[0:00] Subaru vehicles are one of if not the
[0:02] absolute easiest car brands on the road
[0:05] today to own maintain and repair
[0:08] yourself saving you lots of money at the
[0:12] repair shop all my reasons why I think
[0:15] so
[0:25] ahead so right off the Hop we are
[0:27] talking about nuts and bolts here we are
[0:29] talking about the actual ease of doing
[0:31] your own periodic maintenance and doing
[0:34] your own repairs we're not talking about
[0:37] common issues misconceptions things of
[0:39] that nature we've covered in other
[0:41] videos looking at Subaru vehicles
[0:43] they've all pretty much carried the same
[0:47] architecture the same Drive Line the
[0:49] same engine the same layout for the last
[0:53] 40 50 years for the US market once you
[0:56] know one Subaru you pretty much know
[0:58] them all well one's powered by
[1:01] four-cylinder boxer engines which is the
[1:03] vast majority of them looking at other
[1:06] auto manufacturers other brands they're
[1:08] not as streamlined as Subaru is you can
[1:10] look at two different models three
[1:12] different models from the same
[1:13] manufacturer for the same year model and
[1:15] they have wildly different engines
[1:17] drivetrains and configurations you know
[1:19] one you have no idea about the other one
[1:22] sometimes mid year they change things
[1:24] one that's notorious for this is Ford
[1:26] you might have three different parts for
[1:29] one single model year of one single
[1:32] model vehicle they're pretty good about
[1:34] doing that once they run out of one part
[1:36] they switch up or they change mid year
[1:39] that's not really something you see with
[1:40] Subaru they tend to stick with the same
[1:42] thing for years at a time just because
[1:45] of the size of the company and the money
[1:47] that has to be spent in changing things
[1:49] they just don't have the capital to keep
[1:51] changing things and Reinventing things
[1:53] pick almost any model any year model
[1:56] over the last 30 years 40 years and
[1:58] you're going to find basic Al the exact
[2:01] same recipe over any of those models
[2:04] you're going to find a four-cylinder
[2:05] boxer engine naturally aspirated or
[2:07] Turbo Charge you're going to find a
[2:09] longitudinally mounted all drive
[2:12] transmission automatic or manual you're
[2:14] going to see a symmetrical all drive
[2:16] drive line that's pretty much it they're
[2:19] almost all the same layout once you get
[2:21] under the hood it doesn't matter if it's
[2:23] an empreza a WRX a WX STI a cross Trek a
[2:27] Forester a legacy or an out back they
[2:30] pretty much all followed this formula at
[2:32] some base model looking back over the
[2:35] decades it's pretty much been the same
[2:37] formula as far as the power goes you
[2:40] look back to the late 60s with the EA
[2:42] series boxer engine up to the '90s with
[2:45] the EJ series boxer engine to modern
[2:48] times in the teens with the fa and FB
[2:51] series engine or the newly released CB
[2:54] engine they're all pretty much the same
[2:56] four-cylinder boxer around 2 L of
[2:59] displacement turbocharged or naturally
[3:02] aspirated has a single overhead cam or
[3:05] dual overhead cam configuration intake
[3:08] manifold on the top exhaust manifold on
[3:11] the bottom and your accessories pretty
[3:13] easy to access on the top this pretty
[3:16] much the exact same way it's been over
[3:18] the last 50 years along with the
[3:21] evolution of the actual engine itself
[3:23] the underhood the engine bay has pretty
[3:26] much stayed the same layout whether it's
[3:28] 1960s e e a 1970s EA 1980s EA 1990s EJ
[3:37] 2000s EJ 201's fa FB series or 2020s fa
[3:44] FB or CB series engine it's all pretty
[3:47] much the exact same layout you look
[3:49] under the hood you know one from 20
[3:51] years ago you're going to be able to
[3:53] figure out where most things are in a
[3:55] modern one and for at least the last 30
[3:57] years they've been extremely easy to
[3:59] make maintain and to own anything you
[4:03] need to do to these vehicles it's pretty
[4:05] easy to find under the hood your
[4:08] radiator cap your coolant reservoir your
[4:10] oil cap your oil dip stick your washer
[4:13] Reservoir your brake fluid reservoir
[4:15] your clutch master cylinder reservoir
[4:18] your dip stick for your front
[4:20] differential your manual transmission
[4:22] gear oil your automatic transmission dip
[4:25] stick and your power steering fluid all
[4:28] marked with bright yellow caps and
[4:30] handles on the dipsticks everything is
[4:33] easy to find easy to access from the top
[4:36] side in the engine bay now there's a
[4:38] caveat to that when we talk about the
[4:39] modern CVT transmission they don't have
[4:42] a dipstick anymore so it is a little bit
[4:44] more aggravating but as a whole the most
[4:47] point they were very easy to check your
[4:50] fluids change your fluids everything was
[4:53] very easy to find and up here on the top
[4:55] of the engine in the engine
[4:57] bay looking at access Drive things of
[5:00] that nature is pretty much been this
[5:02] layout for years and years and years
[5:04] power steering pump on the top left
[5:07] alternator top Center and the AC
[5:09] compressor top right very easy to access
[5:12] very easy to place if you have an issue
[5:14] and very easy to
[5:16] service your belts are on the front very
[5:19] easy to get to your upper radiator hose
[5:22] from here to the radiator over to here
[5:24] under the cover and one bottom radiator
[5:26] hose very easy to access your hose hoses
[5:30] your heater hoses two at the back from
[5:32] the back side of the engine here back to
[5:34] behind the airbox against the firewall
[5:36] again very easy to access one big thing
[5:39] that people like to complain about with
[5:40] Subarus is the difficulty in replacing
[5:43] spark plugs now on the dual overhead cam
[5:45] engines it is a task to replace them if
[5:49] it's your first time replacing them the
[5:51] key to it is technique and the tools
[5:54] once you've done it once it becomes way
[5:57] easier it's usually that first time time
[5:59] not knowing how to get in there and get
[6:02] it out is the big hold up once you've
[6:04] done it once you know what to get in
[6:06] there with what tools to use it's fairly
[6:09] easy to do the replacement on the Dual
[6:10] herck head cam engines you can check out
[6:13] my videos for tips on how to do this
[6:15] easier now if this engine the older
[6:17] single over head cam engine they're
[6:19] fairly easy to get to as they go in at a
[6:21] 45° angle instead of straight through
[6:23] the top of the cylinder head in line
[6:25] with the frame rail so again with these
[6:28] older single overhead C are pretty easy
[6:30] to do general maintenance stuff on your
[6:32] coils on the top your spark plug wires
[6:34] to either side airbox at the top easy to
[6:37] get to your air filter your battery over
[6:40] here is easy to access they don't hide
[6:42] it in the car they don't put it in the
[6:43] trunk they don't put it under the back
[6:45] seat all the batteries are pretty much
[6:47] in this location same as your washer
[6:49] fluid reservoir they're all pretty much
[6:51] in this location on the older models
[6:54] your fuel filter right here since they
[6:57] put it in the tank but most vehicle
[6:59] manufa have put a fuel filter in the
[7:01] tank now where it's a not serviceable
[7:03] item anymore so one great thing about
[7:05] subar Vehicles is their electrical
[7:07] system it's pretty simple it's not very
[7:10] complex it's not overly complex if you
[7:13] have electrical issues they're fairly
[7:14] easy to diagnose another Plus for Subaru
[7:18] vehicles looking at the front here you
[7:20] need to replace a radiator 2 12 mm
[7:23] headed bolts here and here you take the
[7:25] clamps loose you take your radiator
[7:26] hoses loose you disconnect the
[7:27] electrical for your Cooling fans and
[7:30] pull it out it's very easy to get to the
[7:32] radiator common things that break common
[7:34] things that need to be replaced over the
[7:36] years of owning a vehicle especially
[7:38] multiple years try that in some other
[7:41] vehicles where you got to disassemble
[7:43] the entire front of the vehicle to get
[7:44] the radiator out or have to take out
[7:45] components of the engine just to get the
[7:47] radiator out of the engine bay Subarus
[7:49] have always been very easy to do simple
[7:52] normal everyday repairs on an alternator
[7:55] takes about 10 minutes to pull off if
[7:57] you know what you're doing power
[7:58] steering pump very easy to change AC
[8:01] compressor right here on top nothing is
[8:04] hidden underneath nothing is crammed
[8:06] underneath out of the way hard to access
[8:09] so the big elephant in the corner is
[8:11] head gasket issues I know we've talked
[8:13] about them until I'm blue in the face
[8:15] we've talked about these issues in the
[8:16] past mechanical things are a little bit
[8:20] difficult to repair on a boxer engine
[8:22] especially with it in the vehicle now
[8:24] you can replace head gaskets with the
[8:26] engine in the vehicle but it's just
[8:28] easier to pull the engine it takes me
[8:31] about 35 to 45 minutes to get one of
[8:34] these engines from running to on the
[8:36] engine stand that's just it's not a hard
[8:39] thing to do they're very easy to remove
[8:42] if you need to do any like major repairs
[8:45] timing belt replacement water pump
[8:47] replacement all that stuff is easily
[8:48] done inside the car you only really need
[8:51] to pull the engine for heavy mechanical
[8:54] issues head gaskets spun rod bearings
[8:58] you know things of that nature
[9:00] catastrophic engine damage kind of deals
[9:04] other common repair issues say your
[9:06] starter Gres out it's pretty easy to
[9:08] access right here on top of the engine
[9:10] two bolts hold it in and your electrical
[9:13] wiring you don't have to crawl under the
[9:15] car you don't have to dig around and
[9:17] remove components to get to the starter
[9:19] it's right here on top of the back side
[9:21] of the engine looking at other normal
[9:24] wear items your braking components
[9:26] suspension components Drive Line
[9:27] components even though this vehicle was
[9:29] all drive it's a very rudimentary
[9:31] all-wheel drive system it's very
[9:33] uncomplex like some other manufacturers
[9:36] all-wheel drive system there's not much
[9:38] that really goes wrong in these
[9:40] vehicles you have regular disc or drum
[9:43] brakes very easy like any other vehicle
[9:45] to place braking components on wheel
[9:48] bearings were one of the uh general
[9:50] service things that was kind of
[9:52] aggravating if you didn't have access to
[9:54] a press because it was a press and wheel
[9:55] bearing but most Vehicles use press and
[9:58] wheel bearings and until the last 20
[10:00] years or so where they started doing
[10:02] bolt in will bearing hub assemblies
[10:05] which Subaru is now switched to so it's
[10:07] easier to replace those as well so
[10:09] another great thing about your Subaru is
[10:11] the parts are fairly cheap because being
[10:14] that they're so simple and they share so
[10:16] many components most of the parts are
[10:18] Universal to the brand rather than a
[10:20] particular model so that brings the
[10:22] prices down and it's more likely you'll
[10:24] find that part in stock at your local
[10:26] dealership or online because they don't
[10:29] have five or six different models with
[10:32] five six different ball joints or five
[10:34] six different axles everything's pretty
[10:37] much shared since Subarus are such
[10:39] simple cars easy to work on there's not
[10:41] a ton of specialty tools you need to do
[10:44] your own maintenance and light repairs
[10:47] only when you really get inside the
[10:48] engine do you really need to worry about
[10:50] specialty tools most other brands you
[10:53] need specialty tools to do a lot of
[10:55] common repairs where that's just not the
[10:57] case with Subaru basic hand tools get
[10:59] you by on a lot of things a lot of
[11:02] people talk about a high cost of
[11:03] ownership with Subaru vehicles but I see
[11:05] that's mainly because they take them to
[11:08] dealerships to get them worked on or
[11:09] they take them to high-end specialized
[11:11] repair shops that's because most
[11:14] automotive repair shops at least in my
[11:16] area and in my experience talking to
[11:18] people won't touch these cars with a
[11:20] 10-ft pole because boxer engines are
[11:23] scary and different when in actuality as
[11:26] I've said they're easier to work on than
[11:28] most things on the road today and are
[11:30] far less complex and just a joy honestly
[11:34] to work on so if more shops actually
[11:37] tried to work on these things I think
[11:38] more people would actually work on and
[11:40] repair them it's just the difference
[11:43] factor that scares so many technicians
[11:45] so many shops away from working on
[11:47] Subaru vehicles when again the reality
[11:51] is they're just really really easy and
[11:54] there you have it guys my thoughts and
[11:56] feelings on Subaru and why I think
[11:58] they're the ultimate DIY vehicle for
[12:01] those that love doing their own
[12:02] maintenance and repairs and saving money
[12:04] what are your thoughts leave them in the
[12:05] comments below what's your experience
[12:07] been with your Subaru vehicle have you
[12:10] figured basically the same thing out
[12:11] that I have that they're pretty easy to
[12:13] work on compared to other vehicles
[12:14] you've owned in the past or other
[12:15] vehicles you've worked on are you
[12:18] looking at buying a Subaru and maybe
[12:19] this video has made you sway back
[12:22] towards considering Subaru when you
[12:24] might have been scared off from things
[12:25] You' read online or heard from other
[12:27] people let me know your thoughts and
[12:28] feel ings in the comments below thank
[12:30] you guys so much for watching hope you
[12:32] enjoyed the video and I will see you in
[12:33] the next one