2001 Subaru Outback from North America - Comments

The car clutch would shudder in the morning and go away when engine was warmed up. Brought the car to the dealer and the dealer replaced the clutch. The newly replaced clutch was OK for about two weeks then started to shudder again. We also noticed a burnt tranmission oil smell, in fact this smell would make my wife sick. I brought the car back to the dealer and the dealer replaced the clutch a second time. The dealer also found that the transmisson seal was damaged from the first time the clutch was repaired. The seal was repaired. I have driven the car for six weeks and have not had any issues with the clutch shudder.

Radiator hose was leaking due to debris around the hose, this was fixed by the dealer-not a big deal.

Burning one quart of motor oil every one thousand miles! This is a big deal. Subaru says that this is within there specifications. I can't believe this. I have never had a car that burnt that much oil except my 240D which had 240K miles on it! Subaru offered to do an oil consumption test, bring the car in every one thousand miles and have the oil level checked. What a pain. When I first bought the car I chagned the oil at one thousand miles using a good conventual motor oil and then every 3000. I started using Mobil 1 SYN 10-30WT oil.

The car is safe, fun to drive and gets great gas mileage-27 mpg average.

The seats and interior are not the most comfortable, but they work.

The sound system is nice.

The air conditioning and heater work well.

High oil consumption in a relatively new car is usually the result of improper break-in driving. This can be corrected by having the engine serviced to re-hone the cylinder walls, and then repeating the break in procedure. I have the 4-cylinder 2000 automatic version, and have no problems with oil consumption at all -- and get better-than-advertised gas mileage to boot!

The losing oil issue has more to do with the Mobile Synthetic oil than anything. I had a 98 VW GTI with the VR6 engine and when I ran Synthetic oil the car went through a quart of oil every 1000 to 3000 miles. VW told me the same story that Subaru did, about it being within limits and then made me go back to regular oil.

The real reason for this comment is my current 2002 Subaru Outback. The car is cheap and over-priced, but does run okay. My clutch however (I have driven clutched cars for 25 years) at 12,000 miles started to shutter and slip. Subaru, after warning me that I may have to pay for it, did replace the clutch under warranty after finding problems with it. The fact that my clutch was replaced at 14,500 miles is crazy and a sign, in my opinion, of power quality and workmanship.

I drove a 2003 in a test drive and didn't think that the outback was a solid car, nothing like what I excepted it to be. I was mostly floored at the price I was quoted $40,000 plus, later my sister in law called and she was quoted $3,500 less than I was for the exact same car in the lot. The price that I was given was more than the subaru car maker put on it. I couldn't believe that the friendly sales man that was selling the car was stabbing me in the back.

That was Doug Cameron subaru in owen sound Ontario.

(the prices are in canadien funds)

Awesome car, but!!! Oil Consumption is the only real issue I have had with my wifes 1996 Impreza coupe 2.2l 5spd AWD. Consumption varies, consistent 500 mile a week car, some weeks little usage then all of a sudden if would be almost off the stick. Oil is changed every 4-5k, Havoline 30 or 10/40. I have experimented here and have not seen any conclusive evidence that viscosity changes impact oil consumption rates on her car. (I'm sure it does, but nothing stood out). Plugs have always looked great, no leaks, no smoke from tailpipe (looking at night with lights behind doesn't show much exhaust at all) Attempting to get my wife to check the oil level as often as it is needed has taken a while. Improper break in is a possible answer, something that hadn't crossed my mind. We live in the sierra foothills where the car gets little freeway miles, mostly 1 1/2 lane up-down-left-right action with some mountain highway mixed in. I always thought, flat 4 cylinder, centrifugal forces and a little more oil flying around than the oil scrappers could handle was the answer, but I have wondered, our neighbor has a 97 Coupe, but an automatic and have no oil consumption issues (they drive far more conservatively than my wife does). Her commute would make a great stage in WRC... Plus a 1980 DL Subaru we had with 240k miles never used oil, the car interior fell apart before the drive train showed any wear.

Car history, all work performed by me, easiest car I have ever worked on.

160k miles (MOUNTAIN MILES) and still going strong.

155k - Clutch change (throw out bearing wore out, clutch still looked good)

155k - Left F-axle replace (quicker than changing boot that was just starting to show some good cracks)

130k - Replace front rotors, full brake job number?

120k - Right F-axle (cat dried it out)

120k - F wheel bearing change replaced R spindle housing

120k - Rack change, had been seeping for... alignment guys twisting the tie rods and tweaking the boots.

120k - Power steering pump replace

100k - Timing belt replace.

Can't really remember anything else.

Overall great car, a little uncomfortable for me, but in a 4 wheel drift under full power and in total control who cares ;)

Next on the plate is trading this thing in on a new Subaru WRX STI 2.5l turbo 6spd (I hope they had it in 2 door)

Cheers.

Hey Steven, I'm glad I'm not the only one experiencing the oil burning problem. I thought it was a defect in the motor or something more major. I have used Synthetic mobil oil since day one when we bought our 2001 outback with 18,000 miles on it. I have changed the oil religiously every 3,000 miles plus adding prolong booster which I really think will help with overall performance and the motor life in general. All the auto parts dealers that I have talked to about prolong have really loved this stuff. I have been using it since 95' have had no problems with all of my Auto's or trucks. the local Subaru Guru swears by it and tells me that there is no reason that with continued regular maintenance these cars should get over 300,000 miles on the motors without any serious problems. Just thought I would mention this stuff. Have a great day.

Dennis.

I have a 2003 Baja that runs with Mobil One. It was broken in correctly and is a very tight non-leaker. In other words, treat your car nice, it treats you nice.