Subaru Reliability

[Ronald Donahue]

I posted the following in December 2003;

Just had the 90,000 mile check on my 1999 SUS (now called Outback Sedan) and
no problems were found. I bought this car new in August 1998 I change the
oil every 15,000 miles at a jiffy lube or similar quick change. It has been
to the dealer at only 30,000, 60,000, and 90,000. It was back to the dealer
for 2 minor and 1 semi major warranty repairs .
So far I have paid for 1 set of brake disks, 2 sets of brake pads and a
heater panel bulb replacement. I don't do any maintenance myself just put
gas in it and drive. I must say I am very impressed this car appears to be
as reliable if not more reliable than my Hondas (Civic and Accord) and my
Toyota Camry.

Update June 2004

Last week I had my 105,000 mile check (the car actually has 99,000 on it
but I was worried about the camshaft belt) at my dealer, not so lucky this
time.

105,000 mile check = $122.44

Replace timing belt = $272.10

Replace oil pan (it had rusted through ?) = $305.02

Front brake pads and rotors = $381.36

Exhaust gasket corroded = 98.69

Misc. = $2.40

Total = $1222.06

I still feel this is not bad for nearly 100,000 miles of driving and I would
buy another Subaru.

Ron Donahue

 

[Tony Hwang]

I posted the following in December 2003;

Just had the 90,000 mile check on my 1999 SUS (now called Outback Sedan) and
no problems were found. I bought this car new in August 1998 I change the
oil every 15,000 miles at a jiffy lube or similar quick change. It has been
to the dealer at only 30,000, 60,000, and 90,000. It was back to the dealer
for 2 minor and 1 semi major warranty repairs .
So far I have paid for 1 set of brake disks, 2 sets of brake pads and a
heater panel bulb replacement. I don't do any maintenance myself just put
gas in it and drive. I must say I am very impressed this car appears to be
as reliable if not more reliable than my Hondas (Civic and Accord) and my
Toyota Camry.

Update June 2004

Last week I had my 105,000 mile check (the car actually has 99,000 on it
but I was worried about the camshaft belt) at my dealer, not so lucky this
time.

105,000 mile check = $122.44

Replace timing belt = $272.10

Replace oil pan (it had rusted through ?) = $305.02

Front brake pads and rotors = $381.36

Exhaust gasket corroded = 98.69

Misc. = $2.40

Total = $1222.06

I still feel this is not bad for nearly 100,000 miles of driving and I would
buy another Subaru.

Ron Donahue

Hi,
Are you riding on brake? My '98 Honda CRV has over 100K miles and it
still has all original brake parts. What's going on?
My two kids' 2000 Impreza has original brake, clutch as well.
?????????????????????????????????????
Tony

 

[Greg]

I posted the following in December 2003;

Just had the 90,000 mile check on my 1999 SUS (now called Outback Sedan) and
no problems were found. I bought this car new in August 1998 I change the
oil every 15,000 miles at a jiffy lube or similar quick change. It has been
to the dealer at only 30,000, 60,000, and 90,000. It was back to the dealer
for 2 minor and 1 semi major warranty repairs .
So far I have paid for 1 set of brake disks, 2 sets of brake pads and a
heater panel bulb replacement. I don't do any maintenance myself just put
gas in it and drive. I must say I am very impressed this car appears to be
as reliable if not more reliable than my Hondas (Civic and Accord) and my
Toyota Camry.

I'd say the 15000 oil change is too long. Others may disagree

 

[tomcas]

I'd say the 15000 oil change is too long. Others may disagree

No disagreement here. 7500 seems about right. Consumer Reports did a
test several years ago and used taxi maintenance logs together with tear
down reports. The consensus was less than 7500 was just a waste of oil.

 

[Paul J]

I posted the following in December 2003;

Just had the 90,000 mile check on my 1999 SUS (now called Outback Sedan)
and no problems were found. I bought this car new in August 1998 I change
the oil every 15,000 miles at a jiffy lube or similar quick change. It has
been to the dealer at only 30,000, 60,000, and 90,000. It was back to the
dealer for 2 minor and 1 semi major warranty repairs .
So far I have paid for 1 set of brake disks, 2 sets of brake pads and a
heater panel bulb replacement. I don't do any maintenance myself just put
gas in it and drive. I must say I am very impressed this car appears to be
as reliable if not more reliable than my Hondas (Civic and Accord) and my
Toyota Camry.

Update June 2004

Last week I had my 105,000 mile check (the car actually has 99,000 on it
but I was worried about the camshaft belt) at my dealer, not so lucky this
time.

105,000 mile check = $122.44

Replace timing belt = $272.10

Replace oil pan (it had rusted through ?) = $305.02

Front brake pads and rotors = $381.36

Exhaust gasket corroded = 98.69

Misc. = $2.40

Total = $1222.06

I still feel this is not bad for nearly 100,000 miles of driving and I
would buy another Subaru.

Ron Donahue

I personally think 15000 miles is way too long. I change the oil on my moms
car every 3000 miles, she drives about 27000 miles a year, and her 1993
subaru impreza has 298,000 miles on it and shes still driving it.
absolutely NO engine problems at all. changed clutch, timing belts of
course and a water pump. other than that no other costly repairs.

paul J

 

[Charles Perry]

Front brake pads and rotors = $381.36

You could have saved yourself most of that if you had changed the brakes
when they wore thin rather than let them eat the rotors.

Charles Perry P.E.

 

[Dave Null Sr.]

No disagreement here. 7500 seems about right. Consumer Reports did a
test several years ago and used taxi maintenance logs together with tear
down reports. The consensus was less than 7500 was just a waste of oil.

Most wear is on cold startup.
Using a taxi for a benchmark is a mistake unless you drive your
car up to 24 hours a day and it never gets cold.

 

[Rick Courtright]

test several years ago and used taxi maintenance logs together with tear
down reports. The consensus was less than 7500 was just a waste of oil.

Some may argue, but I would think any test using taxis is going to
reflect something other than what the average driver experiences. Few of
us fire up our engine and run it 12-24 hours at a stretch. In the late
'60s/early '70s I was a student doing oil changes in a gas station, and
our used oil was picked up by a reclaiming company. I asked what they
did with reclaimed oil, and the driver told me they sold a lot of it to
taxi fleets, who often got 500k miles out of their engines. Using the
same oil in your "regular" car would a) void the warranty, because it
didn't meet any of the higher API "S" series requirements (I think it
was rated "SA"), and b) probably cause a lot of problems with cold start
wear, foaming, etc., since it didn't have a complete additive package.
So driving style has a LOT to do with change frequency.

Rick

 

[CompUser]

'60s/early '70s I was a student doing oil changes in a gas station, and
our used oil was picked up by a reclaiming company. I asked what they
did with reclaimed oil, and the driver told me they sold a lot of it to
taxi fleets, who often got 500k miles out of their engines. Using the
same oil in your "regular" car would a) void the warranty, because it
didn't meet any of the higher API "S" series requirements (I think it
was rated "SA"), and b) probably cause a lot of problems with cold start
wear, foaming, etc., since it didn't have a complete additive package.

Actually, that's what most of us are probably
using, who use dino oil.

Go down to any of your local quickie oil change
joints and ask what happens to the "changed" oil,
and who buys it (that's a clue). That "changed"
oil isn't done going thru "changes".

Steve

 

[Rick Courtright]

and who buys it (that's a clue). That "changed"
oil isn't done going thru "changes".

We drive on a lot of it! Used oil, aggregate, shredded used tires: mix
well, cook it up a bit, call it blacktop, asphalt, tarmac, whatever.
Works pretty well!

Rick

 

[CompUser]

We drive on a lot of it! Used oil, aggregate, shredded used tires: mix
well, cook it up a bit, call it blacktop, asphalt, tarmac, whatever.
Works pretty well!

In the reserves I ran into a guy that used to
manage/own several quickie lube
places...according to him, that oil is unchanged
by engine service, and gets processed/filtered
and re bottled...<shrugs>...truth or fiction, I
don't know, but he had no reason to BS me about
it...

Steve

 

[Chris Phillipo]

Subject: Re: Subaru Reliability
From: CompUser <(e-mail address removed)>
Reply-To: steve762us(5megspamresistor)@yahoo.com
Newsgroups: alt.autos.subaru



In the reserves I ran into a guy that used to
manage/own several quickie lube
places...according to him, that oil is unchanged
by engine service, and gets processed/filtered
and re bottled...<shrugs>...truth or fiction, I
don't know, but he had no reason to BS me about
it...

Steve

Walmart used to have a house brand of oil that was recycled motor oil
and they were proud of it. Had a nice green label on it to show you are
saving the planet. I wouldn't use it in anyhting other than a lawn
mower however Most used oil around here gets burned, we use the oil
at the shop in our waste oil furnace through the winter.

 

[Rick Courtright]

places...according to him, that oil is unchanged
by engine service, and gets processed/filtered
and re bottled...<shrugs>...truth or fiction, I

I don't know about all the practices of the quickie places, though I was
under the impression each chain is pretty much a marketing arm of a
particular oil company. For example, one of ours locally promotes
Castrol, another Pennzoil (and Quaker State, same co.) So I'd think they
have a proprietary interest in selling new product, but one never knows.

Thirty plus years ago, the process you describe is precisely what our
reclaimer told me: he sent the old oil to a "refinery," where it was
filtered and re-canned (before bottles!) The most common brand in our
area was described as "re-refined" on the can.

Rick

 

[CompUser]

I don't know about all the practices of the quickie places, though I was
under the impression each chain is pretty much a marketing arm of a
particular oil company. For example, one of ours locally promotes
Castrol, another Pennzoil (and Quaker State, same co.) So I'd think they
have a proprietary interest in selling new product, but one never knows.

Thirty plus years ago, the process you describe is precisely what our
reclaimer told me: he sent the old oil to a "refinery," where it was
filtered and re-canned (before bottles!) The most common brand in our
area was described as "re-refined" on the can.

CRS who he was under, Exxon or Mobil...was up in
Chicago. I was pretty amazed when he told me
that, but he claimed the oil itself was
"unchanged" and by filtering (and presumably
restoring additives and whatever) it was as good
as "new". He also felt that the synthetic stuff
was way, way better, that Slick 50 was bogus, and
that the profit margin on Rain-X was obscene (in
his shop, lol).

Steve

 

[CompUser]

@news.eastlink.ca>, (e-mail address removed)
says...

Walmart used to have a house brand of oil that was recycled motor oil
and they were proud of it. Had a nice green label on it to show you are
saving the planet. I wouldn't use it in anyhting other than a lawn
mower however Most used oil around here gets burned, we use the oil
at the shop in our waste oil furnace through the winter.

Yeah, burning as fuel, that I had heard
of...spoke with staff at a landfill ("waste
management district", oops) out in Cali years
ago, they took used oil and sold it to a cement
mill, where it was burned under controlled
conditions...so this other guy telling me it was
cleaned up and repackaged and resold, surprised
me!

Steve

 

[Rick Courtright]

that, but he claimed the oil itself was
"unchanged" and by filtering (and presumably
restoring additives and whatever) it was as good
as "new". He also felt that the synthetic stuff
was way, way better, that Slick 50 was bogus, and
that the profit margin on Rain-X was obscene (in

What he told you has been pretty much conventional wisdom for decades
about oil "wearing out" or being "changed," since at least the end of
WWII (don't remember the study that used to be a favorite quote, but
IIRC it was the military that commissioned it around WWII.) The base
stock does not wear out, only the additives, so cleaning it and
reformulating with new additives does make sense on paper. Economically,
I'm not sure, which is probably why so much old oil ends up elsewhere.

The synthetic argument I won't touch. Slick 50's been pretty much
determined to be bogus by enough agencies to make one wonder why it's
still around (yeah, I know, there's one born every minute!), and if you
can't afford Rain-X, in a pinch supposedly you can "make" your
own--slice the end off a potato and rub the fresh part across the glass.
I haven't tried that one, but it sounds like a fun way to waste a potato
if not make a huge mess!

Rick

 

[CompUser]

The synthetic argument I won't touch. Slick 50's been pretty much
determined to be bogus by enough agencies to make one wonder why it's
still around (yeah, I know, there's one born every minute!), and if you
can't afford Rain-X, in a pinch supposedly you can "make" your
own--slice the end off a potato and rub the fresh part across the glass.
I haven't tried that one, but it sounds like a fun way to waste a potato
if not make a huge mess!

Not to be misconstrued on the Rain-X (actually he
said the entire quickie lube op was *extremely*
profitable) issue, I love the stuff. Haven't
heard of the potatoe alternative, but the bottle
does say it's acidified isopropanol, and I have
heard you can do the job with regular rubbing
alcohol. I'm still using the same bottle for the
past eight years I'd guess, but I'll try the
rubbing alcohol when it runs out...maybe the
potatoe after that, heheheh.

Steve

 

[Jim Stewart]

Not to be misconstrued on the Rain-X (actually he
said the entire quickie lube op was *extremely*
profitable) issue, I love the stuff. Haven't
heard of the potatoe alternative, but the bottle
does say it's acidified isopropanol, and I have
heard you can do the job with regular rubbing
alcohol. I'm still using the same bottle for the
past eight years I'd guess, but I'll try the
rubbing alcohol when it runs out...maybe the
potatoe after that, heheheh.

I personally don't care if Rain-X contains donkey
piss. I'll still buy it and use it. It's an
incredibly good product and it certainly lives
up to it's claims.

 

[Edward Hayes]

Potato is a good old time fix. No mess unless you use a rotten potato. ed

 

[Rockin Ronnie]

Walmart used to have a house brand of oil that was recycled motor oil
and they were proud of it. Had a nice green label on it to show you are
saving the planet. I wouldn't use it in anyhting other than a lawn
mower however Most used oil around here gets burned, we use the oil
at the shop in our waste oil furnace through the winter.

Canadian Tire used to sell Nugold. Dunno if they still do.

Ron