Toyota could learn from Subaru...

I'm sitting here getting headgasket quotes for my wife's EJ25 Forester..
It hasn't been a terrible car, we bought new in 08.. but if my wife said the word she'd be sitting in a 4Runner tomorrow..

 

My best experiences have been with small MC dealerships. No BS, no games. Very refreshing!

I agree, the amount of paperwork, even for items you decline but still need to initial that it was offered and declined is pretty ridiculous. It’s all part of the game. When I bought my Taco the finance guy told me the truck I was buying did not have keyless entry unless I bought some aftermarket alarm they were peddling. That made me laugh which wasn’t the response he was expecting, especially when I pulled the spec sheet out for my truck which showed all the factory (along with port) installed options. Things moved quick after that.

When I bought my most-recent house my Real Estate agent explained to me that legally all things must be signed three times so there’s no way someone can claim they didn’t know what they were signing. Or she was tired of hearing me complain about it and made that up as an excuse LOL!

 

too lately to the party, but badass nonetheless

 

All this talk of problems with Subaru engines makes me glad that 24 hours ago I met with a local engine builder who is going to build a custom EJ25 for my off-road car LOL! To be fair, there isn’t going to be much OEM Subaru left in it.

 

My experience with Toyota was a breeze. I asked about cost of extended warranty (Rookie mistake) and the finance director laughed and said that I am buying a Toyota and don't need the extended warranty. All depends on which dealership you used.

 

tbh, they sway both ways. I drove 7hrs for my truck (so include that in the time i suppose) I think we spent all of an hour at the dealer signing paperwork, they were very quick to get us out. Finance guy briefly explained a few warranty packages, i declined all of them, no pushing. They were very respectful that we needed to get back on the road. I've worked at a Subaru dealer before and have seen people at the dealer for hours.

 

I had an '08 STi for 7 years. My local Subaru dealership in Orange County, CA was absolute dogturd. Took the car in for 2 different recalls. Both times they either didn't actually complete the recalls or they didn't log it correctly. When registration time came around, it said that both recalls still needed to be completed before I could renew registration. Took my car in 4 times for the same 2 recalls. Had other unpleasant experiences there.

My wife wants to get the Ascent but there's no way in hell I'd buy a new subie if I have to work with that dealership again, even if its just for "free" maintenance.

 

This is entirely dealership specific. My Toyota dealership has the same policy that if a customer doesn’t want something, do not push it.

 

At high elevations, Crosstrek always felt underpowered. For 2021, Subaru decided to go with a 2.5L engine.... for more HP.

 

That's cool. Wonder how much it will actually make a difference. They definitely had the slow.0. Was about 3 years ago.

 

Dealership that sold me my truck also pressed super hard for extended coverage and gap insurance. Had to tell them no multiple times. Then finally made me explain to him the reasons why I didn't want it.... I Kind of felt cornered, they really drill worst case scenario into you. He was nice enough about it I guess. "I wouldn't let my brother leave the dealer without it"

My wife and I use to be Subaru owners. Impreza, outback and crosstrek. I never had issues. Beast in the snow. I agree if they made a decent truck I'd try one out. I have a ton of friends who own/work on Subarus. They say its one of the easiest motors to rebuild. A friend of mine does head gaskets in his garage for $800 parts included. I'm pretty sure the head gasket thing is over since the redesigned motor tho (2011?).

 

Doesn't sound like a good deal to me at all...

 

Badass? In the late 60's, Subaru 360 was released. It was powered by a two cylinder.... air-cooled engine. Badass...

 

Loved my subaru "truck". Wish I never would have sold it.

 

Had one in silver metallic. Fun car until it got t-boned with 2 kids and a dog in the back. Glad I believe in seat belts! Had a cap and only the dog got ejected, but he was fine.

 

The increase was approximately 20%.... 182 HP.

 

If Subaru made a body-on-frame pickup that incorporated their AWD system, they’d make a fortune!

 

Mitsubishi is (was planning to) bring back their mid size to the US in 2023-24, if I remember correctly.

Also this is all about dealerships. I was in and out quick and nobody gave a rip about warranty etc. I just said "nah all good".

 

Funny how people have such different experiences with vehicles. I bought my wife an Outback back in 2001. Decent rig, I liked the smoothness of the "boxer" engine. However, it was far from trouble free. We had the infamous leaking head gaskets but were told our VIN "didn't qualify". Went round and round with Subaru and after being asked to prove, with paperwork, that we had serviced the car by the book, they agreed to pay 1/2. We would get intermittent CEL and "Service AWD or Transmission, I don't recall exactly the language" and dealer would say they couldn't find anything and would just reset the light. At about 80K the car would start fine but once up to temp, would run rough and hesitate. I think it was a bad catalytic converter but by that time, I was done with it and traded in for a Toyota.

 

My local dealer is Toyota/Subaru. My wife's experience buying her Crosstrek was exactly the same as mine buying the Tacoma.

Crazy! Right?