Annual maintenance costs/ repairs for your Subaru?

Mark, you should check out "true delta car reliability" as I've been posting on their site for some time now. Has some good stats. They request stats from each member quarterly.

Yes, I'm aware of True Delta and have contributed and read their reports. I was wondering about any feedback from people here at Car Gurus. Seems like either people don't have a lot of negative things other than oil burning and head gaskets here about these cars. Head gaskets were largely a big issue for the 2000 through 2007 cars or so and the oil burning affects a small percentage of some newer ( yes, surprise ), engines when they changed motor design from the EJ 25 series to the new FB motor in 2011 for the Forrester and 2013 for the Outback. Also, from my perusal of most posts, this is more pronounced in the manual transmission cars. I think, and this is just my opinion, that people with manual transmissions like to race and rev up their engines more putting pressure on everything. Your thoughts?

They changed head gasket designs for 2003 and it was significantly better. My 04 leaks oil and my 03 weeps very little. It's hard to "control" with the open design of the engine.

Walt, thanks. Subaru has been dealing with this awhile. For the 2010 model year, they modified the head block and switched over to "multi layered" head gaskets as explained here in this link. http://www.scoobyenthusiast.com/subaru-faq/which-subaru-engines-had-head-gasket-leaks/

I actually called Subaru of America and inquired about my 2010 model since it was manufactured in September 2009 and they told me based upon my VIN that I had the new design. I was very pleased to hear that. I don't know if that previous link or others on the Internet can assist you with the 2004, but, it's worth a phone call to them. Good luck.

Plus 1 for truedelta.com. Michael does an excellent job with that website. It would be great if more people got involved with it.

As for a head gasket job on this car, yes, it's more involved because it has two heads. And, it's harder to work on. I have an independent mechanic that takes care of all my car needs and I don't work on my own cars, but, it's a lot less expensive than the dealer. With only 72,000 miles on my car, I'm hoping that I don't have to deal with this for some time. How many miles are on your 2004 and otherwise runs fine, I presume. Any other major repairs, transmission, AWD or anything you can share?

Bob, I agree, kudos to True Delta, I'm glad I found this web site as well. And, I do contribute to their site. Thankfully, I have not had any issues with my Subaru. I purchased the car in May 2014 as a certified used car. I always recommend that people purchase a certified car from a new car dealer. It's a little extra expense, I know, but, you're getting a car that has been reconditioned. My car was whisker clean when I purchased it. And, I got the extended mechanical warranty to 100,000 miles for 36 months. You can get this from the dealer, but, it's a lot less expensive to get this from your credit union as I did for one half the cost with the same coverage, actually better, because the dealer only wanted to give me 30 months on the time frame. I'll probably run out of time before mileage on this one. I'm retired and not commuting to work, so, I put about 7,500 miles per year on my car. The problem with used cars generally is you're buying someone's problem, but, a lot has changed in the used car market with lease returns. The people leasing cars has created a great market for dealers wishing to sell really clean used cars at a premium. The dealers give the cars a checkup in the shop and do any maintenance items to bring the cars up to current conditions and ensure that they're running in excellent shape. So, people like myself get a good car without the depreciation of buying new. Works for me.

Mark, I agree....our 2014 Lincoln MKZ is a CPO car with 7,200 miles. The warranty runs till 2020 and 100,000 miles. No extra charge for the warranty. I usually buy new, but this was a great deal and it would have been foolish to buy a new one for $15,000 more.

Had a 2001 Subaru Impreza for 2 years of my teenage life. I romped and raced that car to death pushing it up 24k miles I believe. I had 2 problems the whole time. 1. I had the original battery and it finally went dead after 14 years of service. 2. The original spark plugs went out (2 out of 4) and I had all 4 replaced. The cars can last forever and really are reliable. I currently have a 2015 and with 4.5k on it already everything is great!

ZipNip - Great! Keep me posted on your 2015 and any oil burning issues. I have a 2010 Subaru Outback Limited and no oil problems. So, congrats on your new car. You have the CVT or manual?

I have a 2010 outback I purchased in 2013 with 21k miles. Last year they had to replace the tourque converter and this year, they had to do the cylinder head gasket, with only 70k. I am a bit disappointed in it so far bc of these issues, considering many people have positive experiences with Subaru.

Importatore-. Wow, only 21,000 miles in 2013? Question-.did you purchase your car from a "new or used" dealership or maybe a private party.. And, how much did that torque converter and cylinder head job cost??

I purchased it from a Subaru dealership. The car was certified and I purchased the additional 7yr/100k when I purchase vehicle, which expires next month. In both situations, it only cost me the $100 deductible for the warranty. But after only having the car 1 year, they had to give me all new tires and rims under the warranty bc the car was sold to me with one tire that had a circumference more than .25 inches different than the other tire - causing an issue on the clutch. Needless to say it's been a headache.

Here's my anecdotal evidence... I have had 3 cars. Honda Civic - head gasket fail Toyota Camry - head gasket fail Subaru Outback - head gasket fail Should I stop buying Hondas, Toyotas, Subarus? Hell no. I bought old cars (around 200K Km - 125K miles), and I didn't get lucky... I also promptly crashed my Camry (write off) after fixing the head gasket. The car was otherwise flawless.

Importatore-. How's your 2010 Subaru Outback running now with the replacement torque converter? Everyone on this forum says that this fix cannot be done, suggesting that it requires a complete replacement for the entire CVT transmission? And, since you were lucky enough to have it done under the warranty, minus the $100 deductible, that's a big savings... Otherwise, how's the rest of the car, head gaskets, etc. Are fine. No oil burning issues? What's your current mileage now? Have you already done the timing belt and water pump? The radiator coolant needs changing around 100,000 miles as well, pretty EXPENSIVE services.

Vasco- all cars require regular maintenance.... Getting 125,000 to 150,000 miles on any car is what I normally expect ... Any more is extraordinary. Besides, by the time you reach this mileage, you're likely ready for a replacement vehicle.

I just bought 2019 Subaru Outback 3.6R limited with eyesight. I am already loving it. Very silent very comfortable. Obviously I have no issues as it is new. Will post later. I got deal of 36000 mile free service on it. And it says life time warranty on engine. I am not sure what is the meaning of lifetime here. I asked them and they said as long as you have service records...you are covered. If that then awesome.