Our family has three Subarus,
Our family has three Subarus, two purchased used, a 2005 Legacy GT 5 spd wagon currently with 78k miles and a 2001 Sambar TT2 5 spd pickup, currently with 65k miles, also a 2013 XV Crosstrek Limited CVT purchased new, currently sporting 68k miles.
The Sambar is an imported odd duck, so I'll leave it out of the discussion.
As for the other two, they both have the same problems in common, failing hub/bearing assemblies all around and the need to replace back plates on all axles due to premature rust, a rather major job that I recommend should be done any time a hub/bearing assembly is replaced.
Hub/bearing assemblies are not cheap, nor are back plates. Best to address both in coincidence with a major brake job. Much of the labor is duplicated for any one of these procedures. I stay away from the dealers for this sort of work and am fortunate to have an affordable and skilled independent mechanic, so the actual cost for all this work is not as disastrous as one might think. Most of the cost is in the OEM parts.
In addition, the LGT had two broken springs by 72k and the struts and shock absorbers all around urgently required replacement. I purchased OEM springs with Bilstein HD struts, caps, strut bearings and HD rear shocks. The Bilsteins were expensive, but a great improvement. My mechanic was able to do the installation of all of the above in 3.5 hrs. I was impressed. As a percentage of the total cost, the labor was insignificant.
The XV Crosstrek has been close to flawless in the execution of its duties over the course of 6 years, other than the issues I have mentioned above. It is on its second set of winter and summer tires and third set of brakes. I made the mistake of not specifying OEM rotors and pads on a brake service. The Chinese rotors and pads did not last 15k miles in salt country, due to low quality steel alloys used. The first OEM brake/rotor sets lasted over 35k miles. We are back with the OEM brake parts now and can see the difference.
The valve spring recall on the 2013 XV was executed successfully by the dealer in 2019. A free loaner car was provided for five days, as the work extended over a weekend. My wife enjoyed driving a newer Forster for those days. We can't complain. The mpg stayed right where it was, all is well. The fix was prophylactic in our case.
The older much older 2005 LGT wagon, while having similar miles to the XV, is now showing a little rust bubble on a door panel and rear wheel arch, which will be addressed this year. The fabric interior and all interior materials remain as if new. The wagon is a beautiful, functional thing to behold, even in this day. With Cobb tuning, the original engine is cranking close to 300 hp hauling only 3355 AWD lbs. Handling is better than new, no rattles.
The 2005 LGT turbo 2.5 liter 4 has a reputation for undue oil consumption. It is somewhat high, but has remained constant. I experience nothing different from what the original owner has since new. We check the oil regularly, like in the old days, topping off as needed between oil changes which occur every 3000 miles. We keep a quart of oil in the boot at all times. I would rather use a little extra oil than have the opposite problem of oil dilution and degradation (gasoline in oil) such as some Hondas are experiencing. For us, there are no pesky Subaru head gasket/valve cover oil leak problems as of yet, though I hear about them from others, especially from people who don't own Subarus.
I observe a 7500 mile oil/filter change interval for the XV, always done by me. It has never used a drop between changes, nor suffered from dilution problems. The engine and CVT transmission continue to perform flawlessly. The XV appears as if new inside and out.
Both the 2005 LGT and 2013 XV still have the original exhaust systems, which remain functional. Living in salt country, that seems pretty remarkable to us.
I would not consider any of our Subies to be high mileage yet, but they show a lot of promise for continued reliable service, barring the inherent weaknesses I have described to date.