Subaru Liberty Problems

THE Liberty is generally a very reliable car that gives little trouble, as long as it is serviced according to Subaru's recommended schedule. I haven't heard of the gear whine you talk about, so can't comment on that.

THE Falcon had a reputation for wandering on the highway, which some people find disconcerting; Clearly you don't, so the Subaru's wanderlust must be pronounced. I assume you have checked the basics of wheel alignment and tyre pressure to make sure they aren't contributing to the problem. Try switching the tyres from side to side and see if the problem persists.

I can only guess at Subaru's thinking, but in all likelihood the company made a commercial decision that it wasn't something that would concern owners and that correcting it didn't warrant whatever investment they would have to make to fix something they clearly didn't believe was a problem. Some cars do tramline, that is to follow the road surface, when fitted with low-profile tyres and sporting suspension settings. What your experience shows is that we have a resourceful aftermarket industry that's capable of fixing problems that carmakers either can't or don't want to fix.

THE rate of wear on the rear tyres on all-wheel-drive cars will be higher because they're driving when the rear tyres on a front-wheel-drive car aren't. That said, the front tyres of both all-wheel-drives and front-wheel-drives wear at about the same rate, so the added wear is related to the rear tyres of the all-wheel-drive cars which will wear out at about the same rate as the front tyres.