Subaru?

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1973dust

1973dust

FABO Gold Member
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I'm looking for a safe reliable car for our 17 year old daughter. We have found a 2011 Subaru Forester with the 2.5 boxer 4 and 4 speed auto that appears to be well maintained, including receipts for mechanical work performed. I have not yet seen exactly what work was done. Does anyone have any intel. for me. Good, bad, or otherwise. Thanks
 
My wife loved hers from that vintage. It never saw salt in North Florida however. Check struts, CV joints, and rust in the suspension parts and body mounts.
 
I have a buddy who lives in Minnesota that has flown out here three times & bought Subarus for him & his family... Apparently they are great in the snow & just generally good cars... But they rust so it worthwhile to grab a California/dry climate car that's ten years old & rust free...
 
1WildRT said:
I have a buddy who lives in Minnesota that has flown out here three times & bought Subarus for him & his family... Apparently they are great in the snow & just generally good cars... But they rust so it worthwhile to grab a California/dry climate car that's ten years old & rust free...
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Yeah, unfortunately the Illinois winter road salt will eat nearly anything and it seems to be getting worse.
 
1973dust said:
I'm looking for a safe reliable car for our 17 year old daughter. We have found a 2011 Subaru Forester with the 2.5 boxer 4 and 4 speed auto that appears to be well maintained, including receipts for mechanical work performed. I have not yet seen exactly what work was done. Does anyone have any intel. for me. Good, bad, or otherwise. Thanks
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The early chain engines-2010 and up tended to consume excessive amounts of oil. If it consumes oil the easy way to reduce it is to change from 0w20 to 5w30 oil and shorten the change interval
 
Alvin said:
The early chain engines-2010 and up tended to consume excessive amounts of oil. If it consumes oil the easy way to reduce it is to change from 0w20 to 5w30 oil and shorten the change interval
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This is the most common issue that I have found online and the 5w30 was the most common recommendation I saw. I'm currently waiting for the maintenance info from the current owner. He claims to have had the car totally gone through at a Subaru dealer when he bought it in 2019. It seems like he may not hurt for money so it's very possible that he had a lot of things repaired/replaced. He was having it prepped for his teenage daughters.
 
1973dust said:
I'm assuming this is a good thing. My Subaru knowledge is non-existent.
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yes and no, they still leak oil from the cam cases and timing chain cover, not usually from the head gaskets.
not a pressure leak, just minor dripping. Expensive to fix, usually runs about $3500 at the shop all said and done.
STILL A GOOD CAR!
 
Thanks to all. It sounds like it's definitely worth taking a look at.
 
Be ready for her to have a lifetime commitment to Subaru! We had a Forester that fell victim to the 'consume massive amounts of oil' problem, covered by a recall I think till 100k, at 102k. My wife and I both liked that car a LOT! They worked with us to keep us happy, got us in a 2018. LOVED that car! Our daughter has it now, we didn't need but one modern vehicle, and we wanted her in something safe and reliable.
 
Subaru owners have a reputation.
Your daughter may get some unwanted advances from short haired women wearing flannel shirts.






1 laugh 5.gif
 
Yep, we’re on our 2nd Subaru, and they’re great cars. The Forrester is great in the snow, but the Outback we have now isn’t as good. It is a 2012 and has about 6 bulbs per corner, and for the first few months we had it, I was changing bulbs all the time. Still great little cars tho!
 
Great in the snow for sure. We have 3 WRX's in my family and one of them had a short block replaced under warranty for excessive oil consumption and it turned out to be valve seals and nothing to do with the short block. The other 2 cars are coming up on 100,000 miles. Except for brakes and oil changes they have been very good to us.
 
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Great suspension, breaks and handling other than huge understeer accelerating around corners.
Very sure footed, amazing in snow and rain
Brakes warped from almost new
AC is marginal
Gas mileage ain't great
Doing spark plugs on them isn't fun.
'05 WRX bought new and kept 18 mo. for these reasons.
Also attracts subie dorks with their vape pens

High miles? Have the owner start it from dead cold while you watch the exhaust. If you see or smell smoke it's probably burning oil. I was about to say from the valve stem seals but gtgto beat me to it :)
 
65TerrorCuda said:
Great suspension, breaks and handling other than huge understeer accelerating around corners.
Very sure footed, amazing in snow and rain
Brakes warped from almost new
AC is marginal
Gas mileage ain't great
Doing spark plugs on them isn't fun.
'05 WRX bought new and kept 18 mo. for these reasons.
Also attracts subie dorks with their vape pens

High miles? Have the owner start it from dead cold while you watch the exhaust. If you see or smell smoke it's probably burning oil. I was about to say from the valve stem seals but gtgto beat me to it :)
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That’s consistent with all foreign ricers. Metric rings and low ring tension. Great on a fresh motor but once you get some wear the oil consumption begins.
 
Thanks again for all the info, guys. Just an update if any of you are wondering. At this point, purchasing it seems to be a no-brainer unless there's something really weird when we get to check it out in person. The current owner had the timing cover replaced, new brakes all around, new cat, serpentine, plugs, sway-bar links, and several other smaller items 4 years ago. His family has only driven it 15000 miles since. It appears that he had a dealership give it the once-over and had them replace anything they deemed suspect because his daughters were going to be driving it. Also gave us a copy of the CARFAX report along with the maintenance records. He seems to be a stand-up guy to the point I'm gonna feel a little guilty offering him less than his asking price.
 
1973dust said:
I'm looking for a safe reliable car for our 17 year old daughter. We have found a 2011 Subaru Forester with the 2.5 boxer 4 and 4 speed auto that appears to be well maintained, including receipts for mechanical work performed. I have not yet seen exactly what work was done. Does anyone have any intel. for me. Good, bad, or otherwise. Thanks
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We have a successful Subaru dealer in town and there's scads of them. Lots of good reports.
 
1973dust said:
Thanks again for all the info, guys. Just an update if any of you are wondering. At this point, purchasing it seems to be a no-brainer unless there's something really weird when we get to check it out in person. The current owner had the timing cover replaced, new brakes all around, new cat, serpentine, plugs, sway-bar links, and several other smaller items 4 years ago. His family has only driven it 15000 miles since. It appears that he had a dealership give it the once-over and had them replace anything they deemed suspect because his daughters were going to be driving it. Also gave us a copy of the CARFAX report along with the maintenance records. He seems to be a stand-up guy to the point I'm gonna feel a little guilty offering him less than his asking price.
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Sounds like this is the one to get
 
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