2010 Subaru Outback Pricing and Specs

Use a good quality 5W-30 A3/B4 engine oil. You can buy coolant ready mixed or in concentrated form when you need to mix it. Whichever, choose a good quality coolant from a respected brand like Castrol, Shell etc.

The main thing is servicing. Some owners tend to neglect the maintenance if their car doesn’t get used very much; they think it doesn’t need regular servicing like it would if it was used more often. That’s not the case; it still needs regular periodic maintenance. Certainly check the service record. Nothing should go wrong if it starts being used more often, and 100 km per week is not very much. You could, if you felt the need, replace the drive belts, radiator hoses; flush the cooling system, and brakes. But as it is it should be a good, reliable car.

It's not unusual for diesel fuel-injectors to become noisy when they wear, I'm sure Subaru would have come across that before, and it's the same with all brands. The gearbox jumping out of fifth is also a fairly common complaint, one I'm sure Subaru has encountered before.

The steering failures are of concern, and should be of concern to Subaru, given that the steering is a safety item. That the parts are not stored here is nothing new, many carmakers rely on stores held in Asia for their parts, and bring them in as needed. That said, they should be available overnight given that we have jet planes these days and they no longer have to go by steam ship. You should not have to wait six-eight weeks for them to arrive. What that suggests is that Subaru does not care about owners of older models like yours.

Unfortunately you don't have any rights as such with the company, it's really down to your negotiating skills to convince them that they should come to the party and help with the cost of repairs. But with your car having done more than 200,000km I don't believe you would get anywhere on that front.

I would suggest you try an independent Subaru mechanic to repair it, and use second-hand parts, but more than that I would think about selling it.