COB Posted February 15, 2005 Share Posted February 15, 2005 I plan on purchasing a new car this spring or summer for my wife. I am down to the Subaru Outback or the Volvo V50 AWD. I realize they are two totally different cars but believe it or not the prices are very close. Question...which engine is the most reliable? I'm leaning towards the 4 cylinder "Limited" beause of better gas milage and a pocket rocket is of little interst to me. As I look at the Turbocharged four and the 3.0 the milage does drop which is to be expected. But are these more reliable motors. I would assume the Turbocharger would be a maintinance expense eventually. From my readings these cars seem to be built to last for quite a while which is of interest to me. My 2003 GMC Envoy with 96000 miles engine just recently lost cylinder #5 and it cost over $3200 to rebuild. Needless to say it didn't even make its first tune up. I was not impressed. Any way...what recommendations do you all have in my potential purchase of the Outback? Thanks in advance! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rcousins Posted February 15, 2005 Share Posted February 15, 2005 I plan on purchasing a new car this spring or summer for my wife. I am down to the Subaru Outback or the Volvo V50 AWD. I realize they are two totally different cars but believe it or not the prices are very close. I have no experience with newer Volvos, but do know that they are more expensive to maintain...and are now made by Ford. (I have an '89 DL, which I love, but it comes at a price, and is one of the worst snow-cars I have ever driven.) On the other hand, my wife's Subaru is reliable, is relatively cheap to maintain, and goes through blizzards without a qualm. Personally, I would opt for the Outback...just keep in mind that the Legacy is less expensive and is just as good as the Outback. Good luck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Strakes Posted February 15, 2005 Share Posted February 15, 2005 I've owned 2 different Volvo's. My opinion is that the later model Volvos are definately reliable, but very expensive to maintain. Now that I've owned 2 Subarus, my personal experience is that they are a lot cheaper to maintain, and just as reliable if not more. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
COB Posted February 15, 2005 Author Share Posted February 15, 2005 Thanks Guys... The reason I'm looking at the outback vrs the Legacy is the Outback has a little higher ground clearance...I think. Also what can you tell me about the various motor options? MPG is important but if the engine is costly to maintian then the MPG isn't that important. Another point...Does the 4 cylinder have enough power to go easily through snow while hauling four adults. Thanks Again By the way...the Volvo V50 that I'm considering is also a All Wheel Drive. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gnuman Posted February 15, 2005 Share Posted February 15, 2005 Thanks Guys... The reason I'm looking at the outback vrs the Legacy is the Outback has a little higher ground clearance...I think. Also what can you tell me about the various motor options? MPG is important but if the engine is costly to maintian then the MPG isn't that important. Another point...Does the 4 cylinder have enough power to go easily through snow while hauling four adults. Thanks Again By the way...the Volvo V50 that I'm considering is also a All Wheel Drive. The Outback is 3" higher than the Legacy. The Legacy handles better though, but the Outback has a nicer set of standard features (well, for me. . .) The H4 engine (EJ25) is in it's third phase. The Phase I version had an internal head gasket problem (when I say problem, it is by Subaru standards. At a wild guess, perhaps one out of every thousand or so cars sold, will develop the problem) which was addressed in the Phase II engine. Well, mostly. the leak moved to an external one with a much lower incidence rate. That was still not good enough for Subaru, and we are now seeing the Phase III engine in the new cars. Other than the head gasket problem (and that is a small one, by most manufacturers standards), the EJ25 engine that comes in the Outback is solid, and plenty powerful enopugh to pull 4 adults through a blizzard. With a bit of power left over to make it a fun trip, if you are so inclined The Turbo makes the car faster, of course, but it comes with the price that you have to use premium fuel, and the H6 is just bigger. . . Oh, and the H6 is only available in a few option packages, so your choices are limited there. As for maintaining the engine, I fell in love with my Subie the minute I opened the engine bay. I do all my own work, and when I saw how easy it is to get at everything that may go bad I was very impressed. then I changed the oil and did some work underneath, and I fell in love with it all over again. This car is inexpemsive to maintain because it is made so damn simple and easy to maintain. In every car I have ever owened, there has been at least one spark plug, for example, that made you curse the engineers that put it there (or put other crap right on top of it) knowing that it would have to be replaced. I had no such incidence on my 12 year old Subie. These are cars that are designed to go the distance, and I'm sure that you will be happy with the Outback (or the Legacy, if you decide to save a few bucks). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unverviking Posted February 15, 2005 Share Posted February 15, 2005 Does the 4 cylinder have enough power to go easily through snow while hauling four adults. I tow a pop up camper (~1200 lbs) loaded with all our gear and have had 2 adults and 3 kids (14, 9 & 3) in the car, and have never had any problems. In fact, going up a LARGE hill, with said load (and A/C) on Cruise Control, I didn't have to touch the pedals at all. I've camped with this car for the last 3 summers and haven't had any issues at all. In fact I love it because I can park the pop-up in some places that no one else can... BTW, this is with our 01 OBW with the 2.5L. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AB/S05Bean Posted February 15, 2005 Share Posted February 15, 2005 We have an 05 OB Bean and love the power and handling with the 3.0 H6. the gas mileage is not quite as promised, but should improve at about 6-7000 miles(we have 4000). We get about 16 city and 23 highway. It really is a very comfortable car to drive and has no problems even in the most severe weather situations. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ballitch Posted February 16, 2005 Share Posted February 16, 2005 id go with the outback XT, 2.5 liter, a little better mpg than the H6 and a little less than the N/A 2.5 liter, but with 100 horsepower per liter, how can you argue against it. yes the outback is taller which will help with camping and snow travels, i think the OB has a stiffer suspension also, not sure on that though. if you drive the XT like a grandma and dont use the turbo that much i dont see why you wouldnt get a little less mpg than the N/A version. ~Josh~ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tiny Clark Posted February 16, 2005 Share Posted February 16, 2005 Most Volvo mechanics have boat payments to make! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
COB Posted February 19, 2005 Author Share Posted February 19, 2005 Thanks Guys... Your feedback is appreciated. I have been monitoring both this board and also a Volvo board...and what I have noticed is the Subaru board seems to have more down to earth people. I'm leaning very much towards the Outback with the 2.5 as it sounds like this engine has got plenty of HP to drive one round regardless of the weather conditions or number of adults. As mentiined...this will be my wife's car so it doestn't need to be a pocket rocket. MPG is important as well as reliablility and low maintinance. I believe Subie has been making AWD cars since 1974 so they have had plenty of experience in this area and the 2.5 has had all the bugs worked out. Thanks again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rweddy Posted February 19, 2005 Share Posted February 19, 2005 Thanks Guys...Your feedback is appreciated. I have been monitoring both this board and also a Volvo board...and what I have noticed is the Subaru board seems to have more down to earth people. I'm leaning very much towards the Outback with the 2.5 as it sounds like this engine has got plenty of HP to drive one round regardless of the weather conditions or number of adults. As mentiined...this will be my wife's car so it doestn't need to be a pocket rocket. MPG is important as well as reliablility and low maintinance. I believe Subie has been making AWD cars since 1974 so they have had plenty of experience in this area and the 2.5 has had all the bugs worked out. Thanks again. You cannot go wrong with the Subaru. Volvo makes great cars also but you need a 2nd mortgage when they break or need maintenance. If you are comparing them you need to look at the cross country vs the outback. The v50 is the small volvo. You would need to compare it to the impreza. This being said the cross country is a nice vehicle but quite a bit more expense than the outback. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Strakes Posted February 19, 2005 Share Posted February 19, 2005 This is what it was like to own a Volvo 850 (one of the Volvos I had): Routine stuff: Brakes-DIY, very easy to replace...the best part of the car Tune-up: spark plugs and wires, easy and not so expensive. $1000 for timing belt, and other related service. $600 for steering wheel airbag failure $500 for most routine dealer type services It seemed that everytime I needed routine maintenance, I was throwing at least $500 at it. 95% of the time, I was taking it to an independent Volvo shop with a very trusted local reputation. In my experience, the shop was always cheaper than the local dealer. The straw that broke the camel's back: $3700 to replace failed steering rack. $1500 to replace the infernal self-leveling front shocks. I then saw the wisdom of what my wife was driving around. She had a 1993 Subaru Legacy and you could pretty much pee in the gas tank and it would keep running. So I sold the Volvo (as is) and now I have a Subaru. I'm glad I married someone way over my league. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
COB Posted February 19, 2005 Author Share Posted February 19, 2005 You all are affirming my concerns...the maintinance on volvos are fairly expensive when compared to Subies... I like the look of the Outback plus it's operating cost would/should be much less then a Volvo. And from what I am hearing from your writings...they are easy to work on. The feedback seems to indicate that the stock 2.5 engine is pleny strong enough that the car will go from point A to point B without laboring. I remember when Ford put a 4 cylinder into the Tarus as an option for gas milage improvement...Can we say wrong. Not only was it to small for the car it got worse gas milage then the six cylinders. That's why I asked about the standard 4 cylinder. I wanted to be sure it was plenty peppy for the car. Thaknks again for you input. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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