10-18-2024, 03:21 AM
(10-17-2024, 08:04 PM)l0st Wrote: I've never been a Subaru driver but I do understand they tend to have rather fragile transmissions and lots of problems with under-carriage bushings that are very difficult to replace.
Yes, some of them do. One of the few shortcomings I could cite on the Subies. In fact, we just had one go out on the wife's car (which is newer than mine). Fragged the trans at 88k. And, they ain't cheap either. They can't be rebuilt.
So yes, that is a risk with Subaru. Thank you for reminding me of this. (I'd probably pushed it out of my mind as it was kind of painful). I guess it's kind of a dice roll. My '15 Outback has been brutalized and it's pushing 200k without a major mechanical (knock on wood). The wife's '19 Outback puked the trans at 88k. So, I guess I'm batting 500, which isn't great (with cars).
Still, at least the Subies have never made me walk, unlike the damn Audi. And you can get a wrecker under the Subie if they puke, whereas not so with the Audi. The Audi just laughs at wrecker drivers and begs them to do about $15k worth of damage trying to get under it. Last guy to come get the Audi had to break out the bottle jacks, remove both front wheels, jack up the suspension...and even then there still wasn't enough room. He had to get the smallest bottle jacks he had (cute little 1 ton jobs) to get in there under something substantial enough to lift the damn car. I swore I would never have that issue again, so I went out and bought a lift bag for the damn thing. Lift bag lies flat on the ground and slides under the whole front end. Once it's under there then I just inflate it and it picks the whole front end of the car up about 2 feet off the ground. Only problem with that is, I need to be around a high volume air compressor to use it. With one of those tiny tire inflation compressors you'd better pack a lunch cuz it's gonna' be a while! They say you can use the exhaust from the vehicle to do this, but I've never tried it; can't imagine the back pressure on the valves would be good.
I guess if we were going to talk about longevity I'd probably have to cite my old Ford F150 pickup. Bought it from my neighbor with 270k showing on the clock and a busted odometer. I bought it as a throwaway for a job I had. Wound up putting another 150k-200k on it (not really sure because the odometer was busted). Only put tires on it and changed the oil once. That old thing still runs, but it's been sitting out back for the past 18 years. I can only hope the new 1 ton Ram and older 3/4 Ford SD will do the same! Tough shoes to fill though.
