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Trading in for wrx?

bootlegger

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The ej255 wrxs were better. Contrary to the owners here that had a bad experience most people that own a wrx and sti like them.
Subarus suck in general for engines (the whole engine package, not the internals specifically). I had good and bad experiences with them. Having owned 6 Subarus from an 88 GL to a 2011 STI, I have had head gasket failures, major oil leaks, minor oil leaks, knock issues, coolant leaks and a failed turbo. Out of all those cars, only my XT6 lived a few years without any engine issues. The rest of that car was falling apart, but the engine took a daily beating and kept on giving. Despite shady subaru quality, I still like them. They are too unique for me to hate.
In retrospect, I am on my 5th Nissan. Never had a single engine issue with them, outside of an easily fixed oil cooler seal leak on my 13 year old truck.
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So I've had the urge to trade in for a wrx lately. The 2018 looks great and I love that I could have 4 doors and the awd would come in handy here in the north west come winter time. I love my mustang but it's just a thought that I have had. What do you guys think? Any advice?
Keep what you have and reassess once the new WRX and STi come out in a couple of years. From what I read, Subaru will bring it in spades next model.

Plus, Mustangs are fun in the snow. At least get a couple more seasons of RWD play-time in the white stuff.
 

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Subarus suck in general for engines (the whole engine package, not the internals specifically). I had good and bad experiences with them. Having owned 6 Subarus from an 88 GL to a 2011 STI, I have had head gasket failures, major oil leaks, minor oil leaks, knock issues, coolant leaks and a failed turbo. Out of all those cars, only my XT6 lived a few years without any engine issues. The rest of that car was falling apart, but the engine took a daily beating and kept on giving. Despite shady subaru quality, I still like them. They are too unique for me to hate.
In retrospect, I am on my 5th Nissan. Never had a single engine issue with them, outside of an easily fixed oil cooler seal leak on my 13 year old truck.
As an ex Subaru master tech im very inclined to disagree on most accounts and with someone that's put basically 500k through four EJ turbo engines in four different chassis. What i can say i agree about is the head gasket issues and I've seen oil leaks from that or faulty valve covers on occasion but usually caused the covers to fail is from lack of pcv service. Valve cover seal is hardly serious. The early Subaru turbo or non and and early 2000s were most definitely head gasket prone. The EJ 257 for whatever reason can blow a head gasket far easier than 205/207. I've also had a few non turbo they also have been solid. It's no Toyota but nothing is except Toyota.

Nissan, I haven't seen a worth while durable product from them since early 2000s. :shrug:

I would like to note that I'm not saying Subaru don't have issues sometimes. Nothing is perfect and I would agree that I think Subaru has some inconsistencies with engine assembly as far as bearing clearances etc. it's not rampant but it does happen.
 
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The newer non turbo fb20 and fb25 are really great. I'm unsure if you had any experience with any of those.
 

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i know that my buddy's new forester drinks about a quart of oil every 750 miles
 

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non turbo. he says it's a known issue on that engine and the turbo models dont have that problem
 

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non turbo. he says it's a known issue on that engine and the turbo models dont have that problem
My mother has the fb25b as does my buddies wife. nothing more than 1/2qt in 5k. Usually less. Has he fought with the dealer? That's shit. I hear constantly about the Fa20s drinking oil. I'm a bit surprised to hear that.
 

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Is he using the 0w20? Has he tried switching to a 5w30 or 0w30? I use 5w30 in my mother's as does my buddy.
 

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he's tried switching oils as per his forums, no change. he's lived with it for quite some time
 

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My 2018 WRX with FA20DIT just passed 1500 miles. Not a single drop oil is lost unlike the Coyote went though maybe half quart.
I broke her in properly by using boosts and plenty engine braking.
Those who says WRX is bad I find it funny. They are totally different cars. The WRX is a sports sedan and is great fun to drive in stock form to me. It's a bit crashy because of the suspension but it's also great handling and tons of torque when the turbo kicks in.
 

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he's tried switching oils as per his forums, no change. he's lived with it for quite some time
I did a bit of checking since the oil issue on the fb25b was a bit surprising to me. To my finds its supposedly to be on roughly 1% of the vehicles using this engine. I think some of it could be rings, but I think it could be break in and driving habits. It's unfortunately not uncommon for cars to burn 1-2qt in a 5k change. 1qt every 750-1200 miles would infuriate me. I'd probably sell the car if I could find a dealer that would fix it.
 

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My 2018 WRX with FA20DIT just passed 1500 miles. Not a single drop oil is lost unlike the Coyote went though maybe half quart.
I broke her in properly by using boosts and plenty engine braking.
Those who says WRX is bad I find it funny. They are totally different cars. The WRX is a sports sedan and is great fun to drive in stock form to me. It's a bit crashy because of the suspension but it's also great handling and tons of torque when the turbo kicks in.
That engine plain worries me. I couldn't own one and I really like subies. I will say on every forum no matter the chassis there are people consuming oil. Unless it's multiple qts in few thousand miles I wouldn't worry too much
 

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The FA20DIT is extremely reliable. I have many Subaru friends, including the one I owned, that has them. The are less prone to oil starvation, bearing failure, ringlands than the EJ. I have a friend who is a certified master Subuaru tech and as far as catastrophic failures, he rarely has had a FA20 come in. I will buy a STi if it comes with a FA next gen. I will never buy one with an EJ anything.
 

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My 2018 WRX with FA20DIT just passed 1500 miles. Not a single drop oil is lost unlike the Coyote went though maybe half quart.
I broke her in properly by using boosts and plenty engine braking.
Those who says WRX is bad I find it funny. They are totally different cars. The WRX is a sports sedan and is great fun to drive in stock form to me. It's a bit crashy because of the suspension but it's also great handling and tons of torque when the turbo kicks in.
The 2015+ WRX is a completely different type of car. If anyone goes in expecting it to be anything like a Mustang, or V8 RWD car they will be highly disappointed. The WRX is purely an inspiring car to drive on curvy roads. It's very forgiving and allows for modest skill. It is completely lack luster if all you want to do is stoplight sprint and go fast in a straight line. The car is just a fun little 4 door ALL season vehicle. That's the great part about it. You can have fun with it anytime of the year, though the hot summers aren't as fun because of the heat soak.

If you really want it to be a fun car then you will have to mod it, that's just plain and simple. Unless it's just a car for point a to b, you will get bored. Plus the stock tune is garbage is usual and pulls timing like a mofo. My favorite mod was probably the EGR delete because it remove the chance of recirculating that dirty ass exhaust gas back into the manifold and cause DI build up and plus it dropped the temps DRASTICALLY. It makes the car less prone to pulling timing due to hot spots.

The car is fun up to 80 MPH and then they typically fall on their face. I'd own one for a daily if I could swing it. Maybe in a few more years when you can pick them up for 10k or so.
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