Newbie

[little legs]

Hi everyone,   Newbie to the forum and looking forward to learning tips and advice for keeping my Outback Touring 2025 model in tip top condition.

This is my first and hopefully not last Subaru having had a Toyota Rav 4 before trading it in for the Outback,  main reason for the change was the fact I have family and friends living in Scotland "Thorpe Willoughby " and found the Rav 4 just could not cope with the snow fall in Scotland even with Winter tyres the 4 wheel drive system struggled,  the Outback has no such problems totally in a league of its own 👍👍.  I would like to ask anyone about tyre rotation,  how often should it be done and the reasons behind it,  I've read its very important on the Subaru because of the AWD system,  any advice please Thanks.

[Justin Time]

Glad you're enjoying the car.  I've recently just bought a new OB Touring too, so I'm in a similar position, although I owned a Gen 5 2020 OB which I traded in.

These are likely to be the last petrol OBs coming to the UK and the EU (although we'll see if common sense prevails and Nut-Zero is ditched).

Mine is just coming up to 700 miles, so still running in and I'm planning to do my first oil change very soon and then the next at 2000 miles and then every 6000 miles.  Yes, that's not what it says in the  owner's manual, where I think it mentioned 12,000 miles.  In reality, if you look at the best advice coming from the US, 6000 miles seems to be the sweet spot for boxer engines.   see here for detailed advice too,  It's a great resource.

https://www.subaruoutback.org/

 

Also the best advice on Youtube is : https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=mrsubaru1387

 

Watch out for Battery issues (read this site for advice.  I've posted plenty on this).  In short, drive with sidelights on to force the alternator to charge the battery; don't leave the boot open too long without taking precautions; don't use start/stop; switch off the wi-fi and updates in the car settings etc.).

 

Tyre rotations are really important.  The car comes with none directional Bridgestone tyres (check) and the manual shows you how to rotate these (front to back and cross L to R, and then obvious bak to the front - no crossing).  With directional tyres it's just front to back and back to front the same side.  I also have a set of winter tyres (but might go all-season when these wear) I had this set on my last OB and they have another winter's worth of wear yet.  I get them switched at a local tyre garage and ALWAYS mark (FO,FN,RO,RN) them up.  The ones coming off the car at the garage are marked for their positions, and then this allows me to remark them in their new, different positions the follow season when they're either being put on or taken off the rims. 

If you have all-seasons, or the OE Bridgestones only, these also need rotating every 7000 miles or so (again see how to do this in the manual).

Here's the bad news though.  If you get a none repairable puncture and need a new tyre you need to replace the while set - all 4! Hard I know, but the all wheel drive system doesn't like different makes of tyre on difference axles or different tyre characteristics or diameters.   I've been lucky up to now and always have a spare set (summer or winter) to switch too if ever needed.  Obviously, with all-seasons you only need one set of tyres so a new set would need to be bought. 

The OB has a place for a spare.  I've kept my old, only used once, full-size allow spare, from my old OB and it fits well into the new one.

Some people do a 5 wheel rotation that incorporates the spare too (if it matches all the other tyres) so if they have an irreparable puncture  they don't need to buy a new spare, but this is too complex for me and there's issues with TPMS!! My spare, stays a spare, it doesn't match the tyres on the new car anymore, but is only used for relatively short distances in an emergency. 

You've got a 3 year warranty.  Previously, when out of warranty, I used a Subaru specialist to do my serving, up in Hexham.  I should have found them earlier.  Maybe that's too far for you?    https://gilesgateautocare.co.uk/

They're excellent and had my car in the other week for a couple of days for a Lanoguard under seal treatment.  I want this car to be a 'keeper', so I've invested in that (£180).  Jap cars do have a tendency to rust more than European motors, especially in salty conditions like rural north of England roads or the coast. 

I found the Subaru dealerships to be poor, but as my car came with a 3 year servicing deal I'm going to use them for the annual service, but will use Gilesgate for intermediate oil changes, while the car is in warranty.  I could do these between services oil changes myself but my experience with Subaru UK on warranty issues is not v. good, so a VAT registered garage during the warranty period is prudent. 

 

Hope that helps for starters.  Just ask if you need owt else lad :) 

 

[little legs]

Thanks Justin time for so, so much information regarding the Outback, I to got the three year service deal at 12000 mile intervals,  my wife only does 8000 miles a year so the oil changes  for the next few years won't be to lengthy after that I will get the oil changed every 6000 miles, are you going to stick to the 00 20w or change to a slighter thicker viscosity for the future as per Mr Subaru suggests on you tube ?.  Getting tyres rotated next week,  I still have the original bridgestone summer tyres in my garage which I changed to bridgestone all season when we got the car so will change back to summer tyres in May, must admit its a bit complex when it comes to having to change all tyres if one is unrepairable the AWD system must be so unique,   I do have several cans of tyre weld in boot for emergency use plus the tyres on the car are run flat for a reasonable distance so fingers crossed 🤞 all goes well. I have read about issues with the Battery with suggestions of replacement every three years would you agree with that ?, also CVT gear oil change and differential oils every 60000 miles not forgetting complete cooling system change after 3 years,  any suggestions would be helpful,   once again thanks for your very helpful and informative post 👍👍

[Justin Time]

I think the MrSubaru vid i watched suggested trying a thicker oil if the car started to burn oil more than expected.  I'll stick with the 0w-20w for now, certainly as the warranty is still in play.  My last OB clocked up 45,000 miles and showed no signs of burning excessive oils and I never had to top up between services. 

The tyre replacement issue is, I believe, the same for all permanent 4x4s such as Toyota Land Cruisers, Land Rovers, G-Wagon, etc. so not unique to Subaru.  Prior to the 2020 OB, I owned a few Skoda 4x4s - 2 yetis and an Octavia.  The owner's manuals for each also mentioned the need to keep all 4 tyres at the same diameter (tread depth), but as these 4x4 systems were on-demand only, using a viscous coupling, I can't see it being a real issue for those cars.  The on-demand 4wd would only likely be triggered for short distances in mud/snow/sand etc. and at low speeds, not all day, all the time, at higher speeds.

The Subaru system is 100% full-time and at all speeds.  Travelling at 70 mph on a motorway with mismatching tyre diameters and characteristics is likely to be problematic for the transmission, I'd think.

Buying a set of Bridgestone all seasons seems a great idea.  Have you thought of just keeping them on all-year and either selling the summer tyres or keeping them 'just in case' if you have the space?  That's what we've done on my partner's Skoda Karoq 4x4 which she bought last year.  We immediately bought some Pirelli All-Seasons and they're going to stay on until they're done.   I would have done the same with the new OB, but having the old set of winter tyres around, with good tread on them, just seemed wasteful.  As I mentioned before, I think I'll be  buying all-seasons when these wear.  It's costing me £80 x 2 each year to get them switched over.  This wasn't the plan when i bought the previous OB.  All my other cars have had a set of steel winter rims with winter tyres on- Skoda OEM steels.  But when I bought the OB in 2020 there were covid related supply issues, so I couldn't source a set of Subaru Steel rims (17") and was forced to swop tyres each year (18").

I could source some Subaru Steels now, but as I no longer commute, and can decide whether the weather is a bit too risky to drive or not, I think all-seasons would be fine, rather than full winters, for my needs. 

All-season also beat summer tyres for the sorts of places i now drive in the summer too.  Muddy fields and tracks (equestrian stuff, etc. ) means that extra grip compared to summers will be a plus. 

CVT? Yeap, that Subaru nonsense about never, ever changing the fluid! Again, just to be fair, my last two Yeti's and my partner's Karoq all had/have "sealed for life" fluid in the Haldex 4x4 gear box. I guess it's the same for VW and Audis too.  Personally, as I don't tow, I think I'll keep to Subaru's plan until i clock up say, 100,000 miles or so.  Here's why.  In the UK it's really difficult to find a Subaru dealership that will agree to change your CVT fluid for you.  There is a thread somewhere, where a member did organise it with a garage up in Northumberland, if i recall.  Also, I maybe wrong (and there are more knowledgeable people on this forum), but changing the CVT fluid isn't just a matter of draining and refilling on the newer Subarus.  There are issues with making sure the fluid is at the right temperature, blah, blah...and recalibrating some of the electrical sensors and stuff.  I believe the fluid only comes in huge drums and is really expensive and must also be genuine Subaru fluid.

So why have I thought 100,000 miles? The warranty is for 60,000 and / or 3 years.  My thinking is that if there's a transmission problem at say 70,000 miles, when the car's out of warranty, Subaru still have SOME liable.  We all often confused a warranty from the manufacturer with our consumer rights. A warranty is in addition to your statutory rights.  If you've keep the car serviced regularly and competently serviced, and can prove that, and there's no evidence of any misuse, then I think it would be reasonable to expect that any car would still be fit for purpose at that age/mileage.  So I'll stick to the Subaru 'sealed-for-life' stipulation until then. 

Final thoughts.  Again, there will be others better qualified than me  to comment on this on this forum, but from reading the Subaru US website and MrSubaru, one of the common problems of people taking their Subarus to a garage for servicing not experienced with Subarus, is that the front diff and CVT drains/fill plugs get confused really easily and that's a disaster (definitely a warranty and sales of good right void :) ).

Happy motoring.