Control arm MEYLE or OEM Subaru

We've got a 2018 Forester, 118k miles and so far it's been a great vehicle. I've been very impressed with the AWD handling in Montana winters and off-road. I've done all of our maintenance myself after our initial free service period and only recently replaced both front lower control arms and wheel bearings which came out to about $265.

I just had my front lower control arms + bushings replaced on my 2017 Forester two weeks ago. The vehicle was shaking pretty hard at highway speeds. 56k miles.

You can get a set of lower front control arms for a Crosstrek from as low as about $110 although you may want a better quality set for around $200. DIY is not complex but can be a PITA with the sway bar links and ball joint retainer bolt. Took me about 3 hours each side on my Forester.

I immediately knew this was a subaru because subaru seems to be plagued by these issues. Mine failed at 26k miles and only 4 years out of factory. Yours needs to be replaced really soon.

Honest mechanic here. This is about 10% separated as seen near the bushing sleeve a real tear developing. The surface cracks all over are not concerning. I tend to recommend control arms once they are 50%+ separated; at that point stability and tire wear are considerably compromised, and should be addressed before complete separation of the bushing. Once the bushing is completely separated, braking will cause severe wandering, and going over speed bumps will make a notice “banging” like clunking. With that said, these arms being only 10% separated, and Subaru bushings, they will easily last to 100k+ miles without serious consequence. Now, a BMW or German built car with bushings like that would be more urgent, as the rubber deteriorates more quickly on those & gets a lot weaker even without severe separation. But, this softer rubber is also how they have a much smoother ride when everything is in good shape. $1600 is slightly on the higher end of price though not excessive depending on part brand used. Shops will mark up parts around 2.5x wholesale pricing, and using book time for labor, including alignment, is around 4 hours. At an average $150/hr labor rate, that’s $600 in labor roughly $850 in parts, then tax and shop supply fees ends up at $1600. You can find someone to replace them much cheaper, but they will most likely use in-house parts store brands which are notoriously garbage and have the ball joints fail in under 3 years, which is an even greater safety concern. The absolute best quality part you can get is OEM but that would be even more expensive at the dealership. Delphi and Mevotech Supreme are quality aftermarket brands. Everything else is not worth the time and money.

I got a similar quote with almost identical wear showing for my 2014 crosstrek ($1700), and everyone said that it was insane high. I searched facebook for a Subaru specific group in my local area, and searched it for recommended Subaru mechanics. Found a highly recommended mechanic who replaced both control arms plus the needed alignment for about $540.

Meyle get mixed reviews too, many report early failings again.

I got quoted 600 for both in the front for my crosstrek.

I am in almost the same exact position (just under 10k miles, finished a 1000 mile road trip and now I get clicking when crawling slowly with the wheel fully turned either way). I totally forgot about this common issue with the LCAs from the TSB. I stupidly thought it started happening because I recently did the Brembo upgrade with the 2 piece rotor and since the track got wider that it was putting more stress on the CV, but a defective LCA makes more sense. I just hate bringing my car to the dealer because i am very much not stock.

Had both LCAs replaced a little over a year ago. I have noticed the clicking sound has returned so I probably need to take it back in.