Comments: 1-15, 16-21
My problems with Subaru of America have been legendary. I once got into a shouting match with one of the Customer Service Agents and fortunately I had her on speaker phone and 3 other members of my medical staff heard her. Her supervisor's comment was that she did not think there was a problem, since it was obvious the agent was having a bad day. I found the home address of the President of Subaru/Fuji Heavy Industries and faxed/mailed a complaint. His response was to send the complaint back to Customer Service and I had to deal with the original agent.
I would under no circumstances buy anything from Subaru or Fuji Heavy Industries. I would not buy any vehicle from a manufacturer who does not participate under the automotive section of the Better Business Bureau. That alone should tell you of the difficulties experienced.
I am now on my fourth alternator since new. I go through one per year it seems.
The dealership I purchased from no longer sells Subarus so I have been with a new dealership for one year. So far, they have been tolerable.
My SVX has been in the shop for a total of 46 days for various problems since new. I find this unacceptable for car, particularily one which listed for 36k.
I know my comments seem stressed. But this vehicle was to be my dream car. It has proved to be anything but. Now the vehicle is worth only 9k. I feel cheated by Subaru.
I'm willing to bet that the faults you find in the car were your fault. I had no unexpected problems from my SVX, except for the obvious wheel bearings, brake rotors, and the mandatory 120k mile transmission replacement. My car lasted for over 140,000 miles until it ran into a tree, a victim of the ever present "Driver Error."
Don't blame this car... i guarantee it wasn't the car's fault.
My experiences with this car have been amazing. With the exceptions of the wheel bearings (which was an easy fix), the car lasted me 170,000 miles before I rebuilt it with a 13B and 6-speed.
I am planning to buy an SVX LSI. Will you post info on where is the best place to find a manual 6 speed transmission? Also, is the retrofit good, or does it look and perform like an add-on? I can't stand automatic transmissions, and that's the only thing that makes me hesitate to buy an SVX. I have had excellent experiences with other Subarus. Unlike Nissan, Subaru actually plans their car designs based on how owners interact with their cars.
I believe the 13B engine referenced in the earlier comment is a Mazda rotary. I'm not familiar with the transfer case arrangement in the SVX, but would tend to think that changing transmissions and retaining AWD would be extremely complex. If this is an easy sway, would love to see details on a web page.
To the guy who is complaining about the dealership and the car, it's not their fault you're an unpleasant person. To the guy who wants a 6 speed manual, HA HAHAHA HAA HA. Do your research, there is not stock Subaru SVX 1992-1997. Got that none, they did not make any. Now that I had my fun here is some advice, there’s a shop in Washington state that specializes in changing your automatic to a manual. It will cost you almost 5 large, but you also get a turbo with that, nice trade from an automatic. Or IF your really LUCKY you'll find some one who did the switch themselves.
The 5 speed swap for an svx is done by several people on the SVX world network, they use the 4.44 off the Impreza, many do it in a way that looks stock. I've been quoted $1500 for install plus parts. I own a '94 svx and it's the best car I've ever owned, I am going to be purchasing a second one within a few weeks, it has only been great to me. if you do get a 92 or 93 model get an inter-cooler for the transmission. they tend to be problematic with high heat, the factory did correct this in the 94+ models. I have driven the 5 speed modified version and it works like it came from the facotry that way. if you have the money and you like the stick... go for it, but the car pushes 240 horse as is with a power mode that almost acts liek a turbo, plus a manual override (both stock features)
I think the prez of that company you mailed should move. I don't think he wants his personal life invaded by letters that are supposed to be handled by the customer service department.
Better idea: Go to his house and see what happens.
I bought my 94 SVX LSi with 80k miles, and by 140k it can't make it 3 months without a trip to the shop. It's had 2 transmissions (one on it's own, one as a result of Oil Can Henry's allowing the transmission fluid to drain out 3 miles from their shop). I think at least 3 times in 4 years it's been in the shop for a solid month.
The last couple of failures have been hoses that simply fall off. The first nearly killed the transmission, but I stopped in time - the second was the power steering fluid hose. The fluid hit the engine block and burst into flames.
It's a wonderful car to drive, but for me, it was literally a flaming piece of junk.
The SVX is an amazing car for its current value (underrated in my opinion), try finding another import for under 4k that has 230 naturally Aspired HP (or 240 depending on where you get your specs from) and is equipped with tons of luxury options. As for its problems some can be easily fixed with a little bit of work. Svxs almost always have transmissions that overheat and need replacement every 60,000 miles or so, a good transmission cooler is essential for any svx owner. In my 92 I had a powersteering problem (Big powersteering fluid puddle formed overnight), I replaced the the hose with a wrx replacement part (not designed for the svx, but it connected to the pump correctly) and no more leak. The svx can also eat through breaks like it does Transmissions, if your brakes are warped replace them with brakes that will deal with the heavy weight of the svx (if you have the funds vented and drilled) and don't ride on your brakes (Glowing red= no good). If you do this you can draw many more years out of your svx.
You can't guarantee it wasn't the how it was built. I know many owners with the same car as mine (nissan sentra spec v) that had their QR25DE destroy itself. I understand it can also be an owner's lack of maintenance that causes parts to break and stuff to fail, but you have to understand that this isn't always the case.
Anyway, I will agree that the trans is the area this car suffers the most from. A decent external filter and cooler will go a long way toward keeping it alive longer.
About drilled/slotted rotors...don't buy that boy racer crap. Drilled and slotted rotors can crack or warp a lot easier than a solid rotor. They are mostly for looks, so just buying a larger/thicker rotor and better braking fluid should help to make this hefty car stop better.
I own a 1994 SVX which I bought in 1998 so I have therefore run it now for almost ten years. In all that time, apart from routine servicing (about which I am quite tardy), I have only had to replace a single broken electric-window switch cluster. My SVX has never broken down, never refused to start and never overheated. It has proved to be an exemplary car to own and a great pleasure to drive on a daily basis. Its two failings are that (1) at about 22mpg around town it is pretty thirsty, although this consumption rate improves to about 30mpg on a long run if the speed is held at a steady 70mph; and (2) it consumes tires almost as fast as petrol.
I just bought a fully loaded, almost mint 1996 SVX from a friend for $800 (lucky me) with 160k miles on it. The first day I got that sucker up to 140 mph and just about toasted my routers coming to a stop! lol... I Put my foot into it for the first week, (its the funnest car Iv ever owned) and then gave it a rest for the last month. It sounded and felt good until about 5 days ago it started this weird clunk on the take off and it kinda slams into 2nd. I'm not sure if its serous, but I'm hoping when I take it in to get looked at it just a the tranny filters and maybe bearings. My friend who sold it to me said besides normal oil changes, tune ups, etc. Its never broke down, or been in the shop for any reason in the last 4 years.
January 16, 2008.
I have a 1992 Subaru SVX. I purchased it in 1999 with 95K. In 2004, I spent some money replacing the transmission, rack & pinion steering etc with 132K on the odometer. The car has run tops since then with regular O & L maintenance.
At 149k, suddenly, on the road, my engine cut-off with all power loss. I put the car in park and the engine started right away and this was repeated after a 3 mile journey.
If anyone had a similar situation, I would appreciate any information about the possible cause of sudden engine cut off.
Thanks.
I have a 1995 SVX. I love it, but, the Mass Airflow sensor will cause the car to die intermittently until catastrophic failure. The vehicle will restart immediately and fail down the road a ways. It'll do it until the car won't stay running for more than a few minutes. This can take a while, 1 to 2 months, but if this is the problem it will happen.
Hopefully someone out there can help me. I'm fairly car smart, but I have a good battery, but no power to the car, & the fuse locator sticker is gone.
Also I need to know where to find the fuseable link. Can anybody out there help me? E mail me at j_blok2006@yahoo.com.
I love this car and I don't want to have to sell it.