How does Subaru compare to Honda, Toyota, Volvo, others?

[H. Whelply]

As stated in a post yesterday, I'm very seriously considering a Forester XT.
("Seriously" = "If I could get out of my November-end lease now in an
economically-acceptable way, I'd be down at the Subaru dealer with a check
to purchase right now.") I've driven the XT, though only on surface streets,
and it seems just what I've wanted.

BUT...I'm a six-Honda man, whose latest love affair is with our 2001 Volvo
S60 2.4T (light-pressure turbo--hence my new enthusiasm for turbos). My
previous objective was a used Volvo XC70 (AWD, light-pressure turbo wagon).
Subaru is unknown territory for me, even though I see quite a few of them on
the road, and every driver/owner I happen to encounter reports a positive
experience.

How does Subaru compare with Honda, Toyota (had a Camry in the early
years--great car), and Volvo? Will it be as/more/less-than reliable? How's
the dealer experience? (My Volvo dealer really :"spoils" me.) Are parts
expensive? Is service expensive? (Volvo evidently makes parts from gold, and
the service techs have Ph.D.'s, apparently.) Any other qualitative
impressions would be very much appreciated.

Thanks.

Hal

 

[Nicolas Dore]

As stated in a post yesterday, I'm very seriously considering a Forester XT.
("Seriously" = "If I could get out of my November-end lease now in an
economically-acceptable way, I'd be down at the Subaru dealer with a check
to purchase right now.") I've driven the XT, though only on surface streets,
and it seems just what I've wanted.

BUT...I'm a six-Honda man, whose latest love affair is with our 2001 Volvo
S60 2.4T (light-pressure turbo--hence my new enthusiasm for turbos). My
previous objective was a used Volvo XC70 (AWD, light-pressure turbo wagon).
Subaru is unknown territory for me, even though I see quite a few of them on
the road, and every driver/owner I happen to encounter reports a positive
experience.

How does Subaru compare with Honda, Toyota (had a Camry in the early
years--great car), and Volvo? Will it be as/more/less-than reliable? How's
the dealer experience? (My Volvo dealer really :"spoils" me.) Are parts
expensive? Is service expensive? (Volvo evidently makes parts from gold, and
the service techs have Ph.D.'s, apparently.) Any other qualitative
impressions would be very much appreciated.

Thanks.

Hal

Hello Hal

I just bought a 2000 Legacy L. When looking for a new car - a wagon,
helps with the dog... - I was considering Subarus, Volvo V70s and
Passat Wagons. I also just helped my mother buy a new car.

To answer your question:

- As per Consumer Reports, Edmunds and all used car guides I looked
at, Subarus are more reliable than either the Volvos or Volks, just a
bit below Hondas and Toyotas (could be the AWD system being more
complex, having small volume, not sure...);

- Subaru dealers I dealt with when buying were from good to
horrible/want to punch the guy... Bad experience... :-/ Local dealer
is nice, relaxed, but haven't yet had to have car serviced so not sure
how they work. Not as high-class as dealer of previous car, 1982
Mercedes, but there was a price associated with that...;

- Parts and service cost for a Subaru is higher than Hondas and
Toyotas, but less than Volvos, parts about the same as Volks but there
are more Volks independent shops were I live so I could have gotten
service cheaper. The gauge I used for that, besides CAA surveys, was
the cost of an aftermarket warranty: I used the cost of a 5 years/100
000 km "bumper-to-bumper" warranty as my base and compared the costs:
Subaru ~1900$CAN, Volvo was ~3500$CAN, Volks ~2000$CAN, Honda and
Toyota ~1700$CAN. Not an absolute number, but an interesting way to
copmpare expected future costs...

I ended up making the more practical choice, between the Subaru and
Volvo, putting reliability and AWD over comfort (the Volvo seats are
soooooo comfy!) and refinement (not dissing my Subaru, love it, will
love it a lot longer than I could have loved a Volvo, but the Volvo
felt more solid).

Hope this helps.

Nicolas

 

[Edward Hayes]

Nickolas: I like your method of comparing real life maintaince costs. Sales
guarantees are based on expected repairs statistics and certainly should be
folded into the owner cost equation. Ed.

 

[nl]

As stated in a post yesterday, I'm very seriously considering a Forester XT.
("Seriously" = "If I could get out of my November-end lease now in an
economically-acceptable way, I'd be down at the Subaru dealer with a check
to purchase right now.") I've driven the XT, though only on surface streets,
and it seems just what I've wanted.

BUT...I'm a six-Honda man, whose latest love affair is with our 2001 Volvo
S60 2.4T (light-pressure turbo--hence my new enthusiasm for turbos). My
previous objective was a used Volvo XC70 (AWD, light-pressure turbo wagon).
Subaru is unknown territory for me, even though I see quite a few of them on
the road, and every driver/owner I happen to encounter reports a positive
experience.

How does Subaru compare with Honda, Toyota (had a Camry in the early
years--great car), and Volvo? Will it be as/more/less-than reliable? How's
the dealer experience? (My Volvo dealer really :"spoils" me.) Are parts
expensive? Is service expensive? (Volvo evidently makes parts from gold, and
the service techs have Ph.D.'s, apparently.) Any other qualitative
impressions would be very much appreciated.

AWD on Subaru is [way] better than that found on Volvo and [any other]
japanese cars. Cost of maintenance maybe less than that for Volvo, but
definitely higher than for other japs. My experience with Subaru dealer
so far was quite good. Service departments are excellent.
But, then, my experience with all automotive dealers was quite good.
Bike dealers are another story though... Parts departments, oh boy.
You should ride a bike to appreciate service at the auto dealers.
Parts are found a service is performed almost instanteneously.

To get a really good appreciation of automotive dealers I was told the
way to go is order parts at a Triumph dealer.

YMMV.

 

[Mr. Bill]

From my personal experience only, I'd say the reliability and frquency
of repair of the Subaru Legacy ('99 2.5GT wagon) is lower than Honda.

I owned 2 Honda Preludes before my current Subaru ('85 11 years,
214,000mi & '91 (bought in '96) 3 years, 140,000mi (70,000 mine)). Both
of these cars had significatly fewer problems than my current Subaru,
both minor and major.

The '85 Honda ate AC compressors (every 70,000 mi) and needed too many
sets of front brake rotors (about the same frequency). The '91
eventually developed an oil-consumption problem that I was unwilling to
fix (traded the car).

My Subaru has needed a passenger side cylinder head replacement (burnt
valve), welding of a cracked Y-pipe in the exhaust (dealer wanted to
replace it for $400), doesn't like to shift out of park when cold
(dealer charged $125 to "clean" out spilled drinks but it didn't fix the
problem), rust everywhere (non-working tailgate release), replacement of
front-wheel bearing (may have been tire-dealer's fault) and it has
developed a massive ATF leak.

Do I like the look of this car? Yes, very much.
Do I like to drive it? Yes, very much.
Am I worried that repairs are going to bankrupt me? Yes, very much.

Mr. Bill