Subaru Problems

Sadly, 2011 is not one of the better years for a Subaru. The new-generation model Forester arrived in 2013 and it gets The Tick. Ironically, a Forester from 2002-2009 is a good choice.

The Impreza is a good choice with all-wheel drive safety and a raft of airbags, so too is the Corolla, but you could also consider the Mazda3. It's best to stick with the recognized Japanese brands, European brands can be appealing, but they tend to be more troublesome and more expensive to service.

Servicing, particularly changing oil and filters, is the key to long engine life. My thinking is that 12 months/10,000km is about right for a service interval. If you’re doing 20,000km per year you’ll be servicing it every six months anyway, but if you’re not doing a lot of kays then annual servicing it probably enough. To go to two years and 24,000km is a step too far in my view.

With modern stability control systems and on-demand all-wheel-drive you are far less likely to get caught out with understeer (where the nose of the car pushes wide) than you once were. Having said that, the Kluger — and the LandCruiser for that matter — aren't city-friendly vehicles. If you no longer need to tow but still like the safety net of all-wheel-drive, why not look at a Subaru Outback or Forester?

Subaru is well out of step on service support in Australia but the orders come from Japan. You will save money by going outside the dealer network for logbook servicing.

A Mazda CX-5 would be the best bet, and gets The Tick, but also look at a Subaru Forester which is more car-like and will be better around town when you're not towing.

The Forester gets The Tick from me but only the latest model. It has improved quality and refinement, which came after Subaru — and a lot of Japanese brands — cut costs through the GFC.

Unfortunately, to keep the warranty in force you need to service to a maker's schedule. But we agree the Subaru numbers are far too low.

I'd go for the Mazda6, which has a combination of class and comfort, and not the Falcon unless you're a sporty driver. The Liberty in that age was a bit 'off' by Subaru standards because of the Global Financial Crisis, and the 3.6 is no real improvement over the 2.5 unless you tow.

The salesman is right you really do need to run them over long distances to get the most out of them, and they can be noisy, although modern diesels are less so than old ones. You really need to do the maths on the running and servicing costs of the diesel versus the petrol to see which is best suited to your use. Diesels generally cost more to service, and they are prone to blocking of the diesel particulate filter if not used in a way that allows the automatic regeneration of the filter to happen. I would buy the petrol engine.