Chronic Car Buyers Anonymous (Archived)

explorerx4 · July 2023

@nyccarguy,
I would say it's similar, so not good.

nyccarguy · July 2023

ronsteve said:

@nyccarguy said:

So still scouring around for used Outbacks. What's the deal (say it like Jerry Seinfeld) with the H6? I have seen a few where there isn't that much of a price premium and one where the person mentioned that since it is the 6 Cyl it doesn't have head gasket issues.

I was looking around at used Outbacks too, and spotted a 3.6R at Carmax. Their Autocheck history doesn’t show service records, but I found a workaround to look at carfax and BOOM! Head gasket, on a 2019 with 43k.

I'm assuming that was done under warranty?

sda · July 2023

What does a typical head gasket replacement cost on a Subaru 4 or 6?

qbrozen · July 2023

sda said:
What does a typical head gasket replacement cost on a Subaru 4 or 6?

3 knuckles and your sanity

corvette · July 2023

Looked at the 2024 Maverick order guide, looks like they aren't making any big changes. If the rumored EV or a plug-in hybrid is going to debut before a full redesign, I think it would have to happen no later than the 2025 model year.

nyccarguy · July 2023

corvette said:
Looked at the 2024 Maverick order guide, looks like they aren't making any big changes. If the rumored EV or a plug-in hybrid is going to debut before a full redesign, I think it would have to happen no later than the 2025 model year.

When are the 2024 order banks opening?

corvette · July 2023

July 17, from what I can tell. The dealer where I bought my first one is doing $1,000 off MSRP and wants orders submitted to them no later than July 17 so they can get them in the system. (Not planning on ordering a third, lol.)

nyccarguy · July 2023

corvette said:
July 17, from what I can tell. The dealer where I bought my first one is doing $1,000 off MSRP and wants orders submitted to them no later than July 17 so they can get them in the system. (Not planning on ordering a third, lol.)

This is the dealer in IOWA?

corvette · July 2023

Yes, Granger Ford.

stickguy · July 2023

Someone in my neighborhood has a newer hybrid with a long mcarthur sticker on it. So up here in the NY boonies we have hybrids from LM and Chapman.

Banks open 7/17. Will close shortly after. 2024 changes minimal but they are eliminating base lariat. Only comes fully loaded now.

I’m Glad to not be ordering again!

oldfarmer50 · July 2023

stickguy said:
They do. At least all the ones just lost in Vermont were all rust buckets.

The news always exaggerates to a hysterical degree. Yes, low lying stream crossings were under water and some folks were flooded but I was up there Monday and it wasn’t bad between Rutland and Burlington. Ludlow got it bad and Montpellier has a street that looks like a river. There are areas that are always getting flooded because there are steep narrow valleys in some spots. The town hall in Wilmington has marks on the outside wall showing where the water level was during various floods.

tifighter · July 2023

Last week, the local Dirtfish rally school held a one day event at their location called Summerfest. They open up their facility, host vendors and food trucks and have a party complete with available rally car rides.

I wasn’t aware of this event but I received a reach out from Griots asking if I’d like to join them and bring my car out to their display, along with a E30 M3, a 964 Carrera RS, a 488 Pista and an Aventador. Who turns that down? Lots of cool cars to check out. Starting with an actual Lancia 037-

jmonroe1 · July 2023

@sda said:
All of the vehicles lost by flooding, hurricanes, tornadoes and the like have added to the woes.

————————————————
Give them a little more time to recondition those vehicles. Then they’ll end up at a lot near you. From what I’ve been told and heard, not many vehicles are thrown away anymore. They just need time to get the parts (usually the electronics) so they can put them on the lots.

jmonroe

sda · July 2023

jmonroe1 said:

@sda said:

All of the vehicles lost by flooding, hurricanes, tornadoes and the like have added to the woes.

————————————————

Give them a little more time to recondition those vehicles. Then they’ll end up at a lot near you. From what I’ve been told and heard, not many vehicles are thrown away anymore. They just need time to get the parts (usually the electronics) so they can put them on the lots.

jmonroe

Not good. Buyer beware!

jmonroe1 · July 2023

@sda said:
Not good. Buyer beware!

————————————————
So what’s new? That’s always going to be good advice.

jmonroe

jmonroe1 · July 2023

@jmonroe1 said:

@sda said:
All of the vehicles lost by flooding, hurricanes, tornadoes and the like have added to the woes.

————————————————
Give them a little more time to recondition those vehicles. Then they’ll end up at a lot near you. From what I’ve been told and heard, not many vehicles are thrown away anymore. They just need time to get the parts (usually the electronics) so they can put them on the lots.

jmonroe

————————————————
A little follow up on this:

Two body shop guys I know told me the old school way of checking for a flood car by opening the trunk and looking for signs of water isn’t good enough. They put a car on the rack and look for silt in the frame holes. Then they remove the door sills and look for signs of water there. When that looks good they move onto the trunk for another check and of course make sure all the accessories work.

jmonroe

stickguy · July 2023

Pull the carpet under the seats and look at the many electronic modules under there. If crusty, run.

explorerx4 · July 2023

I saw a video where they said to pull the seat belts all the way out to check for evidence of water.

andres3 · July 2023

tifighter said:

@andres3 said:

How much does a moonroof add pig weight to a 2018 BMW M2? Otherwise found the perfect one, but this moonroof makes it imperfect.

Not a Comp, not the perfect one.

Maybe not perfect, but lighter than yours, even with the moonroof

laurasdada · July 2023

explorerx4 said:
I'd think twice about going to New Britain.

oldfarmer50 said:

stickguy said:
They do. At least all the ones just lost in Vermont were all rust buckets.

The news always exaggerates to a hysterical degree. Yes, low lying stream crossings were under water and some folks were flooded but I was up there Monday and it wasn’t bad between Rutland and Burlington. Ludlow got it bad and Montpellier has a street that looks like a river. There are areas that are always getting flooded because there are steep narrow valleys in some spots. The town hall in Wilmington has marks on the outside wall showing where the water level was during various floods.

Hope the Weston Playhouse didn't fall into the river...

explorerx4 · July 2023

I've been looking at trucks at Granger. They have pretty big discounts (5 figure area) but the MSRP they list is before the baked in factory discount.
No way to break in a new vehicle before vacation at the end of the month, so I'll look more closely next month.

xwesx · July 2023

nyccarguy said:
So still scouring around for used Outbacks. What's the deal (say it like Jerry Seinfeld) with the H6? I have seen a few where there isn't that much of a price premium and one where the person mentioned that since it is the 6 Cyl it doesn't have head gasket issues.

Not necessarily head gasket issues like the H4 (EJ25) engine, but the 3.0L H6 are known to develop oil consumption issues. They also don't have a big gain on power, but they do take a big hit on fuel economy. The 3.6L H6 made big improvements in all areas (w/ same fuel economy, not necessarily better).

xwesx · July 2023

nyccarguy said:

ab348 said:
Subaru must source their head gaskets from the Dollar Store. Geez.

That actually is the problem. They used a different head gaskets made of different material for their Turbo Cars of that era/generation.

Well, there are a couple of things that play on this:

1. The turbo block is a more robust unit with better internal buttressing of the cylinder walls and the outer block. However, the design prevents them from reusing the molds, so they are sand cast (e.g., one engine per mold). The NA Block does not have this buttressing on the cylinders, so that tends to lead to more vibration at the interface with the heads, which, over time, breaks down the seal with the head gasket (HG).
2. The turbo block also has a three-part HG design that moves with the block and head components better as the engine undergoes temperature and pressure shifts. The NA block can use the same HGs, but, for whatever reason, they use a one-part HG for those from the factory. They did update this gasket so that the unit would be more likely to last beyond the warranty period (LOL), but they still tend to fail within 120,000 miles of new. The newer gasket design is far more likely to develop external oil leaks than internal coolant leaks, which is the opposite of the older design.

Ultimately, it's the lack of cylinder wall support that leads to the failure. The FB generation of engines eliminates this issue by running the coolant channel that goes between the block and the head through external plumbing rather than through a direct, internal connection. This allows for more support of the cylinder walls along with taking the mixing of coolant out of the equation. They can still develop oil leaks, but that has always been the more minor concern with any car's head gasket.

xwesx · July 2023

nyccarguy said:
This 2008 Outback is freshly detailed and looks nice from the outside.

Price isn't bad. Fluids look old (power steering and brake), so I'd definitely check the transmission fluid, too
(these cars still had dipsticks, which are somewhat hard to see on the passenger side, low, and near the firewall). If you buy, change out all of those and the differentials. No mention of head gasket, so check the overflow bottle to look for any black bits floating in the coolant or stuck to the sides of the bottle. Also check under the car along the head/block seam (there are two of them prominently across the bottom!) for either blue-green staining or oil seepage/drip/stain.

Tires look old, like on my son's car, but he got another 10,000 miles out of his (trip home last fall and all this summer), so probably not an immediate need unless he's going to run the same set throughout the year.

xwesx · July 2023

explorerx4 said:
I've been looking at trucks at Granger. They have pretty big discounts (5 figure area) but the MSRP they list is before the baked in factory discount.
No way to break in a new vehicle before vacation at the end of the month, so I'll look more closely next month.

@corvette mentioning the Maverick orders got me to thinking, but I really just need to sit tight for now. I can make my current stable work for a good many more years, and there are other areas I need to focus my resources.

I saw a base Maverick yesterday driving next to me on the way home. As I was the passenger, I was able to look it over closely. Seems like a pretty solid consideration for a small footprint with high utility.

Michaell · July 2023

On the other end of Ford's selling scale, dealers have over 9000 Mach-E's just sitting on the lots.

oldfarmer50 · July 2023

laurasdada said:

explorerx4 said:
I'd think twice about going to New Britain.

oldfarmer50 said:

stickguy said:
They do. At least all the ones just lost in Vermont were all rust buckets.

The news always exaggerates to a hysterical degree. Yes, low lying stream crossings were under water and some folks were flooded but I was up there Monday and it wasn’t bad between Rutland and Burlington. Ludlow got it bad and Montpellier has a street that looks like a river. There are areas that are always getting flooded because there are steep narrow valleys in some spots. The town hall in Wilmington has marks on the outside wall showing where the water level was during various floods.
Hope the Weston Playhouse didn't fall into the river...

That’s the place on rt.100 south of Ludlow? Google has a flood icon right next to it so it might be bad.

laurasdada · July 2023

Yes, it abuts the West River, a nice balcony sits high above. Summer theater, a lot of fun. The Lloyd family (e.g Christopher of Taxi/Back to the Future fame) lives (lived?) in Weston, sometimes would perform (I saw Sam Lloyd fill in for a food-poisoned actor, he did the whole show with script in hand. Still well entertained!).
I hope all is well there.

laurasdada · July 2023

Darn: "Floodwaters, deeper than those inflicted by Tropical Storm Irene, filled the basement of Weston Playhouse, lapped the floor near the first three rows of seats in the theater above and forced the 86-year-old Weston Theater Company to put its season on hold."

cdnpinhead · July 2023

Well, it's clear that @xwesx is the Subaru "man." He was very helpful when my wife's Pathfinder was "totaled" after a fender-bender back in '16 and we needed a replacement (I'm betting that the Pathfinder is still in action, driven by someone with insurance company connections).

Anyway, we ended up with a '17 Forester which we've taken to AK, TX and many visits to CO & CA, such that it's pushing 93K miles. it's been totally trouble-free -- oil changes, wiper blades, that sort of thing. I tend to keep vehicles forever, especially if they've been good to me, so here's the question: Do I need to concern myself with this head gasket thing, or the rubber band transmission, or anything else?

My '08 TSX is coming up on 200K miles, and I have no intention of replacing it.

What say you?

nyccarguy · July 2023

cdnpinhead said:
Well, it's clear that @xwesx is the Subaru "man." He was very helpful when my wife's Pathfinder was "totaled" after a fender-bender back in '16 and we needed a replacement (I'm betting that the Pathfinder is still in action, driven by someone with insurance company connections).

Anyway, we ended up with a '17 Forester which we've taken to AK, TX and many visits to CO & CA, such that it's pushing 93K miles. it's been totally trouble-free -- oil changes, wiper blades, that sort of thing. I tend to keep vehicles forever, especially if they've been good to me, so here's the question: Do I need to concern myself with this head gasket thing, or the rubber band transmission, or anything else?

My '08 TSX is coming up on 200K miles, and I have no intention of replacing it.

What say you?

Good to hear your TSX is coming up on 200K miles and that you and your wife really seem to be enjoying her Forester. How has the heat been in AZ this year? Is it more brutal than usual?

xwesx · July 2023

Trouble-free miles are the best! I have a friend currently on a long haul with his (ten-person) family, and we went through his van before he left. I think it's a good thing, too, because his transmission fluid was dark brown (not a hint of red), as was his brake fluid and power steering fluid. His rear differential was dark grey, and one would have been hard pressed to tell which fluid was which just looking at them all lined up next to one another.

If I'm keeping up with his family's posts correctly, they're in southern Oregon currently with no vehicular issues!

For the Forester, I think they are fairly trouble-free in those years. Outside of what a dealer will generally do, I'd suggest that, given the mileage, it's ready for new gear oil in the differentials and new fluid in the CVT if neither has been done yet. I know that, in the US anyway, dealers claim "lifetime" fluid in the CVT, but there's truly no such thing.

The manual for my friend's NV3500 claimed the same thing, yet I'm pretty sure that he'd be stranded by now on that trip if he would have tried hauling that heavy travel trailer so far on that old, brown fluid.

xwesx · July 2023

I'm having an issue with my 2013 Forester (117,000 miles) wherein the throwout bearing in the clutch is making a lot of noise any time I press the clutch pedal. I bought a new clutch kit for it, but it will require dropping the transmission to get at it. I went ahead and bought a few other items, including front wheel bearings, ball joints, and CV axles, while I'm at it, since I have to pull those all apart anyway in order to get the transmission out.

Hopefully a project for this weekend or next, since my wife informed me last night that she's planning to take it on our trip to Ohio this year. I thought she was set on taking the Crosstrek again, but it appears she's come to the realization that it is just too small for what we need to take with us. I'm sure we could make it work, but I don't mind not fussing with the space limit, either!

xwesx · July 2023

Oh, and I learned something new this past weekend! The Crosstrek has electric power steering, as do most (maybe all) Subaru models now. With the electric assist, there are no hydraulic components at all, so no power steering fluid to replace!

If yours has hydraulic power steering, @cdnpinhead , it might be worthwhile inspecting that and/or changing it if it's never been done before.

stickguy · July 2023

I think that at about 100K anything that has not been done, should be done. Every fluid and filter, plugs of course. Throw on a new serpentine belt, maybe rad hoses and anything else that could wear out. PCV stuff. Pretty much a full refresh and good to go for the next 100k!

cdnpinhead · July 2023

xwesx said:
For the Forester, I think they are fairly trouble-free in those years. Outside of what a dealer will generally do, I'd suggest that, given the mileage, it's ready for new gear oil in the differentials and new fluid in the CVT if neither has been done yet. I know that, in the US anyway, dealers claim "lifetime" fluid in the CVT, but there's truly no such thing.

Thanks. Absolutely agree on "lifetime" fluid.

I'm a bit spoiled regarding where to have maintenance done on the Forester, since I've found an independent Honda service place (HonMan) that has been excellent servicing the TSX and my daughter's Civic. I've "progressed" to the point that even an oil change isn't something I'm interested in doing any more, especially in the summer. Anyway, I haven't found a Subaru independent yet, but I'll get more serious about looking.

As far as the Phoenix weather goes, I spend most of my time in our cabin in Forest Lakes which is at an elevation of ~7500 feet, which is good for 25-30 degrees of reduced temperature, relative to the "Valley of the Sun," otherwise known by me as the hellhole.

That said, the present string of 12 or 13 days at 110 or above still has a ways to go to reach the record of 18 - - that's 18 in a row, not 18 total, set a number of years ago. I won't trouble you with the day it got to 122 at PHX (the airport) when they had to ground flights outbound because the Boeing tables only went to 120. Boeing did the extrapolations over night, so by the next day tables were available to 125, which was a good thing, since it got over 120 again. This was 33 yeas ago. Everyone needs to calm down.

Fat chance.

roadburner · July 2023

cdnpinhead said:

xwesx said:
For the Forester, I think they are fairly trouble-free in those years. Outside of what a dealer will generally do, I'd suggest that, given the mileage, it's ready for new gear oil in the differentials and new fluid in the CVT if neither has been done yet. I know that, in the US anyway, dealers claim "lifetime" fluid in the CVT, but there's truly no such thing.
Thanks. Absolutely agree on "lifetime" fluid.

I'm a bit spoiled regarding where to have maintenance done on the Forester, since I've found an independent Honda service place (HonMan) that has been excellent servicing the TSX and my daughter's Civic. I've "progressed" to the point that even an oil change isn't something I'm interested in doing any more, especially in the summer. Anyway, I haven't found a Subaru independent yet, but I'll get more serious about looking.

As far as the Phoenix weather goes, I spend most of my time in our cabin in Forest Lakes which is at an elevation of ~7500 feet, which is good for 25-30 degrees of reduced temperature, relative to the "Valley of the Sun," otherwise known by me as the hellhole.

That said, the present string of 12 or 13 days at 110 or above still has a ways to go to reach the record of 18 - - that's 18 in a row, not 18 total, set a number of years ago. I won't trouble you with the day it got to 122 at PHX (the airport) when they had to ground flights outbound because the Boeing tables only went to 120. Boeing did the extrapolations over night, so by the next day tables were available to 125, which was a good thing, since it got over 120 again. This was 33 yeas ago. Everyone needs to calm down.

Fat chance.

Precisely; the chicken littles never let a crisis (manufactured or otherwise) go to waste.

oldfarmer50 · July 2023

cdnpinhead said:
Well, it's clear that @xwesx is the Subaru "man." He was very helpful when my wife's Pathfinder was "totaled" after a fender-bender back in '16 and we needed a replacement (I'm betting that the Pathfinder is still in action, driven by someone with insurance company connections).

Anyway, we ended up with a '17 Forester which we've taken to AK, TX and many visits to CO & CA, such that it's pushing 93K miles. it's been totally trouble-free -- oil changes, wiper blades, that sort of thing. I tend to keep vehicles forever, especially if they've been good to me, so here's the question: Do I need to concern myself with this head gasket thing, or the rubber band transmission, or anything else?

My '08 TSX is coming up on 200K miles, and I have no intention of replacing it.

What say you?

And I thought I like to drive my hoopties into the ground. Good for you.

From your description it sounds like you do a lot of highway driving which they say is very easy on a car. If you change the fluids regularly and can put up with the nickel and dime repairs you should do ok.

My nephew’s first car was a Subaru with 175k miles. For all I know he’s still driving it.

The Acura is a Honda and they run forever no matter what. I hear you don’t even need to put gas in them.😎

tjc78 · July 2023

@Michaell said:
On the other end of Ford's selling scale, dealers have over 9000 Mach-E's just sitting on the lots.

Decent leases yet?

Michaell · July 2023

tjc78 said:

@Michaell said:

On the other end of Ford's selling scale, dealers have over 9000 Mach-E's just sitting on the lots.

Decent leases yet?

Haven’t seen the $7500 show up as an incentive from Ford. I’d think that would be next.

nyccarguy · July 2023

xwesx said:

nyccarguy said:

ab348 said:
Subaru must source their head gaskets from the Dollar Store. Geez.

That actually is the problem. They used a different head gaskets made of different material for their Turbo Cars of that era/generation.
Well, there are a couple of things that play on this:

1. The turbo block is a more robust unit with better internal buttressing of the cylinder walls and the outer block. However, the design prevents them from reusing the molds, so they are sand cast (e.g., one engine per mold). The NA Block does not have this buttressing on the cylinders, so that tends to lead to more vibration at the interface with the heads, which, over time, breaks down the seal with the head gasket (HG).
2. The turbo block also has a three-part HG design that moves with the block and head components better as the engine undergoes temperature and pressure shifts. The NA block can use the same HGs, but, for whatever reason, they use a one-part HG for those from the factory. They did update this gasket so that the unit would be more likely to last beyond the warranty period (LOL), but they still tend to fail within 120,000 miles of new. The newer gasket design is far more likely to develop external oil leaks than internal coolant leaks, which is the opposite of the older design.

Ultimately, it's the lack of cylinder wall support that leads to the failure. The FB generation of engines eliminates this issue by running the coolant channel that goes between the block and the head through external plumbing rather than through a direct, internal connection. This allows for more support of the cylinder walls along with taking the mixing of coolant out of the equation. They can still develop oil leaks, but that has always been the more minor concern with any car's head gasket.

You definitely are the Subaru Whisperer. I started to watch a step by step video (no editing) from a company called A1 Auto Parts somewhere in New England. The woman did it all by herself with some hand tools and a cordless impact and an engine hoist. Very interesting how Subaru marks specific spots on the timing belt and the engine block so you can line up the timing belt without a timing light.

Of course the comments are the best! One guy stated that prior to watching the video and completing the installation of the new head gaskets (and other parts I hope) that the only automotive related repair he's ever done was jumpstart a car.

au1994 · July 2023

cdnpinhead said:

xwesx said:
For the Forester, I think they are fairly trouble-free in those years. Outside of what a dealer will generally do, I'd suggest that, given the mileage, it's ready for new gear oil in the differentials and new fluid in the CVT if neither has been done yet. I know that, in the US anyway, dealers claim "lifetime" fluid in the CVT, but there's truly no such thing.
Thanks. Absolutely agree on "lifetime" fluid.

I'm a bit spoiled regarding where to have maintenance done on the Forester, since I've found an independent Honda service place (HonMan) that has been excellent servicing the TSX and my daughter's Civic. I've "progressed" to the point that even an oil change isn't something I'm interested in doing any more, especially in the summer. Anyway, I haven't found a Subaru independent yet, but I'll get more serious about looking.

As far as the Phoenix weather goes, I spend most of my time in our cabin in Forest Lakes which is at an elevation of ~7500 feet, which is good for 25-30 degrees of reduced temperature, relative to the "Valley of the Sun," otherwise known by me as the hellhole.

That said, the present string of 12 or 13 days at 110 or above still has a ways to go to reach the record of 18 - - that's 18 in a row, not 18 total, set a number of years ago. I won't trouble you with the day it got to 122 at PHX (the airport) when they had to ground flights outbound because the Boeing tables only went to 120. Boeing did the extrapolations over night, so by the next day tables were available to 125, which was a good thing, since it got over 120 again. This was 33 yeas ago. Everyone needs to calm down.

Fat chance.

I remember that. I was trying to get air freight out of PHX to DFW at the time. No dice.

qbrozen · July 2023

tifighter said:
Last week, the local Dirtfish rally school held a one day event at their location called Summerfest. They open up their facility, host vendors and food trucks and have a party complete with available rally car rides.

Which car? Your Mitsu?
How did they know you had it?

stickguy · July 2023

nyccarguy said:

xwesx said:

nyccarguy said:

ab348 said:
Subaru must source their head gaskets from the Dollar Store. Geez.

That actually is the problem. They used a different head gaskets made of different material for their Turbo Cars of that era/generation.
Well, there are a couple of things that play on this:

1. The turbo block is a more robust unit with better internal buttressing of the cylinder walls and the outer block. However, the design prevents them from reusing the molds, so they are sand cast (e.g., one engine per mold). The NA Block does not have this buttressing on the cylinders, so that tends to lead to more vibration at the interface with the heads, which, over time, breaks down the seal with the head gasket (HG).
2. The turbo block also has a three-part HG design that moves with the block and head components better as the engine undergoes temperature and pressure shifts. The NA block can use the same HGs, but, for whatever reason, they use a one-part HG for those from the factory. They did update this gasket so that the unit would be more likely to last beyond the warranty period (LOL), but they still tend to fail within 120,000 miles of new. The newer gasket design is far more likely to develop external oil leaks than internal coolant leaks, which is the opposite of the older design.

Ultimately, it's the lack of cylinder wall support that leads to the failure. The FB generation of engines eliminates this issue by running the coolant channel that goes between the block and the head through external plumbing rather than through a direct, internal connection. This allows for more support of the cylinder walls along with taking the mixing of coolant out of the equation. They can still develop oil leaks, but that has always been the more minor concern with any car's head gasket.
You definitely are the Subaru Whisperer. I started to watch a step by step video (no editing) from a company called A1 Auto Parts somewhere in New England. The woman did it all by herself with some hand tools and a cordless impact and an engine hoist. Very interesting how Subaru marks specific spots on the timing belt and the engine block so you can line up the timing belt without a timing light.

Of course the comments are the best! One guy stated that prior to watching the video and completing the installation of the new head gaskets (and other parts I hope) that the only automotive related repair he's ever done was jumpstart a car.

I watched a few videos a while back by a repair place that specializes in Subarus. Both in car and with pulling the engine. As usual, looks reasonable if you know what you are doing, and have all the right tools and equipment.

jmonroe1 · July 2023

@nyccarguy said:
You definitely are the Subaru Whisperer. I started to watch a step by step video (no editing) from a company called A1 Auto Parts somewhere in New England. The woman did it all by herself with some hand tools and a cordless impact and an engine hoist. Very interesting how Subaru marks specific spots on the timing belt and the engine block so you can line up the timing belt without a timing light.

Of course the comments are the best! One guy stated that prior to watching the video and completing the installation of the new head gaskets (and other parts I hope) that the only automotive related repair he's ever done was jumpstart a car.

————————————————
That’s a very TALL story. However, one thing I do know, that wasn’t our poster buddy @driver100.

jmonroe

roadburner · July 2023

jmonroe1 said:

@nyccarguy said:

You definitely are the Subaru Whisperer. I started to watch a step by step video (no editing) from a company called A1 Auto Parts somewhere in New England. The woman did it all by herself with some hand tools and a cordless impact and an engine hoist. Very interesting how Subaru marks specific spots on the timing belt and the engine block so you can line up the timing belt without a timing light.

Of course the comments are the best! One guy stated that prior to watching the video and completing the installation of the new head gaskets (and other parts I hope) that the only automotive related repair he's ever done was jumpstart a car.

————————————————

That’s a very TALL story. However, one thing I do know, that wasn’t our poster buddy @driver100.

jmonroe

He'd need a 2 hour YouTube tutorial on how to assemble a socket wrench- and an equally long video on torque wrenches.

xwesx · July 2023

Haha! You fellas are on quite a roll this morning! Keep it coming. I need laughs. MORE LAUGHS!

andres3 · July 2023

I got my S4 back and it looks pretty good. I'll say I think the fenders/hood are a bit "tweaked" but by the normal lay person's standards no one but a "crazy" like me with an eye for fit n' finish would notice. They were able to straighten, even out, and improve the hood fitment and the gaps with the fenders, but it's not perfect. The owner said perhaps you need a new hood....I said maybe I do. But that's a can of worms, maybe needs new fenders too. Could a fender have been "tweaked" in the collision without any paint damage? Could someone misalign a fender easily? I'm not expert enough to say.

I have to accept it all because I bought the car used, and even though the Carfax said "no prior accidents" one of the fenders is giving me doubts upon very scrutinized close inspection. If I bought it new I'd be 100% certain enough Ingolstadt would never let a car like this leave the factory. Good enough for US car assembly standards I guess, and the reason DV is both real and inherent; especially in higher quality German vehicles.

At least the paint work is good! Shiny, very red, and well color sanded/polished. The owner told me he does 99.9% of the paint work in his shop, even at 72 years old. He said the only one who paints besides him is his son (Jr.) and that's only when he's on vacation.

I'm guessing he rarely takes vacations. How much longer can he keep it up though? At some point his eyes are gonna go

I know mine are already imperfect. I need to trade my eyes in for the 20 year old versions rather than the 40+.

Man, I love the S4 after having driven the TTS daily for over 3 weeks. Keep in mind the TTS is on 200 treadwear track like tires, so it's harder riding, louder, and just a generally stiffer ride than the S4, which is sublimely quiet on All-Season Pilot Sport 4's.

qbrozen · July 2023

The 2nd Pajero Mini just hit the road with its new PA owner. Handed my wife a stack of cash so maybe she'll leave me alone for a little while.

xwesx · July 2023

qbrozen said:
The 2nd Pajero Mini just hit the road with its new PA owner. Handed my wife a stack of cash so maybe she'll leave me alone for a little while.

Congrats! You need all the wins you can get!

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