OEM struts. Options?

[halistan]

Originally Posted by 1986nate

+1

In response to halistan...

There have been tons of cases of "new" OEM struts failing. Just because they aren't all documented and posted in one place or many aren't documented at all, doesn't mean that it's only been one case... This isn't a myth, and it has been going on for many, many years. You are much better buying used OEM struts for 1/3 the price of new OEM as the used will likely outlast the OEM anyway...

Seriously Nate, that's your arguement? Hearsay + rumors = fact? With that logic, Unicorns and dragons are real to just because there aren't any documented discoveries of them.

Meanwhile, back in the real world, no documented instances of failure = myth

[Coan]

Here are a couple possible scenarios:

1) The original run of OEM replacement struts really are bad. I managed to find a thread with people talking about this even back in 2005.
It's 2007, which happens to be the date code recently found on some of the OEM struts. The newest SVX is now 10 years old, and now many, many of them need new struts. Lots of owners/dealers are buying and replacing them, only to have them fail under warranty. This is costing Subaru a lot of money to replace these under warranty. Subaru realizes the issue, and looks into it. They determine that most/all of the struts on hand are bad. Decision time. They can keep taking their chances with selling the current stock, they can scrap them all and leave all the SVX owners out to dry, or they can make a new run. What have they got to lose? IMO 2007 would have been a great time to make a new run. They know that over time they will likely all sell as almost every SVX on the road will need struts within the next 5+ years. It's not like they are going to lose money doing this. This is also the point in time where many SVX owners realize that their car is getting too old to drive every day, and decide to go buy a new car. The last thing these people would do is go buy another Subaru after having to give up theirs because they couldn't buy a simple strut for it. IMO it would be a worse business decision to leave every SVX owner stranded with no strut options, just 10 years after production ended. That's a no-brainer, it's not like making re-run of struts that they've already made in the past is a big deal for a company that large. In fact, if they still have the original tooling lying around in a warehouse, it's a pretty simple operation.

or

2) A very small handful of people had the OEM replacement struts go bad. OF COURSE these people are going to go to an online forum and complain about it. Word spreads about the bad experience that a couple of people had. Nobody hears about all the other people who replaced them and didn't have issues. After all, who goes and posts on a forum about how their replacement parts are working like they are supposed to? Now every OEM strut thread is littered with people repeating what's been posted in previous threads. If only a small handful have failed out of the hundreds that have been purchased from Subaru over the last 10 years, that's a relatively small failure rate.

IMO, neither one of these is more outrageous than the other....

[LetItSnow]

Originally Posted by Coan

It's 2007, which happens to be the date code recently found on some of the OEM struts.

Date code's speculation, too. FWIW, if that is a date code, they repop'd the cupholders, too. I dare you to say that they did!

Originally Posted by Coan

The newest SVX is now 10 years old, and now many, many of them need new struts.

2013 - 1997 = 16

Originally Posted by Coan

This is also the point in time where many SVX owners realize that their car is getting too old to drive every day, and decide to go buy a new car. The last thing these people would do is go buy another Subaru after having to give up theirs because they couldn't buy a simple strut for it.

I bought a pair of Foresters, plan to pick up a new one in three years, and recommend them to people who ask. Looks like the future of the SVX didn't sour me too much!

[dcarrb]

Is Subaru likely to cast and machine a new batch of EG33 blocks or heads? No. Might they have a subcontractor assemble a run of SVX struts from unremarkable steel tubing and parts bin components? Of course they would... if the cost/benefit analysis numbers say the'll come out ahead. It's that simple.

dcb

[Coan]

Originally Posted by LetItSnow

Date code's speculation, too. FWIW, if that is a date code, they repop'd the cupholders, too. I dare you to say that they did!

There is almost as much hard evidence for the date codes (1 confirmed case) as there is for new OEM struts failing.

And of course they would reproduce cupholders, what would we do without those???

Originally Posted by LetItSnow

2013 - 1997 = 16

In that scenario it was 2007. 2007 -1997 = 10.

Originally Posted by LetItSnow

I bought a pair of Foresters, plan to pick up a new one in three years, and recommend them to people who ask. Looks like the future of the SVX didn't sour me too much!

Good to hear! Almost bought one myself last summer, but decided I needed something bigger...

Originally Posted by dcarrb

Is Subaru likely to cast and machine a new batch of EG33 blocks or heads? No. Might they have a subcontractor assemble a run of SVX struts from unremarkable steel tubing and parts bin components? Of course they would... if the cost/benefit analysis numbers say the'll come out ahead. It's that simple.

dcb

+1!

[Huskymaniac]

I don't know what dates were on the cup holders but I saw the dates on the struts. Each strut had two Fuji stickers on them, one on the bag and one on the strut itself. These were not dealer stickers or written in sharpie or anything like that. The dates on the stickers did not match but were very close with the slightly older date being on the strut. It looked to me like the strut sticker had the strut manufacturing date on it and the bag sticker had the inventory date on it. What are the odds that the strut would have been sticking around, unlabeled, on a shelf for as much as 10 years before being labeled, placed in its protective packaging and placed into inventory? If there was just a sticker on the bag, I could see it being somewhat suspect. Maybe some dealer bought it, dated it and moved it into their inventory. But that's not the case here.

[1986nate]

Originally Posted by halistan

Seriously Nate, that's your arguement? Hearsay + rumors = fact? With that logic, Unicorns and dragons are real to just because there aren't any documented discoveries of them.

Meanwhile, back in the real world, no documented instances of failure = myth

Hmmm, yeah, it's complete hearsay when I've talked to 5 forum members directly that all went through this process of buying them, having them replaced under warranty, then having them fail again just past warranty and being SOL...

What do I care, go waste your money.

[LetItSnow]

Originally Posted by Huskymaniac

<confusion regarding stamped dates on everything>

...or they're not dates. Nobody has confirmed them as dates! Say it: "They repop'd the cupholders."

[dbarnblatt]

Originally Posted by LetItSnow

...or they're not dates. Nobody has confirmed them as dates! Say it: "They repop'd the cupholders."

They are absolutely date codes. YYMMDD. Whether they are dates of manufacturer is another story. Inventory date, date received, who knows, but they are dates.

I have around 100 new parts in boxes in my garage. All have the Fuji part number label with a bar code and the date code.

For the date code... none of the numbers go outside of what a date should be on any of the parts that I have. The first 2 digits range from 94-11, the middle 2 digits are never higher than 12... and the last 2 digits are never higher than 31. (or vice versa if the part originated in the US.) Or if there in no day in the code, the code appears as: 07-02M (M=month).

[Darren]

I believe in the US a motor manufacturer must supply every item of a car for 10 years after the last production date. This varies around the world and is sometimes dependent on vehicle numbers produced for that market.

It is no surprise that the newest strut date would therefore be 2007, it would fit with the last US cars being 97.

Manufacturers do however continue runs of items when supply and demand dictate, at the end of the day if people want a part they can sell they are in business. Struts and many other items are made by out sourced suppliers who also have a vested interest in making money. It cost little more to do a batch run of saleable parts than a current one, all that is usually needed is a change of tooling.

At the end of the day they do not want to see vehicles that are 15 years of age and are starting to need parts being scrapped when there is a lucrative market for them to tap in to. The Japanese realised this many years ago and followed the Swedish and Germans in to the older parts market.

Just because it's not available in the US, Canada or Europe does not mean it's not still available in Japan. (some of the problems are lazy dealers who can't be bothered to contact Subaru world parts supply in Japan and ask the question.

[benebob]

Originally Posted by halistan

Seriously Nate, that's your arguement? Hearsay + rumors = fact? With that logic, Unicorns and dragons are real to just because there aren't any documented discoveries of them.

Meanwhile, back in the real world, no documented instances of failure = myth

Maybe you should pull that unicorn horn out of your a$$ as I would be happy to supply you the documentation of the numerous failures my car had over 14 months with "new" subaru rear struts. Even put less than 100 miles on one set... Hell I get more mileage out of race slicks then that.

[SUPER]

Being new to the forum, I appreciate the direct and honest responses. I bought the SVX with the intent of driving it. I want a stock ride so I think I will take my chances with the OEM and let everyone know how they are doing. Not a statistically valid test to use for all oem struts, to be sure; but it can be one test case. I won't be driving it hard or racing. Just making the 15-mile leisurely drive to work and back (30 total) each day.

Again, thanks to everyone who weighed in. Probably another good thread would be the alternatives to OEM. Someone mentioned other brands. I have looked a little on car parts sites and have not found anything that is available on a shelf or ready to ship, stock or stiffer ride. I must be looking in the wrong places.

[svxfiles]

Originally Posted by SUPER

Being new to the forum, I appreciate the direct and honest responses. I bought the SVX with the intent of driving it. I want a stock ride so I think I will take my chances with the OEM and let everyone know how they are doing. Not a statistically valid test to use for all oem struts, to be sure; but it can be one test case. I won't be driving it hard or racing. Just making the 15-mile leisurely drive to work and back (30 total) each day.

Again, thanks to everyone who weighed in. Probably another good thread would be the alternatives to OEM. Someone mentioned other brands. I have looked a little on car parts sites and have not found anything that is available on a shelf or ready to ship, stock or stiffer ride. I must be looking in the wrong places.

I did ALOT of searching for a strut that could be easily modified to work on an SVX about a year ago.
I found nothing.
If I did not have a full time job, I am sure that I could find something that would work, but sadly the mortgage is due, regular work calls.

[Coan]

Originally Posted by benebob

Maybe you should pull that unicorn horn out of your a$$ as I would be happy to supply you the documentation of the numerous failures my car had over 14 months with "new" subaru rear struts. Even put less than 100 miles on one set... Hell I get more mileage out of race slicks then that.

Your case is one of the two that I was able to find while searching. The thread I found of yours was posted in 2005, which would have been before the most recent run in 2007 (if that run of parts happened). The other one, was a member that posted in the last strut thread we had, just a week or so ago. (This strut thing seems to be a weekly thread now )

The point we are trying to make here, is that it is very poorly documented. Have you actually tried searching for people with first hand experience with this issue on this forum? I have, and almost every thread is filled with nothing but hearsay that was repeated over and over again from previous threads. Unless people who have had the issue have actually put it in a thread somewhere, then their case is undocumented, whether it happened or not.

If we want to get to the bottom of this, we need to get a list going to document how many people have ordered replacement struts, and how many of those have failed.

We also need to get a list going of people who have ordered them, and exactly what date codes (if any) were labeled on their bags/struts. Pictures would be nice as well.

Documenting and observing the data - it's the only way we are going to get past all these "opinions" and attempt get to the bottom of this.

[Coan]

Originally Posted by SUPER

Being new to the forum, I appreciate the direct and honest responses. I bought the SVX with the intent of driving it. I want a stock ride so I think I will take my chances with the OEM and let everyone know how they are doing. Not a statistically valid test to use for all oem struts, to be sure; but it can be one test case. I won't be driving it hard or racing. Just making the 15-mile leisurely drive to work and back (30 total) each day.

If you do buy new OEM struts. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE look at the labels on the bag and the struts themselves for date codes. If you can, PLEASE take pictures of them and post them here. It would be very useful to us all.