I agree. The SVX is high maintenance and breaks more than it should because it has design flaws that are up to us to redesign or to simply live with.

My 1989 toyota 4runner weighs the same as my SVX. It has 221,000 miles on it. All of the wheel bearings are original. The front ones were last packed about 80,000 miles ago. The rotors are original and not warped. The only thing the SVX has that my truck doesn't is an extra 80 horsepower. I can't say the trans is original becuase I swapped an even older tranny in place of mine to get a lower first gear.

Maybe my truck doesn't work as hard as my SVX and that is why it lasts longer?

I flat towed a Jeep CJ7 over 500 miles with the 4runner. Try slowing 2 cars down pouring down I-70 in Colorado with the SVX brakes! I haven't put brake shoes/pads on the ol' truck in 80,000 miles. My truck gets 4wheeled in the rocks. There are some pretty serious torque situations when you have a 240:1 first gear ratio. Shoot, I still have the original U-joints on the thing. Abused? You bet. In fact my gas tank has 2 gallons worth of dents in it from rocks. With only 150HP and 35 inch tall big fat mud tires I run floored on the highway for hours at a time. Whimper? nope. but you'll only get up to 96MPH (downhill!). I get 17 MPG and it'll run on the cheapest fuel you can find from here to panama. I've never changed the O2 sensor. It has the original catalytic convertor too. She still passes roller smog tests no sweat. I even have the original ALTERNATOR on it!? Keep in mind the back-to-back 100 foot winch pulls that flatten the battery even WITH the truck running heating up that ol' alternator. Now that is a load.

My truck's known "weak spot" is the head gasket. Mine have (v6) 221,000 miles on 'em. Yeah, pretty shoddy, you only get 250,000 miles on a set. The joke is that toyota starters are only good for 1,000,000 starts.

OK, the extra 80 HP on the SVX should cause some additional strain on things. The lateral g's you can get with a low, heavy car are greater than I can get with my lifted 4runner on the street, but do you drive your SVX up and down 45 degree slopes with 1 wheel in the air? how about 35 degree sidehills? Never mind the dirt, mud, headlight deep water, extra 2 inches of offset, and 35x12.50 tire's affect on bearings. *shrugs* Put it this way, most of the driveline parts on my 4runner are 50% larger than those on the SVX. That is why toyota truck lasts so long.

The SVX is a fun, interesting, good looking, cool car. It has moderate performance and excellent comfort. It just doesn't stay together like a toyota or a honda. Is that a bad thing? As Subaru's former flagship...yep. I expect a lot more. A quality car should last 200,000 miles with a minimum of effort. My Volvo did it. My 4runner did it. MY subaru SVX didn't make it. 2nd major tranny repair/replace at 103,000? warped rotors (still on there)? all wheel bearings replaced? steering rack replaced too? That is a lot of major work for only 100,000 miles in my Toyota biased book.