Subaru people/fanbois...

I've got a 2007 forester XT that I bought because I thought it was the right size and would be good to haul stuff around and fit the dogs in without driving like total crap that is most CUV's.

They switched that year to add the new cold start air injection system that fails left and right. It failed once and I tried to fix it the right way with 2 new valves and a complete system overhaul for about $700 in parts. Then 10000 miles later, it failed again so I just bought a tachrix cable and turned off those codes to pass emission.

I would have to say the build quality is worse than my 1991 MR2 is. Air leaks in 2 windows that I have to fix. Panels rattle. It's loud.

Subaru makes some nice sized cars but this will be my last one. I'm eying up the 2015 Mazda 3 if the early photos make it to production. The hatch looks great.

I dunno guys, this whole "fanboi" thing is one of my favorite things about the internet. There's nothing more fun to do than pour a nice tumbler of bourbon, kick back, and post gifs on car forums.

Tom_Spangler wrote: Marque-specific auto forums, in general, are awful.

I don't know most of the model specific ones I visit are pretty decent. But then again I guess Yugo, Triumph and Mercedes diesel owners are all an interesting bunch....

I love how everyone here hates on Audi's reliability, but loves Subaru. Look at the issues brought up in this thread, ring land failures, etc, etc. Subaru isn't looking better than Audi in my eyes...

docwyte wrote: I love how everyone here hates on Audi's reliability, but loves Subaru. Look at the issues brought up in this thread, ring land failures, etc, etc. Subaru isn't looking better than Audi in my eyes...

Don't get things confused. Subaru's are bad for a Japanese make. Audi's are just bad. I am annoyed by the little things in my Saabaru, but I still want to cry when I think of my B5...hateful POS.

docwyte wrote: I love how everyone here hates on Audi's reliability, but loves Subaru. Look at the issues brought up in this thread, ring land failures, etc, etc. Subaru isn't looking better than Audi in my eyes...

And from what I've seen, most of the issues with Scoobies are NVH, rattle, trim related. Most actual break down issues come with tuning or serious abuse. VW/Audi's seem to have expensive, prevent use issues in normal DD'ing.

I want to like Subaru's, I really really do, I love the concept, I love watching them rally. There are some way cool build out there, but whenever I drive one I find the interior and NVH a joke. Great toy, never happen as a DD for me.

Adrian_Thompson wrote:

docwyte wrote: I love how everyone here hates on Audi's reliability, but loves Subaru. Look at the issues brought up in this thread, ring land failures, etc, etc. Subaru isn't looking better than Audi in my eyes...

And from what I've seen, most of the issues with Scoobies are NVH, rattle, trim related. Most actual break down issues come with tuning or serious abuse. VW/Audi's seem to have expensive, prevent use issues in normal DD'ing. I want to like Subaru's, I really really do, I love the concept, I love watching them rally. There are some way cool build out there, but whenever I drive one I find the interior and NVH a joke. Great toy, never happen as a DD for me.

The PO of my WRX fixed the NVH problem. He put on a full 3" Turbo back. I can't hear anything except that lovely boxer wail! Especially once it clears 3k RPM, then she really clears her throat and sings!

Owner of a WRX and PO of a 99 Passat - don't compare the 2. Yea, I have a few things wrong with the Subie - but the B5 Passat was just a rolling time bomb. Glad I sold it before it really packed it in.

I've done hundreds of thousands of miles on my Audi's/VW's. Many B5's, B6's and the like and never had any issues. Several were practically perfect, some needed a sensor here or there, none had weird electrical issues, none left me stranded.

None blew engines, made weird noises, no diff whines, no rattles. Interiors were top notch, quality was first class.

If you buy an abused, neglected Audi, it'll cost you, same as any other abused, neglected European car. That's not the fault of the car, it's the fault of the previous owners for not taking care of it and your fault for buying it and then bitching about it.

Adrian_Thompson wrote:

docwyte wrote: I love how everyone here hates on Audi's reliability, but loves Subaru. Look at the issues brought up in this thread, ring land failures, etc, etc. Subaru isn't looking better than Audi in my eyes...

And from what I've seen, most of the issues with Scoobies are NVH, rattle, trim related. Most actual break down issues come with tuning or serious abuse. VW/Audi's seem to have expensive, prevent use issues in normal DD'ing. I want to like Subaru's, I really really do, I love the concept, I love watching them rally. There are some way cool build out there, but whenever I drive one I find the interior and NVH a joke. Great toy, never happen as a DD for me.

My 2002 was heavily modded, and it didn't rattle at all, and aside from the few things that happened to mine (that happen to a lot of bone stock ones too) it was reliable all the time. I beat the snot out of the car daily at elevated boost levels for over 60,000 miles. That car only left me stranded once, and it was because I didn't feel like driving anywhere with gas pouring all over my engine due to Subaru's cold weather fuel line issue. I got a really good one.

My 2nd one (the 2009) was bone stock aside from a STI rear sway bar and wider wheels (the same size they put on the 2011-up ones) and rattled worse than my ratty 1979 T/A, and had other issues. That car was never tracked and was more of a daily driver. I got a lemon with this one.

Either car would make a good toy, but you will never see me DD'ing another ever again.

And don't get me started with VW...

DirtyBird222 wrote: A) Why are you so cheap? B) Why do you get so butthurt when you complain about anything related to Subaru? C) Why do you think everything else on the road is inferior to your Japanese version of a 1980s Pontiac? As in why do you think Subaru is the only good autox vehicle in the world? By far one of the worst automotive communities I've ever dealt with in my life. Made a statement on a forum that I'd rather have my Si back and holy that blew some people's mental gaskets. Made a complaint about Subaru interior quality like I have before on here and same result as before. Maybe this should go in off-topic... /rant

I was once told that subaru owners "are a bunch of glasses-wearing virgins". According to someone who had owned one and been to the meets. I've since since it with my own eyes, YMMV.

In reply to J308:

I wear glasses and sometimes when my ungrateful mob of progeny is whining for more money I wish I was a virgin...does that count?

93EXCivic wrote:

Tom_Spangler wrote: Marque-specific auto forums, in general, are awful.

I don't know most of the model specific ones I visit are pretty decent. But then again I guess Yugo, Triumph and Mercedes diesel owners are all an interesting bunch....

Well said. I don't know about Yugo forums, but LBC and mercedes diesel owners are so freaking weird anyway, no one would brag or boast about being a member of that community or the cars themselves, as great as they are. Its like being in the math club, there is a built in modesty and humility factor.

I am a staunch member of that community myself, in case that came off as insulting.

In reply to mattmacklind:

Don't worry we all get it.

J308 wrote: I was once told that subaru owners "are a bunch of glasses-wearing virgins". According to someone who had owned one and been to the meets. I've since since it with my own eyes, YMMV.

I have 2 kids and 20/20 eyesight. There goes your theory ;)

mattmacklind wrote:

93EXCivic wrote:

Tom_Spangler wrote: Marque-specific auto forums, in general, are awful.

I don't know most of the model specific ones I visit are pretty decent. But then again I guess Yugo, Triumph and Mercedes diesel owners are all an interesting bunch....

Well said. I don't know about Yugo forums, but LBC and mercedes diesel owners are so freaking weird anyway, no one would brag or boast about being a member of that community or the cars themselves, as great as they are. Its like being in the math club, there is a built in modesty and humility factor. I am a staunch member of that community myself, in case that came off as insulting.

I never claimed not to be weird.

Guess I should post my experience. Owned 2 WRX's. one 02 and an 03 currently. The 03 is my only running car. I daily drive it, track it regularly and have so far had zero issues with it besides normal wear and tear from tracking ( front wheel bearings) it now has over 190,000 and still runs perfect. I just change the oil. As far as the interior it is the nicest and newest car I've owned so no complaints. Does have some rattles but its 10 years old. I think the interior is much nicer quality than a EVO VIII especially for the price difference. The local community is pretty good and probably the closest local community in our area. We regularly have meets, hang out at each others houses and genuinely are a group of friends. I know it isn't the best car but all around car it is exceeding my expectations.

DirtyBird222 wrote: By far one of the worst automotive communities I've ever dealt with in my life.

VW

/thread

lol I have a subaru and i've never seen people in the community being "bad" or ringland failures in anything other than newish STIs. It's generally considered that that only happens in the STI engine from 08+.

Lots of nonsensical butthurt in this thread.

It used to be that the subaru community was mostly adults but a lot of kids own old subarus now so you have that DSM type crowd but it's not really bad at all. Now I used to own a 350Z and that community was FAR FAR FAR worse in any of these respects than the Subaru community. my350z.com is a terrible site, far more volatile than nasioc. nasioc isn't even that bad, they are just anal about forum rules are are most make specific forums.

The reliability on Subarus are not bad. The problem is that the people who are buying them are putting massive turbos on 8 year old WRXs and beating the E36 M3 out of them.

VW

They are no different than the majority of people who own cheap hondas and think they are race cars. Really those communities are identical.

I don't get this make hating on a car forum. Especially a make where the majority of people who own them are in their 20s and 30s and they actually are a good brand.

You are crazy if you think Honda and VW communities are identical.

VW is hipsters, and all-around awful. Honda is... let's just say bwahahaha.

Crapping your pants > Vortex > H-T.

What's sad is that I've been to regional Honda forums that made H-T look insightful.

I own a 2013 WRX wagon. I don't inherently disagree with what you are saying about the car. It's interior is cheap, it has a few small rattles, the Radio is aweful, the carpets are paper thin, and fit/finish isn't the greatest and the Auto climate control was programed by a Drunk. That said I looked at every 200hp+ 4-5 door and it was by far a better overall vehicle for me and my family (2 under 3 kids and a wife) than the others.

I could care less what the "automotive comunity" associated with my car is like. I'm not in high school and I don't need my clique to be the cool one that everyone likes. I could care less what/who the other owners of my car are. My expeirences with the subaru forums are roughly the same as EVERY other forum I've ever been on. For that matter it's the same as basically my interactions with general society, work, college, social events all basically the same. This forum is no different.

I'm sorry that your ownership experience with your WRX was so poor. Maybe mine will fall appart the way your's did and I too will join the disgruntled past subaru owners. It's dificult to compare new cars to previous generations. People tend to forget that Inflation happens and if the new car doesn't come with a significant premium over the old one that cost savings had to come from somewhere. The 2002 WRX wagon carried a base price of ~24,500 adjusted for inflation that car would be approximately $32K today. My 2013 was 26,300. That is a lot lower price point than the 2002. People love comparing new cars to higher end used cars because pricing is similar. They forget about the fact that in the new market the cheapest cars are $15K and come with as much content as what used to be fairly luxury equiped cars. Automakers are delivering a whole lot of content for what is basically less cost adjusted for inflation from the late 90's. A WRX with all of it's issues fixed exists. It costs $10K more and comes from VW in the form of either an A3 Quattro, or a Golf R. But even in those you give up some of the content of the WRX for what you gain. The same can be said of the competitors. You give up some of the WRX content to get a nicer interior, or more technology.

J308 wrote: You are crazy if you think Honda and VW communities are identical. VW is hipsters, and all-around awful. Honda is... let's just say bwahahaha. Crapping your pants > Vortex > H-T.

I concur.

SyntheticBlinkerFluid wrote:

belteshazzar wrote: nobody has a worse online presence than the Panther chassis community. NOBODY.

I will agree with this one as well. When I had my '86 Crown Vic Coupe, I told the other Box guys that I wanted to drop a 32-valve Lincoln 4.6L in and bag it, they acted like I was preparing to murder somebody. If it wasn't a modified 302 and suspension off a police interceptor, they didn't want to hear it.

Same here, When I had my Vic and went to some panther forums you had better fallow the "Formula" or your a out cast. I got tired of people telling me my mods "won't work on a 4200 pound car!!!111" my car weighed 3700 and change WITH ME IN IT. I also busted high 12's on the bottle with nothing but mustang take offs. But all those shiny happy people just run there mouth with no experiance to back it up. On the other hand I LOVE a crown vic/Panther. Sold the car to a teacher at work and she had racked 30k miles on it trouble free, it never broke on me. In fact I'm looking at it in all its filthy glory Rant off

I love my Subaru, but I'm not sure if I'm a "fanboi"...

I used to hate them with a passion. They got REAL popular in the automotive enthusiast scene in my area especially around 2007. At that time, most of the "owners" were clueless high school and college age kids whose Mom's and Dad's had bought the car for them. Around the same time, a speed shop opened locally that hired a tuner who was very knowledgeable on the cars. They eventually carved out a niche as the go to place for Subaru mods/repairs. These kids piled in the place in droves, with Mommy and Daddy footing the bill for expensive upgrades and/or repairs.

This common theme of owners is still prevalent today, although the stance movement is starting to kick in... lovely... Apparently one of the kids was unhappy that his '08 STi was slower than the more powerful '09 and up modes, so he purposely drained his oil and popped his motor so that his Dad could buy him a $9k "Cosworth" motor or something like that.

The reason I bought one was because I was looking for a fun and quick but more functional DD to replace my Ion Redline. Still harboring my dislike of Subaru's and also not being a big fan of VW, I narrowed my selection down to an 08.5-09 Mazdaspeed 3, HHR SS and Caliber SRT4. I know I'm going to need my flame suit for this one, but I liked the SRT and SS way more than the MS3. The problem I had was the price. Even used, I couldn't find any that weren't priced in the high teens. My G/F was also looking for car at the same time and had some hard on for Subaru's because she knew some rich kid in high school that had an STi.. blah blah. Naturally, she wanted to look into WRX's which meant I had to test drive a couple. Can't lie, I enjoyed them. The interior was a VAST step up from my Ion Redline, and the cars just felt better. I eventually added the wagon version to my list and found a couple locally.

I almost bought a 2006 World Rallye blue wagon, but it was having issues with the air injection pump crap, which caused it to throw a code, which disables the cruise control. I looked into the issue and found that there was really no way to fix it without shelling out $600-$1000. Eventually, I found a 2002 wagon with high miles at a Ford dealer. It was bone stock and had one owner. For some reason after I drove it, I HAD to have it. It had been sitting on the dealers lot for a while, and they offered to sell it to me for less than I was planning to lowball... I ended up paying around 1/3rd what I would've had to pay for the other 3.

As far as the forums go, I tend to stay away. I'll search google when I have a question or issue and will usually end up on one and sift through crap to eventually find my answer. Seems like most trash on people for buying cheaper mods, even if they work for their intended purpose. That's a huge clash for me, since I'm a giant cheapskate... Plus, I know that they aren't the greatest AWD 4cyl turbo cars in the world. I've had 2 AWD DSM's for the past ten years, and I know that is certainly Mitsubishi's territory... I have a local buddy who doesn't fit the usual Subaru owner mold that can usually point me in the right direction.

Subaru fanboi's definitely aren't the worst though.... Try going on forums that deal with the GM LSJ crowd (Cobalt SS S/C and Ion Redline owners)... Most of them have no idea how to turn a wrench and just blab all day about "Stage Kits" and such. I almost scared off of buying my Ion Redline, when some people on the forums told me that they remove the supercharger to change their oil.... They are even worse in person. 99% of the LSJ cars that kids drive around here have nasty looking wheels, tasteless cosmetic mods and stickers. As far as performance most only have a CAI and Catback, but still try to street race anything that has wheels. The kids inside the cars are usually wearing flat brimmed hats and big princess cut diamond earings. I used to have fun dusting them in my mildly modded Redline. After the race, you'd talk to the kids and they'd have some big HP goals, or start blabbing about the $2200 TVS blower upgrade, even though they have no idea what it entails...

I get a ton of NVH in my Forester. I'm used to it. The funny thing is that putting a kayak on top of the car reduces the noise level.

If you're used to quiet rides, I can see how it would grate on your nerves. My wife's Mazda6 is like driving an isolation chamber compared to my Forester.

one other interesting point about NVH - those that have pre-08 WRXs tend to have a lot to say about wind noise, and that's a big part of the "noisiness" of subies. But the 08+ cars have framed windows and that makes a HUGE difference in wind noise.

Actually, I find that when I drive the 4Runner, I get annoyed at how quiet it is. I mean, it is SILENT....no wind noise, no engine noise, no exhaust noise, almost no road noise. I want to put an intake on it just to make it louder. I like the NVH :)