Faults:

The steering rack had to be replaced with less than 60,000 kms on the car. At a cost of $1000.00.

The front differential is making a whining noise. I am told by the transmission shop that the tranny should be replaced at the same time as the front diff. The total cost for rebuilt replacements and labour will be between $7000 to $8000. Too costly a repair at only 104,000 kms.

Most of the kms I put on the car were on the highway.

There is a rattle when accelerating at city driving that has not been diagnosed yet.

General Comments:

This is the best car I have ever owned for driving in snow or on icy highways. It is unbelievable the amount of snow it plows through.

Faults:

Until now (6.5 years and 81k miles), the car was wonderfully reliable. Recently, however, I started noticing the smell of hot coolant once the engine warmed up. I didn't see any obvious leaks, but it seemed to get worse after a week, so I took it in to the dealer. They said the head gasket was leaking. That seemed odd to me, so I did some searching on the web, and it seems that the engine in this model has a problem with the head gaskets blowing at an early stage. If you want to know more about this, search on Subaru WWP-99 Service Campaign.

The dealership is going to fix it under warranty, which is fantastic, but it makes me a bit nervous. Apparently, Subaru has fixed this design flaw on later models. If you're considering buying a used Subaru with the 2.5l engine, make sure to check whether it is one that has this issue and whether it was fully resolved. If not, buy with caution. Note that the dealer had put in some sort of "sealant" to try to prevent the problem, but it apparently didn't work.

General Comments:

The All Wheel Drive is great. We live in Colorado and drive it in the mountains all the time, and it is very good in the snow and on hills.