Stupid Subaru commercial

[SpaceBus]

Like Highbeam, IMHO, for fuel economy the required viscosities are getting quite low and this could contribute to oil usage. I remember a friend with Mazda rotary went through a quart every 1000 miles, he was told that that was normal.

Because rotary, actually Wankel, engines consume oil like a two stroke. It's a total loss lubrication system. Oil is injected with the intake charge and then lubricates the rotor and housing. For once the dealer was being honest.

 

[MTY]

The Boxer engine debacle is more than a head gasket issue, has gone on for many years, and Subaru did as much as it could to not address the issue for as long as they could.

Our 2013 Forester was serviced at a local shop. I only touch what I drive, so someone else services the Subaru. A short time after a LOF service the oil pressure light came on. It was extremely low on oil. The dealer blamed the shop that serviced it knowing the oil issue was a major fault with the engine in the Forester. The wife had Subaru change the oil and swore off ever using the shop that had done the LOF.

We took off for South Dakota. After a number of fill ups I started getting nervous. I asked when the oil had been checked last, and was told the Subaru dealer did it just prior to us leaving on the trip. We were at a small service station on the Pine Ridge Res when I said I could not stand it any more and was checking the oil. The oil did not reach the end of the dipstick.

I bought all the quarts of oil they had at the station and dumped it in until we got home. The next day I went to see the dealer. The Subaru dealer said they had to do an oil change and seal the engine so that could measure consumption over 3000 miles.

I have no idea what they meant by sealing the engine, but I checked the oil level at less than 1000 miles and called the dealer to ask if they wanted to check consumption early or wanted me to call when the engine siezed.

During this fiasco I started researching online. Subaru's official policy was to deny, deny, deny.

Long story short, the Forester received a new short block at 60K, and the shop that Subaru blamed for the lack of oil initially is back doing the service work.

 

[SpaceBus]

Subaru for the longest time just used the same engine in every car with a few tweaks, except for the six cylinders of course. The FA20, the new 2.0 liter flat four, seems to be pretty great in turbo and naturally aspirated forms. The old EJ series were pretty problem prone and also use timing belts. They don't use timing belts because they are cheaper to build either, it's actually more difficult and more expensive to design and build engines that use timing belts. With the exception of the eventual replacement, timing belts are generally better.

The oil consumption could be a lot of things. Nissan had many oil consumption issues with the 3.5 liter VQ series engines. There are thousands and thousands of GM 5.3 liter V8 engines with loads of piston slap and heavy oil consumption. Ford has had several debacles with engine and transmission suppliers. I think consumer demands have outpaced affordable production.

 

[Ashful]

The Boxer engine debacle is more than a head gasket issue, has gone on for many years, and Subaru did as much as it could to not address the issue for as long as they could.

Our 2013 Forester was serviced at a local shop. I only touch what I drive, so someone else services the Subaru. A short time after a LOF service the oil pressure light came on. It was extremely low on oil. The dealer blamed the shop that serviced it knowing the oil issue was a major fault with the engine in the Forester. The wife had Subaru change the oil and swore off ever using the shop that had done the LOF.

We took off for South Dakota. After a number of fill ups I started getting nervous. I asked when the oil had been checked last, and was told the Subaru dealer did it just prior to us leaving on the trip. We were at a small service station on the Pine Ridge Res when I said I could not stand it any more and was checking the oil. The oil did not reach the end of the dipstick.

I bought all the quarts of oil they had at the station and dumped it in until we got home. The next day I went to see the dealer. The Subaru dealer said they had to do an oil change and seal the engine so that could measure consumption over 3000 miles.

I have no idea what they meant by sealing the engine, but I checked the oil level at less than 1000 miles and called the dealer to ask if they wanted to check consumption early or wanted me to call when the engine siezed.

During this fiasco I started researching online. Subaru's official policy was to deny, deny, deny.

Long story short, the Forester received a new short block at 60K, and the shop that Subaru blamed for the lack of oil initially is back doing the service work.

I see more stories like this associated with Subaru than any other brand. Yet they have die-hard fans. I really don't get it.

 

[SpaceBus]

I see more stories like this associated with Subaru than any other brand. Yet they have die-hard fans. I really don't get it.

It's just like the way you keep buying trucks that rust out after a few years. Subarus are great for places with bad roads (New England) that often have poor driving conditions. Like others have said, AWD just gets most folks into trouble, but it has some benefits. Of special note are the turbocharged models like the Forester XT, Baja Turbo, WRX/STI, and Outback/Legacy XT. The Subaru Baja Turbo is on my short list of favorite cars, but they are usually beat to hell and need total restorations.

 

[Ashful]

It's just like the way you keep buying trucks that rust out after a few years. Subarus are great for places with bad roads (New England) that often have poor driving conditions. Like others have said, AWD just gets most folks into trouble, but it has some benefits. Of special note are the turbocharged models like the Forester XT, Baja Turbo, WRX/STI, and Outback/Legacy XT. The Subaru Baja Turbo is on my short list of favorite cars, but they are usually beat to hell and need total restorations.

...except my trucks don’t rust out after a few years. Last one was kept 12 years, driven almost exclusively in snow and rain, sat without getting driven to dry it out any time it was sunny, was stored outside in the shade, and was only starting to show the faint orange hue of rust at the fenders and door corners when I traded it in after 12 years. That’s not bad, way better than my sister’s Subaru!

 

[SpaceBus]

...except my trucks don’t rust out after a few years. Last one was kept 12 years, driven almost exclusively in snow and rain, sat without getting driven to dry it out any time it was sunny, was stored outside in the shade, and was only starting to show the faint orange hue of rust at the fenders and door corners when I traded it in after 12 years. That’s not bad, way better than my sister’s Subaru!

That's unacceptable, my old landlord's 85 Ram still runs with minimal surface rust and stored in a field for the last 15 years. All jokes aside, every manufacturer has issues. My wife's Fiat is made with fragile components and the heated and power seats in my ram don't work. There are thousands and thousands of Hemi engines with issues. You don't need a good education to build cars in a factory.

 

[Ashful]

I think that overall, quality across the board is vastly better than at any time in the last. The old over-built hulks we called pickup trucks 40 years ago were certainly heavier on steel, and easier to repair without specialized tools and parts, but that didn’t make them reliable. I would t hold Fiat up as any measure of modern quality, even though one of my cars was technically built by FCA.

 

[SpaceBus]

The issue is the stuff suspension on the Fiat, a regular 500 would probably be fine.

 

[MTY]

Still driving the F250 I bought in 1979. The rear fender wells are starting to show rust.

 

[Ashful]

Still driving the F250 I bought in 1979. The rear fender wells are starting to show rust.

That is astounding. I owned a 1978 Ford in the 1990's, and I could almost hear it rust while sitting in a dry garage. Honestly, I have never seen any vehicle rust like that thing, it kept my angle grinder and body work tools very busy, constantly cutting away the cancer. I was always told by body shop guys that those were some of the worst bodies Ford ever built.

I loved that truck, but hated the rust.

 

[MTY]

That is astounding. I owned a 1978 Ford in the 1990's, and I could almost hear it rust while sitting in a dry garage. Honestly, I have never seen any vehicle rust like that thing, it kept my angle grinder and body work tools very busy, constantly cutting away the cancer. I was always told by body shop guys that those were some of the worst bodies Ford ever built.

I loved that truck, but hated the rust.

Sand is used instead of salt in the winter around here. Mag chloride has been used the last 15 years or so.

 

[lsucet]

You all can keep the cars, I will keep my horses.

I left behind when came to the States a 1956 Oldsmobile ninety eight model with the rocket engine and the hydro matic jet away transmission. A cousin still have it and it is original, no mods.

My brother left a 1956 Mercury Monterey four door no columns automatic with the Mercomatic and we had at that time a 1955 two doors crown Vic that I was rebuilding the engine and transmission to then send it to get painted black when we left. My sister sold it after we left. Sometimes I missed those cars, God is a witness.

 

[begreen]

Sand is used instead of salt in the winter around here. Mag chloride has been used the last 15 years or so.

So glad we don't have that issue. I would never own a car from the east now.

 

[SpaceBus]

So glad we don't have that issue. I would never own a car from the east now.

This is the truth! I made sure my truck came from somewhere without road salt.

 

[peakbagger]

The problem with brining a vehicle from areas with no road salt is they seem to try to make up for years of no rust by rusting out quickly once they get up here. Someone speculated that the warm temps stiffen up the underbody sealants and then cracks form in the sealants and the deicing chemicals get in there and start rot quick.

I have an 1987 Bronco I have been slowly working to get back on the road. I was parked in 2000 and was in covered storage since then. It has very little underbody rust and the front fenders and doors are mint except for one fender lip. I had the body off the frame to repair the frame so I spent a lot of time under the body. The only real rot was the rear corners and there was enough left to salvage. Most of the rot points are crappy design. Lots of sheet metal screws poke through the underbody to hold various trims in place and in many cases I find a ring of rust where the screw goes through the body. There are also spot welded panel seams that have thin lines of rust between the panels. Spot weld seams tend to flex a bit over the years and the result is that whatever coating was applied tends to wear out and attract rust. Of course the rear tailgate is toast, someone started a patch job but I am tempted to buy a new tailgate shell and start over. The frame rot was just crappy design, salt gets under the body mounts and slowly eats them away. I just cut out the rot and put in new steel and mounts then blasted and painted the frame with POR. While the body was off I put in plastic fuel tank, it already has plastic fuel lines and redid all the brake lines with copper nickel so hopefully it will hold up to rot. I am using POR where I need to and then plan to try Fluid Film for undercoating. Hopefully I get several years off it when it gets back on the road.

 

[SpaceBus]

The problem with brining a vehicle from areas with no road salt is they seem to try to make up for years of no rust by rusting out quickly once they get up here. Someone speculated that the warm temps stiffen up the underbody sealants and then cracks form in the sealants and the deicing chemicals get in there and start rot quick.

I have an 1987 Bronco I have been slowly working to get back on the road. I was parked in 2000 and was in covered storage since then. It has very little underbody rust and the front fenders and doors are mint except for one fender lip. I had the body off the frame to repair the frame so I spent a lot of time under the body. The only real rot was the rear corners and there was enough left to salvage. Most of the rot points are crappy design. Lots of sheet metal screws poke through the underbody to hold various trims in place and in many cases I find a ring of rust where the screw goes through the body. There are also spot welded panel seams that have thin lines of rust between the panels. Spot weld seams tend to flex a bit over the years and the result is that whatever coating was applied tends to wear out and attract rust. Of course the rear tailgate is toast, someone started a patch job but I am tempted to buy a new tailgate shell and start over. The frame rot was just crappy design, salt gets under the body mounts and slowly eats them away. I just cut out the rot and put in new steel and mounts then blasted and painted the frame with POR. While the body was off I put in plastic fuel tank, it already has plastic fuel lines and redid all the brake lines with copper nickel so hopefully it will hold up to rot. I am using POR where I need to and then plan to try Fluid Film for undercoating. Hopefully I get several years off it when it gets back on the road.

I want to try fluid film for this coming winter, I'll share my findings next summer.

 

[sloeffle]

My brother has a couple Sube's and thinks they are the greatest thing since slice bread. A buddy of mine has had a ton of them and said that they require a lot of maintenance. His latest Sube recently ate a turbo at around 80k. Luckily he was able to shut the car off before any major damage was done. My wife had one for a rental recently and she said she'd take her 10 year old Toyota over it. It sounded like it was a stripped down model though.

Personally I'll stick with Toyota, and Honda for my cars, and GM products for my trucks.

 

[lsucet]

After working for automotive industry many years plus knowing people and friends working for different brands, they all have issues. You can find good and bad stories from any brand and it come down to what you like and you want to be loyal to.

Many people are the cause of why a car is not reliable cause of the way they treated it and blame the car/brand etc. That is overlooked every day and in many conversations. Some people can kill any car regardless.
At the end of the day they all have Recalls, TSB, computer flashes and part failure. Some people put more stress on theirs cars than others cause their style of life etc.

Every dealer you go will be full of cars in the shop regardless which brand. You go figure.

 

[Ashful]

So glad we don't have that issue. I would never own a car from the east now.

Hmm... I didn’t know we were the only ones singled out for this, I just figured everyone around our latitude dealt with the same. Around here, the amount of salt on the roads has increased almost exponentially, to the point where many of us wonder if the salt suppliers are incentivizing the townships to use more product. Sometimes we have piles of rock salt on our roads more than an inch deep, it’s almost like driving on gravel. It prevents one from driving any car they care about for weeks after a winter storm, in some cases.

Prep’ing the roads with brine has become standard prep before every forecast storm, as well. It works nicely, but there are many rumors that the chemical used in this brine are even more corrosive than rock salt.

 

[tadmaz]

Hmm... I didn’t know we were the only ones singled out for this, I just figured everyone around our latitude dealt with the same. Around here, the amount of salt on the roads has increased almost exponentially, to the point where many of us wonder if the salt suppliers are incentivizing the townships to use more product. Sometimes we have piles of rock salt on our roads more than an inch deep, it’s almost like driving on gravel. It prevents one from driving any car they care about for weeks after a winter storm, in some cases.

Prep’ing the roads with brine has become standard prep before every forecast storm, as well. It works nicely, but there are many rumors that the chemical used in this brine are even more corrosive than rock salt.

Agreed, there are plenty of "rust belt" states, and I can vouch for Wisconsin and Illinois being car killer states.

 

[firefighterjake]

I want to try fluid film for this coming winter, I'll share my findings next summer.

Our mechanic at work treats all the trucks with Fluid Film . . . actually seems to do a good job as you can see a difference in the trucks that he has done it on since Year 1 vs. other trucks . . . but it stinks like a sheep's butt.

 

[begreen]

Agreed, there are plenty of "rust belt" states, and I can vouch for Wisconsin and Illinois being car killer states.

Not much road salt used west of the Cascades in spite of our latitude being the same as Maine. Not much snow falls here. They do sand steep hills locally. Up in the passes they do use deicer.

 

[Ashful]

I always thought the “Rust Belt” referred to now-defunct heavy manufacturing areas, like my home town. Steel was king here, when I was a kid, Bethlehem Steel.

Have I had it wrong, all these decades?

 

[SpaceBus]

I always thought the “Rust Belt” referred to now-defunct heavy manufacturing areas, like my home town. Steel was king here, when I was a kid, Bethlehem Steel.

Have I had it wrong, all these decades?

Don't worry, I find this happening to myself as well.