A very close friend of mine recently had their engine fail in a 2013 Subaru Impreza CVT (2.0L, non-turbo) with around 85k miles. They came to me as their "car guy" but I feel out of my league, so I told them I would ask other's opinions and help interpret the responses we get.
Essentially, while driving down the highway at 60mph they lost all power after hearing some "spurting" noises. Even with their foot on the gas, they were losing speed. They were able to coast to an off-ramp by shifting to neutral and called a tow-truck. The shop they took it to said the engine was locked up, fluid levels were all OK, and nothing that they could see without breaking into the engine could explain the failure. They are now offering to replace the engine with another (24k miles) for $2,600 (labor included). This would not come with any warranty.
From my experience, that is extremely low for an engine replacement, which makes me worried.
First, this shop is where they have had their recent maintenance done, including an oil change ~1 month and a few thousand miles ago (they drive a lot). I know that this engine is known to consume a lot of oil and even had a successful class action lawsuit against Subaru that would put it under an extended warranty. However, the shop says the oil level and filter were both fine. I'm a little skeptical since they were the last ones to touch both of those items.
Second, we don't even know what is wrong with the current engine. I think it would probably be over $2,600 no matter the fix though, which leads me to my third point...
We don't have any information on this "new" engine. The shop just said it had 24k miles on it, they could get it tomorrow, and have the work done next week. This sounds too good to be true, so I think it is.
So I would like your opinions on three things:
1) Does the proposed repair sound reasonable? To me, its too good to be true...
2) Should this just be brought to a dealer due to the known engine oil issues? This shop said the oil levels are fine but I'm not convinced. We are currently trying to contact a dealer for a counter offer/their thoughts.
3)* What would be your estimated timeline (total time and man-hours required) with this little information? I want to at least find out what is wrong before paying for a repair/replacement, but if the shop can really get the engine replaced in a week I think its worth it.
*Edited the third question to fit within the rules/guidelines.
Thank you!