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Comments
-juice
My wife and I own a 2000 Outback wagon which we purchased new in March 2000 from a local dealer. The vehicle now has 49000 miles on it and the paint on the front bumper is coming off and is clearly defective, according to the Subaru dealer's own body shop mgr.
Also, what is more damning is that the chrome paint on the bottom edge of the grille is "bubbling" in 3 places. This cannot be repainted, so the grill must be replaced. We live in Florida, but not near salt, and the car has only been used for local to/from work usage; no offroad, racing, 4 wheeling, etc.
The local Subaru dealer says the paint warranty only goes to 36K/36000 miles, and they have offered to split the cost ~$450 with us 50/50. I discussed this with the General Manager and pressed for full coverage under the Rust Corrosion warranty of 60 months, but my request was denied and they are claiming that SOA only covers to the 50/50 split.
My car is the 2nd one from 2000 with this problem locally. Also we are aware that there is a paint recall for salt belt states for rear suspension parts that were not properly coated, so it seems that the paint on this car is not high quality, at least for this year model.
I logged a complaint at NHTSA.GOV, but it may not go anywhere, since it is not safety related.
My question is this: should I take the 50/50 and run with it, or am I should I press my case with SOA. I can find no specific details on the Subaru paint warranty and the terms of the rust/corrosion warranty say nothing about paint coming off or bubbling up on chromed parts.
Please advise if you can on this topic.
Now after 13000 miles, all tires are badly & unevenly worn & one is nearly bald. They became increasingly noisy through the year. We've had them balanced several times and did an alignment as well. The Wilderness tires wore evenly and were not noisy - but were not great in snow & ice.
I see from several posts, that others have had problems with the Dunlops.
We got the Dunlops at Dunn tire. Should we expect Dunn to replace the tires with new (different brand/model) tires?
Thanks.
- hsub
In retrospect, I should never have had the body shop touch the car. The process of stripping everything off (glass, mouldings, interior panels, etc) left the car an absolute mess after -- they never could get the car assembled properly and it rattled horribly after. I ended up getting rid of the car (for an 04 WRX) because I just could not stand the incurable wind noise and rattles that cropped up after the repair.
Brian
Brian
I somehow feel there must be a sensor going bad?
I have: Removed "Height" fuse, got worse
Remove air line connections, got worse
If the shocks were bad would they not be bad ALL the time?
Speaking of height adjustments, that silly extra inch and a half or whatever it was that the car would be raised was totally worthless from a practical viewpoint.
How do you like the Michelin MXV4s?
Dunn is willing to replace the Dunlop tires, but they are recommending Continental ContiTour CH95s.
Any opinion on the Michelin vs the Continental? Consumer Reports likes the Continentals better for handling but says the Michelins have a shorter stopping distance for wet & and dry conditions.
Thanks.
hsubaru
I am not aware of any manuafacturer warranty that covers paint for more than 3 years. Your bumper cover will never rust, so the corrosion warranty does not apply. The underbody rust recall is a safety issue, your bumper paint does not pose a safety risk. The NHSTA won't give this any consideration unless you can convince them the peeling paint affect soneone's safety.
I have always thought the faux chrome on the grille was cheesey. A replacement grille will ultimately begin to bubble. The old grille can be repainted, but it will never look like chrome. You could sand down all the shiney plastic and give it a coat of black paint.
I would take the 50/50 offer and be happy you did't have to pay the whole bill.
Jim
I may actually put some MXV4's on my WRX now that the OEM tires are getting worn out. While the MXV isn't an all out performance tire, I think they would be great on my WRX given my driving style. If I raced on a track, I'd likely go with something else...
Brian
When I first put them on, they were great in the snow. (Then the snow melted and I haven't had a chance to try them again).
They are great in the rain and handle puddles on the highway effortlessly. Dry performance is also pretty good, making tight bends on highway on and offramps fun to tackle.
Choose the V speed rated tires as they have a stiffer sidewall and will provide better handling.
The aggressive tread pattern also suits the style of the car, especially when parked with the wheels angled. (Ok, a little obsessive here, but isn't that what we are all here for? "Subaru's Anonymous")
Mark
I tried everything I could think of (including ductape and wire) and eventually just took the darn thing off.
I never really figured out if the noise was caused by the pieces rattling against each other, or against something else. If they're rattling off each other, could they be tacked together somehow? Wire never worked because it would loosen up after a short time from heat expansion, but maybe some kind of muffler repair epoxy along the seams would work.
Good Luck!
Chad
-Dave
Karl
I have a 1999 Subaru Outback with automatic transmission and 71,000 miles with similar problem. When shifting from park to drive or reverse there is an intermittent delay. It's like getting stuck in neutral. This only happens when the vehicle is in complete stop. To get it going I usually rev the gas slightly and the transmission kicks in. Once it goes forward, transmission runs smoothly without any hesitation or any shifting problems between gears thereafter. Please also note that differential gear (front and rear) as well as the transmission fluids appear to be full.
Any advice out there? I'm also concern whether it will be an expensive fix. Otherwise, it has been a great car.
DaveM
Thanks,
Mark
Because I was using a bright light, I also noticed oil leaks. The sump bolts at the front of the engine and the oil pan itself are quite oily, both the drive shaft seals are leaking slightly, and there is evidence of a slight leak on the upper left of the 5-speed transmission. I think these are all covered under the major component warranty still in effect. I have 44,000 km on the car.
Has anyone experienced similar leaks? I think I remember some discussion about incorrect drive shaft grease from the factory.
Never seen a tranny leak though.
-juice
-juice
Mark
-juice
Steve
I have a 2000 OBW Ltd. that I bought used in March 2003 with 32K on the odo. In the past few months I have noticed the same paint flaking and bubbling off on my front bumper (I have not noticed any problem with the "chrome" on my grill, though). There is a layer of paint very similar in color but somewhat dissimilar in metal flake graininess where the top coat has flaked off.
I posted on this board a few weeks ago, and the consensus was that it had probably been repainted. If so, then the guy I bought it from conveniently omitted that information.
Now, though, based on your post, it may be that this can occur even with the original paint. Where your paint is flaking off, what do you see underneath? Bare black plastic? Primer? Or more paint that is just a little bit different than the top coat?
I haven't really spent too much time on this problem -- I've got too many other irons in the fire. But, I'm a teacher, and summer break is coming, so I may have some time to fuss over this in a few weeks.
K9Leader
Newark, Delaware
Just my guess.
-juice
-mike
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-mike
Greg
We had the same problem recently actually, our supplier sent us the wrong rotors for an OBS, had to go get a set at pepboys on the fly.
-mike
-juice
Now with 26k, I am getting that pulsing from highway speed braking. Hopefully dealer will replace (again) under warranty at 30k check-up.
STILL looking for better aftermarket rotors though.
Cheers
Matt
I was wondering the opinion out there on the mid-service levels. I have 48k on my '01 and my service people are suggesting this service. When I went to the mysubaru.com site the services listed are pretty slim:
Inspect Steering and suspension
Inspect Clutch operation
Perform Inspect brake lines and check operation of parking and service brake system
Inspect Disc brake pads and discs, front and rear axle boots and axle shaft joint portions
Replace Engine oil filter
Replace Engine oil
-mike
-juice
After reading the posts on the rotors, got me thinking that maybe they have some of the larger aftermarket rotors available now. TireRack now shows EBC and PowerSlot rotors available for the Bean and VDC. I emailed PowerSlot to make sure these would fit. They said yes, but their website said they make their rotors from Subaru parts! Here is my email and their response. What do you all think???
Matt
On the website, it says your rotors are made from "OE blanks" - so, can I expect these to have any better warp resistance than stock Subaru rotors?
"POWER SLOT rotors are OE blanks but our exclusive Vac-U-Slot design
sheds heat and gasses faster while maintaining a clean pad surface,
significantly reducing brake fade. When paired with a high performance,semi-metallic brake pad you will see quicker stops, less fade, and extended pad/rotor life. However rotors are a wear item and wear like tires so eventually you will have to replace them. But POWER SLOTs should at least double if not triple in miles compared to the OEMs already on your car. Warping should not be a problem as long as you use the correct brake pads and install them correctly."
Craig
That is my initial reaction as well. I was *hoping* they used a more structurally sound metal compostion or something. Oh well, I'll keep looking.
Matt
It turns out that Subaru made a change mid year 01 and went with larger rotors. When I returned the after market rotors today (which seemed to be good quality) the auto store looked it up and concluded that next time I should order 02 year rotors for my 01 model car which he said are larger. Comparing the 2 it appears Subaru has some kind of coating on the rotors and it also appeared the after market rotors seemed a little thicker at the expense of the slot area, but I didn't measure it and it could have been an optical illusion. So does that make my car an 02 now??
Greg
The biggest single cause of rotor failure is overheating. By putting slots in the rotors, the surface area of the rotor is increased, which allows greater heat dissipation to the surrounding air.
In addition, the slots allow the brakes pads to be cleansed by carrying away dirt that would otherwise be trapped between the pad and the rotor surface.
That being said, it is very important that the rotor is not weakened by removing too much of the original material. In addition, the rotors must remain balanced. So I wouldn't recommend that you just take your rotors to your drill press and start drilling.
gearhead4
Craig
How are the VDC rotors compared in size to WRX ones? If they are the same size you can try the racingbrake.com ones, so far we've been running them at the track on long hard sessions w/o overheating nor any pad transfer problems. They are made of an upgraded material (nickle alloy IIRC) and are quite stout.
Most rotors NEVER EVER warp, they get pad transfer which causes raised areas in the surface of the rotor and APPEAR to warp, however re-bedding in your pads and/or lightly sanding the rotors and pads will clear it up.
-mike