Anyone ever owned or operated a Subaru Justy?

[LowBuckCanuck]

Pretty cool little cars from the looks of it. Almost Tercel-Like.

Thoughts?

[LowBuckCanuck]

I'm having a hell of a time with these attachments... please pay no attention to the 500000000 copies.

[The Professor]

My friend had a Justy back in the day. They're fairly capable if equipped with the single range manual transmission. The ECVT was ahead of its time and it showed, almost none with the CVT are still on the road today. Sadly, the Justy shares almost no parts with the more common and capable EA-series Subarus.

[splatterdog]

I would stick with a T4. I worked on LOTS of subies in the late 80's and early 90's, while only seeing a T4 in the shop once. Sharing of parts is a huge advantage as The Professor indicated.

Real 4wd always scores points though!

Whoah Professor, that's a lot of old Subaru! Who let you in here? haha

[LowBuckCanuck]

Probably the only Subaru I would ever buy because it isn't an opposed engine.

[Petros]

I sure those tracks can be made to work on our Tercel4wd, but you would benefit from more power unless you just stick with Extra Low.

would be a fun experiment to try, but not much practical value outside of perhaps a DIY ski lift away from the crowds.

[LowBuckCanuck]

I sure those tracks can be made to work on our Tercel4wd, but you would benefit from more power unless you just stick with Extra Low.

would be a fun experiment to try, but not much practical value outside of perhaps a DIY ski lift away from the crowds.

Tracks always look cool, but I doubt they are much use in the 6 feet of snow I get. Maybe early or late in the season they could be fun, but too much snow and you'll get stuck regardless.

[The Professor]

Whoah Professor, that's a lot of old Subaru! Who let you in here? haha

Hahahaha, I've been discovered! Growing up my dad had a 2WD Tercel wagon and I always wanted to relive that. Found one and I've been lurking around here for a few years now.

I would say a similar vintage Subaru is just as reliable as a Tercel, especially considering how many of them inevitably end up as off-roaders. The early 80's engines don't even have timing belts and the later, belt-driven engines are non-interference. A weber carb eliminates the troublesome emission-carbs and that's about all you need to do to one. Engine swaps are a breeze, since Subaru has had the same powertrain layout from 1970 through today. (I have a 260 hp turbocharged engine in one of mine, basically bolted right in).

Honestly, I do still prefer my 80's Subarus over the Tercel, but I can see the appeal of the Terk. At least my 4WD came in a choice of body styles!

[LowBuckCanuck]

Whoah Professor, that's a lot of old Subaru! Who let you in here? haha

Hahahaha, I've been discovered! Growing up my dad had a 2WD Tercel wagon and I always wanted to relive that. Found one and I've been lurking around here for a few years now.

I would say a similar vintage Subaru is just as reliable as a Tercel, especially considering how many of them inevitably end up as off-roaders. The early 80's engines don't even have timing belts and the later, belt-driven engines are non-interference. A weber carb eliminates the troublesome emission-carbs and that's about all you need to do to one. Engine swaps are a breeze, since Subaru has had the same powertrain layout from 1970 through today. (I have a 260 hp turbocharged engine in one of mine, basically bolted right in).

Honestly, I do still prefer my 80's Subarus over the Tercel, but I can see the appeal of the Terk. At least my 4WD came in a choice of body styles!

I just get hung up on the horror stories of modern Subarus, with the excessive oil burning, head problems, and interference engines with timing belts. But then theres the TURBO potential...

[Petros]

most of the old Subaru are all gone, either blown engines, blown trans, or rusted away back into the earth.

When I was in collage, a good friend of mine, auto and climbing buddy, bought one of the first generation subaru wagons and went about trying to improve it. found a way to raise it up, put bigger tires on it, welded bumpers with a winch, and than went about trying to get more power out of it. all of the wrecking yard engine had thrown rods, there was nothing bigger at the time he could put in the car so decided to turbo charge it. That resulted in a number of engine failures, gasket, fuel systems, etc (he relied on some of my advice since I had some turbo design experience working for Nissan). I had reworked a set of subaru 1600 connecting rods (shot peened, balanced and blue printed, stronger bolts, etc). After lots of extensive and creative solutions, he finally sold it and bought a toyota. He still drives a Toyota to this day 40 years later.

I do not know where the Subaru got a reputation for being reliable, all of them had head gasket problems, most of the heaters rotted away (and leaked coolant on the passagers feet), and if you keep replacing head gaskets long enough, the transmission will give up (especially the automatic). The new ones are allegedly better, but I would not know, I have always steered clear of them. There is little heavy maintenance you can do on them without pulling the engine, a big job just to fix a bad head gasket.

The newer models have become larger, heavier, more complex, less economical, and I find it hard to believe they are actually more reliable. Of course, this has happened to all of the once small 4wd, or AWD cars that used to be available in the USA, but that is why I am staying with my Tercel4wd.

[ARCHINSTL]

Mind, not knocking Volvos, having owned a beloved-from-new-NON-'troubled '64-122S, but -
an ex owned an '82 Subie with probs and then went with an '85 (?), which also had engine probs.
I think - with moi having no experience with Subies - that like modern Volvos, their reputation has yet to be earned (compared to at least to OUR little guys!)
Tom M.

HA!- I'd forgotten - when she was looking for one to follow the '82, I'd gotten an email from the dealer, looking for leads. I sent him her name, and when she bought the '85, I got a check for $50! Needless to say, I did not tell her. SHHH!

[oldfaithful]

They are still junk. My brother had a few of them from 2002-2014 the 02 Impreza was good, then he had an ‘04 turbo Forester,trans. problems, ‘06 turbo Forester good, ‘09 turbo Forester good, ‘11 Outback 3.6 6cyl. real good car, and then he bought a ‘14 turbo Forester it was charcoal grey in colour, but let me tell you it should have been bright yellow, what a piece of garbage that thing was, he only kept it a few months and unloaded it, bought a ‘15 F-150 with the 5.0 has had absolutely no problems, he is actually trading it for a ‘18 F-150 soon. Point being my old Tercel has out lived a lot of new junk he has and a lot of my family and friends have bought over the period I have had it,27 years this August that I bought it and I wouldn’t trade it for 6 new vehicles.

[splatterdog]

Overall the Subes have the typical Japanese longevity. But, almost every one I've seen in the last few years has the beginning of head gasket leaks. Then there's the last one that I had to replace the knuckle. The cv joint was atomically bonded to the hub. Lot's of heat and penetrant and a 20 ton posilock puller with a cheater pipe on a snap on 1/2 inch breaker bar didn't budge it. It was just over 10 years old, even the rustiest T4 hasn't done that to me. Or any other car for that matter. https://www.amazon.com/Posi-Lock-110-Pu ... dpSrc=srch

It would be neat to make a Toyota "Justy" with a T4 powertrain in a hatchback. The pocket turtle..

[splatterdog]

Even underpowered, I think a T4 would do good on tracks. Traction to weight ratio is off the charts. Basing that theory on having spanked every other car, truck, and suv on snowy roads for over 20 years now. Putting snow tires on this winter has renewed my T4 passion! lol

Haven't had to fix anything but a rusty bulb socket all winter! The brake rotor rust pulsation even polished out after it's long break.

[The Professor]

most of the old Subaru are all gone, either blown engines, blown trans, or rusted away back into the earth.

Sounds like a lot of the Tercels that I come across!

I do not know where the Subaru got a reputation for being reliable, all of them had head gasket problems, most of the heaters rotted away (and leaked coolant on the passagers feet), and if you keep replacing head gaskets long enough, the transmission will give up (especially the automatic). The new ones are allegedly better, but I would not know, I have always steered clear of them. There is little heavy maintenance you can do on them without pulling the engine, a big job just to fix a bad head gasket.

I didn't join a Toyota forum expecting to preach to a willing audience, but some of the stuff you're saying about my beloved 'Barus is clearly biased, and without a great deal of experience turning wrenches on them, much less long-term ownership of said vehicles. Now, I can't say I've dug nearly as deep into my Tercel as you have Petros, but I've owned and driven it for the better part of four years to date, so I do feel like I have some experience to draw from on both sides.

To start, I don't see how you can say Subarus are hard to work on when they have the EXACT SAME drivetrain layout as an AL25. I don't have to disassemble the accessory drive to replace engine mounts in my Subarus, axles swaps are a 10 minute job and, oh yeah, our front suspension doesn't use the anti-roll bar as a critical linkage!

The cars are built like Legos. The fact that I have an engine from a 1993 that practically bolts straight into an '87 chassis, along with the upgraded AWD transmission, limited slip differentials, 4-wheel disc brakes and suspension means I'll be able to re-power these chassis well into the coming decades. The only thing I have to worry about is rust and rubber parts. T4s will be dead-in-the-water when the 3A/4A engine and parts supply dries up due to the goofy transmission design, unless this community can figure out how to keep the supply lines running or how to easily re-power this chassis AND keep the 4WD, which is really what makes this car unique.

As far as the "vintage" engines go, the EA71 and EA81 engines (~'78-'89 in the U.S., and in fact every single Subaru engine platform thereafter) has been used in experimental and light aircraft. I think that says enough about the reliability of Subaru engines.