Pilot1226 Posted April 9, 2018 Share Posted April 9, 2018 I’ve come to a difficult crossroads with my car, one I have been expecting for a while now and seemed to be rapidly approaching. Within the next year I will have to change the timing belt on my 2011 Outback. That service will be expected to cost me about $1000. In addition, I’m going to need brakes, rotors, and probably a set of tires at that point. While I was going to do the brakes and rotors myself, the OEM parts will still cost me around $240 for new rotors all around and about another $140 for the pad sets... and a few bucks here and there for the miscellaneous items like caliper grease and anti seize for the rotor to hub contact. Tires I figure will cost me around $600, probably another $100 for an alignment. Figure I am overdue for a CVTF change so that’s estimated around $350 at the local dealership. Long story short, the car is worth about $10,175 with the guaranteed program. The dealership did appraise it already and subtracted $300 for a large dent on the trunk lid but added $100 for the remote start install. So I’d be looking at a trade of $9,975 towards a new one. Am I making too big of a deal about the timing belt service? It just seems weird to spend around 10% of the value when I can just grab a 3.6 with a chain and be done with it. I haven’t owned a car this long before to be in this position. But, aside from the pending TB service that will be done next winter (based on age not mileage), the car drives great. I do have some concerns about the CVT even though it is running perfect right now, especially the faulty converter design seems like a ticking time bomb. So if I keep the car and the converter fails out of warranty I’m looking at around $1200 to replace it. It’s just tough justifying replacing what seems to be a good car. I know people don’t all seem to love the new generations because of electric steering and infotainment stuff, but on the plus side I would be getting EyeSight. Haven’t decided on OB again or Legacy, that’s the second step. But if I keep the car I want to change over the overdue fluids like the CVTF asap. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Max Capacity Posted April 9, 2018 Share Posted April 9, 2018 I had no problem trading in our 2016 3.6R Outback for the improvements made in the 2018 3.6R Outback. I love all the safety features, would not buy one of these cars without eyesight, It saved us once. 305,600miles 5/2012 ej257 short block, 8/2011 installed VF52 turbo, @20.8psi, 280whp, 300ftlbs. (SOLD). CHECK your oil, these cars use it. Engine Build - Click Here Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dgoodhue Posted April 9, 2018 Share Posted April 9, 2018 You might not need new rotors. I changed the pads on my 2012 2.5i at ~80k miles with OEM pads. It came with the caliper hardware & caliper grease. If you can DIY, it isn't very expensive. It seems like your 2.5i just needs some normal maintenance for the miles. If your thinking about getting a new car I can see why you would want to trade it in for before spending $2k+ on normal maintenance. If you were to spend that much money, it would probably makes sense to keep the car for a while longer to get some value from it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pilot1226 Posted April 9, 2018 Author Share Posted April 9, 2018 Yeah I had the last shop I use go aftermarket for rotors. Not sure on thickness or lips but I do get a pulsation when I brake. So figured they would be on the list. Thanks for the insight. I agree there’s a bunch of safety improvements in the 18. Guess the question would be the longevity of EyeSight. Have to trust the car wash to not spray winded onto the lenses. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Max Capacity Posted April 9, 2018 Share Posted April 9, 2018 The lens are inside the car, you just turn the system off when going through a drive thur car wash. 305,600miles 5/2012 ej257 short block, 8/2011 installed VF52 turbo, @20.8psi, 280whp, 300ftlbs. (SOLD). CHECK your oil, these cars use it. Engine Build - Click Here Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pilot1226 Posted April 9, 2018 Author Share Posted April 9, 2018 No, I meant the spray of the window cleaner inside the windshield that bounces off the window inside and hits the lenses. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Max Capacity Posted April 10, 2018 Share Posted April 10, 2018 Your car wash guys wash the inside too ? Thought that only happened in the movies. When the car gets "detailed" I can see that being a issue, but you can tell them about the eyesight. 305,600miles 5/2012 ej257 short block, 8/2011 installed VF52 turbo, @20.8psi, 280whp, 300ftlbs. (SOLD). CHECK your oil, these cars use it. Engine Build - Click Here Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brady Posted April 10, 2018 Share Posted April 10, 2018 Dude, you make up half the questions in this forum! How many miles on the 2011? Did you have them replace the rotors previously with a brake service on that car? I would be surprised if you couldn't just have the rotors resurfaced, which if memory serves is about $20 a rotor. The pulsing you're getting is probably just from pad deposits on the rotors. The rest of what you're facing sounds like regular maintenance. I think you said in one of your other threads that the car is paid for, and you didn't want a second car payment since your wife just got a new car. So if you still otherwise like the car, I say look at it this way: Your 2011 isn't depreciating much anymore. You aren't making monthly payments. Your $2300 in maintenance is probably only 4-5 months of car payments. That's also the depreciation you'll face in the first month of ownership of a new car. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pilot1226 Posted April 10, 2018 Author Share Posted April 10, 2018 @Brady Regarding the forum posting, yeah, sorry for the spam. I was all ready to go a few months ago but I screwed up the timing. I figured her car was going to be paid off around the summer this year - it's actually next year. At least my research is done. Combine that with another year of daycare payments and we're looking at practically a mortgage cost. I'm just over 85k now. The rotors were changed to aftermarkets along with pads back in 2015 - about 3 years ago. The OEM ones made it 4 years. In my ignorance I went aftermarket, but if I had to do it again I'd probably stick to the OEM stuff. I suppose I could have the rotors machined, assuming they were still thick enough for specifications. That would be cheaper than the OEM cost of ~$70 I see online for them through discount sellers. Could be pad deposits. I don't see anything on them, they appear to have a solid bite - no lines or lips from what I can tell. Perhaps it's a caliper not moving as easily as it should. We're lucky - it's easily affordable with our income once those two big recurring payments stop. I also discovered that I can do a deferment of the payments through Subaru Financial without penalty - so we'd be looking at a factory order placed around February, pickup some time in April, and a 90 day penalty-free deferment (0% financing for 63 months if I want...) - so the payments don't start until July or August, whenever... Yeah, you're right about depreciation. But, with an older car comes certain repairs and unknowns. I really don't want to have to deal with a bad torque converter or a problem with the original CVT down the road. With my luck, it'll happen a few months outside of the 100k/10y warranty. I do like my car - it drives fine - it's just the uncertainties from the transmission going forward. I'm leaning towards the 3.6R - it'll most likely be the last year on it - and I can take a proactive approach and change the CVTF at regular 60k intervals going forward. While I've been learning a lot doing my own maintenance, I think I'll stick to the oil changes and a seldom brake job going forward... I'll leave the beast of a spark plug job and the transmission fluid stuff to the dealer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brady Posted April 10, 2018 Share Posted April 10, 2018 lol - no problem. I just thought it was funny. I remember when you were close to picking up a 3.6R. I get the rest of the concerns and questions. In the end, I've had my hiccups with my '05, but in the end, I still know it's been cheaper than having a car payment. Regarding the brakes, unless you drive the car hard, even with aftermarket rotors, they should be fine to be machined. It's pretty rare any set of rotors can't be machined at least once. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TwoTone Posted April 13, 2018 Share Posted April 13, 2018 The rest of what you're facing sounds like regular maintenance. I think you said in one of your other threads that the car is paid for, and you didn't want a second car payment since your wife just got a new car. So if you still otherwise like the car, I say look at it this way: Your 2011 isn't depreciating much anymore. You aren't making monthly payments. Your $2300 in maintenance is probably only 4-5 months of car payments. That's also the depreciation you'll face in the first month of ownership of a new car. He sums it up well. When the transmission on my 2003 Explorer died, I decided to go new car. It had been paid off for 6 years at that point. 4 years into payments on the new one and I wish I had just spent the $2400 on a reman trans and I'd have most of that money back. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pilot1226 Posted April 13, 2018 Author Share Posted April 13, 2018 Money isn’t my concern presently. I guess I got my answer. If I want the 6, I’ve got to pull the trigger. Despite the fact the car is paid off, I get unrealistically angry when things break. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TwoTone Posted April 14, 2018 Share Posted April 14, 2018 Money isn’t my concern presently. I guess I got my answer. If I want the 6, I’ve got to pull the trigger. Despite the fact the car is paid off, I get unrealistically angry when things break. Shit breaks on new ones, you pay more for for those things to be fixed under warranty then you do on something that is paid off. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GEE-OTTO Posted April 17, 2018 Share Posted April 17, 2018 Cosmetically speaking the BMs were hideous the BRs are much nicer on the eyes even if they are mostly boring to drive/are boring to drive. Are you set on a Subaru ? If not there are better cars that cost less to own. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dgoodhue Posted April 17, 2018 Share Posted April 17, 2018 Cosmetically speaking the BMs were hideous the BRs are much nicer on the eyes even if they are mostly boring to drive/are boring to drive. Are you set on a Subaru ? If not there are better cars that cost less to own. Huh? He has a 2011 Outback (BR) and is looking at buying a 2019 (Legacy) BN. Cosmetics are objective, I am sure he can figure out for himself what he prefers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pilot1226 Posted April 18, 2018 Author Share Posted April 18, 2018 Honestly the Outback is a super specific niche that works for me. I liked my Legacy when I had that so for me it’s a question of space between the models, not between other models. I know that I could get something else for around the 40k that’s going to drop. But I want the great winter capability of my Subaru. I don’t think I’ll get that from an Avalon or a Taurus. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GEE-OTTO Posted April 18, 2018 Share Posted April 18, 2018 My bad stuck in Legacy world still that MY range was a bloated mess Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.