Are Subarus actually bad cars?

Posted by Zeurt@reddit | askcarguys | View on Reddit | 44 comments

Hi everyone hope you’re well. I’m 17 and in the market for a car in Canada.

For the longest time I was thinking about just getting a Toyota as my first car since they’re so reliable (my parents have a 2015 rav4 that’s a beast still even with 200k+ km on the dash and multiple crashes) but recently I’ve been interested in Subarus more

Subarus are really cool aesthetically and I love them for that reason. No other car company seems to hit the vibe that Subarus like the outback have for me.

I’ve heard lots of negative things about Subarus however and am wondering if it’s really a smart choice to stay away from them and just instead go for a run of the mill reliable car instead or if they’re actually good.

This car would need to last me atleast 10 years minimum, few hundred thousand km, and it would typically do just city drives and also just nature.

Thanks.

Also I know people call them “gay cars” and whatever but I couldn’t gaf so don’t mention it if you mean it in some discouraging way.

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rudbri93@reddit

theyre pretty good, some had head gasket problems and that idea has kinda plagued the brand. take care of it and theyre pretty good

Zeurt@reddit (OP)

Issue is I have zero car knowledge so I wouldn’t know how to take care of the actual parts. I’d just have to rely on the servicemen

NumberOneBacon@reddit

Head gaskets are notorious amongst turbocharged Subarus. The NA ones don’t seem to have the same reputation

Blu_yello_husky@reddit

Yes. A retired subaru tech once told me; there are two types of subarus in this world: new ones and ones that leak.

Please dont buy these awful cars unless you want to drop $1200 at 60k miles to replace the valve cover gaskets

themom_destroyer@reddit

No, they’re fantastic. 90% of the issues come from people pushing them too far without supporting upgrades. I love my 08 Impreza.

Enigma_xplorer@reddit

Personally, I would never buy one. Honestly Subarus are weird to me. It's like a cult. Literally every conversation I have with a Subaru owner basically goes like this. "best car ever, I love it! I've only had to replace the headgasket twice". They go on about how much the love the car followed by some terrible thing that has gone wrong with it that they would accept from no other brand be it head gaskets, CVT failures, leaks, stupid stuff like constantly draining batteries. Even my own parents who I advised in the strongest possible terms against buying one raved about what a great car it is and how happy they were to get the extended transmission warranty from Subaru. It's like you realize that's not a good thing right? Subaru did it because they had so many problems with them they were in a sense forced to extend that warranty on them. If this kind of stuff happened to any other car like a Dodge they would be saying what a pile of junk it is but Subaru gets a pass for some reason. I call it the Subaru paradox.

RobsHereAgain@reddit

Great cars overall. They do tend to use oil as the miles add up but that’s not really a big deal

Petrifalcon3@reddit

Not at all. In fact, they actually edged Toyota out of the #1 spot on the reliability chart this year. A lot of the older models have gasket problems, but at this point, they're sole of the most reliable cars available

millennialmoneyvet@reddit

Seems pretty basic but I also notice Subaru drivers are some of the worst. Completely oblivious to their surroundings

obxhead@reddit

I have 123k miles on my 22 Outback touring XT.

They are a bit higher maintenance than Toyota. Along with transmission fluid changes, you need to do the differentials as well.

Plugs are a much harder to do yourself.

I love mine though. In the snow the Subaru will smoke any Toyota car.

If maintained properly they can last as well as any Toyota.

Tho_Professor@reddit

Lots of people saying take care of them and no issues. This is not true had a 2013 forester blow a rod at just over 99k miles. Was still under the extend warranty just barely. To replace the engine they wanted proof of 10 oil changes mine had 33 changed every 3k miles. My sister also had a 2013 forester hers made it to 120k miles before blowing its engine with oil changes every 3k miles.

Spanconstant5@reddit

They are not bad cars, they are a lot less tolerant to neglecting maintenance than a Toyota though

kick6@reddit

Head gasket issues under boost, and the flat 4 in these platforms can make for miserable spark plug changes depending on model.

Tree_Weasel@reddit

Modern Subarus have largely resolved the head gasket issues of old and are pretty much reliable, with a few issues here and there.

But they all have CVT transmissions now. Which can be reliable IF you do regular fluid charges. About every 30k miles (48k km) do a transmission fluid swap and it should give you a good long service life.

pm-me-racecars@reddit

All cars are bad cars. Pick what problems you want to deal with.

ThePurch@reddit

My 2005 Toyota Matrix with 710,000km would disagree.

ohwell_______@reddit

The problem in this case would be spending 710,000 km in a 2005 Toyota Matrix

Some cars, the problems are social.

DJScaryTerry@reddit

They're great as long as you don't get a turbo. Turbos = head gaskets on Subarus.

Ithrowaway000@reddit

Our 2015 Crosstrek went though 3 CVTs and a set of headgaskets by 150,000km.

I would only own another Subaru if it was manual.

My elderly next door neighbour recently had a CVT replaced under warranty on her Forester. I think it’s a 2020 or 21. Thing has like 40,000km on it.

willmaineskier@reddit

I had a 2002 WRX, it rusted out after 12 years and 180k miles of salty Maine winters. My 2015 STI I am at 227k miles and rust is starting to appear.

teakwoodtile@reddit

Subarus are more expensive to maintain and don't hold their value as well as other Jap makes. They are a great value though and AWD is standard on all models. I wouldn't buy one without a service history though or if I was in a budget.

I believe that Subaru cheaps out on components in order to keep their costs competitive with 2wd cars (see wheel bearings, windshields, control arms etc.) Own a WRX and like it.

RagingLeonard@reddit

Just gonna drop that "Jap" in and split, huh?

Suitable_Access_9078@reddit

It's funny this really only seems to upset a small subset of people, Japanese-Americans, particularly those that spent time in the camps. Not saying you should use offensive language just because it only affects a minority, but it's just funny to me that noone in my family knew shortening the name of our ethnicity in English made it racist lol.

I definitely didn't mean to be offensive :)

Quite a few camps around where I live in Canada so I'm definitely familiar with that part of history here.

Same thing with Polak for me too, means different things to different people I guess.

Fify

CertifiedBlackGuy@reddit

They are (slightly) more expensive to maintain, but if you do keep up on the maintenance, they have toyota level reliability.

Most issues memed about stem from the WRX and their shitty treatment by their owners. Even the WRX, even when modded and tuned properly, can achieve the same reliability as the rest of the brand.

Ok-Ad8998@reddit

No, they are made pretty well. The problems they do have are pretty well-known and repairable. I rate them up with Honda in the second tier of reliability behind Toyota. I had one that went 18 years and almost 230k miles before we sold it. It might still be going. Only problems were weird ones. Front sway bar snapped just past the warranty miles, but they covered it anyway. Deer seemed attracted to it.

jrileyy229@reddit

Nobody can really give you much advice since they have no idea about which car/motor/trans you're talking about.

If you're talking a 2000 Forester with 180k on it or a 2026 forester

AlanofAdelaide@reddit

Have had a Liberty and an Impreza and both made high mileage reliably. Dunno where some of the commentators get their info but it's full of opinion and light on detail. Typical for Reddit

berg450@reddit

Subaru is currently top rated in consumer reports. The head gasket issues were resolved back in 2010 or so. CVTs are generally good though like anything they have to be properly maintained. The AWD system is excellent. I have a 23 Impreza, it has been flawless. They are excellent cars.

MagicGator11@reddit

They're great cars! The bad rep Subaru gets is through some head gaskets and all their poor drivers who abuse and neglect.

RealSprooseMoose@reddit

Worst reputation comes from the WRX owners (I am own btw).

Alot of people will crank extra power out of the turbo engines with supporting mods, without a proper tune, without the recommended fuel, and without doing the recommended (necessary) maintenance. They will then turn around and blame those pesky boxer engines.

Well maintained and cared for Subarus are extremely reliable. Had a 98 legacy with 340,000km that still ran well until the body rot was too much.

Heisenburg7@reddit

Your question is highly variable and depends on the type of Subaru that you get. Some of the older Subarus have problems with leaking head gaskets or rear main seals. Mine had a rear main seal leak and cost money for me to fix. However, if you look for one that's only a few years old and doesn't have 100k plus miles on it, you could definitely keep that car for a while. Just make sure you do your due diligence when buying it.

PeorgieT75@reddit

I've had three, but I'm done with them. Two of them had transmission failures; I still have a '16 Forester that had the transmission replaced under an extended manufacturer warranty, so I'm hoping I can get another 4 or so years out of it. We just replaced a '12 Impreza with a new Civic because it needed more work than the car was worth.

AlternativeWorth5386@reddit

If you get it inspected before purchase it can be a solid car but i wouldn't buy one without inspection because they are slightly more fragile than a toyota

Much_Box996@reddit

My small sample size is I had two. A wrx and a legacy. Both manual and great. No head gasket issues or any engine issues. I like that they still have manuals. They are excellent

Natural_Ad_7183@reddit

The AWD system is the real benefit of a Subaru, which may be worthwhile to you in Canada. They aren’t as reliable or efficient as Honda or Toyota, but not terrible. There are generally fixes for all the known problems except the CVT, which probably won’t last a few hundred thousand kms. When they go the car is pretty much totaled.