Subaru Cars reliable?

[Subafreak]

I base my expirience on working on all kinds of automotive crap all day. I like to base a cars worth on it's ease of working on. This may not be a great way to determine a cars reliability but it is what I hold in high regards to a car. For one I hate V motors, they suck to work on, usually have intake and exaust manifold gasket problems and they suck to fix. Inlines are great for tune-ups but ussually suck to do T-belts on and sometimes you can't pull the motor without taking the tranny with it.

It seems the only thing I ever do to Subarus is change valve cover gaskets and crank seals, and that ussualy just ties in with a T-belt change. "EASY".

I'm not sayin they don't have their problems, it ussualy depends on how well a car is cared for. We had a customer with an 87 Pontiac 6000 that had over 230K on all the original drivetrain and still looked show room. The same customer has a 97 Ranger with 200K on the original drivetrain. They take very good care of their cars and keep them maintained. On the other hand we had a cutomer with a 97 F-150 that needed a motor at 60K becouse he never changed the oil after the first free oil change.

They can all be good and bad, but from my expriance most imports are of a better build than most american cars. It seems like american manufaturers are more conserned with saving every little cent than they are with building good cars. I will say that they are getting alot better with in the past couple years but they still arn't Subarus, and I like Subarus.

[Royal Tiger]

Mark I meant quality not production, but then again, GM "beats" ford and Chrysler at that too. If I had the money I'd be driving something German, but I couldn't afford the repair bills. Think an auto SVX is costly to fix? Try an auto 928. I'd love to get an Audi S4 or maybe a 330 with the AWD, but I'm sure there are German lemons out there, just like US and Japanese. Even the Koreans are doing better. I agree with you mark that the US has ALOT of work ahead of them. It wasn't to long ago that NO ONE challenged GM and ford with big pick ups, now if I was looking for a truck, I'd start with a Nissan Titan or Toyota Tundra. I bought a Nissan Pathfinder without ever looking at a Trailblazer or exploader.

Dan

[Shadow248]

I actually understand Shadow's point but it's easy to get burned by bad experiences and have jaded opinions.

AHHHH there it is again. Hypocracy rears it's ugly face. All my bad experiences with Imports must be the ONLY bad ones in the world!!! But since you have had several bad experiences with GM cars...that makes them all bad. I've expressed the fact that i've experienced most of the same problems with various imports that you have experienced with GM cars (and it cost more to fix those same problems on the imports)...but this is overlooked. Any time someone brings up a problem with a GM car...it's used as a springboard for more domestic bashing.

...when talking about domestic car companies GM regularly beats ford and Chrysler.

Geez I figured this was obvious by now.

OK this is getting ridiculous. I'm not even mad about your opinions of American cars. What is really making me mad is this: you all say that you've owned GM cars and they sucked...great, that's your experience...but i tell you MY experience...that i've owned Imports and they sucked, and it just get's discounted as "Isolated instances" or something. I know i'm a goldfish in a tropical fish tank here...but is it really that good of an analogy? Is everyone on here just too vain to consider my points? Or is it that you have no argument and therefore try to brush over what I said? I'm losing faith in this place quickly.

I've said it before and i'll say it again...IT WORKS BOTH WAYS...for every story you give me of problematic GM cars, I can give you a story of an equally problematic (and more expensive) import. Then why do you try to argue with me that imports are better? If you like them better, SUPER!!! Throw a party for yourself!!! But don't try to say that EVERY GM car is bad because of your son's beretta, or your old cavalier. I could talk forever about the problems with my mom's old integra's, or my aunt's impreza's...and you'd just discount all of those stories with "oh those must have been junkers to begin with", or "yeah but the *other import nameplate* line is bulletproof".

Remember I started my stance by saying that domestics are AS good as imports, not better.

[Landshark]

Originally posted by PA_SVX
Think an auto SVX is costly to fix? Try an auto 928.

been there, done that. timing belt and water pump (the big service) is about the same as an SVX, actually. the 928 8-foot long timing belt is actually cheaper than the SVX timing belt. the only difference is, 928'ers do the service every 45-50k miles if they are smart (interference engine paranoia!!!), where SVX'ers seem to do them when they shred.

[Earthworm]

So aside from the Corvette, does GM (or specifically Chevrolet)even make cars anymore?

I took a look on their web page where they feature 4 cars:
Aveo, Epica, Optra and Malibu.

The first 3 are Korean and the Malibu is probably more than half Toyota.

How can we comment on Import vs Domestic reliability anymore? There was a line at one point but now it's just a blur.

[dcarrb]

I heard a Subaru dealership radio ad this morning in which the statement was made that "97% of Subarus sold in America in the past ten years are still on the road." While it's wise to view advertising claims with a healthy measure of skepticism, (hey, I work in print advertising), I wonder how other makes measure-up to that number.


dcb

[Mr. Pockets]

Originally posted by Shadow248


Geez I figured this was obvious by now.

OK this is getting ridiculous. I'm not even mad about your opinions of American cars. What is really making me mad is this: you all say that you've owned GM cars and they sucked...great, that's your experience...but i tell you MY experience...that i've owned Imports and they sucked, and it just get's discounted as "Isolated instances" or something.

And that's wrong. In an attempt to eliminate bias, I would discount your experiences, mine and everybody else's as isolated. I don't think anybody else here has done that, but I recommend that they consider it.

Originally posted by Shadow248
I know i'm a goldfish in a tropical fish tank here...?

Ooh! Ooh! I have goldfish! Woooo! Sorry, I really have nothing constructive. The image this comment sparked in my head was just awesome.

Shadow, I recommend you follow your own advice and drop it. The same goes for everybody else. Nothing more can be gained from this discussion - by anybody - unless somebody presents more than anecdotal evidence.

<< I'd love to get an Audi S4 or maybe a 330 with the AWD, but I'm sure there are German lemons out there, just like US and Japanese>>

I really do love German cars in general. I've owned a couple of Porsche 914's, a winter beater Audi 100LS (so I wouldn't have to drive the cherry Porsche) and a whole lot of VW bugs.

I've always liked the Audi line, but I just can't see spending the extra 10 to 20 grand for the same features as a Subaru. My Dad drove Audi's for a while, but they really soaked him on repairs and maintenance. But, if money were no object....

A Porsche 928 is a nice classic sports car, but I hear the multi-plate clutch costs about $5000 to replace- about every 50,000 miles.......

-Mark

[Landshark]

Originally posted by mark10t
A Porsche 928 is a nice classic sports car, but I hear the multi-plate clutch costs about $5000 to replace- about every 50,000 miles.......

-Mark

no, that's a BIG exagerration. i don't know for sure, i had an auto, but its nowhere near that much. most were automatics anyway - that tranny was freakin' bulletproof.

[Royal Tiger]

Landshark, you have become my Idol. A WRX, a SVX, and a former 928 owner! Next you'll tell me you have your own Airplane out back!

[Shadow248]

Dammit i'm trying. But everytime I quit, thinking that I have accomplished my humble goal, someone comes along and destroys everything I worked for. I then have to remind them of everything that was ALREADY said, which takes up time and space (not to mention it's very annoying to read, like that 10,000 page post about the MEP theory), and accomplishes nothing.

[Landshark]

Originally posted by PA_SVX
Landshark, you have become my Idol. A WRX, a SVX, and a former 928 owner! Next you'll tell me you have your own Airplane out back!

didn't need an airplane, had the 928.

as cool the as the SVX looks, it looked pretty mediocre next the the Big Shark. here's some bad quality pics of it....

http://www.subaru-svx.net/photos/user.php?Landshark|4460

[Royal Tiger]

Why did you get rid of the 928? It looks AWESOME!!!!!!

[ensteele]

Originally posted by Shadow248
I then have to remind them of everything that was ALREADY said, which takes up time and space, and accomplishes nothing.

Just a note - we all read and if someone really cares what has been said, they can go back and read all of the posts. You don't have to say the same things over and over or remind them of what has been said. So far it has accomplished nothing, and probably will not in the future.

[Shadow248]

Originally posted by Ensteele
Just a note - we all read and if someone really cares what has been said, they can go back and read all of the posts.

You're right, but they don't. That's why i'm complaining. Rather than just reading the thread and realizing that this has already come to resolution, they just contribute a post which is pretty much the exact copy of something someone else already said. Then I have to answer it with something someone else (or I) already said. But i'm not doing it anymore.