2013 Subaru Liberty GT Wagon
Discussion
I’ve had the car three years now, and covered about 38,000km, so thought I’d think about how much its cost over that time. All costs in AU$, just halve it to get GBP.
I’ll start with the obvious one – fuel. Its what puts many off the idea of running a Subaru, esp one with forced induction that is fed a 98-RON diet of only BP Ultimate or Shell V-Power. I reckon over the three years its averaged about 11l/100km or about 26mpg in old money. It lives a hard, urban life, with a couple of big road trips every year. Cruising with a bike on the roof gives around 32-34mpg, traffic jams see it fall closer to 21-22mpg. So, around 4000 litres at an average of around $1.75/litre gives a fuel bill of about $7,000.
If it managed to average 8l/100km or 35 mpg, and could run on the low octane 91 Unleaded here, then the fuel cost would be about $4,500 – a saving of $2,500 over the three years.
I’ve had the car serviced at an independent Sube specialist every 8-10,000km, four times so far, which included one just after I bought it, and its now coming up for the fifth. Two of those services have been “big” services – one is an all-fluids change at around 110,000km which cost about $800, and the second a belts change at around 125,000km, which cost about $1400. The other two services were around $350 each, so servicing has cost about $3,000. No more big services for a few years now.
Other items have been front bushes ($200), a battery ($220), two headlight bulbs (HID, so $200), and a set of four tyres (Michelin PS4, so $1000). And that’s it in three years, an additional $1,620 over regular servicing. I’d suggest all of those items are consumables.
Adding that lot up comes to $11,620, lets round up to $12,000 so its $4,000pa or $333/mth.
I reckon depreciation will be about $7-8,000 at the mo – paid $29k, could probably get around $22k as the combination of wagon body, turbo engine, and manual box is reasonably rare one even in a country where Subaru’s market share is about the same as VW’s.
Insurance has been about $2,400 for the three years, and rego/CTP is about $1,000pa, so another $3,000.
OK, so now the total total is around $23k for everything, which is about $640/mth, or $0.61/km. I’ll save you the calc, its 48p/mile. Coming back to the car being more economical, the 35mpg on regular unleaded would see that 48p/mile drop to 44p/mile. Is that really worth worrying about?
I don’t think that’s too bad for a spacious, comfortable family car that capable of 0-60 in around 6s, has permanent AWD, and can still offer the fun of three pedals. It’s the utter reliability that’s key – there has been zero reasons to be worried. I would be comfortable to load up the family tomorrow, and drive across the Nullabor to Perth, with just a regular cursory check of levels.
There are family cars that are bigger and quicker and more economical, but how many owners would feel happy about driving one of those across the Nullabor, at 7 years old, with no warranty?
Fuel costs – nothing to get excited about really.
I’ll start with the obvious one – fuel. Its what puts many off the idea of running a Subaru, esp one with forced induction that is fed a 98-RON diet of only BP Ultimate or Shell V-Power. I reckon over the three years its averaged about 11l/100km or about 26mpg in old money. It lives a hard, urban life, with a couple of big road trips every year. Cruising with a bike on the roof gives around 32-34mpg, traffic jams see it fall closer to 21-22mpg. So, around 4000 litres at an average of around $1.75/litre gives a fuel bill of about $7,000.
If it managed to average 8l/100km or 35 mpg, and could run on the low octane 91 Unleaded here, then the fuel cost would be about $4,500 – a saving of $2,500 over the three years.
I’ve had the car serviced at an independent Sube specialist every 8-10,000km, four times so far, which included one just after I bought it, and its now coming up for the fifth. Two of those services have been “big” services – one is an all-fluids change at around 110,000km which cost about $800, and the second a belts change at around 125,000km, which cost about $1400. The other two services were around $350 each, so servicing has cost about $3,000. No more big services for a few years now.
Other items have been front bushes ($200), a battery ($220), two headlight bulbs (HID, so $200), and a set of four tyres (Michelin PS4, so $1000). And that’s it in three years, an additional $1,620 over regular servicing. I’d suggest all of those items are consumables.
Adding that lot up comes to $11,620, lets round up to $12,000 so its $4,000pa or $333/mth.
I reckon depreciation will be about $7-8,000 at the mo – paid $29k, could probably get around $22k as the combination of wagon body, turbo engine, and manual box is reasonably rare one even in a country where Subaru’s market share is about the same as VW’s.
Insurance has been about $2,400 for the three years, and rego/CTP is about $1,000pa, so another $3,000.
OK, so now the total total is around $23k for everything, which is about $640/mth, or $0.61/km. I’ll save you the calc, its 48p/mile. Coming back to the car being more economical, the 35mpg on regular unleaded would see that 48p/mile drop to 44p/mile. Is that really worth worrying about?
I don’t think that’s too bad for a spacious, comfortable family car that capable of 0-60 in around 6s, has permanent AWD, and can still offer the fun of three pedals. It’s the utter reliability that’s key – there has been zero reasons to be worried. I would be comfortable to load up the family tomorrow, and drive across the Nullabor to Perth, with just a regular cursory check of levels.
There are family cars that are bigger and quicker and more economical, but how many owners would feel happy about driving one of those across the Nullabor, at 7 years old, with no warranty?
Fuel costs – nothing to get excited about really.
Great write up, I had a Gen 4 3.0rn saloon for 8 years, and other than servicing costs and consumables it was utterly bombproof. We did get the Gen 5 here in the UK, but only in estate form. They didn't sell well, in fact Subaru UK are the Japanese equivalent Alfa Romeo in terms of dealers and sales strategy. Which is a shame, as they really are unique vehicles.
Hope yours continues to give you reliable effortless motoring.
Hope yours continues to give you reliable effortless motoring.
SVX said:
Great write up, I had a Gen 4 3.0rn saloon for 8 years, and other than servicing costs and consumables it was utterly bombproof. We did get the Gen 5 here in the UK, but only in estate form. They didn't sell well, in fact Subaru UK are the Japanese equivalent Alfa Romeo in terms of dealers and sales strategy. Which is a shame, as they really are unique vehicles.
Hope yours continues to give you reliable effortless motoring.
Thanks! Much as I like the car and it’s abilities, we do seem to be close to outgrowing it and will probably look to replace later this year. There is nothing else out there with the same combination of features, performance and reliability so it’ll be more of a compromise than usual.Hope yours continues to give you reliable effortless motoring.
If only Subaru would put the current WRX gubbins into the current Outback shell and give it to STI to sort - that could be just the job...
SVX said:
Great write up, I had a Gen 4 3.0rn saloon for 8 years, and other than servicing costs and consumables it was utterly bombproof. We did get the Gen 5 here in the UK, but only in estate form. They didn't sell well, in fact Subaru UK are the Japanese equivalent Alfa Romeo in terms of dealers and sales strategy. Which is a shame, as they really are unique vehicles.
Hope yours continues to give you reliable effortless motoring.
It’s funny you should say this, as my Alfa Giulietta QV is the only car I would be happy and confident to drive from Brisbane to Perth (via Nullarbor obs.) with only a cursory check of fluids. It also wears PS4’s (which were a revelation).Hope yours continues to give you reliable effortless motoring.
Some cars just work really well
(Quite like the subie, apologies for the sidetrack)
craig_m67 said:
SVX said:
Great write up, I had a Gen 4 3.0rn saloon for 8 years, and other than servicing costs and consumables it was utterly bombproof. We did get the Gen 5 here in the UK, but only in estate form. They didn't sell well, in fact Subaru UK are the Japanese equivalent Alfa Romeo in terms of dealers and sales strategy. Which is a shame, as they really are unique vehicles.
Hope yours continues to give you reliable effortless motoring.
It’s funny you should say this, as my Alfa Giulietta QV is the only car I would be happy and confident to drive from Brisbane to Perth (via Nullarbor obs.) with only a cursory check of fluids. It also wears PS4’s (which were a revelation).Hope yours continues to give you reliable effortless motoring.
Some cars just work really well
(Quite like the subie, apologies for the sidetrack)
In car tech – something many on here use to help with their choice of car, not something for which Subaru are renowned so here’s a quick rundown on what tech from 7/8 years ago is good and not so good…
Keyless entry/go – proper keyless this. Small, smooth plastic rectangle in the pocket, hand on the door handle unlocks the car, foot on the clutch and press a button to start. Handbrake on, push button to kill the engine, close the door and push small button on the handle to lock the car. OK, so it opens the whole car including the boot, but it has been flawless and I miss it when I’m driving other cars.
Sat-nav – crap, blocky and utterly unused in three years. Just don’t need it here, Google Maps has traffic linked and on longer journeys there are only one or two ways to go anyway.
Music – its got a 6-CD stacker! Woo!! And has an in-built USB in the armrest, which is better than the crappy plug thing that MrsPB’s one-year-older Golf came with. However the McKintosh-branded head unit is rubbish and the speakers don’t help. Just haven’t got around to changing it.
Bluetooth – phone connects easily but can be confused if plugged into the USB. Best to leave unplugged for calls.
Dashboard info is limited to a couple of trip meters, outside temp, fuel consumption data, and length of current trip. And that’s it. Service schedule? A sticker on the windscreen tells me when the next one is due.
Controls on the steering wheel – music, phone answer/hang-up, cruise control (buttons rather than the easy-to-use stalk of old), and sports mode buttons. All work fine.
Electronic handbrake – little lever by the gearstick, with a flick of the finger its push down to release, pull up to set. So much more intuitive than the dash-mounted version on the V70. Has also worked flawlessly, and causes no problems with hillstarts with a manual box. The only downside is that its either on or off, but that’s the same for all of these.
It doesn’t have Subaru’s Eyesight system which is the preemptive collision avoidance braking thing. Some people love it, but I drove one with it when buying this, and found it too touchy even on a short test drive. It also doesn’t have radar cruise control, but the cruise control system it does have is easy to adjust on the go, and at least means I need to keep some form of concentration going.
Overall, I’m not sure what gadgets its missing that I’d want. It doesn’t have lane assist, though I’ve driven a new Forester with it, and found it really distracting. Same for the blind spot monitoring indicator on the wing mirror. How the hell do people drive with all this crap?
The stuff it has works well enough and hasn’t broken, and apart from the occasional hiccup with the Bluetooth connection, hasn’t made me swear at it.
Keyless entry/go – proper keyless this. Small, smooth plastic rectangle in the pocket, hand on the door handle unlocks the car, foot on the clutch and press a button to start. Handbrake on, push button to kill the engine, close the door and push small button on the handle to lock the car. OK, so it opens the whole car including the boot, but it has been flawless and I miss it when I’m driving other cars.
Sat-nav – crap, blocky and utterly unused in three years. Just don’t need it here, Google Maps has traffic linked and on longer journeys there are only one or two ways to go anyway.
Music – its got a 6-CD stacker! Woo!! And has an in-built USB in the armrest, which is better than the crappy plug thing that MrsPB’s one-year-older Golf came with. However the McKintosh-branded head unit is rubbish and the speakers don’t help. Just haven’t got around to changing it.
Bluetooth – phone connects easily but can be confused if plugged into the USB. Best to leave unplugged for calls.
Dashboard info is limited to a couple of trip meters, outside temp, fuel consumption data, and length of current trip. And that’s it. Service schedule? A sticker on the windscreen tells me when the next one is due.
Controls on the steering wheel – music, phone answer/hang-up, cruise control (buttons rather than the easy-to-use stalk of old), and sports mode buttons. All work fine.
Electronic handbrake – little lever by the gearstick, with a flick of the finger its push down to release, pull up to set. So much more intuitive than the dash-mounted version on the V70. Has also worked flawlessly, and causes no problems with hillstarts with a manual box. The only downside is that its either on or off, but that’s the same for all of these.
It doesn’t have Subaru’s Eyesight system which is the preemptive collision avoidance braking thing. Some people love it, but I drove one with it when buying this, and found it too touchy even on a short test drive. It also doesn’t have radar cruise control, but the cruise control system it does have is easy to adjust on the go, and at least means I need to keep some form of concentration going.
Overall, I’m not sure what gadgets its missing that I’d want. It doesn’t have lane assist, though I’ve driven a new Forester with it, and found it really distracting. Same for the blind spot monitoring indicator on the wing mirror. How the hell do people drive with all this crap?
The stuff it has works well enough and hasn’t broken, and apart from the occasional hiccup with the Bluetooth connection, hasn’t made me swear at it.
Well, that’s it – its gone. Sold after four years, it was the perfect family car, and its replacement has some big shoes to fill, which I’ll get to in a mo. It wasn’t entirely without problem – and I’ll get to that in a mo too.
But the main gist of owning this car has been one of a comfortable, swift, spacious, secure, fun, reliable wagon with room for five, albeit one with, ahem, awkward looks. The drivers ergonomics are spot on – wheel and pedals dead straight ahead, gearstick in the right place for the left hand, clear dials, good view through the windows. I love the way it just fits me - the seat is the right size, the steering wheel (all Subaru wheels are made by MOMO) is perfect in size and rim thickness - which makes it so much easier to flick around.
The interior of Subarus gets a lot of flak on here. They may have the design flair of a cave, and the plastics of this era (this was designed during the fun times of 2008…) are probably not the softest. But it all works, none of it squeaks and none of it is peeling in the strong Aussie sun. The leather seats are unmarked – the guy who just bought it couldn’t believe the seats are 8 years old and have had a young family bounce around them for the last 4 years.
The ride is firm’ish, on 18”wheels with Bilstein shocks as standard, but could still lean a lot in tight corners. Grip was almost neverending on broad sweeping bends, and a set of PS4 all round helped enormously. Wet weather went unnoticed.
The engine was flexible and far torquier than the 2.0T of before, but whilst it span sweetly enough to the 6500 cutout, it didn’t feel as much fun. The sound was more sterile and flat, which was a shame.
However, it was still fun when I wanted to play. The 6MT box was a good match and easy to use, once warm, the engine pulled from tickover, but boost got going properly around 2600rpm. I liked that if I found myself on a fun road section, I could just enjoy it there and then. I didn’t have to go home to get the fun car – I don’t have time for that – it answered the one-car-to-do-it-all brief.
For much of its time with us it shared the driveway with a Mk6 Golf GTI and a 928S4. Taking the Sube never felt like being shortchanged, and if it was raining, it was the obvious choice.
Cross-country, 5-up, with bikes on the roof were an easy cruise. We managed several trips of 2-3000km, and I wouldn’t have hesitated to load us up and drive anywhere in Aus in it – that was how dependable it was.
I read a lot on PH about how great various fast cars are, and how spaciously they accommodate a family of four whilst only needing major maintenance every other year, providing something else hasn’t failed. Anyhow the advice is always to get a warranty of some sorts. With this car, that’s just not necessary. Sure, 0-62 in around 6s isn’t as quick as many, though certainly quick enough to surprise, and a cruising average of 32mpg is not miserly. But the urban assault to which this car has been regularly subjected, and then been asked to haul us all away in 40C, with bushfires raging, has cemented the idea there is more to a great family car than numbers and badges.
Servicing has been roughly by the book – minor services every 10,000km, which has been about 8-10 months. The two major services are the All Fluids and the Timing Belts – a total of about $2,200 for those two. And nothing else has happened. Well…
As I put it up for sale, it had a tantie. It was like the perfect dinner guest, who brings great wine, provides lively chat, and wants to help, who then spills red wine all over the new cream carpet on their way out of the door. Yep, two days after the ad went up, the clutch fork snapped. A tow later to the local clutch specialist, a week before Christmas, had me on the road just a day and $1800 later. Clutch itself was about 60% worn. Towing dude remarks how few Subes he has to collect…
But that has seriously been it. In four years and 50,000 kms of carting a family around a major city, and on hot cross-country road trips. No EML suddenly lighting up, no going into limp mode, no blown head gaskets, nothing.
When the new owner turned up to collect, even the kids went out to wave the car goodbye
So, the replacement has some big shoes to fill. Luckily it’s a big car, with a fairly big engine, so I think it’ll give it a go.
But the main gist of owning this car has been one of a comfortable, swift, spacious, secure, fun, reliable wagon with room for five, albeit one with, ahem, awkward looks. The drivers ergonomics are spot on – wheel and pedals dead straight ahead, gearstick in the right place for the left hand, clear dials, good view through the windows. I love the way it just fits me - the seat is the right size, the steering wheel (all Subaru wheels are made by MOMO) is perfect in size and rim thickness - which makes it so much easier to flick around.
The interior of Subarus gets a lot of flak on here. They may have the design flair of a cave, and the plastics of this era (this was designed during the fun times of 2008…) are probably not the softest. But it all works, none of it squeaks and none of it is peeling in the strong Aussie sun. The leather seats are unmarked – the guy who just bought it couldn’t believe the seats are 8 years old and have had a young family bounce around them for the last 4 years.
The ride is firm’ish, on 18”wheels with Bilstein shocks as standard, but could still lean a lot in tight corners. Grip was almost neverending on broad sweeping bends, and a set of PS4 all round helped enormously. Wet weather went unnoticed.
The engine was flexible and far torquier than the 2.0T of before, but whilst it span sweetly enough to the 6500 cutout, it didn’t feel as much fun. The sound was more sterile and flat, which was a shame.
However, it was still fun when I wanted to play. The 6MT box was a good match and easy to use, once warm, the engine pulled from tickover, but boost got going properly around 2600rpm. I liked that if I found myself on a fun road section, I could just enjoy it there and then. I didn’t have to go home to get the fun car – I don’t have time for that – it answered the one-car-to-do-it-all brief.
For much of its time with us it shared the driveway with a Mk6 Golf GTI and a 928S4. Taking the Sube never felt like being shortchanged, and if it was raining, it was the obvious choice.
Cross-country, 5-up, with bikes on the roof were an easy cruise. We managed several trips of 2-3000km, and I wouldn’t have hesitated to load us up and drive anywhere in Aus in it – that was how dependable it was.
I read a lot on PH about how great various fast cars are, and how spaciously they accommodate a family of four whilst only needing major maintenance every other year, providing something else hasn’t failed. Anyhow the advice is always to get a warranty of some sorts. With this car, that’s just not necessary. Sure, 0-62 in around 6s isn’t as quick as many, though certainly quick enough to surprise, and a cruising average of 32mpg is not miserly. But the urban assault to which this car has been regularly subjected, and then been asked to haul us all away in 40C, with bushfires raging, has cemented the idea there is more to a great family car than numbers and badges.
Servicing has been roughly by the book – minor services every 10,000km, which has been about 8-10 months. The two major services are the All Fluids and the Timing Belts – a total of about $2,200 for those two. And nothing else has happened. Well…
As I put it up for sale, it had a tantie. It was like the perfect dinner guest, who brings great wine, provides lively chat, and wants to help, who then spills red wine all over the new cream carpet on their way out of the door. Yep, two days after the ad went up, the clutch fork snapped. A tow later to the local clutch specialist, a week before Christmas, had me on the road just a day and $1800 later. Clutch itself was about 60% worn. Towing dude remarks how few Subes he has to collect…
But that has seriously been it. In four years and 50,000 kms of carting a family around a major city, and on hot cross-country road trips. No EML suddenly lighting up, no going into limp mode, no blown head gaskets, nothing.
When the new owner turned up to collect, even the kids went out to wave the car goodbye
So, the replacement has some big shoes to fill. Luckily it’s a big car, with a fairly big engine, so I think it’ll give it a go.
Great write up, thanks for that. I'm just on the hunt for one of these to bring into the UK from Japan. I'm on the fence as to whether to get an Eyesight version or keep it simple for the reasons you outlined. Are the HID lights any good (I believe the GT-S comes with HID but the GT with halogen)? Presumably HID is better than halogen and has longer-lasting bulbs to mitigate that VW-esque bulb change procedure. Sounds like it will be the Swiss army knife of cars anyway, so I'm looking forward to it.
Great cars all round, that’s for sure.
I tried an Eyesight version when I looked for this one but it was (a) auto-only and (b) way too sensitive for my liking. Manual without Eyesight was my choice in the end and one I’d do again.
Bulbs in the GT are HiD and were fine - perhaps not the best but better than many.
If you are looking to import, don’t forget that Australia is also RHD and has a strong Subaru market...
Let me know if you’ve any other Qs - otherwise good luck on the search
I tried an Eyesight version when I looked for this one but it was (a) auto-only and (b) way too sensitive for my liking. Manual without Eyesight was my choice in the end and one I’d do again.
Bulbs in the GT are HiD and were fine - perhaps not the best but better than many.
If you are looking to import, don’t forget that Australia is also RHD and has a strong Subaru market...
Let me know if you’ve any other Qs - otherwise good luck on the search
PomBstard said:
S100HP said:
Really like this car, and your thread. It's a real shame they didn't sell this in the UK, I'm still drawn to a Subaru even after my last experiment.
Thanks! The real shame is that Subaru don’t make this any more. The Levorg is too small, and there is no Liberty wagon anyway. The parts exist - WRX drivetrain and Outback shell - but clearly not part of Subaru’s plan.For me, this means that when I come to replace it, a Subaru won’t be on my shortlist for the first time in many many years. I’m sure I’ll miss much about this car, as an ownership experience, it’s been top notch.
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