Subaru Crew Problems & Solutions

subaruman1

Hey, I had the same problem when I had my 2000 Outback Sedan at 5500 miles. Never heard it again after they replaced it. But there were other problems which is why I got rid of it. After only six months. The large multi company dealer was no help at all, so I switched dealers. One that sells only Subaru. I was willing to pay a little more for better service. The smaller dealer was were I got my very first subaru. Never had service problems there. When it needed a fix they fixed it the first time right. I must have wasted 40 hrs. in 5 months going to the Large dealership for repairs. I can now wash my hands of them.

Regards
Tim

Regards,
Tim

tincup47

Trooper has a fuel line recall also It was one of the reasons it got a low rating in IIHS crash tests. Also Toyota had over 150,000 93-98 Camry's recalled for loosening steering wheel nuts. I would think with the oxygen sensor problems (which I have had on our 01 Forester), along with the clutch problems on 98-99 Foresters that people on this board should be a little less eager to bash any other manufacturer. As juice stated on another topic, every trip to the dealer to have your vehicle repaired is an inconvenience and reflects on quality whether it's covered under warranty or not.

paisan

Not 1 single crash in real life has had the Trooper spill gas due to the fuel line...

Meanwhile, Escapes have been dripping fuel in the parking lots...

I don't dis-regard safety testing, but I put more faith in real world numbers.

Any my steering wheel is quite tight as Juice and Dennis can attest to, also they might add if I did get into a collision like the IIHS test, the fuel line would be the least of my worries

-mike

logger2

Yup, i have definitely run out of patience with my forester. Still havent heard back from subaru canada in a month about my claim for the other stuff. Contemplating taking a loss on a trade to be rid of the thing - except everytime it snows i think twice!

tincup47

We have had several Escapes in our possesion for comparison testing, and not one has had any fuel leakage. I tend to take things I read on the Internet with a huge grain of salt. Also from my own experience working on cars, I have never been able to remove a Ford steering wheel without the use of a steering wheel puller. Those things don't want to come off, even with the nut removed.
I wasn't trying to knock the Trooper, I think it is a fine vehicle. My main point is that you shouldn't have to berate another manufacturer's vehicles. Some of us make our living in the automotive industry and see first hand how hard it is to build and market automobiles. I have been reading an excellent book that gives a good insight of the process of getting a new model from the initial design to the final production car that rolls of the line. It is titled "Car" by Mary Walton.

paisan

I've had a number of fords leave me for dead, I will get ever single dig in on ford that I can. It's the least I can get as re-payment for the many thousands of wasted dollars I've spent on fords....

I guess since it is so hard to build and market a car, then the companies that do it well deserve to be respected and get our business.

-mike

tincup47

So much for an attempt at civilized discourse. It truly is difficult to have a reasoned discussion with a closed mind.

hondafriek

Jason,do not let a bad experience sour you on Subaru as a whole I think it is more likely you got a vehicle that had not been properly cared for, of course all makers have a bad vehicle from time to time, the lack of response from Subaru is more worrying though, reflects bad on the company regarding taking care of the customer, although this is strange Subaru are usually one of the better manufacturers at following up on problems hope you get the issue resolved soon.
cheers Pat.

paisan

I have had a number of fords leave me dead on the road (mostly transmissions) and they have cost me thousands and thousands of dollars in repairs. A little dig here and there isn't a big deal, you were the one who escalated my small dig into a full blown conversation.

-mike

miksmi

I agree that everyone has different product experiences and expresses them lucidly, sensationally, and otherwise.

paisan is a teddy bear in person and I'm sure tincup is too. Please consider that written communication, devoid of tone and expressions, can be misinterpreted.

Watch some BOOYA! and report back if it doesn't bring a smile to your face.

Back to Scoobies!

..Mike

tincup47

but opinionated and stubborn (just like me ). I was a bit cranky this morning, and his message just rubbed me the wrong way. I am sorry for my last msg.

miksmi

No problem, tincup, all is officially forgotten If I had a nickel for every email or post I sent when I wasn't my usual chipper self.. Let's just say we've all been there.

Chuck (right?), I forgot you live in MD, or maybe did; your current profile doesn't say. We should have snagged you for trip to either the Bal'mer or Philly shows (I, ahem, went to both -- don't remind my wife). It's always fun to observe juice, the walking automotive encyclopedia, in action.

..Mike

tincup47

And I think I might give juice a run for his money as an encyclopedia.

miksmi

Hehe, cool! Besides, juice needs competition to keep him honest. In that case, I look forward to meeting you some day at an auto show or other event. Thanks for updating your profile.

..Mike

paisan

nah...

Too bad we missed you in philly.

-mike

kens

Just got back from Custom Alignment in Mountain View, CA today. Great shop! I found out about it through the i-club forums. A lot of Impreza owners go there for custom settings.

I had a regular 4 wheel alignment done on my Forester there. It turned out that my camber was a bit positive and caster a toe a bit negative. The mechanic, Dave, was excellent in explaining everything about alignments. My Forester was tracking super straight on the ride back.

One interesting finding was that, according to Dave, the Forester's caster is not adjustable. I was under the impression that all Subies had adjustable front casters.

Anyway, while I was there, I asked to see if Dave could check out this rattle was that I was experiencing while going over bumps. Every now and then when I would go straight over a speed bump or small bumps, I would hear a rattle come from somewhere in the engine compartment. I thought it might be the suspension so I had Dave ride with me and check it out. Luckily, we were able to reproduce the noise.

It turned out not to be anything with the suspension after all. Dave checked out all the linkages and ball joints and saw nothing unusual. Instead, it was my hood that was loose and occaisionally "bouncing" everytime I hit just the right bump. Dave simply re-adjusted the rubber bushings, put some synthetic grease on the latches and presto -- no more rattle!

To check to see if your hood is snug, simply pull up on the leading edge it with it closed to check for play . If it does move up and down, pop open the hood and locate the two rubber bushings at the very front edge of the engine compartment (above the headlights). Turn the rubber bushings to increase clearance a bit, close the hood and repeat entire process until the play is gone.

It's pretty amazing how simple the solution was!

Ken

locke2c

Sounds great, Ken. I don't believe the caster is adjustable on an Impreza either, I don't know who thought it was.

-Colin

kens

Colin,

My bad. I read this article and mixed up camber with caster.

The mechanic, Dave, did mention that caster was adjustable with older Subarus.

Ken

bkok

I found the little toggle lever labelled "child locks" on the back doors
(just forward of the latch mechanism). No sweat. Thanks for the advice.

Bill Kok

ateixeira

Get in line behind Bob Holland. He's got a good grasp of future products. Maybe because he pre-viewed the Baltimore show, or because he's test driven a lot more of the new products than I have.

Personal experience can really sour someone on a specific make of vehicle. My dad had a Camry that burst into flames, and then proceeded to burn to a crisp. He got out just in time.

He was in Belize, so my guess is it was a fuel line recall that never got fixed. Either way, he'll never drive another Toyota.

Ironically, he now drives an Outback and a Taurus. Neither has burst into flames! :-)

Ken: interesting indeed.

Bill: good to go.

-juice

PS That ad still cracks me up!

miksmi

Definitions and diagrams of camber and caster from John Barach's Dictionary of Automotive Terms.

Ken, Good link! Do you compose in another program and paste into your browser? I noticed your post kens Feb 6, 2001 2:40pm has double spaced lines. Mine do that too. It's a bug in the web software. My work around has been to edit the post, highlight the text, re-paste the same text, and post. Painful but it works.

juice, glad it tickled your funny bone.

..Mike

ateixeira

Ever the hacker, Mike.

A simpler way - just hit enter once at the end of each paragraph.

The system adds the 2nd so it's double-spaced.

;-)

-juice

kens

Mike,

I've only been posting through the Town Hall interface. I think juice's explanation makes sense -- I was used to entering my own CRs with the older software. Let me see if this looks more normal.

BTW, nice links. Here is a link I found useful in understanding alignment settings. Good diagrams and easy terminology.

Ken

miksmi

Sheesh, Ken, we've slash dotted that site. I get a 503, server unavailable or busy; I'll try later. Ok, now it's avail. Good reference; thanks.

Yes, your post is single-spaced.

Thanks, juice. I was also posting extra CR-LF that the prior site prefered. I have changed my errant ways.

..Mike

theob

Anyone know how to search for a particular posting within a discussion / forum? All I've been able to find is to search for a forum.

The reason is: Last night Walmart had Castrol GTX 10W30 for $1.66, but Castrol Syntech Blend for $1.08. Always used GTX. Bought the Syntech Blend to give it a try. Anyone know why it is so much cheaper? Is it trash? Enquiring minds want to know!

Has anyone seen a report from Consumer Reports on oil or filters lately? Last one I saw was about 14 years ago. I'm sure things have changed some since then :-o

Theo

ateixeira

The blend is cheaper than the pure dino oil? Beats me...

-juice

hondafriek

Beats me as well Juice up in the frozen north it is about two thirds cost of full synthetic looks like a hell of a bargain to me.
Cheers Pat.

ateixeira

Buy a few cases!

-juice

miksmi

Theo, Why would you want to search within topic? Oh, to find a useful nugget?

Edmunds, the host of this free service, decided a search function requires server resources they aren't willing to implement so we're stuck with what are essentially write-once forums. I dislike directing you elsewhere but try searching the newsgroup alt.autos.subaru on Deja or search i Club. Those folks came to a different conclusion than Edmunds

..Mike

royallen

Theo: Last CR report on oil was July '96. The test was 60K on NYC taxis and changes every 6K. They found SH grade conventional oil as good as synthetic blend and full synthetic. In my view, not enough miles and not the same conditions as the daily commuter.

kate5000

Ken,

Thanks for the tip! All my next alignments will do in the Mountain View shop you recommended. Any tips on a good "general practitioner" Subaru mechanic? I'm still searching for that Mr. Right, for my soobs (in case of future problems).

kate5000

Paisan,

when you said your relatived used warranty Gold, I assume you meant Gold package from Subaru, not that aftermarket WarrantyGold company that Edmunds.com used to recommend in the past?

rsholland

juice- It's because I'm a geezer who's been into cars since I was knee-high to a grasshopper.

Bob

paisan

Yep my dad and my aunt both have the SUbaru Gold Extended warranty to like 100K or something like that. Well worth the money.

-mike

syeo

I already have two cracks caused by flying rocks in my 2001 Forester windshield. I intend to replace the windshield when the cracks get too large. Is there any way I can prevent future incidents?

thanks,
-simon

texsubaru

Please excuse the cross-posting (I first put this in "cleaning interior and exterior" but then started thinking that this might end up being more of a "repair" than a "cleaning"):

My red Forester just got scraped in a parking lot -- apparently by a white or silver car -- on a small patch on left front fender, just ahead of the wheel well. Left an oblong area maybe six inches in diameter that has numerous small but still very noticeable scratches, what appear to be streaks of white paint and a few tiny dark spots where I fear my paint may have been scraped off. Looking for any suggestions on what best to do?

ateixeira

tex: for that I'd use a rubbing compound. It's a little more coarse than wax, and removes a very thin layer. But it should take the other car's paint off yours.

BTW, that really stinks. Your insurance may cover it, but then they might repaint the whole panel.

Simon: usually it's caused by a piece of gravel or rock thrown up by another vehicle. Try leaving more distance to the car ahead (at least 2 seconds). You may get cut off more often, but it shouldn't cost you more than a few seconds on your commute, plus it's safer.

-juice

bluesubie

I started using syntec blend about a year ago. In my area if any oil is on sale at K-Mart, Wal-mart will have it even cheaper the next day. Any blend is only around 10-15% synthetic. I use it because it has a lower pour temp. than the GTX - 9 deg. F in the 5W and 5 deg F in the 10W.

Dennis

hondafriek

Tex and Juice, never ever use regular rubbing compound on clear coat which is what all modern cars are painted with you will destroy the clear coat if you do. Always make sure that anything you use on your paint is clear coat safe. A product that I have found to be really good is scratch out, can be found at Walmart or Pep boys.
Cheers Pat.

ateixeira

The newer ones are formulated for clear coats. At least they claim to be:

http://waxdepot.safeshopper.com/37/416.htm?776

If you use it, try it on a small area first.

-juice

hondafriek

anything that says clear coat safe is fine. Cheers Pat.

hondafriek

I have to say I admire your patience in your wait to have your Forester repaired, had that been me I think I would have had somebody by throat by this time. Anyway what I want to say is this, I don;t know about the States but here I can get a loss of use rider on my insurance only costs about $20 a year.Now the beauty of this is not so much the loss of use although that is nice, the real advantage, insurance companys hate to pay out so they control costs anyway they can, they can only control the cost of the repair so far, but when they have to cover the cost of a rental while your car is just sitting around the shop well that really gets them off their asses and they start throwing their weight around by hassling the bodyshop and the suppliers I know for a fact that this is the case good luck and I hope that the quality of the repair was worth all the hassle.
Cheers Pat.

locke2c

I have yet to see a Subaru with a basecoat/clearcoat paint job anyway. We get the cheap stuff, and a thin coat of it at that!

-Colin

natescape

Try a front-hood protector/deflector/whatever the heck it's called. Supposed to do a good job changing the aerodynamics of the car...

kens

texsubaru,

Sorry to hear about the bumper -- I feel your pain.

My suggestion is to first use a Cleaner/Wax product to see how much of the other person's paint you can remove from the bumper. You can use anything product like Meguiar's. The Cleaner/Wax should remove any debris and help fill in any fine scratches.

If the scratch is still noticeable, try something a little stronger like 3M Hand Glaze. I've found that this is an excellent clear-coat safe product that removes swirl marks and fine scratches.
If all else fails, get some touch-up paint and fill in any major scratches.

The idea is to try all the non-abrasive solutions first.

Good luck,
Ken

ray70

Simon -

In Montana, we have a big problem with rocks hitting our windshields. We have many miles of gravel roads to contend with, and the SAND that the highway department uses for icy and snowpacked roads has a lot of pea gravel in it. "Bug deflectors" generally do a good job deflecting some of the rocks, also. We had a bug deflector put on our 01 Forester before we took delivery. The deflector is molded to fit around the hood (which looks good), but I was initially worried that it wouldn't deflect rocks well enough. We now have 10,000 miles on our Forester and do not have any rock chip, YET. I must admit that I am still a little worried.

Ray

hondafriek

believe or not all paint jobs are clear coat now inferior or otherwise the old enamels and acryilics have gone the way of the dinosaurs. cheers Pat.

locke2c

I think I know what you're talking about Pat, the new paint is powder-based and isn't an enamel. But I still don't think it's clear coated. There is a dramatic difference in the paint on my wife's 2000 Miata versus my 1999 Impreza RS.

At the very least, if you're completely right I will offer that the clear coat varies by mfg and model. ;-)

-Colin

hondafriek

Can;t argue that, but check with Subaru all models are definitely clear coated the process is simpler hence more cost effective from the manufacturers point of view.
Cheers Pat.

hondafriek

I will admit to being less than enthusiastic about Subarus paint jobs my 93 Accord when its washed and polished is far superior in gloss and shine to any of the new subes that I have seen in the dealers showroom while the sube has a shine it is strangely flat in comparison to My Accord and That is after 8 Ottawa winters.
Cheers Pat.