not only that, majority of the issues thay arise from both car companoes are made in the good ol U. S of A. Love both companies since they make great cars, used to like this channel but now its nothing but a cash grab, affiliate links, and the same old Toyota is god.
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jhndijkman
A bit hard on this one Scotty. All manufacturers screw up once and awhile. Possibly an outside supplier for the springs. But never the less you are right, valve springs are not the sort of engine part you would aspect to fail. More especially in this day in age. But seeing you as A Hardened Toyota fanboy, I would have thought you would have ago at Toyota with their CVT trans in the Corolla and Rav4 as yet. To be fair the CVT trans, it would seem to have a ways to go to get right with all manufacturers. I must admit I was hoping for Toyota to the first to get it right.
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A bit hard on this one Scotty. All manufacturers screw up once and awhile. Possibly an outside supplier for the springs. But never the less you are right, valve springs are not the sort of engine part you would aspect to fail. More especially in this day in age. But seeing you as A Hardened Toyota fanboy, I would have thought you would have ago at Toyota with their CVT trans in the Corolla and Rav4 as yet. To be fair the CVT trans, it would seem to have a ways to go to get right with all manufacturers. I must admit I was hoping for Toyota to the first to get it right.
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Harry Conover
Well Scotty I often disagree with you but I was a service manager at a sound gear shop and it was common practice to pay you less because of the privilege of being a dealer but any manufacturer screws up some a little some a lot one checked there receivers with no bottom this guys were famous for deals on parts but they were all different this time the power transistors had longer leads so were they put on the bottom it failed big time but they didnt try it the customer turned it on and it blue up in there living room so I got a pile of forty to fix
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Well Scotty I often disagree with you but I was a service manager at a sound gear shop and it was common practice to pay you less because of the privilege of being a dealer but any manufacturer screws up some a little some a lot one checked there receivers with no bottom this guys were famous for deals on parts but they were all different this time the power transistors had longer leads so were they put on the bottom it failed big time but they didnt try it the customer turned it on and it blue up in there living room so I got a pile of forty to fix
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julio tamez
Actually Scotty, the car is a collaboration between Toyota, Subaru and Yamaha (look it up. Yamaha designed the engine and Toyota built it. Subaru builds boxer engines but Yamaha and Toyota actually designed and built this one for Subaru and the Toyota. This was a clean sheet design. Yamaha has worked with Toyota in the past before and is known in motorcycling for building some of the most reliable motorcycle engines (along with Honda) but being this was a first time for Yamaha building a boxer engine, sometimes mistakes are made.
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Actually Scotty, the car is a collaboration between Toyota, Subaru and Yamaha (look it up. Yamaha designed the engine and Toyota built it. Subaru builds boxer engines but Yamaha and Toyota actually designed and built this one for Subaru and the Toyota. This was a clean sheet design. Yamaha has worked with Toyota in the past before and is known in motorcycling for building some of the most reliable motorcycle engines (along with Honda) but being this was a first time for Yamaha building a boxer engine, sometimes mistakes are made.
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