Subaru - Engine issues
 

So... My sister texted me and I thought I'd ask here...

My sister has a 2013 Subaru Forrester that has now been diagnosed with the oil burn issue. Subaru did extend the warranty on the engines from this era to 8 years, 100k miles as part of the class action settlement, so it should be covered.

She was asking me anything she should be certain to ask about or be aware of? Thoughts?

I've told her to just ask in advance what the repairs are -- is it just certain parts, or is it an engine swap.

I also suggested she should consider replacing it once it's fixed. She likely has some time where the risk is low of an issue coming up again, but probably better to replace it in the next few months...

It's a 2013 Forester. It's worth a few thousand bucks right now. They are going to give her a new engine.

Why would she get rid of it? It'll go another 5-10 years on the new engine.

Obviously, if she wants a new car, she should get one. But she shouldn't sell it if she's basically ok with it.

If they do something, it will be a new shortblock.

I would recommend she get rid of it before the transmission goes unless she's ready and willing to drop $4k on a new one at any moment. It has the same CVT that my wife's Outback had and they almost all shit the bed between 100-150k with a pretty nominal failure except it's a ton of labor to fix it...if you had parts, which no one does. Remans aren't really available, they're not readily rebuildable (hence, few remans), and they're very hard to find at salvage (and if you do, they're not cheap and probably grenades as well). New is the only choice and they're $$$ considering the cars the value of the cars they go in.

With a new engine and if she really likes it, buying a new transmission isn't that big of a deal versus buying a new car, but if she's hedging at all, she should get rid of it before it costs extra to do so. If my wife's Outback wasn't twice wrecked we probably would have put a new transmission in. She loved the car and would be happy still driving it, but we just couldn't justify the expense for that specific car.

Also, the oil consumption issue is more of annoyance than a big problem. Other than burning an impressive amount of oil, the engines don't really have problems.

Thanks Clyde.. I’ll pass this on to her...