Other car make problems...

[unibrook]

It can be easy to lose perspective if Subarus are all you ever drive and work on. You can begin to think your Subaru sux because of the rear bearings, the head gasket horrors, the torque bind etc. So, every now and then, I do some research on competing cars to see if they are really any better or worse. I find Truedelta dot com to be a good resource since it relies not on any industry input, but rather on real owners' experiences. Since the Forester is my appliance of choice, my thoughts often drift to alternatives like the Honda CRV or the Toyota Rav. Today I looked up reported repairs on the 2007 Honda CRV. Lo and behold, lots of repairs of rear diff torque bind came pouring in....and at early mileage too. Sometimes less than 20k miles on them. The first fix attempt seems always to be replacing the rear diff fluid, which often works.

Edited February 28, 2012 by unibrook

[bheinen74]

I have had Honda's since 1993. The only repairs they EVER needed were:

spark plugs every 25k, tires every 75k, and oil changes every 3k, and the occasional t-belt job every 70k. Oh and a cheap gas fill when you run thru 38mpg 11 gallon tank.

 

That is my report.

[Subruise]

how many had torque bind? none, your hondas are all fwd and none are in the same class as a fozzy.

[Meeky Moose]

my other car is an old 87' pathfinder, which odly i like driving more than my scooby, but even though the hg's are going and i'm pulling the engine in the scooby, i have no thoughts of getting rid of it cause its too reliable/maintenance free in comparison to other vehicles i've had..

[The Dude Abides]

As uncool as it is i really cant complain about my wifes 05Caravan. In the time i have had it i have replaced battery, belt tensioner, idler pully, serp belt, front brakes, power door lock switch, air filter. Dealer has fixed or serviced, 4 tires, water pump, transmission filter replaced, power steering flush, coolant flush. Most of that is just preventative stuff ive done every year to keep up on the maintenance. Even when the water pump broke we still drove around 4 months until i could afford to fix it (long and painfull ordeal let me tell u). During the 5 years we have had it it has never left us stranded, always started. Even the failure prone transmission is still humming along nicely. I think with most veicles if you keep up on things they wont be a problem latter. I wouldnt of even done the coolant work until 100k but with the water pump i figured why not just get it done.

[danbennett2u]

My Miata was very trouble free, however that is about as simple and basic of a car design as you can get. The biggest problem I had was a stuck rear window zipper lol.

[jboymechanic]

I have had excellent luck with Honda Civics. Slow and boring to drive, but just don't stop running for any reason and are GREAT on gas. HORRIBLE in the snow though. I had a 1997 Dodge Intrepid that was interesting, never stranded me or had major problems, but it had lots of gremlins. The wipers would turn on at random and at strange speeds and the radio would do the same. Then the AC and heat stopped working and that was the end of the line for me. I've had good luck with my Subarus too.

[Robert Harik]

Used to be a Toyota( arguably one of the most reliable brands) tech and I can't even count the number of head gaskets I did on the 3.0 v6, and short block replacements and rebuilds for the 1ZZFE 1.8 ( oil burner).

[GeneralDisorder]

Every brand has it's problems. Where Subaru's stand apart is that they are far easier to work on.

 

If you compare the right models, Subaru looks good. If you compare the wrong one's they look bad.

 

Making judgement calls about a brand as a whole is meaningless and silly. So is brand loyalty. I wouldn't own a Justy just because I like Subaru's..... they were crap. I also tilt my head to the side when people ask about the 25D. Used 25D cars are to be treated with much skepticism. All Subaru's are not the same - just as all Toyota's, Honda's, and every other brand are not the same. Blanket statements just make people look foolish to me. Make is a LOT less important than model and year.

 

Us engineers and mechanics don't really care about perfect reliability because we know that all machines will eventually break. What we DO care about is how simple the problem is to solve. Subaru's are a LOT easier to work on than almost all other brands and they have the added benefit that most run-of-the-mill mechanics don't beleive this to be true because of their "strange" boxer engine design and symetrical layout. This is adventagous because when they break they are cheap and those of us in the know pick up that "wierd, broken Subaru" and we laugh at their ignorance behind their backs when we fix it for the cost of a duty-c solenoid and some tranny fluid or a $300 replacement transmission. :-p

 

GD

Edited February 29, 2012 by GeneralDisorder

[danbennett2u]

GD I agree... Subarus are the easiest car I have ever worked on. I am not a mechanic by any means but compared to my GM's Fords, chryslers, nissans, toyotas, mazdas etc I have to give Subaru the nod. Of course the AWESOME support this boards members provide might be a BIG part of that.

[jboymechanic]

Yeah, Subarus are really easy to work on and being a guy that has done and always will do his own repairs, I'm pretty much set on them.

[Fairtax4me]

I just did head gaskets and timing chains on TWO Chevy 350 engines. One was an 88 1 ton work truck that was on it's second set already at 91k miles. All 8 cylinders were mirrors, NO sign of the crosshatching from honing.

 

The other was an original set on an 84 with 110k. The only reason they came off was to put on a set of Vortec heads, and I put in a performance cam at the same time.

 

The timing chain covers seal the front edge of the oil pan, so the oil pan has to be removed, or the cover has to be pried off and the oil pan gasket cut in order to reinstall the cover. The cover gasket kits actually comes with a front pan seal, which you have to modify with a razor before installing. Entirely doable, and it actually does seal if done properly, but why the hell should I have to remove the oil pan to change the timing chain?

 

17 bolts hold on each cylinder head, and they all have to have sealer applied to the threads or they will leak coolant and oil. New bolts are cheap, and that's a good thing because it would take hours to chase the threads on all 34 of them. And the bolts are three different sizes, so you have to keep track of where you put which size. One reason to love those 12 same size bolts on the Subaru. There would only be 20, if it were an 8 cylinder engine.

 

Getting ready to put valve covers on a friends Taurus. The intake manifold has to be removed because it wraps over the rear cover.