The Easiest Car Brand To Own, Maintain, & Repair?! | Subaru, Of Course! Here's Why!

[00:00] Subaru vehicles are one of if not the

[00:02] absolute easiest car brands on the road

[00:05] today to own maintain and repair

[00:08] yourself saving you lots of money at the

[00:12] repair shop all my reasons why I think

[00:15] so

[00:25] ahead so right off the Hop we are

[00:27] talking about nuts and bolts here we are

[00:29] talking about the actual ease of doing

[00:31] your own periodic maintenance and doing

[00:34] your own repairs we're not talking about

[00:37] common issues misconceptions things of

[00:39] that nature we've covered in other

[00:41] videos looking at Subaru vehicles

[00:43] they've all pretty much carried the same

[00:47] architecture the same Drive Line the

[00:49] same engine the same layout for the last

[00:53] 40 50 years for the US market once you

[00:56] know one Subaru you pretty much know

[00:58] them all well one's powered by

[01:01] four-cylinder boxer engines which is the

[01:03] vast majority of them looking at other

[01:06] auto manufacturers other brands they're

[01:08] not as streamlined as Subaru is you can

[01:10] look at two different models three

[01:12] different models from the same

[01:13] manufacturer for the same year model and

[01:15] they have wildly different engines

[01:17] drivetrains and configurations you know

[01:19] one you have no idea about the other one

[01:22] sometimes mid year they change things

[01:24] one that's notorious for this is Ford

[01:26] you might have three different parts for

[01:29] one single model year of one single

[01:32] model vehicle they're pretty good about

[01:34] doing that once they run out of one part

[01:36] they switch up or they change mid year

[01:39] that's not really something you see with

[01:40] Subaru they tend to stick with the same

[01:42] thing for years at a time just because

[01:45] of the size of the company and the money

[01:47] that has to be spent in changing things

[01:49] they just don't have the capital to keep

[01:51] changing things and Reinventing things

[01:53] pick almost any model any year model

[01:56] over the last 30 years 40 years and

[01:58] you're going to find basic Al the exact

[02:01] same recipe over any of those models

[02:04] you're going to find a four-cylinder

[02:05] boxer engine naturally aspirated or

[02:07] Turbo Charge you're going to find a

[02:09] longitudinally mounted all drive

[02:12] transmission automatic or manual you're

[02:14] going to see a symmetrical all drive

[02:16] drive line that's pretty much it they're

[02:19] almost all the same layout once you get

[02:21] under the hood it doesn't matter if it's

[02:23] an empreza a WRX a WX STI a cross Trek a

[02:27] Forester a legacy or an out back they

[02:30] pretty much all followed this formula at

[02:32] some base model looking back over the

[02:35] decades it's pretty much been the same

[02:37] formula as far as the power goes you

[02:40] look back to the late 60s with the EA

[02:42] series boxer engine up to the '90s with

[02:45] the EJ series boxer engine to modern

[02:48] times in the teens with the fa and FB

[02:51] series engine or the newly released CB

[02:54] engine they're all pretty much the same

[02:56] four-cylinder boxer around 2 L of

[02:59] displacement turbocharged or naturally

[03:02] aspirated has a single overhead cam or

[03:05] dual overhead cam configuration intake

[03:08] manifold on the top exhaust manifold on

[03:11] the bottom and your accessories pretty

[03:13] easy to access on the top this pretty

[03:16] much the exact same way it's been over

[03:18] the last 50 years along with the

[03:21] evolution of the actual engine itself

[03:23] the underhood the engine bay has pretty

[03:26] much stayed the same layout whether it's

[03:28] 1960s e e a 1970s EA 1980s EA 1990s EJ

[03:37] 2000s EJ 201's fa FB series or 2020s fa

[03:44] FB or CB series engine it's all pretty

[03:47] much the exact same layout you look

[03:49] under the hood you know one from 20

[03:51] years ago you're going to be able to

[03:53] figure out where most things are in a

[03:55] modern one and for at least the last 30

[03:57] years they've been extremely easy to

[03:59] make maintain and to own anything you

[04:03] need to do to these vehicles it's pretty

[04:05] easy to find under the hood your

[04:08] radiator cap your coolant reservoir your

[04:10] oil cap your oil dip stick your washer

[04:13] Reservoir your brake fluid reservoir

[04:15] your clutch master cylinder reservoir

[04:18] your dip stick for your front

[04:20] differential your manual transmission

[04:22] gear oil your automatic transmission dip

[04:25] stick and your power steering fluid all

[04:28] marked with bright yellow caps and

[04:30] handles on the dipsticks everything is

[04:33] easy to find easy to access from the top

[04:36] side in the engine bay now there's a

[04:38] caveat to that when we talk about the

[04:39] modern CVT transmission they don't have

[04:42] a dipstick anymore so it is a little bit

[04:44] more aggravating but as a whole the most

[04:47] point they were very easy to check your

[04:50] fluids change your fluids everything was

[04:53] very easy to find and up here on the top

[04:55] of the engine in the engine

[04:57] bay looking at access Drive things of

[05:00] that nature is pretty much been this

[05:02] layout for years and years and years

[05:04] power steering pump on the top left

[05:07] alternator top Center and the AC

[05:09] compressor top right very easy to access

[05:12] very easy to place if you have an issue

[05:14] and very easy to

[05:16] service your belts are on the front very

[05:19] easy to get to your upper radiator hose

[05:22] from here to the radiator over to here

[05:24] under the cover and one bottom radiator

[05:26] hose very easy to access your hose hoses

[05:30] your heater hoses two at the back from

[05:32] the back side of the engine here back to

[05:34] behind the airbox against the firewall

[05:36] again very easy to access one big thing

[05:39] that people like to complain about with

[05:40] Subarus is the difficulty in replacing

[05:43] spark plugs now on the dual overhead cam

[05:45] engines it is a task to replace them if

[05:49] it's your first time replacing them the

[05:51] key to it is technique and the tools

[05:54] once you've done it once it becomes way

[05:57] easier it's usually that first time time

[05:59] not knowing how to get in there and get

[06:02] it out is the big hold up once you've

[06:04] done it once you know what to get in

[06:06] there with what tools to use it's fairly

[06:09] easy to do the replacement on the Dual

[06:10] herck head cam engines you can check out

[06:13] my videos for tips on how to do this

[06:15] easier now if this engine the older

[06:17] single over head cam engine they're

[06:19] fairly easy to get to as they go in at a

[06:21] 45° angle instead of straight through

[06:23] the top of the cylinder head in line

[06:25] with the frame rail so again with these

[06:28] older single overhead C are pretty easy

[06:30] to do general maintenance stuff on your

[06:32] coils on the top your spark plug wires

[06:34] to either side airbox at the top easy to

[06:37] get to your air filter your battery over

[06:40] here is easy to access they don't hide

[06:42] it in the car they don't put it in the

[06:43] trunk they don't put it under the back

[06:45] seat all the batteries are pretty much

[06:47] in this location same as your washer

[06:49] fluid reservoir they're all pretty much

[06:51] in this location on the older models

[06:54] your fuel filter right here since they

[06:57] put it in the tank but most vehicle

[06:59] manufa have put a fuel filter in the

[07:01] tank now where it's a not serviceable

[07:03] item anymore so one great thing about

[07:05] subar Vehicles is their electrical

[07:07] system it's pretty simple it's not very

[07:10] complex it's not overly complex if you

[07:13] have electrical issues they're fairly

[07:14] easy to diagnose another Plus for Subaru

[07:18] vehicles looking at the front here you

[07:20] need to replace a radiator 2 12 mm

[07:23] headed bolts here and here you take the

[07:25] clamps loose you take your radiator

[07:26] hoses loose you disconnect the

[07:27] electrical for your Cooling fans and

[07:30] pull it out it's very easy to get to the

[07:32] radiator common things that break common

[07:34] things that need to be replaced over the

[07:36] years of owning a vehicle especially

[07:38] multiple years try that in some other

[07:41] vehicles where you got to disassemble

[07:43] the entire front of the vehicle to get

[07:44] the radiator out or have to take out

[07:45] components of the engine just to get the

[07:47] radiator out of the engine bay Subarus

[07:49] have always been very easy to do simple

[07:52] normal everyday repairs on an alternator

[07:55] takes about 10 minutes to pull off if

[07:57] you know what you're doing power

[07:58] steering pump very easy to change AC

[08:01] compressor right here on top nothing is

[08:04] hidden underneath nothing is crammed

[08:06] underneath out of the way hard to access

[08:09] so the big elephant in the corner is

[08:11] head gasket issues I know we've talked

[08:13] about them until I'm blue in the face

[08:15] we've talked about these issues in the

[08:16] past mechanical things are a little bit

[08:20] difficult to repair on a boxer engine

[08:22] especially with it in the vehicle now

[08:24] you can replace head gaskets with the

[08:26] engine in the vehicle but it's just

[08:28] easier to pull the engine it takes me

[08:31] about 35 to 45 minutes to get one of

[08:34] these engines from running to on the

[08:36] engine stand that's just it's not a hard

[08:39] thing to do they're very easy to remove

[08:42] if you need to do any like major repairs

[08:45] timing belt replacement water pump

[08:47] replacement all that stuff is easily

[08:48] done inside the car you only really need

[08:51] to pull the engine for heavy mechanical

[08:54] issues head gaskets spun rod bearings

[08:58] you know things of that nature

[09:00] catastrophic engine damage kind of deals

[09:04] other common repair issues say your

[09:06] starter Gres out it's pretty easy to

[09:08] access right here on top of the engine

[09:10] two bolts hold it in and your electrical

[09:13] wiring you don't have to crawl under the

[09:15] car you don't have to dig around and

[09:17] remove components to get to the starter

[09:19] it's right here on top of the back side

[09:21] of the engine looking at other normal

[09:24] wear items your braking components

[09:26] suspension components Drive Line

[09:27] components even though this vehicle was

[09:29] all drive it's a very rudimentary

[09:31] all-wheel drive system it's very

[09:33] uncomplex like some other manufacturers

[09:36] all-wheel drive system there's not much

[09:38] that really goes wrong in these

[09:40] vehicles you have regular disc or drum

[09:43] brakes very easy like any other vehicle

[09:45] to place braking components on wheel

[09:48] bearings were one of the uh general

[09:50] service things that was kind of

[09:52] aggravating if you didn't have access to

[09:54] a press because it was a press and wheel

[09:55] bearing but most Vehicles use press and

[09:58] 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