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Comments
What might be the differences between the SP5000s and the Sport A2s..
I'd been looking into the Sport A2s, but many reviewers knock their performance in snow, especially in turns.
Thanks.
My feeling is that the A2s will handle better than the SP5000s in snow and rain, and the SP5000s will be better in the dry. Both doing all-weather driving very well.
What kind of reviewers are these? Are they the average joe? For instance in turns, Zephyr was running full-snows in his 2.5RS and he was able to get it loose on the snow if he wasn't careful. We were doing lots of curves and hills, only on 1 or 2 times did it get a bit loose on the snow, and even then give it a tad of gas and you straightened right out.
Often times people think that all-seasons or snow tires will give them dry-perfromance in snow, which is not the case.
-mike
Had the tires on for several weeks now and I like them quite a bit. Best all-around tire for the money, but as usual, YMMV.
Hope this helps,
-brianV
We are not buying an extended warranty AND plan to keep the car a long time... In other words, the car is great!
Ralph
Have they gotten rid of MBTE in the states which didn't use gasohol initially yet?
it would be hard to, given it costs more to make than it's worth on the open market and can't survive without subsidy.
-Colin
Greg
The problem according to the dealer: I don't drive my car enough.
The problem according to me: I work from home and don't need a car often, but when I need it, I want it to work. This week I was unable to drive my car because I was in bed for a solid week with the flu, and when I needed it to drive to the doctor's office because I couldn't breath, it was dead. Again.
Either way, the battery is continually dead. After a recharge, I might be able to go without driving my car as much as 4-5 days at a time without a dead battery.
Although the dealer has gone out of his way to determine if there is something wrong with the car, his latest call tells me that he has given up. He said, "You've got to drive more. You're short-tripping your car and the battery isn't getting recharged and it continues to drain while it sits in the garage. Put a trickle charger on it."
When I get to drive this car, I love it. But I bought a new car for reliability. I really don't want to have to mess under the hood every time I need to drive my car. Does this qualify as a lemon? Can I get the SOA involved? Or are they also going to say "You need to drive your car more."
Any help would be appreciated,
Cheryl
I bought a 2002 S on 9/1/01 and now have 7800 miles on it - I walk to work most days and when I drive it's only 6 blocks. I walk to the grocer, the drug store, restaurants and can even get to one movie house(and it's an old one with an organ that rises up through the floor in front of the screen.)
There is no reason a battery won't tolerate sitting for a week or two. What do people do when they park the car at the airport and leave town for a week or a month? Do they require a jump when they return? No. Nope. Once in a blue moon - maybe.
Tell them to fix it. Period. No excuses. If you know somebody with a big mouth like me take them with you to stare them down and laugh at them.
I'm 52 and have been through a bunch of cars and the only one that had that kind of a problem was a girlfriend's 1969 Chevy Nova with a bad starter. It would drain the battery every other night. Sometimes 2 out of 3. It just depended on how the starter was sitting when the car was parked. A full diagnostic over a period of two days turned up nothing. I told them to rebuild the starter and that fixed the problem (after they told me I was wasting my money.)
I'm not saying the starter is your problem - I'm not up to date on all of these computer-infested modern autos. But there is something draining that battery and it could be as simple as a bad battery or as complicated as I don't know what.
You bought a new car and they have to find out what's wrong and fix it.
Ask them how often they start all of the cars on their back lot. I bet it isn't every week.
I'm in Richmond, Virginia if you're around here.
John
Could just be a bad battery, and that should be under warranty, so have them replace it and see if the problems persists.
They are right about one thing...if you are driving your car once a week or less, you may want to think about a trickle charger, and if not, each time you drive it, you should be sure to run it for 5-10 minutes at least, so that it can "recover" from the long period of inactivity and charge back up.
2014 Mini Cooper (stick shift of course), 2016 Camry hybrid, 2009 Outback Sport 5-spd (keeping the stick alive)
Have you changed your battery yet? If not, I think you have a bad battery. Your vehicle should not be dead after sitting around for a few days. The OE battery is pretty weak so if you can't get it replaced under warranty, it is well worth going out and buying an aftermarket one.
Personally, I'd try and resolve issues with the dealer and SOA before going through something like the Lemon Law. If the dealer isn't helpful, give Subaru a call at 1-800-SUBARU3 and set up a case.
Ken
My understanding is that methanol is made from wood pulp, ethanol from grains (corn, etc). I am not sure what the source is for propanol (or its isomers - isopropyl), but it's much higher cost indicates it must be made from something not as common as trees or corn.
Methyl (cheap gas dryer) got a bad rap as it damaged rubber seals and killed electric fuel pumps and injectors. IIRC, car makers addressed some of that by switching from rubbers to silicon and viton (?) seals. Isopropyl is considered to be pretty safe to use. I have never seen ethanol sold outside of a fuel mix. Maybe it doesn't scavenge water well on its own???
Ethanol (C2H5OH) functions like MTBE - as an oxygen/hydrogen source, although as you can see, there is not much oxygen per molecule. In the USA it is typically used in less than 10% concentration with no ill effect. I think Brazil uses a higher concentration "GASAHOL" and mfgrs had to battle severe corrosion problems. Now that MTBE is on the 'bogy' list, I wonder if ethanol will reappear across the country??
Steve
-Brian
Just picked up our new 03 Forester (quite a switch from my old 85 Tercel!). One small thing that has me only slightly concerned: at about 27 kilometers the check engine light went on. I phoned the service manager, and he assured me this meant nothing... that it was not uncommon in a new car. He said if it did not go out within a week or so, to bring it in. It did indeed go out at about 70 kilometers. So, is he right? Should I ignore that the light went on?
Greg
I second Greg's opinion about rust and today's cars, especially Subies. I believe they are far less prone to rusting compared to vehicles a decade ago. Rustproofing often is a way for the dealer to just fatten their profit margins. In addition, I've heard that the "rustproofing" is often a sparse coating of material that doesn't really protect the chassis anyway.
Anyone know when Subaru started getting into double-galvanized steel?
Ken
1 - make sure your gas cap is tight. It has a wratchet type closure and you should make it click a couple of times when you close it.
2 - don't short cycle the engine, i.e. don't start it cold, back out of the garage and shut it off. It runs rich and can foul the O2 sensor. Happened on my 96 OBS a couple of times and cleared up after a few miles.
I've read that you can re-set the light by disconnecting the battery for a few minutes. I've never tried it FWIW.
The light should go out on it's own after a few ignition cycles. Just tell the dealer the light was on the next time you're in for service and they can read the error code using special tools.
If it doesn't go out on, follow the dealer's advice and set up and appointment. Again, as long as it's not flashing, it's probably a minor item.
Ken
Picture the scenario: Man walks into auto parts store and buys ethanol gas treatment. Pours half into tank, then drinks the remaining 6 ounces. Now with a blood alcohol level approaching 0.20, he crashes the car!!! Maybe it is not such a good idea....
Steve
If he says he's done that, either the alternator is defective and won't charge the battery properly, the belt is too loose or the battery needs to be replaced at Subaru's expense.
A good point raised by someone else was whether or not there was any aftermarket equipment installed in the car. This is a favorite "blame game" item.
I used to leave my Merc Sable parked in the driveway for 2 months plus in the winter when I was travelling and never had a problem
Nor should you.
Just another 2 cents
Steve
Actually that's not too far off -- I've heard urban legends that people sometimes drink Listerene for it's ethanol content.
Ken
Len
It's true that a vehicle only used for a short trip will not get a chance to recharge the energy expended to crank the car up, but if you park a properly charged battery it should not be a problem to start after a measly week. I'd contact SOA and ask for a battery replacement under warranty. Some area auto parts stores also offer free battery checking which tell you if it is properly holding the charge.
IdahoDoug
Around Rochester NY the lowest price for these in 225/60R16 seems to be at Dunn Tire at around $120 incl balancing.
Thanks again.
-mike
Steve
Mark
Ken
(Shopping for tires for his Forester)
Next Subie must have the All Weather Package. I wonder how hard it is to add the heated side view mirrors?
Mark
-Dennis
My feeling is that selling prices for these tires probably have risen since Consumer Reports gave them a good writeup a few months ago.
-mike
And with our 6 month winters up here, I thought we needed the extra snow/ice traction.
If you have your car done with either Krown rustproofing or Rust check rustproofing you will have no problems with rotted rubber seals, I have been having my cars done for over twenty years with one or the other of these products and never had a problem.
I hope this address,s any queries that you had.
Cheers Pat.
Good luck!
Phil
-mike
Ken
Betty Dukakis - reminds me of a joke I heard when I was in hospital during the '88 election. What do they call those little packets of alcohol wipes in Boston?
A Betty Dukakis after dinner mint!
I have had NRWs this season, quite nice but ice traction seems less than true wintertires
Greg