How long do these vehicles last
You should check sites like www.edmunds.com or www.safercar.gov. They can give you specific information about the safety and longevity of specific vehicle. I have heard that Subaru is a good car however, I have never owned one.
With good maintenance and no abuse you probably could see 200,000 on the engine if you don't have an oil burner. The CVT is not such a sure thing and is not as durable as it should be. Be sure and change the CVT fluid every 50,000 miles.
Some of them don't last very long......
That is true Bob. Subaru's quality is not what it was (or should be).
~ 85,000 miles before the head gaskets need work.
I think the head gasket issue is largely behind us now. The current engine has faults but head gaskets do not seem to be one of them.
As Boston's TheSubaruGuru the 2013-2014 OB Prem/Ltd are my favorite Subies, followed closely by their Legacy Sedans. My clients have yet to "eat" a CVT nor burn oil, but the risk is there. Wheel bearings continue to be soft. The preceding 2010-2012 years exhibit no head gasket issues, but the CVTs can be suspect. Overall I have great hope for the "new" ('13+) DOHC motor. I would estimate lifespan range in number of winters driven, not mileage, as getting that 13th winter is more difficult than topping 200k.
Call me if you need more specific advice, Gary.
Winter is a relative term.....we don't have the same kind of winter in Southern California, hence, cars last much longer ....
I have an older Subaru Legacy Outback Sedan, 2000, and I just hit 300k miles on it. It will be retired this year just because of the rust from Maine winters. My mom also has two Subaru Outback Sedans, 03+04, that are approx around 250k. I love my Subaru. They will last forever if you take care of them. Personally I've seen Outbacks outlast the Legacy line.
FYI: OBs and Legacys are clones except for thr 5th door and elevation.
Brianna, congratulations...on the super high mileage and service... here in LA we typically keep cars for 15 years minimum sometimes 20 years... there's no rust here and maintenance is absolutely the key.... you're really getting your money's worth....----MARK
How long do they last depends. If you have the time and do your own repairs you can keep the going for a long time. My experience with 2010 Forester is that if you have to pay a shop to repair them, 150,000 miles is about the time that repair bills start exceeding the value of the vehicle and it’s no longer practical or logical to keep it. Most recent problem was a failed center differential.
Again, the operative factors are time and salt, NOT mileage. Single data points are pretty useless.
I sold a 2002 subaru impreza outback sport wagon about 2 years ago it had around 286 000 miles on the original engine transmission and diff the only things i ever did to that car was the timing belt twice at 90k and again at 180k i did the clutch for the first and only time at 198k changed oil regularly as recommended same with brake fluid coolent etc, at 220k i did the water pump the timing was fine but I was in there so replaced it again to extend the life of it a bit more, the drivers side front cv joint, cam seals, new distributor, plug wires, plugs, brakes were done a total of 3 times first time since being sold by the dealership was at 89k and the second was 224k and at 280k before i sold it. It still had the original rotors and calipers I'm light on brakes though and tend to use a combination of motor and brakes so perjaps that accounts for the lack wear and tear i polished the very oxidized headlights and they looked like new oh and the foglights had been broken from road debrit and replaced other than that i did nothing sold it toba friend whos done nothing but change oil and its been to california twice chicago once and too many other places to count and we are in spokane washington which is in the northeastern part of the state. so it has to have pretty high miles by now but as of a month ago was still running strong. Also i didnt drive it like I stole it and that helped i believe! One thing it did do was burn some oil from the #4 piston as the seal in the spark plug hole leaked from time to time. But if you dont beat it to death driving like an arse it should last for a good amount of miles to come. #wishI'dkeptitlonger
Great story. Surprised it didn't blow its HGs, as most did by then. The WPs are golden, so you could've skipped that minor expense. Shocked that brake rotors held up! Here in salty New England mean life is 3 winters. Distributor? Do you mean ignition coil? Tell the new owner that sometimes plug seal seepage can be stopped with a bottle of seal expander "stop-leak" quite successfully. Not so much the rear main when it cracks. What's your current chariot?
Our 2004 Subaru Outback has 306,000 miles and still runs & looks great!
I have a 2011 Subaru Outback 2.5L with 215k miles on it and it still drives like a car with 50k miles on it. I haven't done much to it other than general maintenance. I am hoping to get at least 325,000 miles out of it.
Congrats. DO note that your 2011, like all of the rubber t-belt driven 2.5i SOHC, should get an annual inspection of its timing belt...which you can do yourself in two minutes by loosening and prying back the upper left (driver's side) front plastic cover and inspecting the rubber belt for cracks or oil contamination. If all ok, leave alone. Note also that this motor used the relatively fragile platinum plugs that had a tendency to blow their anodes off, TRIPLING their operative gaps! Somehow they still run, but not evenly for efficiency, smoothness, and thermal landscape, inviting head gasket stresses. So get those more rugged new iridium plugs in there! But your biggest expense risk is dealing with the aging CVT, for which there's really no preventative maintenance. Either you'll start stalling upon stops, requiring a valve body assy ($700+$300 install), or an entire CVT if it wears out and gets horribly noisy...and eventually nonfunctional. The next 100k may be tricky, so don't tow anything or ever overheat the motor. Exhaust, struts, suspension, are pretty robust (except wheel bearings!), but as you need to replace these decade-old parts they shouldn't be too problematic. Replacing the OE skinny rear antiswaybar with the newer, thicker 2015 STi version will DRAMATICALLY reduce sway, yaw, and body roll, and understeer, so if you're back there futzing with anything it's a good idea to do that mod to undeed feel like you've gotten a better handling Subie! Good luck. Ern
