pyromanic Posted December 1, 2016 Share Posted December 1, 2016 (edited) Long time since I've posted. After many years of miles and fun I sold my lifted '85 wagon when I inherited my mothers 2003 outback. So my dayly driver has been that for the past 5 years. Head gaskets done at 70,000 along with belts and all the re-seal, water pump, bearings and such. ANYWAY, I'm thinking about giving that car to my daughter. She needs a good car, and I owe her. AND----If I do that, I have the resources and need to replace with another Soob. I COULD buy a new 2017. Or I could save some dough and buy used low miles. Having owned and shade treed two EA82's and now this '03 outback, I'm fairly familiar with some Soobs issues, at least up to 2003 2.5's. So really, I'm not sure what I'm asking. I'm having a hard time finding comprehensive evaluations of late model Outbacks and Forresters. Comparisons of known issues would be nice to find. I'm getting to be an old crippled up fart, and won't be working on cars much anymore. No more front end reseals, timing belt jobs, lift kit installs, tranny swaps or head gasket jobs for me. (I hope). I guess what I'm wondering is, am I gonna be dissapointed in 2017 Forrester or Outback? Has Subaru got their head gasket issues sorted out? And I know that a couple years ago I was reading about oil consumption issues with new ones. If I buy used, I will buy (if I can find one) low miles. Wikipedia says Gen 4 is 2012 to present, I guess that what I'd be winding up with. Any particular issues to avoid? Any links to good info? Thanks And sorry if questions are too varied and vague. I suppose they are. Edited December 1, 2016 by pyromanic Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
golucky66 Posted December 1, 2016 Share Posted December 1, 2016 Outbacks got the FB25 in 2012 and foresters in 2011. The early years of this engine Do have consumption issues. Sometimes very bad. The HG issue on the FB25 engines appear to be minimal. But those engines are still a little too new to tell the long term reliability. The HG issue was still present on EJ25 all the way until the stopped making it. But it got better and less common with every revision. The 2016 and 2017's are really nice though tbh. Either buy new or buy a car pre 2012 to avoid the early gen FB engine with consumption issues. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idosubaru Posted December 1, 2016 Share Posted December 1, 2016 I'd get one with an FB engine. Keep an eye out and be mindful of oil consumption issue. As said no headgasket issues and there are no ports anywhere near the combustion chamber like on EJ25's, so it just looks like a simpler design at least from the outset, but as he said only time will prove it. Like so: http://www.ebay.com/itm/SUBARU-11044AA790-GENUINE-OEM-HEAD-GASKET-/331420482708 http://www.ebay.com/itm/Genuine-Subaru-OEM-Head-Gasket-Pair-EJ25-EJ253-EJ251-99-11-N-A-Impreza-RS-/230801305801?hash=item35bcd470c9:m:mn1WLqMRoQdEDBZhFMdIv2Q&vxp=mtr Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idosubaru Posted December 1, 2016 Share Posted December 1, 2016 And I sent you a PM, not sure if new users can access PM's? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pyromanic Posted December 1, 2016 Author Share Posted December 1, 2016 And I sent you a PM, not sure if new users can access PM's? Thanx man. I'll keep that in mind! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pyromanic Posted December 1, 2016 Author Share Posted December 1, 2016 Been reading about FB engine. Available since 2010, right? Will do much more reading, but it looks good so far. Available in Outback? I WAS thinking Forrester, but after more research, think I will stick to Outback. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
golucky66 Posted December 1, 2016 Share Posted December 1, 2016 According to wikipedia 2011+ North American Subaru Forester 2012+ North American Subaru Legacy FB25 comes in both outback and forester standard, With optional EZ36D in the outback. It's the current 6 cylinder. The early engines had ring issues and sometimes short block issues. Most of the MAJOR consumption issues were fixed by 2014 or so. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pyromanic Posted December 1, 2016 Author Share Posted December 1, 2016 (edited) Holy crap, this site hasn't changed a bit since way back when I was building my first lifted 85 GL wagon. It was a gold mine of valuble information and helpful folks then, and I see it much the same today! Grossgary, those links to Ebay headgaskets tell the story. What difference! All youall that replied, thanks! I've never bought a new car in my 62 years of living. Got a lot to learn. Think I'm probably leaning toward that. Edited December 2, 2016 by pyromanic 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikec03 Posted December 2, 2016 Share Posted December 2, 2016 I think that it is almost always better to buy an new car and drive it until you drive it to the junkyard. I have bought a few used subarus, but these were with 2.2 engines, which I knew were good for the long term. I don't think that the value of late model used cars is good; in other words, they arn't discounted enough, taking everything into consideration. Of course, buying from a relative or known source would change the consideration. I buy at the end of the model year in the spring and I think that I get better deals. Since I plan to drive them until scrapped, the year doesn't matter. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lmdew Posted December 2, 2016 Share Posted December 2, 2016 Get a good used 97-99 Outback with a good old 2.2 motor installed. It will run forever and it's easy to work on. These came with the 2.5 DOHC but you can plug and play a 2.2 in easy. Nice, cheap insurance, nice car and it will get you where you want to go for under $4000 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idosubaru Posted December 2, 2016 Share Posted December 2, 2016 (edited) I'm sure you've seen it but just in case cars101.com is great. USMB is by far the most practical and technically versed for Subarus IMO. It's about the only forum not confounded by "what oil is best" type questions and answers. those can be ignored but most adults can only stand sitting in 3rd grade so long. I sent you a PM check it out. Edited December 2, 2016 by grossgary Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flowmastered87GL Posted December 3, 2016 Share Posted December 3, 2016 (edited) If you are really looking into late model stuff I would go for a new model. Around here in Oregon you can often buy a brand new car for less than a used one. Example: My parents just bought a 2016 Impreza Sport Premium CVT in August. They paid around $21544 out the door brand new. Used models one or two years old equipped the same but with miles on them were "asking" $24000 and up. My parents got this deal on the car with no hassle at all... I just asked them to tell me what specs they wanted on the car and I contacted a dealer via subaru.com. The lowest bid was about $500 under invoice. I piled a $500 Subaru Ambassador coupon on top of that, they paid cash and we got a heck of a deal with no negotiation necessary. I will note that we kept the paying cash deal a secret until the very end. We used Miguel Mesa at Carr Subaru in Beaverton Oregon (in the internet department) Edited December 3, 2016 by Flowmastered87GL Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveT Posted December 3, 2016 Share Posted December 3, 2016 I found a local used Subaru specific dealer. I get a higher milage car, but specify body condition must be great. Thy know which models years etc have the various engines to avoide, etc. They go through the driveline, replace headgaskets, timing belts anything telse that's on the edge. End result is a car good for 100k miles with only minor regular service needed. For a better price than I can get the same year and model with low miles. For most subarus, miles don't matter. I go for whatever year etc I can get for around $10k. Taxes and insurance savings and the difference between 10k and a new car price would pay for a lot of repair work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Olnick Posted December 3, 2016 Share Posted December 3, 2016 DaveT--where is Colchester? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1997reduxe Posted December 3, 2016 Share Posted December 3, 2016 (edited) i considered just putting a down payment on even a higher priced nice used sube but then i heard one of my coworkers talking about his brand new f150 he bought and his 500 a month payment for like 6 years and 200 a month insurance payment, and a few weeks after he bought it he was laid off. im sure most of you arent in that kind of situation but i was like ahhh, no. then i worked like 30 hours OT in one week, and took that big (for me) fat check and looked on CL and found the wonderment of deals, a 95 with 144k on it that had two owners and lots and lots of maintenance records. i paid off over half of it with that one check. then paid the rest off last weekend. wonderful im back in a sube. will be posting pic in a little bit. its what they made the sube/love mantra about. total cost=2500, plus maybe new tires needed and timing belt/kit etc. this is my first post here in a while. it's a happy one. Edited December 3, 2016 by 1997reduxe Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveT Posted December 4, 2016 Share Posted December 4, 2016 Colchester is near the center of Connecticut. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1997reduxe Posted December 4, 2016 Share Posted December 4, 2016 my family used to live in mystic and then north stonington wehn we were kids. we used to take the old route 2 to norwich what a beautiful place that is always reminds me of robert frost poems. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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