In praise of my 2k Outback

[jayhawk]

My 2000 Subaru Outback is finally leaving the family after 19 years, 11 months and 280,000+ miles. I bought it on Dec 31, 1999.

I’m in Beaverton, Or (Outbacks are the official car of Oregon) and drove it back and forth from here to Hailey Idaho (1200 miles round trip)every other week for two years. It took me back and forth to Des Moines, IA. It took me back and forth to Wichita, Ks and Denton, Tx.

In 2008 I gave it to my youngest son who had just graduated from high school. It went back and forth to Eugene, Univ of Oregon for 5 years. It went back and forth to Lake Shasta every summer. Then it went to Washington University of St Louis for 3 years. From there it went to Rifle, Co for a summer and Charleston, SC then next summer. It went to San Antonio from St Louis and the made a Nation Parks trip coming back to Portland. While in St Louis it picked up a .22 cal bullet in the roof rack.

When he got back (after graduating with his Doctorate in Physical Therapy I replaced it with a newer Forrester. I thought I would sell it and it would leave the family at that point but my older son said he wanted it. So he drove it for the 2-3 years. He has replaced it with a Toyota Sienna (what you do when you have a couple of kids).

I have to admit I am sad with it leaving the family. It has been an incredible vehicle. Other than normal maintenance the only thing I did to it was get the head gaskets replaced at 180,000 miles. A normal issues with those cars. It was always a very easy care to do maintenance on.

I guess it isn’t fully leaving. My son’s grandma-in-law is buying it. At this point, keep the oil and filters changed and it should run at least another 100k-150k.

A great car. I will miss it, greatly

[Steve DeRosa]

Bought an '18 Outback leftover back in February for much the same reasons, only 4800 miles to date - if yours is any indication I'll still be driving it when I'm 114...

[Fogducker]

MAINTENANCE is the secret! Oh yeah, don't forget the timing belt replacement thingy (That failure will really ruin most of your day)!

Fog,-------- A former satisfied owner.

[Mbroady]

Lotta history in that Subaru of yours. Hard to let it go.

I’m a 2011 outback owner. Hope to hand it down to my now 2 year old daughter one day.
Either that or the 2001 Forester I inherited from my mom.
These cars are like the every-ready battery

[GHS]

I purchased a used 2014 Forester in 2016....nearly everyone I speak to has owned one before the one they are driving or has two or more in their family. I have the flat four...super smooth, very quiet ride ( no roof racks), excellent traction in snow. As stated, change oil, keep wheel alignment ( reduces wear on all wheel drive units), and all should be good.

[KenL]

Just before my mom passed away back in May, I sold her Outback for her. She really loved that car.

It was a 2012 with 12k miles on it. Basically a seven-year old new car.

What I found out is that Subaru owners are super brand-loyal. Crazy about them.

The young guy that bought it kept walking around saying "it's a real grandma's car!" I'm glad he bought it, I liked the guy and he will take good care of it.

I live in small-town Colorado, and about every third car up here is an Outback.

[imwjl]

I understand the loyalty and two things are funny about it in my family.

1. Some of us with Outbacks all 2012 or newer have mostly had very different vehicles in our lives. Examples would be performance, luxury or pickup trucks.
2. A lot of my time is occupied as one of the directors of a ski club that's more like small ski area or resort with jumping, shooting range, skiing and bike trails. My Outback is off road and driving all over ski trails and hills a few times a week or daily. They really are durable and capable.

For another comment we have a mint former grandma's car in the family 20 years old, 90,000 miles. My daughter was in tears this past Wednesday when a shopping cart nailed it at speed. That's a Camry but her own grandmother has a 2012 Outback Ltd. w/ super low mileage.

The boxer engines like all boxers can be prone to leaks but if you drive a late model Outback against the competition you feel the low center of gravity. They are not buzzy for a 4 cyl. A busy day at our ski club can prove superior AWD isn't just sales hype.

[J Patrick]

...if you spot a 98 banged up dark green legacy wagon we affectionately refer to as the crinkle mobile....it might be our first Subaru that was handed down to our oldest daughter when we bought a new Outback in 2005....which we handed down to our youngest daughter when we bought another new Outback in 2010....which we sold when we switched over to a new Crosstrek last year....

.....three days ago my youngest daughter was T-boned by a drunk driver who ran a red light in Portland...she was in her Crosstrek which she had just paid off a week ago.....it’s totaled.....she walked away with a with a few sore spots and the drunk driver fled the scene...yeah...we love our Subaru’s here in Oregon...

[Tyeetime]

I know how you feel. My experience wasn't a Subaru, but I had a vehicle that floated around my family. A third of a million km on the odometer when I sold it and we moved to another city. I felt sad to leave it behind.

[Acousticado]

Originally Posted by Fogducker

MAINTENANCE is the secret! Oh yeah, don't forget the timing belt replacement thingy (That failure will really ruin most of your day)!

Fog,-------- A former satisfied owner.

Interesting to me that you mention the timing belt. Mine is not a Subaru issue (fine cars!), but in 2014, we bought an ‘03 Toyota Solara SLE Convertible with only 30k miles on it to keep at our SW Florida home. Don’t have to drive much here as things are so close, so now it still has only 38.5k on it. It looks practically brand new. It has the original timing belt where the recommendation is to have it changed (along with the water pump at the same time) after 6 years or 90k miles. Most of the cars life before we bight it was spent in a climate-controlled garage in Florida. For the first 4 years since we’ve had it, during the summer months when in storage, it’s been under a cover and in a carport (at a nearby friend’s house). Since last summer, we left it covered, but exposed in our driveway. The car is such a good one that a part of me feels I should just eat the $1,200+ cost of having the timing belt changed, but OTOH, I think it still has a lot of life left in the belt and keep taking the chance. Of course, there’s no way to know for sure.

[marty bradbury]

Originally Posted by jayhawk

My 2000 Subaru Outback is finally leaving the family after 19 years, 11 months and 280,000+ miles. I bought it on Dec 31, 1999.

I’m in Beaverton, Or (Outbacks are the official car of Oregon) and drove it back and forth from here to Hailey Idaho (1200 miles round trip)every other week for two years. It took me back and forth to Des Moines, IA. It took me back and forth to Wichita, Ks and Denton, Tx.

In 2008 I gave it to my youngest son who had just graduated from high school. It went back and forth to Eugene, Univ of Oregon for 5 years. It went back and forth to Lake Shasta every summer. Then it went to Washington University of St Louis for 3 years. From there it went to Rifle, Co for a summer and Charleston, SC then next summer. It went to San Antonio from St Louis and the made a Nation Parks trip coming back to Portland. While in St Louis it picked up a .22 cal bullet in the roof rack.

When he got back (after graduating with his Doctorate in Physical Therapy I replaced it with a newer Forrester. I thought I would sell it and it would leave the family at that point but my older son said he wanted it. So he drove it for the 2-3 years. He has replaced it with a Toyota Sienna (what you do when you have a couple of kids).

I have to admit I am sad with it leaving the family. It has been an incredible vehicle. Other than normal maintenance the only thing I did to it was get the head gaskets replaced at 180,000 miles. A normal issues with those cars. It was always a very easy care to do maintenance on.

I guess it isn’t fully leaving. My son’s grandma-in-law is buying it. At this point, keep the oil and filters changed and it should run at least another 100k-150k.

A great car. I will miss it, greatly

Reminds me of that song "I've been everywhere man..." Anyway, Cool story! We had a 2004 forester and loved it. Can't afford a new one but will keep eyes open for a used one.

[JCave]

We're on #3 a 2011. With 80k on the clock it's been decent. Here on the mountain I run Nokian tires and just installed a new set last week. Nokians are great all weather tires.

[Neil K Walk]

Personally, I'm not a fan. We had a 2006 Outback LE wagon (V6 AWD) and I never liked it. I always felt like it stayed in 2nd gear way too long, making it feel like I was driving a lawnmower. More notable though was that it was too small for a family of 4, it got lousy gas mileage, and it wore out two sets of front tires. In reading about the issues I learned that defective tie rod ends were a frequent complaint but not to the point of there being a recall and quite frankly I wasn't going to put any more money into it.

I have a friend who is an auto buyer who helped me calculate its true trade-in value (hint: KBB is NOT the standard) and we got $13K for it in a trade for a 2010 Honda Odyssey ES (base model) which now has 115K miles and has been reliable for an entire decade.

My next vehicle will likely be a Toyota.

[GHS]

Originally Posted by Acousticado

Interesting to me that you mention the timing belt. Mine is not a Subaru issue (fine cars!), but in 2014, we bought an ‘03 Toyota Solara SLE Convertible with only 30k miles on it to keep at our SW Florida home. Don’t have to drive much here as things are so close, so now it still has only 38.5k on it. It looks practically brand new. It has the original timing belt where the recommendation is to have it changed (along with the water pump at the same time) after 6 years or 90k miles. Most of the cars life before we bight it was spent in a climate-controlled garage in Florida. For the first 4 years since we’ve had it, during the summer months when in storage, it’s been under a cover and in a carport (at a nearby friend’s house). Since last summer, we left it covered, but exposed in our driveway. The car is such a good one that a part of me feels I should just eat the $1,200+ cost of having the timing belt changed, but OTOH, I think it still has a lot of life left in the belt and keep taking the chance. Of course, there’s no way to know for sure.

What can you buy for 1200??? Not even a decent Martin. Sitting too long though is not good. rubber lines and even new material bushings get rot, water accumulates in the gas tank and lines, brake calipers can "freeze" up from under use, tires should be replaced, can get into lots of money. Find a good honest mechanic, have him look it over. Toyota motors run forever. If its not too bad whats the alternative??? used you dont know or 35K for new??

[Brucebubs]

Originally Posted by Fogducker

MAINTENANCE is the secret! Oh yeah, don't forget the timing belt replacement thingy (That failure will really ruin most of your day)!

Fog,-------- A former satisfied owner.

Since 2013, all Subaru engines have been equipped with timing chains rather than belts - except for the high-performance Subaru WRX and WRX STI.