Subaru Crew Cafe

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  • joybelljoybell Member Posts: 275
    :):):):):):):)

    I now have my Forester!

    I have a question about warranty service. Looking through my booklet when I got home from the dealer I noticed that only the mileage points for service are mentioned, unlike my previous Subarus where both mileage and number of months are given for each service checkpoint. Why is this? Have service requirements changed? I drive to few miles/year to go by mileage. For example, it would take me more than 2 years to get to 24,000km checkpoint(15,000miles?) Of course, the Forester is so much fun to drive that I might just exceed my usual annual milage.
  • ateixeiraateixeira Member Posts: 72,587
    I'd change the oil at least twice a year, regardless of mileage.

    -juice
  • locke2clocke2c Member Posts: 5,038
    Good advice. Also try to let the engine warm up for at least 5 minutes beyond when the water temperature gauge reads in the normal range no matter how short your trips are-- this ensures the oil reaches a self-cleaning temperature and cooks off water and other contaminants.

    -Colin
  • joybelljoybell Member Posts: 275
    the warranty service check stuff that has to be done. I always change the oil spring and fall, and with a new car after drivin it for one month. It is the "other stuff" I am wondering about.
  • twrxtwrx Member Posts: 647
    Hi, just read on Speedvision site that Mark Lovell in his pro rally SCCA WRX won his class at the Pikes Peak Hillclimb and finished second over all. The two Mitu Evos in his class failed to finish.

    TWRX
  • History: I have a 2000 Subaru Legacy GT Limited with a manual transmission and 30,000 miles. Over the last couple of months the transmission has been dropped half a dozen times for a variety of reasons. In all, the following parts have been replaced because of visible and audible defects:
    1. Clutch disk
    2. Flywheel
    3. Throwout bearing
    4. Pressure plate
    5. Differential side bearings
    6. All transmission gears
    7. All transmission bearings
    8. Main transmission shaft
    9. Transmission synchros

    Yesterday I went to pick the vehicle up from the dealership only to learn that there was still a problem. There has been an irregular whine at 45 mph that sounds like a bad bearing, but the dealer's mechanics simply can't track it down. The whine seems to turn on at around 40 mph and disappear at 50 mph, but is most audible at 45 mph, and it's pitch varies even when the vehicle speed remains the same. It's not engine related since you can disengage the engine and it will persist just as before.

    So, the dealership is now contacting Subaru corporate. What would you ask for? How would you handle the situation?

    -Ty
  • damish003damish003 Member Posts: 303
    You mentioned that the tranny has been dropped at least half a dozen times in the past couple months. Has this problem just started, or has it been a problem since you got the car? Is it performance oriented, or more of an annoyance because of the whining noise? I'd be looking at a brand-new transmission, considering the mileage, if it was my car. Hope Subaru treats you right.

    Dan
  • ateixeiraateixeira Member Posts: 72,587
    I think they're going about it the right way. Clearly they want to resolve the issue and will do everything they can.

    IMO your patience establishes a goodwill with the dealer, and hopefully to SoA as well. Maybe they'll get a master tech in there to help out. There's always a first time, though, for an odd or rare problem, yours may be it.

    Document everything as best you can, keep a folder of records, even jot down notes about the converstations you had (date and time, with whom, etc).

    It doesn't seem like you'll need it, given the dealer seems to be trying every possible way to solve the problem. But still.

    -juice
  • damish003: Some of the problems were definitely performace oriented. Heavy clutch chatter, gear clash, and major scraping (bad bearings). The 45-mph whine is an annoyance, but definitely sounds like bads things are coming. It's loud enough to drown out the radio to give you perspective. Everything started up around 29,000 miles, and one problem just led to another within days of each other.

    Juice: Point well taken regarding documentation. The dealer has genuinely tried their best to resolve this, so I've been VERY understanding and pleasant about the whole issue. When Subaru corporate gets involved, what happens? The dealer's best mechanics are at a loss, so I seriously don't know what else they can do other than start replacing every moving part until the problem is fixed.
  • ateixeiraateixeira Member Posts: 72,587
    I hope they're providing a nice loaner, by the way?

    SoA can send a chief mechanic out to help them, or authorize bigger replacements (whole tranny, things like that). At the extreme, they might offer to replace the car or give you major incentives to get a new one.

    I've seen it happen, and your case seems as justified as any to deserve that kind of help. We'll get Patti involved if it comes down to that.

    -juice
  • locke2clocke2c Member Posts: 5,038
    Loosh asked in Modifications re: girlfriend-- excuse me, what? Is this the one who checked you out on your bike or did I miss something?

    Some questions answered here...

    read my post on the first page (ColinL).

    Abby, the girl I met about a month ago riding my motorcycle, isn't even mentioned there. I called her once and she never called back... later on I didn't call again because things were going nicely with Pattie (girl#1 in the nabisco thread linked above).

    -Colin
  • rshollandrsholland Member Posts: 19,788
    Background
    Just got back from North Carolina, where I had to move my daughter out of her college apartment. To do so, we thought it best to rent a truck, rather than use my open trailer. As it turned out, this was a good move as I drove 450+ miles through the remnants of tropical storm Bill.

    After visiting all the major truck rental sites on the Internet, we decided to go with Budget, as they had the best price. I wanted to go with Penske, because every Penske truck I've seen appeared to be brand new, and in very good shape. That can't be said of U-Haul or Budget. So the bottom line won out...or so we thought.

    So I reserved this 10' Box van from Budget, to be picked up in Wilmington, NC on July 1, at 9:00 AM. We drive down to Wilmington, which is a 7-hour drive, spend the night in the motel, and in the morning head over to Budget rent a truck. Guess what? We get there, and they don't have any trucks for us!! I said we have a reservation, and I showed the guy my confirmation number for the reservation. The guy shrugs his shoulders, and says, sorry, I don't have a truck for you...

    Well, at this point my wife was about to leap over the counter to strangle this guy. Here we are, 450 miles from home, we have to get a truck now, because the apartment lease is up... What do we do?

    I quickly asked is there a Penske truck rental nearby? He said yes, just up the road, and: "Would you like me to call and see if they have a truck?" I said yes, and it turns out they didn't have a 10' truck, but they had a 15' truck. Even though this was a much larger truck than we needed, I said yes.

    So we motor up to the Penske place, expecting to be gouged with a price. To our surprise, and to our favor the price they quoted was about half what the previous online Penske quote was. We were delighted, to say the least! It turns out, because I rented it on the first day of the month, rather than towards the end of the month, I was able to get such a good deal. The pricing on these rentals is dependent on supply and demand. Keep in mind apartment leases (which is what these vehicles mostly used for) usually end at the end of the month, therefore there is a huge demand for these vehicles towards the end of the month, not at the beginning of the month. We rented it on July 1.

    The Truck
    A late model GMC G3500 15,' dual-rear wheel, box van, with a 10,000 pound GVW. The "G" model signifies it has the cab from the full-size van, not pickup. As per my instincts, the truck was presented in excellent condition. It was an automatic, had A/C and radio, cloth reclining seats, and that's it. It also had a ramp to help load stuff, a real necessity!

    The Drive
    Well for someone who is used to driving an Explorer and 2 Subarus, it takes some getting used to, for sure. The GMC had ABS, but the brakes were lousy. Stopping distances were incredibly long, and the brake pedal pressure needed was substantial. I really was wondering if they were power brakes, because it sure didn't feel like power brakes. Passing was done with extreme caution, because you didn't have much power in reserve, and you had live (or die) by the outside mirrors.

    Also, this truck had a fuel cutoff, that came into play whenever you tried to exceed 70 mph. At first I thought the truck had some bad gas, because it kept bucking, but I finally realized it only happened at 71 mph. The first tank I got around 11 mpg, which isn't bad considering the vehicle. I'm returning the truck tomorrow, so I will do one more fuel mileage check.

    One side note: Coming up I-95, through Virginia, I had to stop and get the truck weighed (twice), just like all the big-rig truckers. :)

    Bob
  • subearusubearu Member Posts: 3,613
    Did it have the 6 liter gas engine?

    I've had the 'too bad about your reservation' from Budget as well a few years ago, just for a trailer. And when we went to Colorado for our honeymoon (wow, coming up on 4 years ago), I went with Budget since they had Outbacks. You guessed it, even though I had a reservation for one, they were out of the 'Outback or equivalent'. Got a 'free' upgrade. :rolleyes:

    -Brian
  • paisanpaisan Member Posts: 21,181
    yup, same here with uhaul. I always rent it a day early just for that reason.

    -mike
  • jlemolejlemole Member Posts: 345
    Didn't you guys learn anything from Seinfeld? They're very good at taking reservations, but not very good at the most important part of the reservation process....holding the reservation!

    Jon
  • bluesubiebluesubie Member Posts: 3,497
    I did an on-line reservation a few years ago with U-Haul and they didn't have it when I went to the store. Luckily, they had one in stock.

    -Dennis
  • ateixeiraateixeira Member Posts: 72,587
    3? I can barely handle 1! LOL

    Bob: you should write a letter to complain about that. They'll keep doing it as long as they can get away with it.

    Thought for the day: is it Doolie, Dualie, or Dually? :-)

    -juice
  • ateixeiraateixeira Member Posts: 72,587
    Check out the movie "Money Talks" if you like Chris Tucker, it's hilarious.

    My favorite scene is when Charlie Sheen asks him to change his clothes and take off his ear ring, and Chris Tucker answers something like this:

    I'll fix the hair and change the clothes, but I'm not losing the ear rings 'cause I'm still a PLAY-YAH!

    I was ROTLMAO.

    -juice
  • lark6lark6 Member Posts: 2,565
    Interesting story. I had Budget pull the same crap on me when I was moving from VA back in 1993. Showed up with reservation and confirmation number, no truck. They told me to wait an hour and they'd give me a "return," which they did...with a broken passenger window and mirror. My then girlfriend (now wife) and I taped a compact mirror to the broken mirror IIRC. I won't rent from Budget anymore unless there's no alternative.

    Best 'upgrade' I've ever gotten was from Hertz. In MA for a training gig - hauling boxes of materials, projector, multimedia equipment - I'd reserved a Taurus wagon. They were out so they gave me a Volvo XC. That's how I formed my opinion on the XC not being that much more bang for the buck than a standard Outback, much less an H6.

    Ed
  • ateixeiraateixeira Member Posts: 72,587
    Thumbs up, Bob. What do you think?

    The styling is nice, it resembles the Expedition. The tall bed is a good idea, as is that mechanism to make the tail gate seem lighter. Baja needs that badly.

    Throttle by wire on a live axle truck, whodda thunkit?

    Ed: I was not impressed by my XC test drive either.

    -juice
  • jimmyp1jimmyp1 Member Posts: 640
    I have had the same thing happen. If at all possible, call the rental location directly. You will get a MUCH lower price than you will online. And Penske has always given me the best price/customer service. I believe it's because of incentives and/or liberties allowed to the independent owners by corporate headquarters. My 2 cents. I can't comment on French cars, sorry.
  • rshollandrsholland Member Posts: 19,788
    On our way down to to Wilmington, NC on June 30th (roughly a 450 mile drive), we saw about 30 – 40 Penske rental trucks of varying sizes. Hardly saw any Budget/Ryder or U-Haul trucks. I commented to my wife about this. Now I see why.

    Bob
  • rshollandrsholland Member Posts: 19,788
    has some nice features, but it's not as great an upgrade that I was hoping for. Frankly, I think the new Nissan Titan is more appealing. It has a more powerful engine, a 5-speed automatic, plus all the Japanese details that I prefer, such as better switches, etc.

    As for pricing, my guess is that you will be able to get an F-150 for less than a Titan. I think the Titan, because of manufacturing limitations, will command top dollar (like the Honda Pilot and Odyssey) for some time to come. Ford, with its huge production capacity and equally huge dealer network, will be discounting the F-150 shortly after its introduction, I bet.

    Bob
  • ateixeiraateixeira Member Posts: 72,587
    I do think U-Haul focuses on local, smaller moves. At least most of their trucks seem small.

    Bob - have you been inside the new F series yet? Just curious, they've been fenced off at all the shows.

    I think the Titan is a little over the edge in styling, some features seem a bit ridiculous (that huge chrome grille for one). The F series is far more subtle.

    I don't disagree about pricing, look at the Sequoia compared to its bigger rivals.

    -juice
  • rshollandrsholland Member Posts: 19,788
    Not really, they compete head-to-head with Penske, even though their service is lousy, as is their trucks.

    Bob
  • rshollandrsholland Member Posts: 19,788
    I've seen interior pixs, and you and I saw them at the Balt/NY auto shows.

    I'm sure it will be a very popular truck, and it's clearly a notch or two above their current offerings.

    Bob
  • erics6erics6 Member Posts: 684
    I had pretty good luck with Budget last time I rented a truck. I think availablity really varies depending on location. I was renting in the Bay Area (San Rafael) and they rental guys closed the shop to go get the truck in Oakland. (No delivery person on Sunday.) The lady where I returned it in Oregon said I was lucky to get a 10ft truck. They almost never have them at that location. The 10 ft truck got about 14.5 mpg. The Budget trucks I've seen on the west coast are in a lot better shape than the U-Haul trucks.
  • jfljfl Member Posts: 1,398
    All I get at Uhaul is propane for the bbq. It's about one third cheaper than the tank exchange everyone is getting into.

    Jim
  • lucien2lucien2 Member Posts: 2,984
    did the same thing to me when I moved back here from TX. AND we got a CRAP trailer for the 4Runner (RIP) which had constant problems with swaying back and forth, bald tires, shorted wires, etc.....what a nightmare.
  • rshollandrsholland Member Posts: 19,788
  • rshollandrsholland Member Posts: 19,788
    with lots of Subie links that I hadn't seen before.

    http://www.carlynx.com/mak/sub.htm

    Bob
  • ateixeiraateixeira Member Posts: 72,587
    Like the review, I prefer it over Cayenne also.

    Can't wait to hear paisan's comments! LOL

    -juice
  • rshollandrsholland Member Posts: 19,788
    As I suspected, SOA just released a STi-specific brochure. The minimal STi coverage in the '04 Impreza brochure convinced me that there would a separate STi brochure. If you recall, when the WRX debuted, it too had its own brochure.

    The STi brochure is pretty classy, with wiro-type binding. It also shows options such as the radio, speakers, tweeters, fog lights, center armrest extension, etc.

    It's an interesting read...

    Bob
  • rshollandrsholland Member Posts: 19,788
    AutoWeek readers voted the Porsche Cayanne as America's best off-road SUV.

    Bob
  • kenskens Member Posts: 5,869
    The Cayenne is an SUV!? ;-)

    Ken
  • locke2clocke2c Member Posts: 5,038
    It's a tall wagon IMO. A powerful one, sure.

    -Colin
  • rshollandrsholland Member Posts: 19,788
    is this was a "reader's choice," and not from the editors of the magazine.

    Bob
  • ladywclassladywclass Member Posts: 1,713
    maybe it's still more status to owning an "SUV" than a "wagon"? ... readers are identifying themselves this way?
  • rshollandrsholland Member Posts: 19,788
    AutoWeek readers are generally "car nuts," and not "SUV nuts," much like juice and others on this board. So I find it a bit surprising that they would choose the Cayenne. Then again maybe not, because they value on-road performance to a greater degree. However, the classification specifically stated "off-road" SUV. So, who knows...

    Bob
  • lucien2lucien2 Member Posts: 2,984
    Just back from FedEx Field and one mother of an autocross, my first since May 2002. Big, fast course, and it was SCCA only this time so we each got 5 runs! I got a little better each time, starting with a 68.6xx and finishing with a 63.4xx. WRX FTD was in the 59s, but most others (Stock and STX) were around 64. 2.5RSs were also running 64s except for one in STX that handed in something in the 59s also. So the Legacy is slower, and so is Lucien I suppose, but I'm pretty happy to have bested more than a couple turbos.

    The level of prep I put into the car this time was unprecedented. The day before I put on the carbotech pads, cleaned the brake components (shot myself in the eye with cleaner and had to flush the socket for 10 minutes. Faulty nozzle), mounted my stock rims/Falken Azenis, and aired them up to 45/48. Packed gatorade and snacks, plus the helmets (dad came with me this time) and my numbers. All I had to do this morning was wake up at 6:00am and drive for 45 minutes.

    The STi v5/H&R setup really shined too. I am much happier with this setup out there in extreme handling conditions than I was with the AGX/stock set up.
  • locke2clocke2c Member Posts: 5,038
    Should've tried AGX with H&Rs. ;)

    Sounds like a lot of fun Lucien-- other than the solvent in the eye bit. Glad nothing bad came of that! When you're getting faster every run that's a good sign that you know what to do but just need more practice. At this point in my life though, I don't really feel like practicing more...

    You've just about convinced me to take the M3 out for another flogging. It's been brutally hot here though, maybe I can put off the urge until September or so. :)

    I'll need new tires soon... 10k or so on them and because I can't rotate (different offset front & rear wheels) the back tires have probably 3 or 4 32nds left. Not sure how they're wearing out over 2x as fast as the front... hmm

    -Colin
  • lucien2lucien2 Member Posts: 2,984
    Mad drifta skillz champ of Kansas

    You are probably right about the agx/H&R, but KYB made very specific warnings about lowering springs and strut damage, and there seemed to be some variation about how low the H&Rs go. Plus I do think the slightly different spring perch on the fronts made the ol' Leg look a little funny.
  • ateixeiraateixeira Member Posts: 72,587
    I saw that and tossed my cookies, Bob. I thought the Touareg would have won, but I guess the rich folks want the premium brand, no matter how silly it seems.

    They loved the Forester XT, did you read that short take? They much prefer it over the heavier and less fun Baja turbo.

    C&D has the XT within 1/10ths of the Cayenne turbo to 60mph, and an exhaust alone would fix that.

    -juice
  • twrxtwrx Member Posts: 647
    I just test drove one of these tonight. V8 with no options. More things to play with than you can count. (And it did not have the air suspension and the hill descent/ascent control). Nice ride and fairly fast. I liked the 6 speed auto but 5000 lb. vehicles are not my thing. Think I'll finally try out a an XT soon. Still love my WRX but wife's knee problems make 5 speed a problem. So if we ever want to go out to Colorado again I guess I need to look at AT.
    TWRX
  • jfljfl Member Posts: 1,398
    Sportshift!
  • ateixeiraateixeira Member Posts: 72,587
    See if someone with an auto XT will take you for a ride, an XT that's broken in, that is. Opinions about that automatic varied a lot. The 2.5T is better suited to auto duty, though.

    Sportshift would go a long way.

    -juice
  • jlemolejlemole Member Posts: 345
    I'm professing my computer ineptitude now. How does one put a link to another website in a Town Hall message? I was going to put a link in to yesterday's JDPower 2003 Vehicle Dependability Study. Subaru ranked above average with 266 problems per 100 vehicles (average being 277). Interestingly, Subaru did much better than Mercedes and VW.

    Jon
  • subearusubearu Member Posts: 3,613
    Just copy and paste the url into a message. It'll automatically display like this: http://www.subaru.com

    -Brian
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