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Howdy! New owner of a 2013 Outback Limited checking in. Never thought I'd be so geeked to own a station wagon  My understanding is that it's not really much in the way of towing capacity, but it should drag around a small teardrop camper without blowing the transmission, right? I've been looking at 2" hitch receivers and they seem to be all over the place, from a bumper frame mount, to ones that mount up under the exhaust. For the latter, the installation videos seem to require drilling into the frame, which I thought was verboten? Are there any recommended bolt on hitch receivers that don't require modification? Unrelated note, I kinda want these decal stickers: https://orsinivinylanddesigns.com/products/bigfoot-and-trees-with-stars-emblem-overlay-decal-set
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Jun 22, 2022 21:53
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Ok Comboomer posted:here Matthew, this is for you: Oh that's spiffy, thanks! Just placed an order for babby's first subawu  CRUSTY MINGE posted:2.5L can pull 2700lbs. 3.6L can pull I think 3200lbs. A teardrop is well within it's capability. This is really helpful, thanks! I need to sit down and look at what has already been done and what needs to be done around 100k so it'll do another hundred more. I'm just real geeked to finally have a car that I've actually chosen to buy instead of just sort of lucking into other people getting rid of something I'd be stupid not to buy. It feels good to finally have a vehicle that's more than just sort of good enough, if that makes sense
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Jul 2, 2022 14:05
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I'm planning a cross country trip later this summer to pick up a teardrop travel trailer with a 2013 Outback, and I was hoping to get a sanity check on my checklist to get things ready. Basically the car currently has a hair over 100k miles. At this point I 100% need new brake pads, alternator, and battery at a minimum. But since I'll be tearing stuff apart and am at a big service interval, I figure I might as well shotgun some new parts for other normal wear and tear components. I recently pulled both headlight assemblies and popped new bulbs in every socket, and had a full set of new Michelin X-Tour tires put on there. My plan from here is to:
Since the alternator needs replaced, should I go ahead and huck in all the stuff on the accessory belt while I've got it apart? Looking at:
While I'm doing the water pump, figure may as well:
Just trying to think of anything preventative I can do since parts are cheap and running into an issue while towing could be pretty dangerous on top of everything else. Suggestions or anything I missed are greatly appreciated! Catatron Prime fucked around with this message at 15:34 on Jul 1, 2023 |
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May 13, 2023 20:44
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Whelp, I always thought CVTs were a really clever transmission idea and always thought the hate was overblown. Guess I was wrong about yet another thing. Last year I bought a pretty nice 2013 outback with a hair under 100,000 miles on it, figuring everything looked clean, idled and and drove fine, and would be a nice vehicle for a good few years. Since then I put some good tires on it, swapped out the strut assemblies, installed nice carbon fiber brake pads and drilled/slotted rotors, new battery, put in a new alternator and belt, new oem spark plugs, etc. And then I started hearing a slight whirring noise loosely coupled with RPMs. I couldn't figure it out so I took it into a local shop and they charged me a thousand bucks to swap out all the fluids, and said there weren't any issues. I thought hey, maybe transmission fluid change might help and it would go away, but it didn't, and I had a cross country trip planned coming up. So, I rolled the dice, and tl;dr, the transmission finally transmitted its last while driving back home through Peoria. So I tried towing it to a local transmission shop first thing the next morning, but they uh apparently don't work on Subarus because the diagnostics software is too expensive. And the Subaru dealer there basically told me sucks the suck, they're booked solid for the next month. So I arranged a long haul tow home, rented another car, and drove back. I thought hey, there's a transmission shop literally right down my street, but nope, they don't service CVTs. So, I booked an appointment at the local Subaru dealer and had the car towed there. Whelp, I got a call back from them today, and the guy told me I need a new transmission, altogether 8900$, which, holy gently caress is a lot to spend on a ten year old car, especially when that's basically a third of a new one. But I just put a ton of money, parts, and work into it, and I just bought the thing not that long ago. I don't know if I want to try and tackle installing a used ebay transmission myself... I've done a lot of miscellaneous stuff on cars, but I just don't have the appetite or the workspace anymore, and I'd rather let someone who knows what they're doing not gently caress up the install like I'm afraid I might. I didn't think it would be so impossible to find someone to service this thing, I literally have the OBD2 code (P0795), and the symptoms seem to match the pressure control solenoid failure. I honestly thought 4-6k would be worst case scenario, not double that, and I just really don't know what to do. If I had a truck and an auto dolly I'd pick it up, but I'm tired of trying to arrange tows from one place to the next... Should I just bend over and get a new cvt installed? Or should I just keep calling other shops? I'm just at my wits end 
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Aug 2, 2023 04:00
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MY INEVITABLE DEBT posted:looks like they did 10 years/100k instead of 5/60k. heres some more info on that, maybe you can take advantage of it. https://static.nhtsa.gov/odi/tsbs/2017/MC-10125885-9999.pdf Yup, unfortunately I just rolled over 106,000 miles, so the transmission lasted just long enough to limp out of the additional extended warranty period. I think I'll still try to follow up with Subaru USA and at least see if I can find someone to litigate my woes with. If I had a better workspace and a garage, I'd give an ebay cvt a shot, but my driveway is pretty marginal and I'd really be up poo poo creek if I hosed something up along the way or got something jammed. So I told the dealer to go ahead and put in the new(ish) reman transmission. Which hopefully might be better from what I understand what with the additional testing... But man, the warranty on this replacement is only one year, and they won't even sell me an extended warranty. That's gotta be a first, and I can't say it inspires a whole lotta confidence for the longevity of this car. Anyways, appreciate the feedback here! I guess I'm just so surprised by how marginal the support for CVTs are, that nobody will touch this thing
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Aug 3, 2023 18:17
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mutata posted:I just moved to New England, so I am looking to acquire my standard issue Subaru Outback. I'm looking at how practical buying new might be, but I've never bought a new car, so I'm also looking for recent model year used cars (2020 or newer, or thereabouts). Any specific issues I should look out for or model years/trim packages I should avoid? Sample size of 1 and ymmv disclaimers, but I just got burned on a 2013 Outback with a hair under 100k miles that I bought last year. The CVT starting making a noise about six months after I bought the thing, and finally bit the dust a few weeks ago at just a hair over 106,000 miles. Man, turns out I wasn't prepared for the reality that nobody services CVTs. Called around to multiple transmission shops over several states, and either nobody touches CVTs in general, or nobody services Subaru transmissions because of the price of their diagnostics software. Even the dealers won't actually fix anything with them--they just drop the old one, pop in a remanufactured CVT, and ship the core back to Subaru to be rebuilt. So, that's costing about a third of the price of a brand new Outback to have that done. hosed if I didn't get it fixed, hosed by getting it fixed. Worst part is they won't even sell me an extended warranty on the reman transmission, so I can't say I feel all that great. Sucks because I really liked the car and what it could do, but I don't think I'll ever buy another subaru after this experience.
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Aug 9, 2023 21:09
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What's sad is that the consensus I've seen elsewhere is that Subaru is on the more reliable end for CVTs. On paper, it's a good idea. Lighter, less mechanically complex, you're always in the power band so it gets better fuel efficiency (which helps manufacturers meet new standards). I get why manufacturers have went all in, but man, it sucks for customers like me who are saddled with an obscene repair bill on a vehicle that had only just cleared the 100k extended warranty period, and had been running great up till the cvt imploded. Sample size of one and all, but I definitely went from thinking the concerns were blown out of proportion, to firmly being in the camp of "I'll never buy another vehicle with a cvt ever again"
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Aug 10, 2023 17:10
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Just wanted to share for anyone else running into 2013 era CVT issues... it seems that the common failure mode is with the pressure control solenoid, for which the symptoms match exactly what I experienced, as well the OBD2 code (P0795). Well, turns out, it's actually a relatively cheap and simple repair far as I can tell after having watched exactly one video on YouTube university. 1200$ will get you a new oem valve body replacement, and it literally just bolts in and out of the top of the transmission, easily accessible in the top of the engine bay once you move the air intake out of the way. I'm actually kinda livid that nobody would bother diagnosing or touching this thing given how cheap and easy the fix seems like it would've been. I really thought transmissions would be entirely too complicated, difficult, and cumbersome for me to do anything with so I didn't even try, and just figured that there was a good reason nobody bothered doing poo poo about it. Boy howdy I'm really dumb... last time I ever visit a dealer. Transmission diagnostic service my rear end... I paid 140 as a line item on my invoice for a diagnosis that was just "transmission bad, has internal issues". Fifteen minutes on the googler and I've got a much better diagnosis and a solution that doesn't involve a total cvt replacement. gently caress
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Aug 19, 2023 21:46
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Update on my recent whole transmission debacle and endless ranting about CVTs -- someone suggested I reach out to Subaru directly, and, well, they actually did a lot more than I would have anticipated! I explained what happened, they looked at it for a few days, and offered to cover a bit less than half of the repair cost since the work was completed at the dealer. I'm honestly shocked, I wasn't expecting anything, and all things considered, I'm actually pretty content with this outcome. Knowing what I know now about the pressure control solenoid being the common failure mode that aligned with the OBD2 code I pulled, and that it's a relatively easy part to replace (if a bit pricey when you add the relearn process in), and the fact that I should hopefully be able to squeeze at least another 100k on this reman transmission before having to worry about it again, I'm fine chalking this up to poo poo happens. I really do like the overall utility of the Outback and that so much of it has been easy for me work (far moreso than virtually any other vehicle I've touched), so I guess 5k to reset the timer on the whole CVT is something I can live with. Only real longevity question for me now is whether the previous years' head gasket issues were indeed resolved on the 2013 model year, but at this point it's almost a moot question as I'm committed to turning this into the Station Wagon of Theseus 
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Aug 24, 2023 16:16
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rickiep00h posted:This is literally why I bought my Subaru. As long as I replace every part over time, most of which are available for a decade-plus of model years (more if we consider the Forester and Impreza as sources), I will have a car that lives longer than me. That's actually a really good question... crunching all the numbers from the maintenance I've put in vs purchase price, etc, I think I'm still probably saving roughly 7k on a new comparable vehicle by purchasing one that's about 9 years old. Also admittedly largely my own fault for buying a car at the peak of the worst possible time in living memory, but that's life. I also might be a masochist because somehow after all that, I still really like the car Catatron Prime fucked around with this message at 17:53 on Aug 25, 2023 |
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Aug 24, 2023 22:44
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I was really excited to buy a car with adaptive cruise when I was shopping around last year, but I have to say, I wasn't that big of a fan of Eyesight when I test drove a 2020 Outback at the dealership. The way you had to engage it was really distracting, and there was at least one point where I thought it was on but wasn't. Guessing it's something I just need to get used to and it may even be better in newer models. It's like the live fuel economy gauge on the Outback, I hated that at first thinking it was just a distraction, but now I love it. Same with auto start/stop in every car I've driven with the feature, except for a 2023 Chevy Silverado rental truck I recently drove. I was honestly really impressed with both the auto start and lane assist on it (though I hated the size of the truck, there's no reason a passenger vehicle should be eye level with semi drivers). The auto stop/start didn't suck anywhere near as much as I was used to. And I do like the idea of automatic emergency braking. I've never been in an accident, but I've had plenty of oh poo poo moments with unexpected stops.
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Aug 26, 2023 20:37
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Cactus Ghost posted:how does one even pay $15k in a private party transfer? the only kind of cash purchases that big i have personal experience with involved an existing working relationship, is there some kind of escrow or something people use for doing purchases like these between strangers? i'd prefer not to withdraw fifteen thousand dollars in hundred dollar bills if i can avoid it Real answer is a cashiers check from the bank. You just pop into your local branch, ask them to cut you a check for that amount from whatever account it's in, and the bank acts as the guarantor (vs a private check). Postal Money Orders are similar, but like what was mentioned earlier, you might as well just meet someone at the bank to have the notary take care of the title transfer and do the cashiers check exchange there anyways. It's the main reason I maintain an account at a local regional bank vs just using an online bank only. I don't know what Zelle's daily transfer limit is off the top of my head, but I've transferred 4kish with that before. I've also done a temporary ATM limit increase to get a bit over 2kish out of ATMs after meeting with the seller, but that was a royal pain because individual ATMs have low limits, so I had to visit 2-3 different ones to get the full amount.
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Sep 15, 2023 13:54
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Motronic posted:Nope. I would never accept a cashier's check for a car or equipment sale. They are much too easy to fake and have been for decades now. Most people have caught on to that. I've never had an issue with using one or receiving it? The trick is to always reach out to the issuing bank through their normal customer service line and verify the check to ensure it's valid. Plus having the notary sign off and record license info is another layer of paper trail for fraud, especially at the bank where there's cameras that makes it riskier for a fraudster. Even though you can print checks and buy magnetic ink, there's still a reason that's the default payment method for large transactions. I would say that's better than money, because you can print money just as easily, or pad fakes in a stack of real bills, and you're not a target for theft with an untraceable stack of cash. Trust but verify is the only way to protect yourself. I know people that have run into the exact same fraud situations with digital transfers via paypal and whatnot as well, where the initial transaction was revoked several hours after an apple watch was handed over in person. Anything that seems fishy, like asking for a refund for paying too much upfront, requests to mail or wire money, or anything odd is probably a scam.
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Sep 15, 2023 15:27
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amenenema posted:I would assume that a modern Outback is more of a "real" 4x4 than pretty much anything short of Wranglers/Broncos! https://i.imgur.com/KfJ68uB.mp4
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Oct 18, 2023 18:18
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I thought the washers on oil pan drain bolts were crush washers and supposed to be replaced with each oil change to maintain the seal? Not that I always remember 100% of the time persay, but I do try to pop a new one on with each change
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Jan 24, 2024 19:09
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Gothmog1065 posted:Any recommendations for a trailer hitch for a 19 Ascent? I have looked around; Curt seems to be the main brand I see floating about. Anything else I'm overlooking? I want the hidden one, etc. Curt is what I purchased for my Outback -- specifically this one that just mounted up on the rear bumper bolts and didn't require drilling into the frame to fish the mounting hardware up inside. Hopefully it's better for the ascent, but just keep in mind how the thing is mounted when you're looking at the available options. Speaking of towing, is there anything I can do to decrease the rear wheel sag? I put new strut assemblies on, but they're not quite up to snuff. The tongue weight is pretty close to the 200lb limit and that has me wondering whether it's actually worthwhile to install something like Rallitek overloaded springs, or whether there is anything else I could do that would be worthwhile (as opposed to just purchasing another tow vehicle)
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Mar 1, 2024 19:51
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K1ngFish3r posted:Random outback question: You may or may already know the name for the part, but if not this might be helpful Unfortunately it's not called out on the diagram so I suspect the only way to get the c clip is to buy the whole darn strut. But I think what you're looking for is a support strut retaining clip, and that I'm not sure where you would actually source replacements for a .01 cent part except for say a local pick n pull. I wonder if autozone or whatever might have something like that for sale?
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Mar 2, 2024 04:43
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