I am writing this on behalf of my mother. Who doesn't own a computer or even know how to use one. This is about her 1997 Subaru Outback and the head gasket issues!
She bought this car used, years ago. But with very low miles and in like brand new condition. It has the 2.5 liter engine in it. She has a good and honest independent Subaru mechanic who has worked on and maintained it well! It is kept in a garage and I always check it over for her whenever she comes over to our house or I go over to hers, to make sure everything looks good. It has 170 k miles on it.
She had a 1985 Subaru 4 wheel drive wagon before this 1997 Outback. She put a little over 300 k miles on it before it had to be retired. No serious issues were ever had other than the regular issues (wear & tear) and parts just wearing out. No head gasket issues. She bought this 97 Outback based on the reliability of her 85 Subaru. She is retired and on a limited budget and was counting on the 97 Outback to be good reliable car for her!
2 days ago the head gasket went out (again) when she was on the highway and damaged the engine beyond repair. The head gasket had replaced (with the supposedly better improved Subaru head gasket) at around 100 K miles ($1700.00 that time). I thought it was a fluke the first time. Even blamed my mom for being negligent about not keeping better maintenance on the car. As a result of this new failure. I spoke to her mechanic and then several other independent Subaru mechanics. All of them say the same thing about the 2.5 engine in Subaru's. There is serious head gasket problem with almost all Subaru's boxer type engines since 1997. They are even starting to showup in some 2009's their seeing now.
I have a neighbor (down the street) who owns the exact same 1997 Subaru Outback (with the 2.5 liter eng). So I approached him about this issue and asked him if he knew anything about this head gasket issue and had he ever experienced a problem with his! Turns out he is a mechanic. His Outback has around 200 k miles on it and he has replaced the head gasket TWICE. He got the car from his father who bought it new. His father had to have the head gasket replaced once also (it was done by Subaru under warranty) "THREE TIMES FOR THIS OUTBACK". He joked that you replace a head gasket on a Subaru (even much newer ones) just like you do a timing belt on other cars. He said Subaru has all kinds of little gimics (special coolant additives, keep your battery clean?) This head gasket repair will run you anywhere between $1400.00 and up to $3000.00, depending on where you have it done. 2 Subaru dealers want around $2300.00 to do it.
Type in "Subaru head gasket" on google or a search engine and see what Im talking about here. I was shocked to find out this issue about what I thought was good reliable car.
Subaru appears to not have any smart engineers or be too greedy to address this problem. Its a great, reliable and steady income for Subaru mechanics. Subaru/Fuji industries has had at least 12 years to figure it out. Why were the pre 1997 Subaru's better? Dont buy a Subaru unless you intend to get rid of it before the warranty expires.
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