Advice on CPO Subaru Forester

Joined
Nov 4, 2003
Messages
472
Location
Alabama
Daughter is moving to Maine, which will make it necessary to replace her 2013 Camry with 170k miles. Subaru's AWD seems suited for that climate. Don't think she can afford a new one, but a 2018 CPO with 26k miles might fit her budget. Also, the CPO carries a powertrain warranty to 100k. Because I won't be able to work on her vehicles, does she need to get the enhanced extended warranty? Thanks
 
I'm not familiar with the Subaru market in Alabama, but here in NY you can buy a CPO 2017/2018 Forester off lease for the same price as a brand new one. They really don't lose much value until they hit 10 years old up here.

The Subaru extended warranty seems to work pretty well from what I've seen around in the various Subaru communities.

Make sure the AC works. the 14-18 Foresters had a lot of problems with the AC not working.
 
?

My wife lives in NH and uses a 2011 Camry for daily driving--and it has 220k on the clock. And we have NH hills to deal with, and dirt roads too.

AWD is nice, but snow tires are NICER. Cannot put a finer point on it. AWD gets you moving, snow (or winter) tires help you steer and stop.

Now she just wants to move to a different car, and wants to add AWD at the same time, fine, but you don't NEED AWD. But ya should think about proper tires.
 
Extended warranty on a Subaru is a must, great car but the head gaskets are a common point of failure and quite pricey to repair.
Every time they claim to have it sorted out the failure reappears like a bad penny. An open deck block with very little sealing surface area is a recipe for disaster and that has proven to be the case tens of thousands of times over the years.

If reliability was my main concern I would buy a Toyota, they are about as attractive as a toaster oven but they are rock solid.
 
Extended warranty on a Subaru is a must, great car but the head gaskets are a common point of failure and quite pricey to repair.
Every time they claim to have it sorted out the failure reappears like a bad penny. An open deck block with very little sealing surface area is a recipe for disaster and that has proven to be the case tens of thousands of times over the years.

If reliability was my main concern I would buy a Toyota, they are about as attractive as a toaster oven but they are rock solid.

Sorry friend but this is the most oft repeated boogeyman story on the internet about Subaru. The number one reason anyone would experience head gasket issues on a NEWER Subaru is due to poor maintenance. I have personally worked for Subaru in recent years as well as running one of the top Subaru enthusiast websites for 17+ years. It is not a problem I hear much about anymore and have not heard much about for years except from people who want to peddle paranoia to those who don't know any better.

That being said the standard Subaru CPO warranty primarily covers powertrain components for up to 7 years from the original factory warranty start date or 100,000 miles, whichever comes first. You do have the option of purchasing a CPO warranty upgrade that offers more comprehensive coverage like that of the basic 3 year / 36,000 mile factory warranty (common slang "bumper to bumper" coverage).
 
First of all I am not your friend, you don't even know me. Say what ever you want but I have had a 2012 and a 2015 here both leaking oil from the heads, hardly paranoia.
Subaru have not had head gasket problems for 11 years. The head coolant system is separate from the block.

I would go with an extended warranty with any vehicle bc of the electronics. Their cvt is warranted for 10 years or 100K miles.
 
So what are these 2 doing with oil dripping out of the head gasket?

Perhaps, not-friend, we should be having this conversation in another forum? I would hate to see this most excellent thread get hijacked and I don't think any of us can armchair diagnose any potential issues from behind our keyboards ☮️
 
the head gaskets are a common point of failure and quite pricey to repair.
I have yet to see any wide spread HG failure on Subarus from MY 12-13 and up. The ones that have failed are due to material defects and happen early on, or they have been abused and overheated. The design defect has been solved with the FB/FA engines. Maybe not completely but enough to not be a concern anymore. Also dont forget the main issue with the older EJs were that they leaked coolant. A lot of cars leak oil not really that big of a deal especially on older engines. Fords will leak oil and still run for 30 years.


OP, have you considered a Crosstrek? They are cheaper and offer the same AWD system. Only difference is you’re getting slightly less cargo space. With used cars you never know how the PO treated them. CPO means nothing other than a warranty and a visual inspection. I have not heard too many good things about Subaru’s extended warranty plan. Mainly cost/coverage ratio. The longest plan runs about $4k if I remember right. $4k can pay for a lot of repairs on a Subaru. I say skip the warranty and get a new crosstrek, possibly even Impreza if it fits the budget. Service at the dealership if possible or find a good Indy. Skip all the dealer recommended stuff and only do what Subaru specifies. I paid for a valve cleaning at 30k and my outback never ran right again.
If a forester is a must I would still skip the warranty and give the car a good look over before purchasing.
 
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OP, have you considered a Crosstrek? They are cheaper and offer the same AWD system. Only difference is you’re getting slightly less cargo space. With used cars you never know how the PO treated them. CPO means nothing other than a warranty and a visual inspection. I have not heard too many good things about Subaru’s extended warranty plan. Mainly cost/coverage ratio. The longest plan runs about $4k if I remember right. $4k can pay for a lot of repairs on a Subaru. I say skip the warranty and get a new crosstrek, possibly even Impreza if it fits the budget. Service at the dealership if possible or find a good Indy. Skip all the dealer recommended stuff and only do what Subaru specifies. I paid for a valve cleaning at 30k and my outback never ran right again.
If a forester is a must I would still skip the warranty and give the car a good look over before purchasing.

The Crosstrek is a very different vehicle size-wise and believe it or not they tend to price about even and often times higher than comparable Foresters on the used car market due to the supply of Crosstreks being so much lower. Even with new vehices it is not hard to make the end cost of buying a comparable Crosstrek and Forester nearly even.

$4000 for an extended warranty from Subaru??? Some F&I managers are really making bank if they are getting people to buy an extended warranty from them for that much.
 
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