pbm317

I had the head gasket go out on my 2009 WRX (2.5L Turbo) also had a spun rod bearing, very common issue as well.

As for their current state, demand is HOT for the brand. They finally have some more mainstream styling, EyeSight is a strong technological offering, Interior materials have also improved. They also have some of, if not the absolute lowest, incentive spending per car on the market right now. They're short of manufacturing capacity, so even all their recent sales gains are supply constrained. A very good "problem" to have. The brand will reach a tipping point eventually, and they're currently gearing up more production lines globally. But they've been managed extremely well as a brand, with sales strategies and marketing identity.

mmarshall

Yes, later models were not entirely free of the issue. But it was the non-turbo 2.5Ls ones before 2004 that had the main problem.

The Legacy GT, has a turbo 2.5L, not a non-turbo. The turbo models were not affected anywhere near as much by the head-gasket issue as the non-turbos......but they were not totally free of the head-gasket issue, either, as pbm317 notes above.


I had a 2006 Outback myself...for almost 6 years. I didn't have any engine problems, but I did have a coupe of other premature repairs....primarily in the cooling-fans and power-windows.

BoDarville

in the interests of full disclosure, was your wrx 'bone-stock' and had never seen a track when you encountered those issues?

they are simply catering to the masses. it's ironic that the company that made the commercial about other cars being "beige" is now the beigest of the beige with its CVT transmissions and vanilla offerings. legacygt.com is now a ghost town, and the threads that see the most activity on nasioc are regarding the golf r and the upcoming focus rs.

pbm317

Yes, 100% stock, zero track time.

stlgrym3

iTrader: (4)

kind of head scratcher for how Subaru got on this list. their turbo is known to burn oil, the only reason i can think of is it's a niche brand and have a cult following.

spwolf

they are on the list because they have high resale values. They have high resale values because they are reliable (but not #1), and more importantly because people want to have them.

Thats why Subaru is such a huge success. People want to buy their cars and own them.


It does not matter what we personally want or need... as BoDarville mentioned, "people" are now into Golf R... but such cars sell in very poor numbers so very few "people" are into them.

I personally wouldnt buy a single Subaru vehicle. Now they are nicer than before but still dont fit my own priorities. But obviously it is biggest success in car business right now.

mmarshall

For people who don't have a lot of money to spend on a new car (Impreza, Crosstrek, Forester, etc....) they offer some of the best winter vehicles for the money available today. That's another reason why they are so popular in harsh-weather low-income areas like West Virginia, rural New England, and the Rockies.

I owned an Outback for six years, and, though I don't do much winter driving now, or need to get out much during snowstorms any more, I would buy another one in heartbeat if I did. Nothing stopped that Outback I owned in the winter...it was simply amazing. Reliable, yes, but not as reliable, though, as I would have hoped....I did have a couple of premature repairs.

MattyG

My intro to the brand was a GL5, a friends car that scampered up a notorious icy hill which often claimed many a domestic or import vehicle because of the grade. Aside from its tractor grade motor which eventually smoothed out as it warmed up, it was a mountain goat on its 14 inch skinny tires.

The next one I drove was the dealership shuttle - a 1998 Outback with the full panorama sunroof. Nice. After that I definitely wanted the 2006 Legacy GT, but concerns about the turbo unit and transmission pointed me elsewhere.

I can tell you though, that 98 Outback handled like nobody's business. Nimble yet useful.

Aron9000

I will say Subaru has done a great job with their marketing and has managed to move a lot more of their ugly cars in recent years. They've managed to corner the market with the "I go to vegan lesbian poetry night at our local free trade coffee shop" hippie and professor types.

I still don't see the appeal of them though, they're ugly, use a CVT transmission (hate those types of transmissions), overly complicated and hard to work on, and they still haven't proven to me to be as reliable/durable as a Honda or Toyota over the long term.

That head gasket issue is a no go for me ever trusting one with over 100k miles on it, if you have that issue you're lucky to get out with a $2500 repair bill that would just be for headgaskets. A lot of times a bad headgasket with warp a head or cause a catostrophic meltdown that means you need a new motor.

And I know the AWD is great for snow, but there are so many choices in the small wagon/SUV crowd with AWD now days, so many better looking competitors.

I do like their sporty/rally cars though. The WRX and STi are great driving cars, once again kind of ugly, but then again rally cars were always more about function over form so I'll give them a pass, those models always looked the business with the flared fenders and hood scoops. Once again, not a car I'd want to own pass warranty or try to work on myself though.