Car repairs...ugh

[disneysteve]

We talked, and we both think it is best for our sanity if we just traded the car in.

That makes perfect sense. If the car is unreliable and the manufacturer is incapable of correcting the issues, ditching it is probably the best choice. That's especially true because it isn't just an annoyance but there are actual safety issues that aren't being addressed. It's not worth risking your life while you try and find someone who knows what the heck they're doing to fix it correctly.

[TexasHusker]

I've stopped going there. I have decided that I'm going to bring it to the dealer when I'm ready to sell and then when they come back at me with a list of things that are wrong with it, I'm going to tell them to fix it since it is still under warranty. I haven't decided if I'm going to sell it back to them so they are stuck with it until they find a buyer (and then listen to the other buyer complain) or shop it around to see who offers the best price. I'm not selling it myself because I don't want the buyers coming back to me if something else goes wrong.

Could you share with the board what sort of make and model this is? It might provide very useful info to many.

[msomnipotent]

Subaru Outback. I complain about the car so much that I assume everyone knows what it is.

[TexasHusker]

Subaru Outback. I complain about the car so much that I assume everyone knows what it is.

That is interesting. I had always heard that Subaru is one of the most reliable cars out there. I have never owned one personally though.

[msomnipotent]

That is interesting. I had always heard that Subaru is one of the most reliable cars out there. I have never owned one personally though.

I have heard that too, which is a big reason why we bought this. But I realized when I found the Subaru website that owners are insanely tolerant of defects and get vicious when you complain. A lot of the questions from newbs were answered with, "You can't expect perfection in anything", "This is how Subaru's are" (which is also big with the dealership. I guess they are made to burn oil and leak coolant and/or wiper fluid), and the one that made me vomit with rage and swear off the website was when someone complained about the navigation giving wrong directions and mistaking parked cars on a street as a traffic jam. I looked it up because I was having the same problem. One diehard actually posted that navigation is meant for highway use and you shouldn't expect it to work on streets. I lost it at that point.

A new problem popped up yesterday. I'm pulling into my garage and the infotainment system locks up and says "reading disc" and won't let me change anything. I'm pretty sure the neighbors heard me yelling. I turned the car off and haven't prepared myself to check on it yet. Normally it just says "cancel" with a timer over and over again and it eventually goes away.

[msomnipotent]

That is interesting. I had always heard that Subaru is one of the most reliable cars out there. I have never owned one personally though.

I have heard that too, which is a big reason why we bought this. But I realized when I found the Subaru website that owners are insanely tolerant of defects and get vicious when you complain. A lot of the questions from newbs were answered with, "You can't expect perfection in anything", "This is how Subarus are" (which is also big with the dealership. I guess they are made to burn oil and leak coolant and/or wiper fluid), and the one that made me vomit with rage and swear off the website was when someone complained about the navigation giving wrong directions and mistaking parked cars on a street as a traffic jam. I looked it up because I was having the same problem. One diehard actually posted that navigation is meant for highway use and you shouldn't expect it to work on streets. I lost it at that point.

A new problem popped up yesterday. I'm pulling into my garage and the infotainment system locks up and says "reading disc" and won't let me change anything. I'm pretty sure the neighbors heard me yelling. I turned the car off and haven't prepared myself to check on it yet. Normally it just says "cancel" with a timer over and over again and it eventually goes away.

[rennigade]

You must have received a lemon. Ive never heard of these issues you're having.

Now with older subarus the two biggest complaints you'll hear is timing belt and head gasket. Those two will need to be changed at some point. The newer subarus changed to timing chains...bout time.

We have a 2006 forester and will be having the timing belt (and all the parts that go along with that) and head gaskets changed within the next few months. that will cost around $1500.

[msomnipotent]

You must have received a lemon. Ive never heard of these issues you're having.

Now with older subarus the two biggest complaints you'll hear is timing belt and head gasket. Those two will need to be changed at some point. The newer subarus changed to timing chains...bout time.

We have a 2006 forester and will be having the timing belt (and all the parts that go along with that) and head gaskets changed within the next few months. that will cost around $1500.

My aunt and her kids have Foresters of varying years and love them. The Outback was redesigned in 2015 and slapped together as fast as possible due to high demand. There are all kinds of crazy problems. They made the glass too thin and so many people had their windshields and sun roofs shatter that it caused a 6 month backlog at one point. Thankfully, I didn't have that problem and I'm shocked. My windshield feels like an RC car windshield. I started hearing reports of odd problems on the 2016 as well, like if you open all 4 doors you can't completely shut the last one because of cabin pressure or something nuts like that, but I had to stop visiting the site just to save my sanity.