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I’ve had it happen more than once: A consumer came in to see me after being ripped off. Not just by buying a defective car but also by paying an attorney for an initial consultation. In my field (Lemon Law) and several others, the only attorneys who charge money for initial consultations are the ones who don’t know what they are doing. One client came in to my office the first time with a pile of paperwork six inches thick. When she had asked what to bring to her initial consultation, I told her “Bring everything.” I go through so many documents on a daily basis that I can sort through them faster than the clients can. Repair orders, leases, receipts, purchase agreements and so on. I see them when I close my eyes. As I sifted through her papers I noticed a lawyer’s letterhead. It was a retainer agreement. Had she already retained an attorney to handle this case? No, she had hired the attorney for an initial consultation. She paid the attorney $1,000 to review her paperwork. I was stunned. The attorney had reviewed her papers and then told her she had no case. But he kept the $1,000. I did not recognize the attorney’s name so I looked him up. Based on his license number with the state bar I could tell he had been out of law school for only a couple of years. According to his website, he handled all manner of legal cases but made no mention of lemon law. Why had she gone to him? He was a friend of a friend. From my review of her paperwork it was painfully obvious she had a great case. I asked her what the other attorney had told her about why her case wasn’t worth pursuing. She told me that he had just said he spent a few hours looking through the papers and there was “nothing there.” He had advised her to sell her car and move on. This is not the only time I have heard of this but it was the most egregious. The lemon law in Michigan – and most other states – allows for a successful litigant to recover their attorney fees and court costs from the Defendant. So every attorney I know in this field – and I know many – will consult with a potential client for free. And, this is true in many other fields of law as well, including the ones which are routinely done on a contingency basis. Auto negligence, personal injury and so on. And yet, there are some attorneys out there who still get potential clients to pay just for the honor of sitting in an office and getting bad advice. I have even recently gotten comments from attorneys in response to my pieces here who tell me that they always charge for initial consultations. Some of them do what the attorney in the first paragraph did – practice outside their area of knowledge and make money by telling clients they have no case or to go speak to someone else. Um. Thanks? With the internet, this should no longer happen. All a potential client has to do is look at several websites for attorneys to discover that many do not charge for initial consultations. When you see an attorney who does not state that openly on their website, keep looking. If EVERY attorney you find charges for an initial consultation, then you must be in a legal field where that is the norm. And there are some fields of law where there is no easy way to recover your attorney’s fees and attorneys in those fields might not offer too much free legal advice. Criminal law, divorce, business contract law and so on. But many attorneys will still consult with you for a bit to see if you have a case and to give you some idea of what they can do for you and what it will cost. Strangely, I have people offer me money from time to time as the first thing they say to me: “Whatever you charge for an initial consultation, I’ll pay it.” I guess it’s a mindset. But I always tell them it’s not necessary. But to charge you money to tell you that you have no case? Money out the window for my client above. I eventually got her car bought back by the manufacturer and I got my attorney fees and court costs paid. The $1,000 she gave the prior attorney? Gone for good. And no, you can’t sue the attorney to get the money back. Not surprisingly, the laws don’t work that way. http://carbuying.jalopnik.com/how-not-to-get-ripped-off-by-the-first-attorney-you-mee-1689942744/+whitsongordon#

If it still runs, get it up to normal operating temperature. Them go after the fitting, and the intake manifold bolts.

The stock NGK plugs for the H6 are like 100k iridiums. I’ve never seen plug issues and pulled them at 100k and they look like new. Run them. replace idler snd serpentine pulley bearings now and every 60k or so check or replace them.

Oh I have several electric bicycles. Exceptionally fun things. Also not a problem to work on them as they are generally composed of generic interchangeable parts - batteries are just a stack of 18650 cells - few electronics and easily interchangeable without any VIN coding, etc. Pretty much free to do whatever you feel like on them still. Like cars and electronics used to be (and still should be). I fully acknowledge the superiority of electric motors and PWM three phase drives. Worked on them extensively in the commercial sector. I just don't at all approve of the current state of the consumer automobile industry. The focus is on profit, product obsolescence, and preventing independent repair and maintenance. They can take all that and shove it where the sun don't shine. GD

I am female also, and yes, it does happen a lot - shops see female and try to take advantage.. happens all the time.. But, I grew up doing things myself.. too poor to hire simple stuff done, like basic tune ups, brakes, and so on.. so I learned a lot and am able to do most work on my vehicles myself. i have a decent shop I work with now, and they know I know what the heck I am talking about, so they don't try to pull things over on me. In fact, the shop owner has asked my advice a couple of times on Subarus he has gotten in the shop for work. have owned, driven and worked on my own Subarus for just over 20 yrs now, and i dont see that changing anytime soon.. As I get older, I do seem to be relying on that shop a little more for things I would have done myself in the past, but the body refuses to cooperate anymore, so... and yes, dry graphite is the best for any lock cylinder.. auto, home, whatever.

Do you have a good Subaru/Transmission shop near by? Might be worth having them take a look. At least you could get an idea of what's up. A friend had a 2013 Legacy that was giving him some issues. Shop said a Speed Sensor. I found a good PDF and he went to the yard and pulled the sensor. Swapped it out and all good so far.

Iceland - really cheap electricity. HUMVEE's have good visibility compared to MRAP's. More armor means smaller windows and lots of cameras. But as far as electric vehicles go - I'll never own or work on them - or probably anything made after 2004. Complexity is the enemy of reliability. Add to that the lack of right to repair and the intellectual property concerns of modern manufacturing, plus the need for corporations like Subaru to show ever-increasing profits and sales by throwing away old vehicles for essentially no reason other than they can't be fixed due to lack of replacement parts, or lack of information to economically repair them..... all in the name of profit. The "environment" would be better served by Reducing and Reusing (the two R's most people forget about) than by creating more plastic things that in reality can't be Recycled anyway. GD