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Comments
I haven't had the opportunity to get it fixed, though. After driving it to work, it would not start at all at the end of the day. Just the clicking on-and-off of the indicators on the dashboard. The radio/lights still work fine, so I'm guessing it's not the battery. I wonder if we "burnt out" the starter trying to get it going on all those single-digit temperature mornings last week? Starter or something else?
Here's the fun part: My wife had the car towed to her company's repair shop (the do all the repairs and maintenance on their corporate cars) on Monday. Since it was after hours, the tow-truck operator left the car key with a note in the lock box. Unfortunately, the repair shop went out of business (unexpectedly?) the Friday before. [Ironically, she had an appointment for a van inspection on that Friday, but had to cancel. I wonder if they would have mentioned something like "Well, the van passed. And were closing up shop now, so come and get it..."] Time to find the other key/remote and call the tow truck again.
-juice
-mike
Sorry to hear.
Greg
Greg
- Wow that is an expensive Windshield!!!!!
WRX was like < 1/8 of that!
- Is the price do to the amount made/sold and that it is an older model?
Nothing goes through it except light and stone. ;-)
-Dave
Steve
(Wish we had it now it is worth a fortune)
Anyway he and I broke into the place and towed it away.
Cheers Pat.
Deadeye
-mike
Does anyone have any DEFINITIVE information on the sealer/conditioner that Subaru has just developed for leaking head gaskets, including what I've read about Subaru extending the powertrain warranty? Or is that just on a case-by-case basis?
As much as I love my Forester, I must say that it has been the most troublesome vehicle I have ever owned. In less than 3 full years, I've had the clutch replaced 3 times, due to the "judder" syndrome, had 3 oxygen sensors replaced, had one of the catalytic converter's replaced, had the ECM recall, and had to replace the coil pack. Luckily, most of this was done under warranty, but the warranty ended over 21K ago, and now I may be facing an expensive HG replacement.
I'm becoming more and more disappointed with this vehicle. Should I expect the leaking HG problem to develop on my wife's 2003 Outback as well? We already had to have the clutch replaced (due to "judder") on that vehicle at about 7K miles.
Our vehicles have always been meticulously maintained. Oil changes every 3K, tires rotations every 5K, tuneups and coolant every 30K, etc. We're not kids, and we don't abuse our vehicles. Although we really love the way our Subaru's drive, they haven't been nearly as reliable as I expected them to be.
Believe me, I'm not trying to bash Subaru. I'd probably buy another one in a heartbeat. I'm just frustrated with all the problems we've had.
Len
-Frank P.
Ken
the above-mentioned disrepair isn't bad at all for 3years car. By the way, the oxygen sensors and the catalytic converter could die by reason of bad gas. Probably, you should have chosen another gas station,
kind regards.
Have a nice day.
Does anyone have a copy or know of a link to it? Or is it so recent that it hasn't appeared anywhere yet?
--K9Leader
Thanks again for the link. I'll give it a shot.
Question for the crew: Can I use 2 different style of bulbs (a xenon blue bulb and a regular style bulb) while riding around for now, or should I replace them for now with a matching pair?
Mark
Ken
-juice
G
"....the Defect Warranty for certain parts (catalytic converter and electronic emissions controls (PCM)) is for up to 8 years/80,000 miles."
So as you have 81k, you had better get to your dealer ASAP, and present your case in a positive, friendly, (pleading, if necessary) manner. Best of luck.
Steve
Nope, not the gas. We have 4 cars in the family, and none of them had any problems using the same gas. And, with all due respect, if you think that the problems I've had aren't bad for 3 years, I suspect you've never had a reliable car before. My 1992 Nissan (now my son's car) had 236K miles when we did an oil change and tire rotation on Sunday. The only thing even remotely resembling a similar problem, with that car was the original clutch wearing out...after 197K miles! It even had the original O-2 sensor until a few months ago. (Oh yeah, it IS on its fourth set of tires at this point.) My 1983 Nissan had nearly 200K when I sold it, and it never had any problems, either. Maybe I just have unrealistic expectations from my car?
Len
Len: sorry to hear that. You must have gotten a Friday 5pm build. :-(
I'm not sure I'd keep that one long term, it just seems prone to fail, unlucky, the bad apple in the batch. Both our Subies have cost us nothing in repairs, so I do think you just weren't as lucky.
Keep in mind they exist for every brand - my dad's Camry spontaneously combust itself, burned to a crisp in flames.
Now don't quote me on this - but I don't think all Camrys do that!
-juice
Your expectations are reasonable. My '78 RX-7, despite having an unconventional engine, covered 200,000 very enthusiastic miles (many wheelspin starts, tach constantly bouncing off the 7K redline, pedal to the floor whenever conditions allowed, etc.) - and the original clutch still worked perfectly when I sold it. Besides tires and routine maintenance, my only repair outlays were one set of brakes, shocks & struts, a muffler, and two or three batteries.
JD Power's durability study showed that the average 5 year old car had 2.7 problems. I'm sure you can expect half that from a Lexus, but guess what? That's still more than one problem per car on average.
And that's 5 years. 200-236k miles we're talking, what 12 years at least? I guarantee you the average triples to 10+ problems easily.
On average, that is. The Law of Large Numbers tells us randomness causes this variation. Murphy's Law says it will be Len's.
-juice
Jim
From our understanding, the TSB for the sealer is very new news, and might not have gotten to all corners of the nation yet.
Steve
In answer to your question, no, an external leak won't lead to a catastrophic failure. It's the internal ones you have to worry about. Keep us posted on what SOA says.
-Frank P.
It was replaced with the Gentex mirror. The Gentex performed better in that it darkened quicker and got a lot darker than did the original mirror.
My dealer's parts guy said that they (Subaru) are using both types of mirrors depending on what's in stock at the moment.
I was glad to see the mirror in my 04 XT is of the Gentex type. My wife's 03 OBW had to have the first style mirror replaced at 8 months due to extremely long darkening times at night, i.e. by the time it got dark the headlights in the mirror were either way way behind you, or they'd passed you. Unfortunately they were out of Gentex at the time and used the same style (compass on bottom) that came with the car.
Keep in mind that the day/night mirror is a port installed option, at least on the Foresters, so they all leave the factory with the regular flip-up type mirrors.
Larry
It is true that these are port installed options on most (all?) subarus. However, I think only the Donnelly mirror is installed at the port and the only official subaru part (try ordering the Gentex mirror through a subaru parts place and ask for it's subaru part number).
If you are okay with the compass being displayed in the mirror, I wouldn't worry about it. I had a GM truck with the compass and temp located there, and it really bugged me because I would always focus on that when glancing at the mirror.
Kevin111, e-mail me if you're still interested and I can give you price and details.
Take care, Paul
paul_pek@hermanmiller.com
Alon
Do open a case with 800-SUBARU3 and document everything you've found so far. You're covered for 8/100, so don't worry too much about it.
-juice
juice - was it 8/100 for all head gaskets, or 8/100 on the ones that have been repaired within the first 60K ?
TIA
Larry
I'm curious to see if they change the coolant for free, add it, or what.
The law gets kinda funny here. The Magnussen-Moss warranty act says that if a manufacturer forces you to use an OE replacement part/supply, vs. an equivalent, then they have to provide it to you for free.
In other words, Subaru specifies the coolant "conditioner", so I think they'll add it free of charge. If they do charge, they'll have to provide a specification for the aftermarket to be able to compete.
We'll see. This process is only in the beginning stages.
Call me an optimist, but I see a free coolant flush for next winter.
-juice
I can't figure what the source of the noise is. It doesn't seem to effect the car's performance or starting ability, but something doesn't seem right.
Any ideas?
I know the fuel vapor recovery system is air tight, so a leak could sound something like that. But you should also get the warning light.
Any fuel or coolant smells?
Try a few things. Next time you hear the sound, open the door, pop the hood, open the hatch, see if anything you change has an effect on the sound.
-juice
Still, that would effect it when it's on, not after you shut down.
Hmm...
-juice
See if that makes the same noise.
20-30 minutes, though, wow. It's normal to hear popping and cracking as metals contract at different rates.
-juice
Thanks
Mike