I've owned four Subarus. My WRX was awesome for 130,000 miles. The other three were hugely frustrating.
I love boxer engines, and I understand why they leak. It's inherently difficult to seal up vertical surfaces forever.
But what's the forecast for the latest generation of normally aspirated engines?
And how long before I can expect to see daylight through the body panels and subframes?
In reply to Woody (Forum Supportum) :
You can coat the body panels and subframes and help that part a lot. That said my lightly used 03 WRX rallycar will need some metal work too :(. I'm going to learn a lot on this project car.
This is a trick question. Its already leaking and it has already started rusting.
ProDarwin said:This is a trick question. Its already leaking and it has already started rusting.
That's what I'm afraid of.
I would say, in general, the newer engines are better than the EJ series, and the newer bodies are better than the GC/GD era... but building a halfway decent car out of the cheapest possible parts is still what makes a Subaru a Subaru.
leaking oil = 14 minutes average.
rusting = already started
In this day and age, when Hyundai and Kia make very credulent cars, that Subarus are still a thing is a total mystery. They seem to be holding on by the hopes and feels of the 55 year old granola generation.
No oil leaks on my 86 so far (a Subaru with a Toyota drivetrain and fuel injection system 
). If you had blindfolded me and rolled me under the car and asked me to guess its age by the amount of rust though, I would've guessed around 10 years. It has more rust than it should at 5 years old, even considering that the POs put it through a few winters. Parts well-protected behind plastic covers are rusting. I'm going to get some professional deep coating done to slow it down some more.
I've only owned two Subaru's, my '15 BRZ and my current '23 BRZ. I had the '15 for 35k miles and 4 years, no issues.
The current one, it's 3 months old with 575 miles. I don't even drive it when it rains.
Serious answer: my 86 is 9 years old and has even done some time up north-ish. PA/VA/WV. Its totally workable underneath. No real rust so to speak of.
I think if it were DDed in CT rust would come real quick though.
On the engine comments. It has 150k on it and is on its second engine lol.
It isn't an oil leak it is the self anti rust treatment system.
Probably Right after the warranty expires like German cars
If you buy one new, have it fluid filmed. No kidding.
They spray it inside the fenders, everywhere.
My 17 year old RAM looks fantastic underneath as a result if FF.
What new Subaru do you want?? I bought a turbo Forester and absolutely hated it. I cut it loose quickly.
In reply to Loweguy5 :
I Fluid Film'd my new truck a few years ago and I'm very happy with the results, although the stuff absolutely reeks for the first few weeks.
The Forester really is the go-to dog friendly option, so that's what I was thinking about, but I think that I'm actually going to get a new HRV.
In reply to Loweguy5 :
Take a look at PBlaster Surface Shield as a FF alternative. I was motivated to try it after watching this video - I just applied to my Volvo V50.
In reply to Woody (Forum Supportum) :
Before we bought the current Wrangler my wife had a CR-V and I have to admit it was pretty fantastic. Ridiculously roomy, the 1.5t had decent power and fuel economy was okay. The new HR-V is a nice looking rig too, though I haven't seen one up close yet.
The newer Subarus are fantastic compared to the 80s or anything that had rear struts. In the 80s they used steel rejected by Nissan or something and you had to turn the radio up real loud so you could hear it over how audibly the car rusted. But the strut cars I think rusted because of dumbness, there was a kind of shelf in the strut tower/inner fender that would collect dirt and moisture, and I think it either didn't get paint or not very much paint because of where it was, and then it would perforate quickly. Dirt and moisture would then get blown in and settle inside the rockers, taking them out.
In reply to 02Pilot :
This is very interesting to me. I really need to do my RAM and the new to us 66 F100. Thank you.
Used FF on the H2 and I liked it. It has a smell like you get from a wet horse in a barn. I am going to use it on my Merc in some key areas that they seem to have missed with the factory coating.
Those of you mentioning fluid film, does anyone have experience with woolwax? I picked up a gallon on my neighbor's recommendation but haven't applied it to my truck yet. He says it creeps through seams nicely and never "sets up." It's also supposedly tacky enough to stay on there for at least a season.
In reply to dannyp84 :
That is the way Fluid Film is, too. If you get it in a pail, it seems to be a different formulation than the spray can stuff. Thicker. You have to mix it before use like roofing asphalt.
Given that there is a big cake of lanolin in the bottom of the pail, I bet it's effectively the same product as woolwax.
Woolwax and fluid film are basically the same thing - sheep oil (lanolin). It did keep the underside of my Land Cruiser looking real nice for 3 years in Wisconsin.
I have the compressed air applicator gun for FF which works very well. I also warm up the gallon jugs before spraying to encourage it to flow when applied. Stuff works great, my 03 Suburban was the only one around that still had perfect rocker panels when I sold it this summer.
02Pilot said:In reply to Loweguy5 :
Take a look at PBlaster Surface Shield as a FF alternative. I was motivated to try it after watching this video - I just applied to my Volvo V50.
Very interesting, doing this when the 86 comes out of storage for sure. No trying to get to a shop open roughly the same time I'm working or paying for somebody else's labor!
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