when should I replace the shocks on my 2010 Subaru Outback?

If you the vehicle has excessive rebounding and stability issues traversing bumps / holes..bouncing, and accumulated a lot of miles, 100,000 simply replace them! Shocks can last up to 10 years. "Experts recommend replacing shocks every 50,000 miles (80,467 kilometers), but a great deal depends on how you treat your vehicle's suspension." Regards

It is probably time to replace them.

Susan, first, please don't listen to a lot of doomsayers about the 2010 Subaru Outback, see this below; Plus, I personally know someone who went 300,000 miles in their car before they had an unfortunate accident, original engine and transmission, yes, the CVT, was working fine. As for shocks, ask your personal mechanic and see if they're leaking or bouncing, if not, don't just replace them and spend extra money. Sure, if they're leaking or causing problems, that is the time to do it. http://www.carcomplaints.com/Subaru/Outback/2010/

Oh here we go again.... Subie uses Tokico gas shocks that either are broken or not. It's like pregnancy. There's no significant "wear curve" like oil-based ones that leak and soften over time. If you break a seal from trauma (big pothole or curb) you'll noticeably lose proper function, and then can replace that ONE broken strut...not necessarily the pair. The replacements tend to be made by KYB, which sometimes are a bit better than the OE. That said, the 2010-2012 OB has noticeably soft springs and struts, so I personally would be tempted to start from scratch and install stiffer parts as somewhat introduced in 2013. But normal folks shouldn't be replacing these struts until the "gas bag bursts". Tom and Bob are way off here. Mark's learned to protect his wallet properly, as you should too.

Ernie, thank you. So, maybe replacement of the soft springs would be a better idea. How much do you think that might cost? And, could I just get my independent mechanic to do this or would that better done somewhere more specialized? Again, I would NOT do this until I had a problem and my car at 78,000 miles drives fine. Bob is one of the biggest Subaru "haters" on the forum. To the best of my knowledge, he has never owned a Subaru yet trashes them anytime he can on every question. One wonders why he follows these threads around? He's a Ford Lincoln Mercury fan and sort of makes one question what his motivation is to spend so much time on a vehicle he doesn't particularly like or have any direct knowledge or experience with. Bob, if I'm wrong and you have owned Subaru vehicles, my apologies in advance.

Susan- questions for you,. how's your 3.6 H6 engine working for you?? Do you use or burn any oil? And,. do you find that the front end is heavy and hard to steer around corners? Finally , how many miles on your car?

Mr. Mark O. Weiner aka Markw1952, why is my answer of "It is probably time to replace them" make me the biggest Subaru hater on the forum? I would think the biggest hater would be an owner that is having to replace head gaskets or perhaps one with oil consumption or other issues. Mark, I am starting to think you have a screw or two loose in your head. Maybe staying on topic would be helpful.

Bob-. Do you remember writing this to me 10 months ago? YES , you have consistently slammed Subaru at every turn, it's all out there on the forum. You don't apparently have one good thing to say about Subaru and you have never owned one of these cars, period. If you had some negative experiences with the car, I might understand, but your fascination with trashing a car that has consistently been in the top 5 with many resources is amazing. I'm not a big Chrysler Dodge fan, they've demonstrated by their record that they are not highly recommended cars and keep changing their nameplate when the model gets a really bad reputation, Ford has done this as well with certain models. Sure, Subaru's are not perfect, but, what car company is? At least Subaru tried to make amends with their clients, extended their warranty period in some cases or replaced engines on cars that failed the oil consumption test. In case you are not aware, Toyota did the same thing with some of their cars. You cannot stand the fact that Subaru, a niche car company is doing so well to sell out their inventory every model. At least Subaru has taken a pro-active approach to solving problems that do arise with their vehicles. Of course, you're always going to find the most disgruntled clients voicing their concerns publicly on the Internet. That's what people do. The head gaskets issue is so over with, has been for at least 6 years, and the oil burning clients are the ones "racing" their manual shift transmissions on the pre-2015 models of the Outback and some of my Subaru Forester models. For their relatively small size as a car manufacturer,Subaru has done quite well and is a very profitable company. No industry bailouts required here. A lot has changed since the early 70s, that was 45 years ago! Bob answered 10 months ago Mark, I have always joked about Subarus, even in early 1970's when my girlfriend bought one, it was a piece of junk. Certainly they are much better today, but I still wouldn't even consider owning one. Subaru in my opinion is a cult car similar to Volvo, Saab. They have a cult following and the owners defend them to the death. Good little cars, but not for Bob. If you like yours that's fine, but I don't care for them. Uhh, I don't like Harleys either. LOL. Feel free to slam my Lincoln or my Infiniti, or my Marauder or my F-150 or my Yamaha Royal Star. Doesn't bother me in the slightest.

Mr. Weiner, you like em and I don't. GET OVER IT! Your beloved Subarus can be very troublesome and that is a fact. Your continual ranting and raving about how wonderful your Subaru is has many times been detrimental to the topic of discussion. I would suggest you tone it down a little. Recently my wife went for a short trip as a passenger in her sister's new 2016 Outback and the wife says it seems cheaply built and is kind of noisy. Hmmm, she didn't like it at all, IMAGINE THAT! Oh by the way I am driving a Dodge Ram now so feel free to slam that. In my opinion Subarus suck and in your opinion they don't. Big Deal.

I hope your sister is enjoying her 2016 Outback. Let's see how long she keeps it? As I've said before, I have known people who have gone more than 300,000 miles in these cars. Maybe your sister should join the forum and chime in with her experiences, at least she actually owns a Subaru Outback!

Oyoyoy.... The truth is that Subaru is a love-hate experience. Interesting engineering with cut-rate manufacturing and relatively late to step up to the plate to recall problem areas. Now that they've advanced 3% US market penetration they'll not be able to dodge bullets (like bad head gaskets) as in the past. But with Toyota's financial management pressure the product will probably continue to be metallurgically compromised in order to meet low price points and juicy profitability. I've been with Subaru 33 years, and believe me: love/hate. That Bob's friend finds the '16 OB compromised mirrors my good friend's summation of his new '15...and that follows profound regard for the superior handling of an '09 OB he lost to a wildly out-of-control SUV a winter ago. But that's an old story. I can just imagine the internecine wars among the engineering, manufacturing-cost engineering and product placement groups. My favorite manufacturer is Mazda, who, even without Ford's pocketbook, puts handling and engineering prowess above profitability. Hope they can survive.... Subaru will do so if they can continue to make too-tall, soft- handling crossovers that middle-America thinks it wants now that fuel is artificially cheap. A seat of the pants comparo of the excellent Legacy Sedan and the compromised elevated OB will serve to illustrate their errant directions even with 90%+ same parts! It's just a tough little company that's always been VERY slow to make amends for mistakes made, and can be cowed by Toyota's big pocketbook to seek profitability by compromising for price-point. I'm being redundant...I'm tired of this. Mark, if you weren't such a naive fan maybe folks wouldn't get so pissed at your "groupie-like" posts. It's pretty simple: 2010-2012 OBs were so disappointing to PRIOR OB owners that Subie had to redesign their suspensions to reasonable handling for 2013-2014. But then the 2015-2017 got puffy truck tires that results in a terrible handling backslide...but again they're selling "trucks" to middle-America. Just wish I could cheaply gray-market in the wonderful Legacy Wagon sold in Europe...maybe a younger guy's adventure....

Hey TheSubaruGuruBoston, thanks for the post, Mark's "groupie- like" posts are indeed getting long in the tooth. I for one, appreciate your contributions to this forum.