Our Story
Dakota Subaru Experts was built from years of hands-on experience, a passion for Subaru vehicles, and a shared belief that great work comes from focusing on what you know best.Below, here Tanner & Mariah Osborn's story on how they built Dakota Subaru Experts.
Where it All Started
Dakota Subaru Experts began long before the name existed.
For Tanner Osborn, working on Subaru vehicles started as a teenager. Around the age of fifteen, he began learning by doing by taking engines apart, diagnosing problems, and figuring out how things worked through hands-on experience. Over time that curiosity turned into real experience, and eventually a deep understanding of Subaru engines and how these vehicles are built.
That experience eventually carried into professional work as well. Tanner spent time working at a Subaru dealership, where he continued building his knowledge of Subarus while working on them every day.
Around the same time, Tanner and Mariah were beginning their life together and raising a young family. Becoming parents early shaped many of the decisions they made and pushed them to be resourceful in how they approached work and opportunity.
Subarus played a practical role in that journey. Tanner often bought, repaired, and sold Subaru vehicles, using the skills he had developed over the years to keep things moving forward and fuel their dreams. Those projects helped support the family and also funded another one of Tanner’s careers and passions in aviation.
Determined to become a pilot, Tanner worked toward his flight certifications while continuing to repair and sell Subaru vehicles along the way. They had to make a sacrifice and Tanner had to move away for about a year to complete the training required, paying for all of it himself while balancing work and family life.
During that same period, Mariah was pursuing her education, studying biomechanics and later completing graduate work and obtaining a masters degrees in business philosophy and an MBA. Her academic background would become an important part of the foundation behind Dakota Subaru Experts, supporting the operational and business side of what the company would become.
Together, Tanner and Mariah developed a shared belief that the best businesses are built around real experience and genuine passion. Subaru vehicles had been part of their lives for year as vehicles they drove, repaired, studied, and relied on. Over time, it became clear that the knowledge and experience they had built around Subarus could grow into something larger.
Dakota Subaru Experts was the natural result of that journey.
Why We Focus Solely on Subarus
Over time, Subaru vehicles simply became the natural focus.
Through years of repairing, driving, and working on them, Tanner developed a deep familiarity with the Subaru platform, particularly the engines and mechanical systems that make these vehicles unique. Subarus are built differently than most vehicles, and working on them consistently reveals patterns that only become clear through experience.
Certain problems appear more often. Certain repairs require a specific approach. And understanding how these vehicles behave over time makes a real difference when diagnosing and repairing them properly.
That level of familiarity with Subaru engines also carried into another area of Tanner’s life which is aviation. In the experimental aircraft world, Subaru engines are sometimes adapted for aircraft use because of their compact design and horizontally opposed layout. That overlap only deepened the appreciation for the engineering behind these engines and how they perform under demanding conditions.
By focusing specifically on Subaru vehicles, Dakota Subaru Experts is able to approach repairs with the benefit of that accumulated knowledge. Instead of dividing attention across dozens of manufacturers, the shop concentrates on the vehicles it understands best.
Subarus have also simply been a part of everyday life for Tanner and Mariah for many years. They are vehicles they have owned, driven, repaired, and relied on personally. That familiarity creates a deeper connection to the work and the people who trust them with their vehicles.
Our Philosophy on Repairs
At Dakota Subaru Experts, repairs are approached with a long-term mindset.
Through years of working on Subarus, Tanner began noticing the same patterns appearing again and again. Certain engines developed the same problems. Certain repairs were performed in ways that only temporarily addressed the issue. And many Subaru owners found themselves facing the same failures more than once over the life of their vehicle.
Those experiences shaped the philosophy behind Dakota Subaru Experts.
Over time, Tanner developed a methodology centered around using the highest quality parts available and approaching each repair with a deeper understanding of the problems these engines commonly face. Rather than simply replacing components, the goal became finding better ways to address the underlying issues that cause those failures in the first place.
The goal is always to understand the root cause of a problem and repair it properly. That means taking the time to diagnose issues carefully, using parts and methods that have proven reliable, and being transparent with customers about what their vehicle truly needs.
Subaru owners often keep their vehicles for many years, and the work done on those vehicles should reflect that. Repairs should help extend the life of the vehicle and give owners confidence in the road ahead.
Over time, that philosophy naturally led to a deeper focus on Subaru engines themselves. After seeing the same issues appear across many vehicles, particularly oil consumption and head gasket failures, Tanner began refining a better approach to the platform. That process eventually evolved into the development of the Badlands Boxer engine, an engine built with reliability in mind and designed to address the weaknesses that commonly appear after years of real-world use.
Every part of that engine is approached with intention. The goal isn’t simply to rebuild what failed before, but to create an engine that Subaru owners can rely on for the long term.
Today, that same philosophy continues to guide the work done at Dakota Subaru Experts. Every repair, every engine, and every vehicle is approached with the same goal: helping Subaru owners keep their vehicles dependable for years to come.
