For the longest time I've been trying to find a good, fairly modern mid-size SUV with a manual transmission, and recently stumbled upon a 2016 Subaru Forester 2.5i, did some research and generally speaking from my findings, this one model has fairly good reviews, timing chain in the engine, 6 speed manual transmission, plenty of room and good gas consumption. It looks to meet all of my used car needs yes, but... I've had less than stellar luck with purchasing vehicles and thus I am here looking for counsel.
I have very little experience with Subaru's, goodness I only found out about H config. engines while I was at the Uni. and that wasn't that long ago, so if anyone would could give me some pointers or information about this vehicle before putting myself in debt, I would be most appreciative.
regards
They're good as long as you stay away from the 6 cylinder ones. They are a lot better than they used to be.
Could be a good buy, especially with a standard trans.
@rpmartin32
Would the 6 cylinder boxer engines be the ones that I've read are notorious oil burners? or a particular year for said model?
I believe the 6 cylinder ones are the ones with the head gasket issues, at least in the old days. They might have fixed it by now.
@rpmartin32
Actually the sixes didn't have the head gasket issue, but they had plenty of other problems and are to be avoided. It was the 4-cylinder engine with the bad head gaskets, except for turbos because those had better gaskets. The problem years are from around 1997-2011. You don't want one of those unless the head gaskets have already been replaced or you can pick up the car real cheap and do the work yourself.
The automatic transmission with the Subarus are the weakest point. The next one is their 6 cylinder boxer engines. So, your choice does not have any of these and this is good.
Just ask a mechanic to fully check the car (specially the clutch and the engine), before you put any money down.
Good luck.
@yaser
hehe,, we could have a good debate oon that for sure! yea, I put the boxer first : )
@hillbilly
Subaru's early pushrod flat four with gear-driven cam, based largely on the Lloyd Arabella, was pretty much bulletproof as long as you didn't overheat it. The current 4-cylinder engines seem to be OK. In between there were problems, the most common of which was bad head gaskets. Around 2014 they got a batch of bad piston rings from a supplier which resulted in excessive oil consumption.
@yaser
I've read and seen loads of issues and warnings pertaining to oil consumption on these vehicles, so does this mostly apply to the 2014 models and those defective piston rings?
I've also read warnings aplenty in regards to their CVT transmissions, in general I'm trying to stay away from automatics anyways. Should there be anything I should look out for with this manual transmission? Maybe just test drive it and look for the common issues with shifting and whatnot?
As I said, the manual transmission is much better for Subaru’s although always check with a mechanic to make sure the tranny and the engine are fine.
@yaser
There was a class action lawsuit over it. I recall this mainly because a friend bought a new Outback in 2015 and I was a bit concerned for him, however that vehicle has not had any problems. I did a quick search and it seems that 2011-2015 models are affected, which is longer than I thought, though as I said my buddy's 2015 Outback has not had any problems:
http://www.oilconsumption.settlementclass.com/
Subaru's newer CVT transmissions (2015+) seem to do OK (better than Nissan but not as good as Toyota), but for a long-term vehicle the stick shift is far preferable.
Also I thought Scotty said (Subaru) they put the timing chain and water pump together, so you would have too replace both if one goes bad? (Expensive) Correct me if I misunderstand.
@honda-2016-civic
I think that's just on their flat-six engine, which should be avoided. It's an expensive to service gas hog.