Didn't realize it was an email address. I was thinking QSubaru had a web page on the net to access. No wonder I couldn't access it. Must have got in late on this thread.
Hello all! Based on my readings and the positive things at the Subaru forums I just picked up my 2001 Forester S! Dealership experience was painful as a sudden extra $500 entered the negotiations but i was able to whittle that down to $150.
And now for my question. Anyone know how to SAFELY remove the chromed plastic dealership logo that was adhered to my rear hatch? Its 3 lines long, obnoxious, and i don't feel like providing more free advertising for the dealer! (Guess what that $150 was for?)
I thought I read that a heat gun would do it but I 'm hesitant on my $24K auto!
Try using a hair dryer to remove dealer "free" advertising.
A better method is to return to the dealership and TELL them to remove the advertising. By doing it this way, they will be responsible for any damage caused!
There was some discussion of this months ago but haven't seen anything lately. The noise I get at 40-50 MPH is more like a whine...almost like a bearing gone dry, but it seems to be coming from around the passenger side door. Could this be the wind deflecting around the mirror?
Any thoughts would be appreciated. I have had the 2000 Outback Ltd. for 9 months and 16000 trouble free miles.
When purchasing a vehicle I always have it written on my order that there will be no advertising labels on my vehicle. I have never had a problem with that. So next time remember to state that. I think that you should take Don's advise and have the dealer remove it.
Great idea, Karen. I forgot to insist on that when I bought ours but fortunately the dealer's ad is just a license plate frame (which I can remove). I'm thinking of painting over part of it, from "TISCHER SUBARU" to "HER SUBARU" (it's my wife's). ..Mike
Mailman: you should thank Francisco, but you're welcome anyways.
Stephen: great, thanks for letting us know. I've been dying from curiosity. 225's do fit then. The rims I may order have an even greater offset from stock, and are also .5" wider, so they also ought to fit.
Mike: you crack me up. At least you have a sense of humor about it!
I removed the stick-on dealers labels too, just by peeling it off, every so slowly. I then cleaned the area, and waxed the whole car. You'd never know it had been there.
Ok, I know, there are a few topic about oils, but I'm interesting in Subaru Crew opinion. Is it possible 25000 km(miles !) or one year interval ? Does Pulorator make Subaru filters ?
Yes Purolator makes Subaru filters, and don't even think about using a Fram filter.
Oil itself is good beyond 4000 miles but the filter is not. More than 6000-8000 miles on one oil filter is a really bad idea. Since the filter is mounted hanging down, you've no choice but to change the oil every filter change. (Yes most new car manuals indicate oil changes can be done without a filter change. They're smoking some good stuff.)
Juice try the site listed below. I believe this fellow is an engineer and had some time on his hands and decided to do this study. In fact he has been asked to shut down the site because he has stepped on some companies toes about it. Its pretty interesting on what he states. Of course he is only stating his opinion. He did this study a while back and this is an update. Surprising to see that Purolater who makes Subaru's filter was a decent filter as well as the AC Delco and Motorcaraft.
Interesting, but suspect. There are Chyrsler logos all over the place. The claims made about Fram filters seem exxagerated to say the least. If they really fell apart like that they'd be recalled.
The way Subaru positions the filters (facing down), the dirty oil can't flow back into the pan anyway.
It would be interesting to see tests done by, say, Consumer Reports.
Used it in a 1978 Subaru coupe... with the old 1.8L H4 & M5 tranny.... motor oil, gear lube & air filter... did great things for gas mileage (+15%) & ease of shifting in cold weather... alas, I didn't keep the car long enough to note any longevity difference. 2nd gear was darn near impossible in really cold weather with standard 90W gear oil. The air filter was the oiled foam variety - similar to the K & N product now.
I've been close to buying a 00 Forester L, but in Canada they don't come with standard cruise control. I see Legacy cruise control on one of the parts sites mentioned frequently here; any idea if one could be added to a Forester later? The dealer here says no, but I think he's seeing me in an S; considering the difference in equipment (cruise, lim slip dif, different seats, alloys, 16" tires), all I want is cruise. I enjoy the conference greatly!
My '98 Forester L did not have cruise, but the dealer added it for me. I forget exactly how much it cost, but they charged some for labor, so it was more than if it had already been on the vehicle.
Juice, this might be redundant since you said that everyone should know that Subarus make only AWD vehicles. But I heard some stories about their RSs got towed by a regular truck cus the AWD sticker is gone and the tow guy is a dumb hick who drives only Ford trucks. NE how the owner was unable to sue the tow company cus the AWD sticker is not there. Anyhow I left mine on for reasons like this. Doesn't bother me that much as the stupid Outback Sport decal does!
NE how = anyhow. Including the space, it uses the exact same amount of room. Do U C how NE 1 could get 2 confused by this? I do. I wish people would just use proper English, but that's a rant for another time and place.
As for AWD stickers, my 00 Legacy didn't come with any, just a chrome AWD badge on the back which looks good IMO. (that's an acronym, not a non-standard abbreviation BTW, just like AWD)
I had the AWD stickers removed on my Forester as well when I tinted my windows. I felt they were kind of redundant because there is an AWD chrome badge on the back of the rear hatch. I also never liked the strange mushroomy design of those stickers anyway.
Tow companies are usually smart enough to ask about the make and model of a particular vehicle before dispatching a truck. When my friend's Audi A4 Quattro needed to be towed, AAA showed up with a flatbed truck. I guess you would be kind of hosed in the boonies...
It's not the ones that I would be afraid of. It's the ones which comes along and tow you car if you park on an illegal parking space. I know I know we're all good law abiding Scooby owners. Well better be safe than sorry.
Internet lingo : AFAIK = As far as I know YMMV = your mileage may vary IMHO = In my humble opinion BTW = By the way ROFL = Rolling on floor laughing LOL = Laughing out Loud BRP = ? MYOB = Mine your own business why is it always 2 cents?
There's soooo many. I think use in moderation it should be ok. But if your message is littered with it, it would get annoying.
Austriash1: Yep, I just bought a Forester L that didn't have cruise control in it, and as part of the negotiation process, got the dealer to add the Subaru "factory kit" cruise control as part of the deal, so it *absolutely* can be done. I believe it's also possible to get a much cheaper aftermarket cruise kit of some kind installed in a Forester, but I don't know any brand names or anything like that.
O.k., first, dealer stickers- Hot water (close to boiling) melts that glue right pronto, and it takes very little. Then a little wash and wax. Budda Boom.
Second, oil changes w'out filter change: Some dealers are now using giant suction tubes inserted in the dipstick area (uh, huh huh..)to suck the old oil out without messing with the underbody. :-0
Suffice to say, I have stopped going to the dealer for oil changes.
Cougar Club: Ya know, I couldn't resist stepping in there yesterday, and they were all talking about washing their kitties :-0
I left quickly. I think they REALLY need to come up with a different nickname for that car. It was funny to read some of them though. I mean, kinda out of context. O.k. Sorry I'll stop.
So, I just changed the wiper blades on my Forester for the first time and was a little stunned by the realization that every single wiper needed a different size replacement (21" for driver side, 19" for passenger size, 15" for rear). I've never encountered that before (this a common SUV thang?), and the owner's manual didn't spell it out very clearly at all. OK, I confess that I should've been able to guess from the exceptionally good overlap the front wipers have that something like that was involved, but it did create an impressive level of bafflement on my face in the auto parts store today ...
I don't think it is an SUV thing, just, as you say, a coverage thing. Most of my friends with VDubs have it, as did my dear departed 1986 4Runner. It does make it a hassle to buy them, since the parts stores sell 'em in pairs, and for some resaon the 'yoda never needed them all changed at once. Which reminds me, I have a bunch of unmated wiper blades for an '86 4Runner for cheap, if anyone wants them
Ditto on the wipers too. My previous Toyota Camry had different sized wipers for the driver and passenger side.
BTW, what aftermarket wiper blade replacement did you find for the Forester? I haven't replaced mine yet and I was wondering how aftermarket parts would fit.
Probably meant that to be... BRB = be right back EOM = end of message NTTAWWT = not that there's anything wrong with that
And finally one you probably shouldn't use except in emergencies, BMYLS = bite me you little ______!
As for different size wiper blades, I first had that on our Protege', if one starts to go bad I just change the pair, the other will be worn soon anyway, and that way I alway have the same amount of each size. I just checked to see if my Legacy uses different sizes up front and it does, and of course the rear one is smaller than either. Fun.
Let us not forget the SWAG, the scientific WAG. :-)
About wipers: my Integra has different lengths for driver and passenger side, but the rear is the same as one of the fronts. So, I can buy two packs of two, and have one blade left over. :-)
I actually have been buying just replacement rubber, which comes in singletons, for the last 6 or so years though.
Here's my USD 0.02 (which I thought I gave eralier, but I couldn't find it in the archives).
I think Bosch Micro Edge wipers have a clever mechanism for installing blade refills. No busted knuckles. MUCH easier than Anco or the 91 Subaru OEM refills (OEM might be different for 00).
Then again, maybe I'm just a knucklehead who's inept at replacing wiper blades. Anyone tried the Micro Edge Excel blades? Other experiences?
I'm still kind of new to this forum, does anyone know why, just on this particular topic, all 95 responses show up on one long page. The other topics seem to break them up in 20 response blocks. Is it me, or this board?
Same thing on the Legacy wagon at least the 95-99 years - 3 wipers, three sizes. Bit of a pain when the Bosch Micro Edge replacements are sold in packs of two. Anyone else find that the Bosch blades nick easily? I had a set on for less than 6 months and the edges were nicked in 4 or 5 places, leaving small lines on the winshield when in use. I didn't have any heavy ice buildup during that time or anything. I don't know if it had anything to do with age, but they were the second set from those two packs, so they had been sittng in the box on a shelf for a year.
So back to the ones that I can buy one at a time for now. By the way, does anyone here have any experience with the silicone replacement blades?
I have really enjoyed my 3 month old Outback so far. I took it to the dealer yesterday to get the first oil change done and have them look into the fact that the rear wiper is very loud and has a nasty "whine" to it. The dealer told me this is normal. In a nasty rain storm a few weeks ago, I needed to keep it on constantly and I couldn't because it was so annoying. Even the radio doesn't drown it out. Does anyone have/not have the same problem? One other note. In 80% city and 20% highway driving, I've been getting anywhere between 22-23 mpg. Not too bad. Once they reopen the section of I-95 that is closed in Delaware, 50% of my daily driving will be highway. I've really enjoyed these boards so far and have found very useful information. Thanks to all in advance.
I have the same whining noise from rear wiper in MY2K Outback. During the first oil change, about a month ago, I complained to dealer service department. They identified bad rear wiper motor and ordered a new one. Last Friday I've got a notification that the part has arrived to dealership. After they will replace a motor, I'll post a comment here.
I have a question too. In idle, the engine sounds relatively quiet about 80% of the time. But, every 15-20 seconds or so, it switches to louder, deep tone for 5-10 seconds. It's more noticeable when the AC is on. Dealer performed the computer diagnostic of the engine and reported no problem. Has anyone experienced the same ?
Another thing. When I picked my car, I immediately removed the center rear headrest to improve rear visibility. The headrest looked all right on the seat, but it's bottom was badly deformed. Again, I complained and the dealership replaced the headrest (they took it from another car from the lot).
has anyone else noticed that lots of Outbacks have a bad seal on the headlights, allowing moisture to accumulate behind the lens (and undoubtedly causing problems down the line....)?.
I haven't bought my subaru yet, but i looked at about fourty 96-98's in the last 2 weeks....... and maybe 4 or 5 of them had this problem.
Comments
Didn't realize it was an email address. I was thinking QSubaru had a web page on the net to access. No wonder I couldn't access it. Must have got in late on this thread.
Mailman
And now for my question. Anyone know how to SAFELY remove the chromed plastic dealership logo that was adhered to my rear hatch? Its 3 lines long, obnoxious, and i don't feel like providing more free advertising for the dealer! (Guess what that $150 was for?)
I thought I read that a heat gun would do it but I 'm hesitant on my $24K auto!
A better method is to return to the dealership and TELL them to remove the advertising. By doing it this way, they will be responsible for any damage caused!
Don
Any thoughts would be appreciated. I have had the 2000 Outback Ltd. for 9 months and 16000 trouble free miles.
Jerry
Karen
..Mike
Stephen: great, thanks for letting us know. I've been dying from curiosity. 225's do fit then. The rims I may order have an even greater offset from stock, and are also .5" wider, so they also ought to fit.
Mike: you crack me up. At least you have a sense of humor about it!
I removed the stick-on dealers labels too, just by peeling it off, every so slowly. I then cleaned the area, and waxed the whole car. You'd never know it had been there.
-juice
but I'm interesting in Subaru Crew opinion.
Is it possible 25000 km(miles !) or one year interval ? Does Pulorator make Subaru filters ?
Oil itself is good beyond 4000 miles but the filter is not. More than 6000-8000 miles on one oil filter is a really bad idea. Since the filter is mounted hanging down, you've no choice but to change the oil every filter change. (Yes most new car manuals indicate oil changes can be done without a filter change. They're smoking some good stuff.)
-Colin
Could you enlighten me on why one shouldn't use a Fram filter?
Also, anyone out there have any success using an alternative air filter on their Forester (ie. Amsoil or equivalent)?
Ken
Seems to be fine. In fact, my mileage keeps improving month after month.
I've been using Fram, and can't see any reason not too. The new grippy coating makes life a whole lot easier for DIYs.
I'm at 25k now, so I'll do the air filter at 30k, what else do you recommend?
-juice
http://minimopar.simplenet.com/oilfilterstudy.html
The way Subaru positions the filters (facing down), the dirty oil can't flow back into the pan anyway.
It would be interesting to see tests done by, say, Consumer Reports.
-juice
-Colin
I also wonder if the new FRAM filters with the grippy coating on the outside are the same on the inside, or different.
Maybe at the 30k oil change I'll break out a knife and carve the old one up, just to see.
-juice
I enjoy the conference greatly!
Why? Because I did exactly that.
My '98 Forester L did not have cruise, but the dealer added it for me. I forget exactly how much it cost, but they charged some for labor, so it was more than if it had already been on the vehicle.
Still, I'm happy I did, and it was worth it.
-juice
If you just paint out the c, you have 'Tis her Subaru'.
Everyone will think you are Irish, but this is OK.
I like my dealer (!) - the decals can stay.
JP
By now everyone knows all Subarus have it, so I felt it was redundant.
-juice
..Mike
Notice the Cougar Support Group copied your "Events" topic idea?
-juice
If I explain this, some of our people will be offended, so I'll leave it to your imagination....
JP
-juice
..Mike
NE = "any" in stupid internet abbreviation.
NE how = anyhow. Including the space, it uses the exact same amount of room. Do U C how NE 1 could get 2 confused by this? I do. I wish people would just use proper English, but that's a rant for another time and place.
As for AWD stickers, my 00 Legacy didn't come with any, just a chrome AWD badge on the back which looks good IMO. (that's an acronym, not a non-standard abbreviation BTW, just like AWD)
Dave
Tow companies are usually smart enough to ask about the make and model of a particular vehicle before dispatching a truck. When my friend's Audi A4 Quattro needed to be towed, AAA showed up with a flatbed truck. I guess you would be kind of hosed in the boonies...
..Mike
Internet lingo :
AFAIK = As far as I know
YMMV = your mileage may vary
IMHO = In my humble opinion
BTW = By the way
ROFL = Rolling on floor laughing
LOL = Laughing out Loud
BRP = ?
MYOB = Mine your own business
why is it always 2 cents?
There's soooo many. I think use in moderation it should be ok. But if your message is littered with it, it would get annoying.
L8r = later.
O.k., first, dealer stickers- Hot water (close to boiling) melts that glue right pronto, and it takes very little. Then a little wash and wax. Budda Boom.
Second, oil changes w'out filter change: Some dealers are now using giant suction tubes inserted in the dipstick area (uh, huh huh..)to suck the old oil out without messing with the underbody. :-0
Suffice to say, I have stopped going to the dealer for oil changes.
Cougar Club: Ya know, I couldn't resist stepping in there yesterday, and they were all talking about washing their kitties :-0
I left quickly. I think they REALLY need to come up with a different nickname for that car. It was funny to read some of them though. I mean, kinda out of context. O.k. Sorry I'll stop.
Back to work....
BTW, what aftermarket wiper blade replacement did you find for the Forester? I haven't replaced mine yet and I was wondering how aftermarket parts would fit.
Probably meant that to be...
BRB = be right back
EOM = end of message
NTTAWWT = not that there's anything wrong with that
And finally one you probably shouldn't use except in emergencies,
BMYLS = bite me you little ______!
As for different size wiper blades, I first had that on our Protege', if one starts to go bad I just change the pair, the other will be worn soon anyway, and that way I alway have the same amount of each size. I just checked to see if my Legacy uses different sizes up front and it does, and of course the rear one is smaller than either. Fun.
Dave
WAG = wild-@ssed guess
-Colin
About wipers: my Integra has different lengths for driver and passenger side, but the rear is the same as one of the fronts. So, I can buy two packs of two, and have one blade left over. :-)
I actually have been buying just replacement rubber, which comes in singletons, for the last 6 or so years though.
Chris
I don't know, but I'll take a SWAG that BRP just means someone misspelled "burp"
What nicknames have you heard for Subaru's? I like:
Soob
Brew (hilarious)
Subie
Scooby-Doo
What else?
-juice
PS SVX = Snow Vehicle Xtraordinaire
I think Bosch Micro Edge wipers have a clever mechanism for installing blade refills. No busted knuckles. MUCH easier than Anco or the 91 Subaru OEM refills (OEM might be different for 00).
Then again, maybe I'm just a knucklehead who's inept at replacing wiper blades. Anyone tried the Micro Edge Excel blades? Other experiences?
..Mike
..Mike
Curious Dave
So back to the ones that I can buy one at a time for now. By the way, does anyone here have any experience with the silicone replacement blades?
I have really enjoyed my 3 month old Outback so far. I took it to the dealer yesterday to get the first oil change done and have them look into the fact that the rear wiper is very loud and has a nasty "whine" to it. The dealer told me this is normal. In a nasty rain storm a few weeks ago, I needed to keep it on constantly and I couldn't because it was so annoying. Even the radio doesn't drown it out. Does anyone have/not have the same problem? One other note. In 80% city and 20% highway driving, I've been getting anywhere between 22-23 mpg. Not too bad. Once they reopen the section of I-95 that is closed in Delaware, 50% of my daily driving will be highway.
I've really enjoyed these boards so far and have found very useful information. Thanks to all in advance.
Karen
I have a question too. In idle, the engine sounds relatively quiet about 80% of the time. But, every 15-20 seconds or so, it switches to louder, deep tone for 5-10 seconds. It's more noticeable when the AC is on. Dealer performed the computer diagnostic of the engine and reported no problem. Has anyone experienced the same ?
Another thing. When I picked my car, I immediately removed the center rear headrest to improve rear visibility. The headrest looked all right on the seat, but it's bottom was badly deformed. Again, I complained and the dealership replaced the headrest (they took it from another car from the lot).
Sergey
Cheers,
WDB
headlights, allowing moisture to accumulate behind the lens (and
undoubtedly causing problems down the line....)?.
I haven't bought my subaru yet, but i looked at about fourty 96-98's in
the last 2 weeks....... and maybe 4 or 5 of them had this problem.