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[Mdon]

Hi all,

 

i had an 04 Subaru Forester 2.0 petrol a couple of years ago and loved it, change in circumstances meant I couldn’t afford the 26mpg on my 50mile commute anymore so I swapped it in for a Skoda Octavia 4x4. Worst decision of my life as it’s been nothing but issues. I’m glad to say that’s all over now as I’ve just put money down on a 2012 outback diesel with low mileage, FSH and 12 month warranty. 

 

Just wondering if if there’s anything to look out for, or anything preventative to be done.

 

cheers.

 

mike.

[shms]

all i know is early ones had crank/big end problems, later ones were supposedly better but there are plenty stories of them going bang

at 80-90k..... advice is generally to go tried and tested petrol, but main thing is a FSH and stick to regular servicing at the recommended intervals..

for every story about 200k plus with no issues there are equal stories of terminal trouble.

fwiw subaru aren't going to make diesels after this year. they were late to the party and are getting out early.

draw your own conclusions !!

[Mdon]

That is for the reply, I wasn’t interested in the petrol as I have a mate and a friend of a friend who’ve had no end of troubles with their legacy’s 2.5 petrols (average spend for one is £800 per year for the last 3 years of a 2010 model). The choice was either a Hyundai ix35/Kia Sportage crdi or the Subaru. The Hyundai/Kia has a hell of a lot more bad reviews/horror stories so decided to go for the Subaru as it’s just a nicer car. I’ve had my fair share of troubles with this Skoda and a previous Volvo 2.0D so hopefully the Subaru will be better and I’m holding the old theory of people who have good experiences with their cars rarely leave a review or write or forums, only people who feel aggrieved by the reliability make the effort to search and write tales of woe.  That’s my hopes anyway, I hope you won’t be bothering you guys to much with problems. 

[shms]

good luck and i hope all goes well...🙂

[Mr B]

to be fair most modern diesels pretty useless in terms of being trouble free, since stringent emissions and stupidity of the dpf they almost impossible be reliable to standards people use to from early 2000's and mpg also took a hit .

Biggest issue for subaru was the crank issue, that still not fully resolved and possibly very tricky solve on the boxers short crank and block journal limitations .

Kia pretty junky and the diesel not a great one, we see a few and they all run tractor rough

Reality is old was gold, select models from 90's and early 2000's best you ever going see if pride component quality and pure reliability.

I'll have my 99 forester on the road when most if not all the diesels ones are scrap lol .

Quite sad and depressing working on some newer stuff, it can be 30 grand of cheap tat when you really start taking it apart and have seen all the common repeat failure areas.

All the engineering and technical effort is in making them cheap as possible and using environment issues as marketing ploy, reality is you buying junk and polluting planet worse than ever before but it just looks great on paper and on the emission testers .

[Mdon]

Thanks for the advice Mr B. I’ve started using millers and going to changed the glow plugs. Only thing is and I’m quite embarrassed to admit, we can’t seem to see them on the engine itself, don’t suppose anyone has a diagram? 

 

Secondly, I’ve looked and better looked through the service book and can’t see a mention of a timing belt renewal for my 2012 2.0D. Has it got a belt or a chain? 

 

Thanks all.

[Mr B]

they hard to spot and hidden a bit by objects and shields,
Have a look at this link for some images that may help
Torque spec is 12Nm

ee20 diesel is chain .
 

[LINCH]

Totally agree with Mr B's comment about shitbox modern rubbish. 90s and early 00s was a halcyon age for technological advances before it all got silly, in my view. 

 

[Mr B]

It not so much tech advance but manufacture engineering has been honed to make the items just durable enough for shorter expected lifespan.

Throw in canbus and electronic modules for just about everything with minimal durability and you got a lot of expensive faults/junk 6 years down the road .

I see it everyday comparing 15 to 20+yr old cars to new .

Good example is window motors, take the late 90's subaru window motors and compare with ones from early 2000 onwards.
One cast alloy housing with bolt on cover plate with gasket other cheap plastic with push on butyl sealed cover and getting more flimsy newer you go, guess which one fills with water and common failures lol .

We don't see many niggly stupid faults or much expensive mot issues on the older cars, newer stuff is constant ballache and some silly prices to fix silly little faults that quite simply shouldn't be happening ... Common mot issues on newer models is suspension bushes as design and rubber quality reduced, emission issues and lighting/horn/airbag linked to canbus/module or wiring issues all basically due to poor manufacturer quality .

everything like it unfortunately, not just cars, can't even make decent loaf of bread these days :-/

You have to be insane to buy a brand new car and got be insanely picky on buying your bread lol, what a amazing modern world !

 

[ROYBENNETT]

Newbie to this forum but been running foresters, legacies and landcruisers for years, all prove MR B and Linch spot on, running a 2000 toyota colorado with the 1kzte engine only car I haven`t been able to break and this is my second one, luckily this one is mint, for me cars are tools and get used hard. Subarus fantastic for all year round winter and slog work, Toyota fantastic for big towing and all terrain forest work etc. Running a 2011 Outback first step into the computerised world 114,000 of which i put 16,000 on it in the last 9 months steady 45 - 50 (Toyota at 25 is a tad thirsty on short runs). Clutch on the Outback diesel is sxxt can`t take the low end torgue, towing 2 pallets of slates on a 10 foot bates trailer and it sxxt itself 2 weeks later.  so stay within the 1.5 ton towing limit and nurse it you will be fine. Compared to the forester with which I regularly towed 2 tons in a rural environment without breaking sweat, forester clutch eventually died at 170,000 and was the factory fitted original. Thats what you got for a 99 forester, durability, I still have it, but the dreaded tin worm finally beat me this year with it, looking for another one in Mint condition.  Otherwise Outback drives fab and is our go to motorway car, only other issue is the glow plugs, get a warranty that covers them, they can be a txxt if (and when) they fail.  

On 8/30/2018 at 3:11 AM, Mr B said:

to be fair most modern diesels pretty useless in terms of being trouble free, since stringent emissions and stupidity of the dpf they almost impossible be reliable to standards people use to from early 2000's and mpg also took a hit .

Biggest issue for subaru was the crank issue, that still not fully resolved and possibly very tricky solve on the boxers short crank and block journal limitations .

Kia pretty junky and the diesel not a great one, we see a few and they all run tractor rough

Reality is old was gold, select models from 90's and early 2000's best you ever going see if pride component quality and pure reliability.

I'll have my 99 forester on the road when most if not all the diesels ones are scrap lol .

Quite sad and depressing working on some newer stuff, it can be 30 grand of cheap tat when you really start taking it apart and have seen all the common repeat failure areas.

All the engineering and technical effort is in making them cheap as possible and using environment issues as marketing ploy, reality is you buying junk and polluting planet worse than ever before but it just looks great on paper and on the emission testers .

 

[Mr B]

If the rot too bad get it done and keep using it, Most have subframe rot at that age, as long rear arches, sill ends and rear trail arms body mount good rest a pretty easy fix .

Hard find clean manual 99/2000 Foresters, I'm looking all the time for 2000 all weather model in silver, green or dark blue .

clutches on the diesel fozzy is junk :-/

[ROYBENNETT]

Hi Mr B Agree, and I would have done, but rot now in rear wheel arches and sills despite trying to keep it away from that area, already done subframe 4 years ago and tops of the suspension legs, needs new wiper linkage, head slowly going judging by the coolant change and recent misfire, new shockers needed at back, suspension bushes, don`t have the facilities to do it myself until the self build is done and at a £1,000+ for the local mechanic (who is willing and able and  Suby fan) to start we just  couldn`t justify it, so sadly it will live its days out as a farm car for the next 2 -3 years, unless my 14 year old can be encouraged to take it on as a project in a couple of years.. So put the money into the cruiser for now.

[Mr B]

Once sills and arches got pretty bad rust it does get hard/spendy put it right to a good standard .

pretty tidy SF can be had around 1K mark, none are going be perfect at almost 20yrs old but subframe not too hard but bit spendy potentially and rear shocks/springs easy and cheap & all worth doing on a tidy Shell .Keep an eye out as well worth having decent one and your current one be good farm beater/spares donor .

 

[ROYBENNETT]

 

Hi Guys

Outback April 2011 2.00 Diesel 115,000 miles 2 owners from new

Well we are 2 months down the line since the last post and glow plug has gone down on the new outback 2011 diesel. Looked at trade in prices to trade for a petrol version and got quoted £3,500, which is !Removed! ridiculous, spent three days reading forum threads on post 2009 cars and the complexity of them (old enough to remember rebuilding twin carb 2.00 Austin Princess (Flying Wedge) engine on my drive in 2 days). Conclusion ?  

1 Reinvest in the 1999 2.00 ltr Forester sitting on the drive and bring it back into commission for  my boy to learn in and have as a back up and run the outback to death. The third car is a 2002 Toyota landcruiser 5 speed manual 3.00 diesel.. 

Nod to Mr B here. 

2 Outback is brilliant to drive and has great torque and low consumption, 18,000 in 12 months and no other issues than clutch and gloplug, great MPG at consistently 45 and above,  but needed a clutch at 104,000 mechanics exact words were "its shxt itself" dual mass no good for slight overloading in towing like I could with the old forester. New clutch is good at 12,000 but I know its "tender" and prone to overheating really easy. Usually get 100,000 plus out of cltuches going back 20 years on Toyotas, Rovers, Subarus, and dare I say the word puegots.

So to the crunch I need some advice

1 Can I get a beefed up clutch to fit the Outback that can handle the low end grunt and not shxt itself if I go to 2 tons on the car occasionally, up in Scottish highlands crofting so Vxxx are not exactly hanging about.

2 Anyone know a reliable glow plug fix/removal technique

3 Will remapping the ECU fix the clutch issue ? Heard/read about a "PAK update" whatever that is  

4 How often does the DPF regenerate ? How long will the glo plug being off be a problem for the DPF

5 If the Glow plug is off getting contradictory advice IM says it won`t affect the regen but then in the same e-mail states that if the EMI light comes on due to it it will, so does it or not ? 

I know I have asked a fair few questions here guys but any help or advice would be useful, Outback seems to be a good car and I want to keep it as healthy as I can.   Thanks