Ashes to Ashes?

[MercedesDriver]

Have you ever seen any Japanese car with more than 200k miles?
High millers I have seen are upto 130-150k top.
What happens next?
Do they disintegrate and transform to carbon and ferrite?

The point is that I'm looking to buy Subaru Outback 3.0 RN for forthcoming winter runabouts and am bit worried if this is good idea.
Has anyone got any experience with Outbacks?

 

[camerafodder]

The Japanese make some of the most reliable engines in existence. My old accord 2L was the nearest thing I've ever seen to a 'fit and forget' engine. Regularly serviced and had nothing else needed other than consumables and front wishbone nearside. When I sold it it had 237,000miles on the clock and still ran like a dream. Seen plenty of Scoobys over 150K and going strong, Toyotas too. Don't know much about the 3.0 RN though.

 

[John Jones Jr]

I've come across loads of high mileage Jap motors usually only let down by tired suspension. As for Subaru's, they are generally considered bulletproof and known to take high miles very well. The 2.0lt is an excellent engine, can't comment on the 3.0lt but I'd imagine it's just as good.

 

[John Jones Jr]

My old accord 2L was the nearest thing I've ever seen to a 'fit and forget' engine. Regularly serviced and had nothing else needed other than consumables and front wishbone nearside. When I sold it it had 237,000miles on the clock and still ran like a dream. .

My last Accord had 126k on it when sold, I had it from 45k. Bar servicing all it required was an O/s/r wheel bearing. It's still on the road today, I'd imagine it's close to 200k now. Good cars, good chance too I'll have another.

 

[MercedesDriver]

In last few days I started looking for Subaru upto 8 years old and FSH and have noticed that there is not a single one near 200k even if I look for 10+ years old. To be honest I haven't checked Mitsubishi.

 

[John Jones Jr]

Personally, I wouldn't give a Mits a second glance if there's a Subaru available that fits your criteria.

 

[markjay]

Our 1997 Toyota Previa which he had from new is still going strong (as a holiday runabout for South Europe), and never needed anything other than service items.

Bizarly, it has no rust, in spite of having been parked for tbe padt six years less than half mile from the beach.

 

[R W]

95% of all the taxi,s in Dubai are Toyota & there are some 4 or 5 thousand of them all government owned. They do 600,000kms in their 3 year life as a taxi, there are very few of them cause trouble in that time. They say the Toyota is the only car to stand up to the mileages & work they do. I was in one a few months ago with 735k kms on it & was running well, interior was a little worn but not bad at all.

 

[Dryce]

Lexus LS400 was capable of lasting and putting on the miles.

 

[def90cars]

I have a Carina E with 150k.

 

[tintinmt]

I think it's probably economic considerations that kill them - not practical ones. They don't retain value like Mercs due to a lack of prestige. I think this might change with the more 'aspirational' models of the recent past like the top Imprezza's.

 

[bpsorrel]

Japanese cars are very durable, probably more so than their Euro rivals. As an example, my father-in-law only runs Toyotas in Russia and the last two he had were sold with well in excess of 250,000kms. One of our friends recently sold a 2005 RAV4 with 300,000kms. None of these cars had any issues apart from the suspension problems mostly brought about by the horendous road conditions.

 

[moonloops]

Have you ever seen any Japanese car with more than 200k miles?

There's a fairly simple explanation IMHO:

1. Japanese drivers tend to do less miles than most other countries.
2. Their MOT and repair costs rise dramatically as their cars get older.
3. Finance for new cars / leasing is relatively cheap.
4. Imported cars to UK can easily have their mileage reduced (clocked) as there is no UK service or MOT history to verify with.

 

[cb1965]

Have you ever seen any Japanese car with more than 200k miles?
High millers I have seen are upto 130-150k top.
What happens next?
Do they disintegrate and transform to carbon and ferrite?

The point is that I'm looking to buy Subaru Outback 3.0 RN for forthcoming winter runabouts and am bit worried if this is good idea.
Has anyone got any experience with Outbacks?

I had Subarus for 17 years and know a fair bit about them. You're right in that not many get past 150K, but I would hazard a guess this is more economically governed than anything in that it become unviable economically to keep the car on the road as the values plummet when they get real leggy. Also there is a huge breaking scene for Subarus especially Imprezas where you often see perfectly roadworthy cars broken as they are worth more in bits due to some of Subaru's parts prices being a bit mental frankly!

What I can tell you for definite is the following:

Stay away from any Subaru diesel engine, they have a lot of problems some requiring a full bottom end rebuild which is expensive.

The 2.5 petrol is also a flawed design, it's OK in cooking spec (although you can still get head gasket failures), but in tuned spec (STIs) it is a ticking timebomb and usually has ringland failure on cylinders 3 and 4. This requires a full forged rebuild to properly fix as Subaru really messed up on this one. Budget £3K minimum for a rebuild.

Some of the earlier Impreza shells (1993 - 2000 and 2001 -2003 models or classic and bugeye as they are have a water trap around the suspension turret on the rear arches and the first you know of this is a slight bubbling on the exterior of the rear arch.... start clearing that away and you find mega trouble.

That is all fairly moot though as you are looking at an Outback 3.0 RN which is based on the Legacy shell and has a 3.0L boxer engine.

The 3.0L is a great engine and as long as you rigorously adhere to oil and filter changes will give you years and years of trouble free motoring. The Legacy bodyshell also suffers from no known major corrosion issues so that is a bonus, but I would still keep and eye on all the wheel arches. Outbacks by their nature tend to be taken places where other cars aren't so keep an eye on the paint and underbody protection.

The clutch pedal on a manual may feel a bit weird when you test drive it, the bite point always seems a bit higher than it should be, but that is just the way they are.

One other thing to look out for is on the back of the car where the exhaust splits in to two there is a Y pipe and it has a habit of corroding through.... it can only be purchased from Subaru and costs £500. One guy I know has a full custom exhaust made for his car for about the same rice as that one part LOL!

Other than that the Legacy is a very nice place to be, a far better car than many give it credit for and not as brash or common as an Impreza. Get the best you can and intend to keep it for a while and you won't go wrong.

The UK Legacy forum is worth joining too, a very sensible decent bunch in there.

 

[MercedesDriver]

I had Subarus for 17 years and know a fair bit about them. You're right in that not many get past 150K, but I would hazard a guess this is more economically governed than anything in that it become unviable economically to keep the car on the road as the values plummet when they get real leggy. Also there is a huge breaking scene for Subarus especially Imprezas where you often see perfectly roadworthy cars broken as they are worth more in bits due to some of Subaru's parts prices being a bit mental frankly!

What I can tell you for definite is the following:

Stay away from any Subaru diesel engine, they have a lot of problems some requiring a full bottom end rebuild which is expensive.

The 2.5 petrol is also a flawed design, it's OK in cooking spec (although you can still get head gasket failures), but in tuned spec (STIs) it is a ticking timebomb and usually has ringland failure on cylinders 3 and 4. This requires a full forged rebuild to properly fix as Subaru really messed up on this one. Budget £3K minimum for a rebuild.

Some of the earlier Impreza shells (1993 - 2000 and 2001 -2003 models or classic and bugeye as they are have a water trap around the suspension turret on the rear arches and the first you know of this is a slight bubbling on the exterior of the rear arch.... start clearing that away and you find mega trouble.

That is all fairly moot though as you are looking at an Outback 3.0 RN which is based on the Legacy shell and has a 3.0L boxer engine.

The 3.0L is a great engine and as long as you rigorously adhere to oil and filter changes will give you years and years of trouble free motoring. The Legacy bodyshell also suffers from no known major corrosion issues so that is a bonus, but I would still keep and eye on all the wheel arches. Outbacks by their nature tend to be taken places where other cars aren't so keep an eye on the paint and underbody protection.

The clutch pedal on a manual may feel a bit weird when you test drive it, the bite point always seems a bit higher than it should be, but that is just the way they are.

One other thing to look out for is on the back of the car where the exhaust splits in to two there is a Y pipe and it has a habit of corroding through.... it can only be purchased from Subaru and costs £500. One guy I know has a full custom exhaust made for his car for about the same rice as that one part LOL!

Other than that the Legacy is a very nice place to be, a far better car than many give it credit for and not as brash or common as an Impreza. Get the best you can and intend to keep it for a while and you won't go wrong.

The UK Legacy forum is worth joining too, a very sensible decent bunch in there.

Thank you so much for feedback. I'll pay attention to all you've suggested.