Originally Posted by iaink

The dealer here has been nothing short of awsome. The service manager there just checked out the 07 I'm looking to buy elsewhere for free, and even helped to track down the service records held elsewhere. In the past they bent over backwards to help, including doing some expensive engine work under waranty, even though the car was 10k past the cut off point.

As my 97 has aged there was no point paying dealer rates for service and repair, but regardless of that they have been great in tracking down parts as necessary and advising other (cheaper) mechanics in diagnosing problems and the like.

That kind of thing really promotes customer loyalty to the brand

My 97 still runs well, although the body is rusting, however the gas tank on the old warhorse has now split, and repairing it requires a blank cheque as the AWD means the rear diff has to come off (15 years of rust and siezed bolts with it) to get at it, and no one wants to guess how much hassle that will be

Originally Posted by iaink

Make sure you get anything you buy checked out independently.

Originally Posted by rae

from what i have read its this brand loyalty from your experience that keeps the ratings high. i wonder though if they are artificially high. what i mean by this is that the vehicles have as many problems as any other car, its just that they are dealt with quickly and well so people think highly of them. yes, no?

Originally Posted by Yelkcub

Is there a company (say like the AA in Canada) that offers this service?

Originally Posted by Yelkcub

Is there a company (say like the AA in Canada) that offers this service?

Originally Posted by rae

how have you found the dealer. R I C H has had a nightmare recently apparently, though i'm not sure which model he had i think it was brand new as he managed to get it returned. hopefully he is reading and can enlighten us.

Originally Posted by Almost Canadian

The AMA does. Best money I have ever spent.

Originally Posted by R I C H

I had an '09 Forester XT, which proved to be a lemon, and got exchanged for a '10 Impreza WRX, which I'm very happy with. I had Subarus in the UK, and never previously had any problems.

The dealer (Zimmer Autosport) did their utmost to resolve things (and ended up out of pocket in the end), but it took a lot of energy to get Subaru North America to play ball. Their attitude and customer service was initially very dismissive.

Originally Posted by iaink

Maybe. I certainly prefer the Subaru service people to the Honda ones, but Ive also spent more time with them. To be fair the honda is only two years old, and has had no issues, the subaru Ive had for ten or 11 years now, with few issues, and most of those in its later years.

A lot if it depends on the local dealer though. I will say subarus are relatively rare, so finding parts etc for an older one is not as easy or cheap as some other brands would be.

Originally Posted by rae

thats exactly what i would be looking at, what was the issue?

Originally Posted by R I C H

There was a batch of faulty main bearings that a supplier produced during roughly a 6 mth production run, which caused engine failure generally before the 12,000km mark. It usually required full long block replacement and a new turbo. I had other general quality issues too, which seem to be less commonly reported. The naturally aspirated engines had no problems AFAIK.

Originally Posted by rae

interesting thanks, i bet this is not common knowledge. so that would be sometime during early 2009? so the year end cars should be ok and the 2010's fine?

Originally Posted by R I C H

It was pretty well documented on various Subaru discussion boards, once the problem became apparent. Anyone that's purchased a used '09 turbo-charged Forester or Impreza should check that the engine's either been replaced, or that the build date is late summer onwards to be sure of avoiding the issue.

There have been no reported issues that I know of since the problem was identified. Here's a useful site to determine the reliability of vehicles: [url]http://www.truedelta.com/car-reliability.php?sessi Data is provided by owners and updated every month.

Originally Posted by iaink

My boss has an older (06) Turbo Forrester. I never saw the point myself, its not much bigger than the cheaper and faster WRX that the mechanicals are largely based on, and its not as big or comfy as a Legacy? I wouldnt take it any further off road than a legacy, and its not as good on it, plus it costs more to buy

If money were no object I'd seriously consider a Legacy GT with the turbo engine, but sadly reality intervenes