Got a new ride

[John1]

I've been driving a 2007 Honda Pilot.   I like the room, I like not having car payments and like the reliability.   However - it's got >200K on it, I've got a pretty expensive timing belt replacement in the near future and it's starting to get body rot. All of this I could live with if it wasn't for the fact that $120 fills my tank and that won't even get me through a week of driving (and I don't live that far away from the office either).  Based on my calcs, the old girl is getting around 14MPG.   I figured it's finally time to upgrade.   Thought about a hybrid but the only one that fit my price point and I liked was the Toyota Venza but having dealt with 4 different Toyota dealerships who were some of the scuzziest, old-school, high pressure, bait-and-switch car dealers I've ever come across, I swear I'll never look at a Toyota again.   

 

I've been a Honda guy for 3 decades and love the cars.   I ran up 300K on my old CRV but the new ones have pretty poor reliability numbers (confirmed by some friends of my who drive new model CRV's) and the Passport had some of the lowest reliability / customer satisfaction ratings in it's class.    After a great deal of research, I finally ended up with this:

 

I love it.   Pricewise, I got an incredible deal and for a mid-level trim package, the car is loaded   Already has a roof rack system so I can put kayaks or bikes on the top (anyone know of a good option for kayak / bike mounts besides those insanely expense Thule ones?).  Got a 1.7% interest rate for the portion I financed which was also pretty nice.    Best of all, the purchasing experience was amazing.   Zero pressure, friendly, "well, just go home and think about it and if you are interested, come on back".   180 degrees from Toyota.     

 

If anyone else out there is driving a Subaru in general, Outback specifically, I'd love to hear what your thoughts are.

[easixpedro]

I've only ever driven Subies or an old pickup. When my last pickup died after 20 years, I got an Outback. That was in 09 when I was driving from Reno to Fallon and back every day 160 miles a day. Gas was killing me, but rugged enough to handle mountain driving. My son inherited it 10 years later and its still trucking along. I miss having it now that I'm in another Ranger. Dont get me wrong, I like my Ranger too, but Subarus are great cars. Have fun with it!

Peter

[Martinnfb]

I was just doing some maintenance work on my friend's 2015 Outback, easy to work on, smart assemblies and well built. Enjoy your ride John. 

Edited June 18, 2022 by Martinnfb

[Lee White]

I used to live in Colorado, and everyone and their cat drove one. Subarus are popular, much loved cars that apparently will not leave you stranded.

[ScottsGT]

Enjoy!  Daughter just did the timing belt, plugs and valve adjustment on our old 2013 Pilot.  $1900 out the door.  200,000 miles.  But there is nothing else out there now she can afford.  Told her to go broke on maintenance instead of a $47,000 note on a new car. 

[BloorwestSiR]

15 minutes ago, ScottsGT said:

Enjoy!  Daughter just did the timing belt, plugs and valve adjustment on our old 2013 Pilot.  $1900 out the door.  200,000 miles.  But there is nothing else out there now she can afford.  Told her to go broke on maintenance instead of a $47,000 note on a new car. 

 

I'm currently working on fixing our 2007 Hondaa Element. She's got a coolant leak. The dealer wants $1200 plus parts to fix it as to get to the leaky bit, the intake manifold has to come off.  I'm leaning how to do it myself and I'm almost to the reassembly stage. 

 

As for Subarus, the only real criticisms I hear are about changing the spark plugs but that might be only the older ones. My sister and parents both had them and never had any issues. 

 

Carl

[Uncarina]

I went from my 2003 Honda Element to a 2015 Subaru Forester. Great vehicle, very nice customer service, and I liked their community emphasis. Little known fact: “ Subaru” is the Japanese word for the Pleiades Constellation and is reproduced on their logo. Each star corresponds to a specific virtue that the company strives for.

 

I would have kept mine but Subaru has phased out manual transmissions and I just have to have one, like much of the rest of the world besides the U.S.. So I have my Tacoma now, stick shift included.

 

Cheers,  Tom

[DrewH]

I have a 2021 Outback but have the higher trim with the twin turbo engine so I can tow the boat or a utility trailer. Still like the car just as much as I did when it was new. Takes a bit to get used to the beeps and squeaks of the eye sight system but after a couple weeks you'll be ignoring it. I have lots of power in mine and still get very good milage compared to others out there. Only my old 2009 Nissan Sentra was better on gas. You'll love it. 

[chrish]

2 hours ago, ScottsGT said:

Enjoy!  Daughter just did the timing belt, plugs and valve adjustment on our old 2013 Pilot.  $1900 out the door.  200,000 miles.  But there is nothing else out there now she can afford.  Told her to go broke on maintenance instead of a $47,000 note on a new car. 

I just changed the T belt and plugs on a friends 2010 Pilot, charged him $400.00 and felt kinda guilty about it.

After reading your comment I feel a lot better!

I’ve been wrenching on cars since I was 21, I’m 61 now and have only worked on 3-4 Subaru products, only one was a serious issue and not caused by the product but by owner neglect (come on admit it, we all do it)

right now I’ve got my 02 Monte Carlo up on stands at home in my garage to replace the automatic transmission primary drive chains.

Edited June 19, 2022 by chrish
Typo

[ScottsGT]

It was $400 labor plus $160 for the two valve cover gaskets for the valve adjustment alone.  That was a shocker for me.  Oh, and the spark plugs were $30 each.  
even in my younger days I opened the hood on our Odyssey and said Nope! Been turning wrenches all my life too.  But 3/4” clearance and special tools?  Fuggetaboutit!

[BloorwestSiR]

9 hours ago, chrish said:

I just changed the T belt and plugs on a friends 2010 Pilot, charged him $400.00 and felt kinda guilty about it.

After reading your comment I feel a lot better!

I’ve been wrenching on cars since I was 21

 

The first car repair I did was changing the timing belt and water pump on my 1991 Honda Beat. Couldn't find a shop that would do it for under $3,000.  Talk about jumping into the deep end. 

 

The engine cover after you remove the convertible top:

 

 

Then the rear wheel on the passenger side comes off. The easiest part of the job. 

 

 

The timing belt itself after dropping the engine on one side, removing the valve cover and I can't recall what else. 

 

 

It ended up taking me 30 hours to do it with some help from friends more knowledgeable than me. At least I won't have to do it again for another 17 years. 

 

Carl

[John1]

15 hours ago, ScottsGT said:

Enjoy!  Daughter just did the timing belt, plugs and valve adjustment on our old 2013 Pilot.  $1900 out the door.  200,000 miles.  But there is nothing else out there now she can afford.  Told her to go broke on maintenance instead of a $47,000 note on a new car. 

It's a tough time to be buying a car, that's for sure.   Venza's were being sold at $7k over sticker price.   Sorry Toyota, I get the whole supply and demand thing but that's just gouging.     I'm trying to talk the wife into keeping the Pilot.   It's still at great vehicle and has it's place doing dump runs, stuffing it with bikes, kayaks and camping gear.  It's just no longer feasible for a full time ride.   

[ScottsGT]

9 hours ago, John1 said:

It's a tough time to be buying a car, that's for sure.   Venza's were being sold at $7k over sticker price.   Sorry Toyota, I get the whole supply and demand thing but that's just gouging.     I'm trying to talk the wife into keeping the Pilot.   It's still at great vehicle and has it's place doing dump runs, stuffing it with bikes, kayaks and camping gear.  It's just no longer feasible for a full time ride.   

Unfortunately, it’s not Toyota jacking up the price, it’s the dealers “market adjustment” and using the excuse that with less inventory they need to make price adjustments to keep the doors open and the lights on.   I do know some manufacturers have called BS of this excuse and told dealers their inventory numbers would be reduced and last to get more inventory.  
I think KIA was the first to put a stop to it all.  

[BloorwestSiR]

In Canada, the manufacturers have a bit more control over the pricing. They don't allow dealers to sell over the MSRP on new cars. My sister just bought a brand new 2022 Pathfinder last month. She actually got it for $1k under list price. 

 

The used car market is crazy though. We had an 2009 Honda Fit that we bought  three years ago for $4k. Drive it for 2 years and sold it last year for $6500 and we were the cheapest one around based on mileage. 

[eoyguy]

Not likely applicable due to its age, but my wife has a 2012 Outback 3.6 flat six. Been great except 2 things. One, its eaten light bulbs for the running lights and headlights, which are truly a PIA to change. It also broken 4 wheel lugs during wheel rotations. I thought at first it was the guys at the dealership cross threading them on, but now I've had to replace 2 that I did myself. The backup camera also went out, a known issue for that age of car. The 4 bangers were known to burn oil and had some issues with head gaskets and they were actually replacing engines at one point, but that again is on older ones. I would probably consider a new one if the 3.6 was still available, I'm a true believer in having a larger engine working easier than a 4 banger turbo working harder. Overall we've been pretty happy with it. Between it being 10 years old and my Highlander being 13, we have more than got our moneys worth out of them both, and neither are over a 100K mile yet. My Highlander will likely outlive me.