Subaru - the first name in reliability and performance

[fisheye]

The post has nothing to do with the subject heading... or everything to do with it.

I have a Liberty GT 2.5 MY07 auto sedan purchased in Oct. '06. It has ~ 19,000 clicks on the clock.

I based my decision on having driven family member's Liberties and having been impressed with their handling. I also got sucked into the whole thing about Subaru building tough and reliable cars and finally I wanted a safe family car, with a bit of get-up-and-go.

As soon as I picked it up within 800 km I had 2 problems. There was this f**in annoying rattle from the front passenger's side and the trim around the sun-roof kept coming off. These were rectified at the first service. (The rattle was from a fuel line vibrating against the footwell wall) Fine.

About 2 months ago I noticed a slight wheel shudder developing and the car would slightly pull to the left on firm to heavy braking. I had planned to have this sorted out at the next service interval (25,000) as the shuddering was getting worse.

Then 2 days ago I notice coolant leaking onto the driveway. I took it straight to the Service Depo. (Lilyfield; through AMR) and they ring me and tell me that the radiator has sprung a pin-hole leak because the shroud was rubbing up against it but don't worry it's all covered under warranty. They have to fly the parts in from Japan, the car won't be ready to well into next week and all this shit is happening at a great time for us as my wife is about to give birth to no.2 child in 2 days.

Now, 4 questions:

Has anyone here had similar issues with the same model??

Was I falsely lead into believing that Subaru make reliable cars and have excellent manufacturing processes???

Have I bought a F***in' Lemon????

I have been an absolute stickler with service intervals thus far. Can someone tell me something that will alleviate my misery???

[Resonate]

Sorry to hear that fish . I've also got a my07 but she's been great to me, no problems with it at all.

Also, grats on the 2nd child!

[adam]

There was this f**in annoying rattle from the front passenger's side (The rattle was from a fuel line vibrating against the footwell wall) Fine.

i had this very prob in my gt-b, took 3 tries from the service centre to get it gone( jeez it was bliss though) and the brake thingy i had with the 05 2.0L, this was fixed under warranty at 32000k's. other than that it's been fine.

[viriix]

I've only had the sunroof trim problem, not noticeable unless you're picking at it.. I have to get em to fix it up again and glue it back or something.

otherwise the cars been a beauty..

I know one guy who had just the worst luck in the world with it getting hit and all - a few times... and a few other warranty problems but oh well..

[fisheye]

^^^^^^^^^
The guys at the service shop didn't fix it by glueing anything. They just crimped the trim an extra 4 times so it ain't going anywhere short of using a crowbar. But this is a small concern when major components of the engine like the radiator are failing and the car isn't a year old yet. I just hope this bad luck stops.

[johnnydad]

A coolant leak as detected is not engine failure. Easy fix.

Body rattles - most have them, some get fixed, some don't. Sydney City do make a reasonable effort to track them down.

Brake shudder - very common problem and likely won't go away with Subaru fixes (new pads, skim rotors, pat on back, new pads, skim rotors, more pats on back). Aftermarket pads seem to help.

Liberty is a $55K competitor to $90K Euros in some areas only.

[fisheye]

Sydney City told me the car will be ready half way through next week.

Liberty is a $55K competitor to $90K Euros in some areas only.

^^^^ Are you saying I should stop whinging and just accept that a car that's less than a year old will have these sort of problems because it's not a $90K Euro???

[viriix]

heh.. why not buy one of the 7 series BMW or S series Mercedez..

Something dies electronically.. you replace it all.. and that's not cheap at all.. it would be cheaper to buy a new car probably :]

all cars have their perks and bads

[johnnydad]

Sydney City told me the car will be ready half way through next week.

Liberty is a $55K competitor to $90K Euros in some areas only.

^^^^ Are you saying I should stop whinging and just accept that a car that's less than a year old will have these sort of problems because it's not a $90K Euro???

No I was trying to be helpful - and realistic. Liberty is good value, but based on a $32K family car. The brakes are underdone and almost everyone I know that drives enthusiatically has issues with shudder. The rattles are very, very common too - dash, door, window seals, pillar trim - I've had (and done) all sorts of fettling during warranty. Struck me a $55 K car shouldn't have these too, and the C-class Mercs and Lexus I've tried don't suffer as much (3 series, Passat, Alfa, Saab still have rattles) but to get the level of performance and equipment means spending $80-90K or more. Aside from that, one coolant leak hardly makes it a lemon.

Come back and complain when you have had your LCA bushes, engine, gearbox, flywheel, clutch and McIntosh replaced.

[07GTSTi]

Mate, it could be a lot, lot worse. I had a VE SS before this - in 7 months it went back to the service dept 11 times and spent a total of 1 month off the road.

Subarus have a far higher build quality and are more reliable than just about any comparible make.

[viriix]

Hoho..

I remember when the last falcon model's came out with the XR6 and all that... talk about troubles.. my colleague who bought one must've took it in at least once a week to fix something.. or several recalls, bits and pieces blew off and it leaked and something and yeah.. even the fuel .. was leaking.. took 2 weeks to fix most of the time lol!