Are there signs of people leaving Boston for cheaper parts of the state yet? (maintenance, costs)

[lrfox]

Originally Posted by Shrewsburried

Their tires come packaged with wheel bearings as the replacement life is roughly equivalent. /s

I don't miss my Subarus.

Me neither. I'm one and done with Subaru. My 2012 Impreza Sport was a maintenance nightmare. It burned through oil (I kept an extra quart in the back at all times because the light inevitably came on a good 2.5k miles before the scheduled interval), had a head gasket blow at under 10k miles (no prior issues - thankfully covered under warranty), and had numerous electrical failures (windows in particular). Those are apparently not uncommon issues (particularly the oil). On top of that, I never got used to the constant rough start of the engine (which is a Subaru trait) and the loud cabin (really sucked at blocking road noise). But there was that one time at Sunday River during a snow storm when I was able to make it up the White Cap Lodge parking lot hill while the Lexus RX350 and the Cadillac SRX had to back down and wait for the plow to come through again. That was nice.

[Lampert]

Same for my wife's Subaru. We had to fix many things end already ended up paying probably over 50% of the original price in repairs over 5-6 years. Meanwhile my Toyota never had a problem.

[BosYuppie]

Originally Posted by Lampert

Same for my wife's Subaru. We had to fix many things end already ended up paying probably over 50% of the original price in repairs over 5-6 years. Meanwhile my Toyota never had a problem.

You really spent 10k+ on a car within 5-6 years? Sounds extreme to me. Drivetrain warranty is 5 years/60k, did you exceed that milage?

The boxer engines do have seal/gasket issues at high milage I understand. I think once they get to electric, they will be one of the most reliable on the road.

[BostonMike7]

Originally Posted by porterhouse

Does Costco have their own or Kirkland branded tires now? I wasn’t aware of that.

Aside from that, Costco is a great place to purchase tires. I bought a winter set (Blizzacks) for one of our cars. They shipped them right to the Costco (no charge) and installation was included. If you purchase tires at Costco, the cost to have the winter and summer tires swapped is nominal, and they offer free balancing, rotation and flat repair for the life of the tires.

My comment was more toward buying off-brand, no-name tires, vs just literally buying tires at cosco. No different than buying Mobil 1 oil at Walmart where it's much cheaper than other vendors.

We are getting off topic, but tires is one of those things where you really do get what you pay for. All these fancy safety and stability systems cars come with these days don't mean anything if riding on substandard tires that can't maintain proper traction in extreme scenarios.

[massnative71]

Originally Posted by lrfox

(I kept an extra quart in the back at all times because the light inevitably came on a good 2.5k miles before the scheduled interval),

You actually wait for the scheduled service interval? And wait for the oil to get that low that the light comes on?


Never heard of any engine issues with the current models, I guess time will tell.

[Lampert]

Originally Posted by BosYuppie

You really spent 10k+ on a car within 5-6 years? Sounds extreme to me. Drivetrain warranty is 5 years/60k, did you exceed that milage?

The boxer engines do have seal/gasket issues at high milage I understand. I think once they get to electric, they will be one of the most reliable on the road.

We paid about 14k for the car new and we spent about 6k. A/C was one recent and quite big and I don't remember which one was the big one but it was about 1,500. Plus a myriad of other expenses (battery, other minor electric stuff etc), including normal maintenance.

[lrfox]

Originally Posted by massnative71

You actually wait for the scheduled service interval? And wait for the oil to get that low that the light comes on?


Never heard of any engine issues with the current models, I guess time will tell.

I did exactly what the manufacturer suggested - 7,500 miles using the Subaru synthetic OW-20. The dealership did my oil changes. I generally needed to add a quart around 4,500-5,000 miles because the level got low enough that the light came on. When i asked about it, the dealer said "yeah, that happens with some of these cars." That shouldn't have to be the case. My GF's mom drove a 2014 Outback until this spring with the same issue (and extra quart or two in the back seat). She has a 2020 Crosstrek now and still has the quart in the back but hasn't used it yet (about 5,000 miles since buying it). So maybe it's an issue they've worked out.

[Shrewsburried]

Originally Posted by lrfox

I did exactly what the manufacturer suggested - 7,500 miles using the Subaru synthetic OW-20. The dealership did my oil changes. I generally needed to add a quart around 4,500-5,000 miles because the level got low enough that the light came on. When i asked about it, the dealer said "yeah, that happens with some of these cars." That shouldn't have to be the case. My GF's mom drove a 2014 Outback until this spring with the same issue (and extra quart or two in the back seat). She has a 2020 Crosstrek now and still has the quart in the back but hasn't used it yet (about 5,000 miles since buying it). So maybe it's an issue they've worked out.

Oil consumption is a known problem. Subaru, in an effort to up the fuel economy of their boxer engines, loosened the ring seal tolerances to lower friction ... so I've been told. My 2.0 Impreza consumed a quart of oil every 3k miles from mile 0 until I traded it in around 60K.

[massnative71]

Originally Posted by lrfox

I did exactly what the manufacturer suggested - 7,500 miles using the Subaru synthetic OW-20. The dealership did my oil changes. I generally needed to add a quart around 4,500-5,000 miles because the level got low enough that the light came on. When i asked about it, the dealer said "yeah, that happens with some of these cars." That shouldn't have to be the case. My GF's mom drove a 2014 Outback until this spring with the same issue (and extra quart or two in the back seat). She has a 2020 Crosstrek now and still has the quart in the back but hasn't used it yet (about 5,000 miles since buying it). So maybe it's an issue they've worked out.

I know several people with late model Subarus (Foresters, Crosstreks, Legacys, Ascents...) and haven't reported these problems, so hopefully this has been resolved.



7,500 doesn't sound that unreasonable, although a bit on the high side of what's normally suggested for "severe" conditions which apply to most drivers in New England. My Ford says 5K-7.5K, although I will put say 5K on it and the oil monitor still says I still have another (up to) 50% left. No way am I waiting that long.



And folks keep your oil topped off! By the time the light comes on, you are down at least a quart. Not a good habit if you want your engine to last...

[BostonMike7]

Thought I was in the automotive forum for a second