Nervous about a Subaru purchase (or, Forester vs. Ford Ranger)

@SnacksOnDeck‌, ask your mechanic for recommendations.

Good call @jtsanders‌, he said either would be fine for him but “I’m quite sure you would rather have the pickup.” Reason being, less stuff to go wrong and easier to fix.

I also asked some guys at a local Sub specialty shop a bunch of questions about maintenance and potential repairs and they advised me to generally stay away from Subarus that have lived for many years in the Northern states. This one is from CT. They also suggested that regular maintenance on an older Sub (in this case a 2000 outback, another one I was looking at) would runs about $1000 per year, not including any large repairs. Ouch!! That alone is enough to dash my Subaru dreams. Is this what you all who drive Sub’s have encountered?

“They also suggested that regular maintenance on an older Sub (in this case a 2000 outback, another one I was looking at) would runs about $1000 per year, not including any large repairs.”

That should be your sign to avoid that local “Sub Shop”.
(Perhaps they would be better at making sub sandwiches instead of maintaining Subarus)
;-))

The only additional maintenance on Subarus–as compared to other vehicles–is the proviso to rotate the tires every 7,500 miles, and to change the oil in both differentials–instead of just one–every 30k miles.

If that garage claims that it costs a total of $1,000 for one extra differential oil change every 30k miles, and for a tire rotation every 7,500 miles, then they are thieves–plain & simple.

All of that being said, because so many people are under the false impression that maintenance consists of only oil changes, many Subarus probably don’t get serviced according to mfr’s specifications, and that is why I would hesitate to buy a used one unless it came with hard copies of maintenance records verifying that everything was done on schedule.

In my case, all maintenance is done on schedule, and I can tell you that my “extra” maintenance expenses are on the order of $25 per year for the tire rotation, and $45 every 30k miles for the extra differential oil change–at a supposedly “high priced dealership”.

If somebody conflates this grand total of $120 over a 3 year period to $1,000, then he is a thief, plain & simple.

Hmm could be I heard the guy wrong but I’m pretty sure that’s what he said. Maybe that number was to include potential repairs to wheel bearings or whatever might be anticipated in a car of that age. Otherwise that shop seemed quite legitimate, but this is just from my vantage as someone who simply walked through the door with a bunch of questions. Either way it’s a pretty reputable shop as far as I know.

@VDCdriver‌ what do you feel is a reasonable amount to expect to pay in maintenance over the course of a year for a 2000 outback? Any different that a 2008 Forester?

How much would any car from 2000 cost to maintain each year? Was he saying the Subarus cost an average of $1000 more to maintain than another 15 year old car? My older Subaru has some maintenance costs, but I figure any car this old will need things replaced. For example, my radiator, just today. It’s a 1999 with 150k miles and the radiator neck was cracked & leaking (because plastic gets brittle I guess). I figure that’s a fair life span for a radiator and an expense most cars would have at this age.

In general, if you found something in the 3-5 year old with 30k-50k miles range, would that kind of be a sweet spot, after the new car depreciation lapses & you have yet to worry about costly repairs & replacements?

Yeah, I think it was because it was a 14 year old car. I have a 20 year old car and it’s cost me about that in repairs each year I’ve had the thing. I just want to avoid going down that route again.

" I have a 20 year old car and it’s cost me about that in repairs each year I’ve had the thing."

Are we actually talking about maintenance, or about repairs?
If maintenance is the issue–especially in light of the statement that maintaining a Subaru costs ~$1k per year–I will give you some precise numbers.

Over the past year, for two oil changes and one tire rotation, I paid a total of $120.47, but because my six cylinder Outback takes 7 qts of oil, the cost of the oil changes is somewhat higher than it would be for a Forester, or for a 4 cylinder Outback. I don’t know about you, but I consider ~$120 to be very far away from that $1,000 figure.

About 18 months ago, when it was time for the “big” 30k service (change oil, trans fluid, brake fluid, coolant, oil in both differentials, replace trans pan gasket, replace air filter, clean throttle body, rotate tires, and do a bunch of inspections), the dealer billed $534.90, but I paid only $13.12 (yes, that is really what I paid) as a result of my use of the Subaru credit card. However, the Subaru credit card is another issue entirely, and–unfortunately–Subaru has discontinued that card.

Based on the costs that I posted above, I can’t imagine how anyone could pay $1k per year for maintaining his/her Subaru–unless their mechanic charges significantly more money than a dealership charges.

Regarding something that I referred to in an earlier post, a poorly-maintained Subaru would likely need to have its center viscous coupler replaced (as a result of running with mismatched tires), but that repair should be a one-time event (if the owner has any smarts), and IIRC, should run somewhere in the neighborhood of $500.

So…are we talking about maintenance, or are we talking about repairing an old–possibly poorly-maintained–vehicle? There is a big difference between those two concepts!

I have decided to give this thread a bump, in the hope that the OP will respond to my question:

Are we talking about scheduled maintenance, or are we talking about repairs on a (possibly) badly-maintained vehicle?

???