Subaru question

With regard to a Forester I suggest you try and get the auto version unless you are hell bent on the manual.

We have a MY09 manual (2008 build) and it has been very reliable however not the easiest to drive as the motor has very little torque low down in the rev range. Completely different story however at higher revs.

Besides service items the only things we have replaced are suspension bushes however we live on rough gravel roads and our car has now travelled over 170,000km.

We have as a second vehicle a MY06 Subby Outback, which is mainly driven by the wife, a fantastic vehicle, 3.5ltr motor, auto and goes like the clappers, and we have had no trouble with it at all.
Baz

Suburu are the most expensive vehicle to service. Speak to mechanic preferably who worked for Suburu dealer. Once Suburu is 4 years old you need deep pockets. If buying second hand you need to made damn sure the vehicle has been log book serviced.

I had a 6 cylinder 3 litre 04 Outback and couldn't fault it. There can be problems with Forester manual gearboxes and clutches.

Hi Steve

Not that often that I see a thread that really gets me to reply. post haste.
We have (in the last4 or 5 months ) updated our vehicle to something that would tow a bit more........whatever whatever.
To the point...we have parted with a 2006/2007 Subaru Forester, to a young lady who is thrilled with her buy.
We owned the Subi from new and it had done 130,000 klms was serviced (with our local) Subaru dealer. The price of parts and Service were the same as any other car.
Both my wife and I think it was the best vehicle we have owned..,...i would have to recommend any ( looked after ) Forester
Brian

Steve, they're an excellent little chariot and largely trouble-free. I don't believe maintenance costs are any higher than any other brand. I would hazard a guess that Andrews complaint about high maintainence costs might be more to do with a rip-off dealership.
Find a good independent mechanic with Subaru knowledge and you'll be sweet.

The important things with Subarus is pretty much the same as all modern car engines - timing belt, and coolant quality.
Up to 2010, the EJ25 (2.5L) engine had a timing belt. With the release of the new FB25 (2.5L) engine in late 2010, Subaru went over to a double steel timing chain, so there's one less maintainence item to worry about.

Make sure any Subaru you buy has a good record of kms covered, with no "gaps" or doubtful maintainence periods. Ensure the timing belt has been replaced as per maintainence requirements.
These engines are an interference engine, and any timing belt failure means valves contact pistons with resultant costly damage.

As regards coolant - like all modern engines, coolant additives must be maintained and coolant flushed regularly. Failure to do so results in water pump problems, head gasket problems, and engine internal corrosion problems.

Early EJ25 engines were somewhat notorious for head gasket failures due to poor gasket design. This problem was fixed by about 2003, so there should be no concern there.

Spark plugs are notoriously difficult to replace, but they don't need replacing too often, fortunately. Apart from these points, just a careful check of the previous owners style of useage to eliminate any abuse problems, and you'll be sweet.
I always try to find out if the previous owner had a teenage son or sons - and whether they had access to the car.

Giving a vehicle to teenage males is a recipe for abuse - and generally entails exercises such as to how far the car can lay rubber - how fast it can corner without ending up on its roof - and how much it can be overloaded by, and still be driven at 150 kmh.

G/Day Tooley, ..Iv'e Had Two Subaru Libertys over the years, and they are reliable overall,.. Generally its electrical components that fail on them, Camshaft sensor a real trap ,airflow, sensor,and the harmonic balancer has been a problem with some models. My brothers 2005 2.5l had one where the rubber disinergrated and the thing went through the radiator. But after a few negatives there I would still buy one over the rest, they are just a great thing to drive.

Cheers Axle.